FRIDAY,  MARCH 27,  2009

POLITICAL ECONOMY - AT 6:11 P.M. ET:  From NewsMax:

Donations from individuals to the six major party campaign committees dropped by more than 26 percent from two years ago, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission obtained by the Washington Post.

The DNC raised only about $3.3 million last month, with the Republican National Committee taking in just over $5 million, said a CNN report.

However, with campaign cash left over from Obama’s presidential coffers, the DNC was able to post $5.4 million in total contributions last month – pulling just ahead of the RNC. As to cash in the bank – the DNC’s $8.5 million is well behind the RNC’s $24 million.

March 27, 2009   Permalink

DOW CLOSE - AT 5:45 P.M. ET:  The Dow closed down 148 points, to 7776.

THE RUSSIAN THREAT - AT 3:51 P.M. ET:  From AP: 

MOSCOW -- Russia said that new submarines will be armed with improved nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, a state-connected news agency reported Friday.

The new hypersonic cruise missiles with increased range are designed to strike "aircraft carriers of the potential enemy if they pose a direct threat to Russia's security," the ministry said, according to ITAR-Tass. It said the missiles are also capable of hitting land targets.

COMMENT:  I wonder what "potential enemy" they're talking about.  Do you have any doubts?  This comes at a time when liberals in Congress are demanding that we cut our defense budget substantially to make way for their "programs."  They will probably tell us that if we cut our own budget we'll appear less "provocative" to the Russians.

At the same time, we knife our East European allies in the back, essentially offering to cancel missile defense for Eastern Europe if the Russians will only help us a little bit with Iran.

March 27, 2009   Permalink 

MIXED POLL RESULTS - AT 2:55 P.M. ET:  Rasmussen's latest polling on opinions toward Congress reveals a very bad result for Nancy Pelosi:

Sixty percent (60%) of U.S. voters now have an unfavorable opinion of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, including 42% Very Unfavorable, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. A growing number of her doubters seem to be fellow Democrats.

But don't get too excited.  Republican leaders aren't doing much better.  And then there's this:

After slipping to a new low last week, Democratic congressional candidates moved ahead of the GOP again on the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot.

The numbers are 41% for Dems, 38% for the GOP.  That's no landslide, of course.

We've seen this pattern for some time.  No matter how low Democrats in Congress may sink in public approval, it doesn't seem to help Republicans.  The Republican Party, hammered by a hopelessly biased press, is just not popular, and its leaders aren't popular.  The Republicans must come up with a coherent, positive, optimistic program.  They can't just be seen as the opposition.

March 27, 2009   Permalink 

DOW DOWN - AT 10:21 A.M. The Dow is down 142 points, to 7782. 

THE OBAMAMOBILE - AT 9:01 A.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama plans to announce a new aid package for General Motors and Chrysler in the coming days and says the carmakers must make ''pretty drastic changes'' to save their industry...

...''We will provide them some help,'' Obama said. ''I know that it is not popular to provide help to auto workers -- or to auto companies. But my job is to measure the costs of allowing these auto companies just to collapse versus us figuring out -- can they come up with a viable plan?''

He added: ''If they're not willing to make the changes and the restructurings that are necessary, then I'm not willing to have taxpayer money chase after bad money.''

COMMENT:  It's hard to argue with Mr. Obama's logic on this.  But the whole thing should make us uneasy.  Okay, the auto industry must change.  No doubt about it.  But who dictates the changes?  Washington?  What does Washington know about making cars? 

The problem is that the "changes" may incorporate political ideology, requiring power systems that may have more political support than engineering strength.  And yet, federal money brings with it federal oversight.  Taxpayers properly demand that. 

Maybe bankruptcy is the best course for the companies, although car makers in bankruptcy will find it very difficult to sell cars.  Over time, though, if they reorganize and bring in car visionaries, rather than leaders, however admirable, drawn from the finance side, they may become giants again. 

