The Census is Falling, The Census is Falling!

Instapundit links us to a Chicken Little prediction for Conservatives concerning the Census:

Republicans will lose many seats in Congress due to right-wing paranoia about the census and refusal to fill out census forms, gloats the liberal web site Daily Kos.

The number of Congressional districts a state gets is based on how many of its citizens return completed census forms. Because voters in conservative states are completing and returning census forms at lower rates than voters in liberal states, conservative states will lose many seats in the House of Representatives that they would otherwise gain due to increases in their population.

But wait! What about sampling????

After all, the Left has been telling us for a while now that "It's possible to use statistical modeling and sampling methods to supplement the census in order to arrive at estimated counts of various demographic groups."

For example, from a WSJ article on Census sampling last spring:

The sampling debate ignited in the early 1990s after data showed the 1990 census missed more than five million people, including 4.9% of Hispanics and 4.6% of blacks, according to the bipartisan Census Monitoring Board. Using sampling would likely add to the population count in traditionally Democratic areas -- thus benefiting House Democrats in seat allocations.

So...if a Census can be adjusted upwards because it "missed" up to 5% of certain population blocks because those liberal blocks were "completing and returning census forms at lower rates", why can't we have upward adjustments when conservatives blocks complete and return census forms at lower rates? That would be only fair.

Oh, wait...I forgot 'fair' is a one-way street.

Hey Israel, Miss Me Yet?

#hhrs #ucot #rs #sgp
Foreign Policy, compare and contrast:

Bush Administration - Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.

Obama Administration - Either you are with us, or you are with the Israelis.

Discuss amongst yourselves...

Someone needs to put up this sign in Israel:

DPRK - ROK Clash?

Could President Obama be getting his first 3am Phone call?

Let the Testing Begin

We've often written that President Obama will face at least one national security crisis during 2010. From the Middle East to the Far East, there is no shortage of rivals and rogue states willing to test the administration and its mettle. Put another way, we may soon get a look at Mr. Obama's "spine of steel," famously touted by running mate Joe Biden during the 2008 campaign.

And that first test may come on the Korean Peninsula, based on this dispatch from the Washington Post. Quoting South Korea's semi-official Yonhap News Agency, the Post is reporting that a ROK Navy vessel is sinking in waters near the North Korean coast, possibly the result of a torpedo attack from the DPRK.

What actually happened here remains to be seen, as I am always ready to remind all of a key tenet of breaking news -- "The first reports are always wrong."

More to follow...

Profiles in Senatorial Courage

So what did the Senate Dems vote against today?

1) 57 Dems voted to NOT "reduce the cost of providing federally funded prescription drugs by eliminating fraudulent payments and prohibiting coverage of Viagra for child molesters and rapists..." Only two Dems voted Yes...Bayh and Nelson [NE].

2) 58 Dems voted to NOT allow "States to opt out of a Federal health care takeover." This time Nelson was the only holdout. I guess we know who can see the writing on the wall....

3) 56 Dems voted to NOT "prevent Medicare from being used for new entitlements and to use Medicare savings to save Medicare." Nelson & Webb voted for, Byrd did not vote.

4) 54 Dems voted to NOT "eliminate the sweetheart deals for Tennessee, Hawaii, Louisiana, Montana, Connecticut, and frontier States." Nelson & Bayh voted for, Byrd & Begich did not vote.

5) 57 Dems voted to NOT "ensure that Americans can keep the coverage they have by keeping premiums affordable." Bayh voted for, Kaufman did not vote.

6) 56 Dems voted to NOT "make sure the President, Cabinet Members, all White House Senior staff and Congressional Committee and Leadership Staff are purchasing health insurance through the health insurance exchanges established by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." Bayh, Nelson and Lincoln voted for.

7) All 59 Dems voted to NOT "enroll Members of Congress in the Medicaid program."

8) 58 Dems voted to NOT "improve the [HCR] bill by waiving the $40,000 penalty on hiring previously unemployed individuals." Nelson voted for.

The GOP continues to offer Amendments to the HCR reconciliation, so there will be more where this came from....

UPDATE:

9) 55 Dems voted to NOT "ensure that no State experiences a net job loss as a result of the enactment of the SAFRA [Student Aid] Act." Bayh, and BOTH Nelsons voted for, Byrd was apparently asleep again.