March 27, 2009   Permalink

WATCH THIS CAREFULLY - AT 8:09 A.M. ET:  From Fox:

A United Nations document on "climate change" that will be distributed to a major environmental conclave next week envisions a huge reordering of the world economy, likely involving trillions of dollars in wealth transfer, millions of job losses and gains, new taxes, industrial relocations, new tariffs and subsidies, and complicated payments for greenhouse gas abatement schemes and carbon taxes — all under the supervision of the world body.

Those and other results are blandly discussed in a discretely worded United Nations "information note" on potential consequences of the measures that industrialized countries will likely have to take to implement the Copenhagen Accord, the successor to the Kyoto Treaty, after it is negotiated and signed by December 2009. The Obama administration has said it supports the treaty process if, in the words of a U.S. State Department spokesman, it can come up with an "effective framework" for dealing with global warming.

COMMENT:  Ordinarily, this wouldn't be much to worry about - another UN document.  But look who's in power in Washington.  We must now look to Republicans in Congress, and their moderate Democratic colleagues, to stop the madness.  I've always believed that much of the "climate change" panic is really a front for those who want an economic revolution, and will use "climate change" to get it.  This document seems to confirm our fears.

March 27, 2009   Permalink

DISGRACEFUL - AT 7:44 A.M. ET:  Reader Guy Green alerts us to this, from the Financial Times:

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday blamed the global economic crisis on “white people with blue eyes” and said it was wrong that black and indigenous people should pay for white people’s mistakes.

Speaking in Brasília at a joint press conference with Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, Mr Lula da Silva told reporters: “This crisis was caused by the irrational behaviour of white people with blue eyes, who before the crisis appeared to know everything and now demonstrate that they know nothing.”

He added: “I do not know any black or indigenous bankers so I can only say [it is wrong] that this part of mankind which is victimised more than any other should pay for the crisis.”

COMMENT:  Real class, huh?  Poor Gordon Brown, he gets abused standing next to just about anybody. 

The irony is that some of the bankers involved in our crisis happen to be African-American - including Franklin Raines of Fannie Mae.  That is completely irrelevant.  Lula's comments are disgusting, and prove that the United States is well ahead of many other nations in our racial attitudes.  Of course, we'll never get the credit for it, while Lula will be hailed as the workers' hero.

March 27, 2009   Permalink

SHOCKING LACK OF COVERAGE - AT 7:23 A.M. ET:

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s top human-rights body approved a proposal backed by Muslims nations Thursday urging the passage of laws around the world protecting religion from criticism.

The proposal by Pakistan had drawn strong criticism from free-speech campaigners and liberal democracies.

A simple majority of 23 members of the 47-nation Human Rights Council voted in favor of the resolution. Eleven mostly Western nations opposed it and 13 countries abstained.

The resolution urges states to provide “protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from defamation of religions and incitement to religious hatred in general.”

“It is individuals who have rights and not religions,” said Canadian diplomat Terry Cormier. Canada’s criticism was echoed by European Union countries, all of which voted against the proposal.

COMMENT:  How much coverage of this outrage, which is designed to silence all criticism of Islam, did you see in our mainstream media?  This is the opening gun of a battle to roll back freedom of speech, and give the rollback international legitimacy.  I'm sorry to say that there are probably many Americans, especially among the intellectual elites, who back this kind of thing.  After all, many colleges and universities have imposed "speech codes" to regulate speech that favored groups find "offensive." 

Ronald Reagan once said that we're always one generation away from losing our freedoms.  Yesterday's action by the obscenely named "Human Rights Council" reminds us of how quickly a generation can go by.  The silence of the American media, most of whose members were trained in universities where those speech codes are common, is appalling.

March 27, 2009   Permalink

JAPAN PREPARES - AT 7:16 A.M. ET: 

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's military mobilized Friday to protect the country from any threat if North Korea's looming rocket launch fails, ordering two missile-equipped destroyers to the Sea of Japan and sending batteries of Patriot missile interceptors to protect the northern coastline.

Pyongyang plans to launch its Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite April 4-8, a moved that has stoked already heightened tensions in the region. The U.S., Japan and South Korea suspect the North will use the launch to test the delivery technology for a long-range missile capable of striking Alaska.

Japan has said that it will shoot down any dangerous objects that fall its way if the launch doesn't go off successfully. Tokyo, however, has been careful to say that it will not intervene unless its territory is in danger.

COMMENT:  The U.S. also has sent ships equipped with anti-missile systems into the area.  This will be a tense period, and a test of how President Obama handles a deliberately provocative action by a hostile nation.  You may be sure that the Iranians, Russians, Chinese, and even the Venezuelans will be watching to see if Mr. Obama has the spine to match the mouth.

March 27, 2009   Permalink

THURSDAY,  MARCH 26,  2009

HOW QUICKLY THEY FORGET - AT 11:25 P.M. ET:  From the New York Post:

Freedom is so passe at Ground Zero.

Once hailed as a beacon of rebirth in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the Freedom Tower's patriotic name has been swapped out for the more marketable One World Trade Center, officials at the Port Authority conceded today.

But more than seven years after the terror attacks and amid an effort to market the iconic tower to international tenants, sentiment gave way to practicality.

"As we market the building, we will ensure that the building is presented in the best possible way," said Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia.

COMMENT:  Almost eight years have passed since the site was incinerated, and this is what happens.  Not a pretty comment on the state of our values.  By the way, why is "One World Trade Center" so marketable?  Its very name reminds people of the attacks.  No? 

March 26, 2009    Permalink

NEW AFGHAN STRATEGY - AT 8:40 P.M. ET:  The president will unveil his new strategy for Afghanistan tomorrow.  We are hopeful that it will at least attempt some kind of victory, and not merely an exit strategy.  We are aware, of course, that a clear definition of "victory" may be difficult in these circumstances, but hints of weakness will never be helpful.  The Washington Times has a preview:

According to two U.S. government sources close to the issue, senior policymakers were divided over how comprehensive to make the strategy, involving an initial boost of 17,000 U.S. troops.

On the one side were Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg, who argued in closed-door meetings for a minimal strategy of stabilizing Afghanistan that one source described as a "lowest common denominator" approach...

...The other side of the debate was led by Richard C. Holbrooke, the special envoy for the region, who along with U.S. Central Command leader Gen. David H. Petraeus and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton fought for a major nation-building effort.

The Holbrooke-Petraeus-Clinton faction, according to the sources, prevailed. The result is expected to be a major, long-term military and civilian program to reinvent Afghanistan from one of the most backward, least developed nations to a relatively prosperous democratic state.

COMMENT:  Fascinating.  We'll wait for the president's announcement to see what the final shape is.  Struggle ahead.

March 26, 2009    Permalink

MUSLIM-FBI TENSIONS - AT 5:43 P.M. ET:  From the Christian Science Monitor:

Law enforcement efforts to root out home-grown terrorists are jeopardized by deteriorating relations between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Muslim and Arab-American communities.

The situation began last fall when the FBI quietly withdrew formal relations with all local chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), one of the largest Muslim American civil rights organizations. The FBI cited "a number of distinct narrow issues" that it has refused to make public.

The situation worsened in February, when it became public that the FBI had planted an informant at a California mosque who, a coalition of more than a dozen Muslim American groups charges, actively tried to recruit terrorists.

Last week, the coalition accused the FBI of engaging in "McCarthy-era tactics" and announced it was considering suspending all ties with the FBI unless it made public its concerns with CAIR and "reassessed its use of agent provocateurs in Muslim communities."

The FBI would not comment, except to issue a statement saying: "Limiting honest dialogue, especially when complex issues are on the table, is generally not an effective advocacy strategy."

COMMENT:  Obviously, most Muslims have nothing to do with terrorism.  But there is a problem, and the Muslim-American community, in part because of the nature of some of its organizations, like CAIR, has not addressed it adequately.  The result is that the innocent get hurt because of the actions of the not-so-innocent.

March 26, 2009   Permalink

CONSCIENCE OF THE SENATE - AT 5:35 P.M. ET:  Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire is rapidly becoming the conscience of the U.S. Senate.  Gregg, who was tapped by President Obama to be commerce secretary, declined the post because he couldn't go along with Obama's policies.  Now he's warning the nation of the consequences of those policies.  From The Hill:

The United States wouldn't even be eligible to enter the European Union if it wanted to because of its debt levels, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) claimed Thursday.

"We won't even be able to get into the EU if we wanted to," Gregg said this morning on MSNBC, "because our government is so large and so huge."

The European Union's Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) adopted in 1997 requires a budget deficit to be less than three percent, and requires a national debt beneath 60 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"We've been lectured by France on the fact that we're not fiscally responsible right now," Gregg, the would-be commerce secretary, noted with incredulity.

COMMENT:  Because of changes in New Hampshire's demographics, Gregg could probably not be reelected.  He would be an enormous loss to the Senate.

March 26, 2009   Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 4:55 P.M. ET:  From a distinguished scholar:

The major mistake that Obama is making that resembles the worst forms of Latin American government. Instead of placing the financial crisis at the center of his agenda, he is instead driving an ideological agenda with a number of items that have at best tangential relations to the root of the problem, and yet claiming that these items, like education and health spending, lie at the root of the solution. That's not true, and it will drive our debt to unsustainable levels. This is a mammoth policy mistake, and one with certain and terrible consequences.

COMMENT:  Well said.  Mistakes today, disaster tomorrow. 

March 26, 2009   Permalink

DOW CLOSE - AT 4:01 P.M.:  The Dow closed up 172 points, to 7922.  Using the Standard and Poor index, the market has had its best monthly gain in 22 years.  What does it mean for the real economy?  I have no idea.

March 26, 2009 

DEMS VERSUS DEMS - AT 7:12 A.M. ET:  There is increasing friction within the Democratic Party.  Not all Democrats are far-left fringe types from the California delegation.  There are plenty of thoughtful, traditional Democrats who favor a strong defense and uphold American values.  These Dems are under a new attack from the party's left.  MoveOn.org and a labor group started airing ads yesterday attacking the traditionalists and insisting that they get with the entire Obama program.  From The Politico: 

Among the targets of Americans United for Change is Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), who declared the ads “not very helpful.”

“The liberal groups need to understand that we are not elected to represent the president,” Pryor said. “We’re elected to represent our states, and we are trying to reflect the attitudes and values of the people who sent us to Washington.”

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) is also unhappy with the friendly fire. Bayh announced last week that a group of centrist Democrats had come together to negotiate as a bloc with the White House and party leaders on major legislation. He promptly found himself targeted by an ad accusing him of “standing in the way of President Obama’s reforms.”

“We literally have no agenda,” Bayh shot back. “How can they be threatened by a group that has taken no policy positions?”

COMMENT:  This is a healthy fight.  Remember that, for many years, starting about 1938, Congress was controlled by a coalition of Republicans and moderate Democrats.  Sadly, at that time the group of "moderate" Democrats included arch-segregationists.  That is no longer the case.  Today's moderate Democrats represent constituents who are unwilling to go deep into left field, but are not tainted by racial antagonism.  Pryor and Bayh are fine senators.  We might be seeing the start of a new coalition.

March 26, 2009   Permalink

AFGHAN FUTURE - AT 6:34 A.M. ET:  More and more, the U.S. owns the war in Afghanistan, as our forces grow stronger and NATO acts like, well, NATO.  Washington Post:

After years of often testy cooperation with NATO and resentment over unequal burden-sharing, the United States is taking unabashed ownership of the Afghan war.

President Obama's decision to deploy an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan this year will bring the number of foreign troops there to nearly 90,000, more than two-thirds of them Americans. Although many will technically report to NATO commanders, the U.S. force will increasingly be in charge.

COMMENT:  We hope the president's strategy is successful and leads to victory, not simply an "exit strategy."  This is a major test for Mr. Obama, who said repeatedly during his campaign that Afghanistan was the war we should be emphasizing. 

Expect to see the "anti-war" movement replay the Iraq script during the next year.  They will call Afghanistan the "new Vietnam."  That campaign is already underway.  And we reported below, at 6:01 a.m., that the left wing of the Democratic Party wants the defense budget cut.

Incredible, but Iraq is now the good, successful war, rarely mentioned.  Afghanistan may make Iraq look easy.

March 26, 2009   Permalink   

VULGAR - AT 6:11 A.M. ET:  George Soros is one of the leading financiers of the Democratic Party and of leading left-wing groups.  He isn't complaining about economic conditions in the country, as London's Daily Mail notes:

A hedge fund manager who predicted the global credit crunch has said the financial crisis has been 'stimulating' and the culmination of his life's work.

George Soros, who predicted the global financial crisis twice before, was one of the few people to anticipate and prepare for the current economic collapse.

Mr Soros said his prediction meant he was better able to brace his Quantum investment fund against the global storm.

But other investors failed to take notice of his prediction and his decision to come out of retirement in 2007 to manage the fund made him $US2.9 billion.

And while the financial crisis continued to deepen across the globe, the 78-year-old still managed to make $1.1 billion last year.

COMMENT:  This is something to worry about, because Soros's economic power will find its way into politics.   I don't know - is this free enterprise?  Or a grotesque distortion?  That is a question worth debating.  Are we at the Wharton School of Finance, or in Las Vegas?

March 26, 2009   Permalink

THE LEFT CIRCLES THE PENTAGON - AT 6:01 A.M. ET:  Apparently, the left wing of the Democratic Party hasn't read about the missile sitting on the launch pad in North Korea (see story below), doesn't much mind the Taliban in Afghanistan, really doesn't think Iran is a threat, regards China's military buildup as natural, and believes Russia's new muscle flexing is just charming nationalism, kind of like a ballet with guns.  The left is going after the defense budget, as The Hill reports:

President Obama is facing mounting pressure from his party’s left flank to cut defense spending so more money can be spent on social programs.

A letter obtained by The Hill shows that liberal advocacy groups and lawmakers want Obama to seize a moment when Democrats control both Congress and the White House and scrap costly weapons programs they say have drained domestic coffers.

Hard economic times are intensifying pressure to choose guns or butter, particularly as the Bush administration is criticized for sharply raising spending on both.

The left’s demands pose a looming problem for the president, who traveled to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to build support for his budget, which has already drawn criticism from centrist Democrats for a 12 percent increase in domestic discretionary spending. This further fractures the party, with liberals focused on Obama’s call to hike defense spending by 4 percent.

COMMENT:  Will the left ever learn?  Well, of course not.  Then it wouldn't be the left any longer.  The Democratic Party used to be the national defense party, the party that constructed the post-World War II defense system that led to our winning the Cold War.  That was then, this is now.  In the 1960s the party was compromised by a leftist faction that has gained substantial power. 

The president must resist the leftists.  If he cannot, his presidency, like Jimmah Carter's, can go down in flames...assuming Americans understand what is happening, and care.

March 26, 2009   Permalink

NORTH KOREA READIES MISSILE - AT 5:38 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has placed a long-range missile on a launch pad before a test that the United States, Japan and South Korea said would violate a United Nations Security Council resolution, a news report said Thursday.

Spy satellites detected what looked to be a Taepodong-2 missile in place Tuesday at the Musudan-ri launch site near North Korea’s northeastern coast, said Chosun Ilbo, South Korea’s leading daily, quoting an unidentified diplomatic source.

COMMENT:  This could be the first serious foreign test of the Obama administration.  The North Koreans have a history of flouting resolutions and treaties, so this doesn't come as a complete shock.  The key here will be whether President Obama stands with our South Korean and Japanese allies, or snubs them, as he's seemed to snub other allies in his first two months as president.  Another element to watch is the behavior of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was supposed to be the centrist in this administration.  If the missile is launched, and especially if it flies near or over Japan, it will be seen as an extreme provocation.  Will the Japanese attempt to intercept the missile?  Will we?  Will we punish the North Koreans?  Or will we call for more "engagement"?

March 26, 2009   Permalink