UPDATE II:

10) 56 Dems voted to NOT "strike the medical device tax." Bayh & Nelson voted for, Byrd, still napping.

11) 57 Dems voted to NOT "exclude pediatric devices for persons with disabilities from the medical device tax." Nelson for, Byrd snoring.

12) 54 Dems voted to NOT "protect access for America's wounded warriors." Not sue what that means exactly, but I am for it.

13) 54 Dems voted to NOT "protect the integrity of Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense health care programs for veterans, active-duty service members, their families, widows and widowers, and orphans who have sacrificed in defense of our Nation."

14) 54 Dems voted to NOT "repeal the sunset on marriage penalty relief and to make the election to deduct State and local sales taxes permanent." Of note 1 Republican voted agianst this as well. Somebody call Judd Gregg's office and slap him around!

15) Dems Voted to NOT "increase women's access to breast cancer screenings." [Number not known yet, as roll call not posted]

Note: I counted Lieberman and Sanders as the Dems they really are...are should be. No GOP members vote with the Dems on these, and Isakson did not vote on any.

Shock & Awe - Obamacare Style!

"Did I say it would 'save you $2500 a year'? Sorry, I meant 'cost you $2400 a year'. My bad. Ok, lets talk about immigration...." - President Obama*

That was quick: reports filtering in of health care premiums for families rising $2,400 annually in reaction to today's signing of Demcare bill...

I guess it is all the fault of the evil insurance companies taking advantage of people and gouging them.... But then again, they may need to get what they can while they can....

Rush Limbaugh had stacy, his secret insurance lady on the phone today, and she basically said that under the new rules that the insurance companies will probably go out of business in less than 2 years.

But $2400 really isn't a bad deal...I mean that is only $1 per page of the Obamacare bill....

*President Obama as portrayed by my imagination...

Amazon Sale I'd Like to See Right Now

Glenn Reynolds puts on a pretty regular public service whenever he posts:

"At Amazon, Markdowns on..."

The post that I would really like to see right now is:

"At Amazon, Markdowns on Tar & Feathers"

This is "Free" Health Care...

Thanks to Rep. Paul Ryan for these great slides:





More of Ryan's slides here.

America, The Gulliver of Nations

Powerline posts a keen insight on how Great Britain's present, may become our future:

Once the federal government becomes so deeply involved in allocating health care, it will come to be a dominant focus of political discourse.

Over the years watching on C-Span the British Prime Minister's Question Time, I've observed that a large portion of this exercise is devoted to specific questions about the quality care provided by The National Health Service in members' districts. A question on the terrorists threats to the UK will invariably be followed by a passionate query from a Member asking the PM if he's aware of nurses being re-assigned at a hospital in Sheffield. The PM seems to spend as much time on parochial health care issues as on national security.

The politics of deciding who gets what in the way of medical treatment doubtlessly will push aside traditional affairs of state. Every member of Congress will need to hire several staff members just to manage constituents' complaints about their care. Elections will be won and lost on the basis of who can get the most in the way of health care for their districts.

We will become the Gulliver of nations, a great power whose leaders are tied up in strings as they spend much of their time addressing the medical complaints, valid and imagined, of their electorate.

We *will* become the Gulliver of nations. And it will not just be due to healthcare. The more our Federal government becomes so deeply involved in the regulation of anything and everything (education, the environment, banking, retirement, fishing, car manufacturing....etc), the more we tie ourselves down. The more the Liliputians UN bureaucrats will take advantage of us. The more we will make ourselves irrelevant.

Jerry Brown - Keep Cali The Way It Is

An interesting Jerry Brown vid from the LA Times:



LAT's PolitiCal blog points out the fact that Brown, Democratic candidate for California Governor, "...urges unions to 'attack'", which along with his stated desire to be "the nice guy", offsets his campaign's attempts to paint Meg Whitman as mean spirited.

However, I thought the best part was Brown's assertion "We [Democrats] want to make sure we keep this governorship, and the legislature, and the Congress...." Yeah...because the state of California wouldn't be where it is today without the Democratic Party. Not really a great selling point for your campaign, Jerry.

That and your quote: "I am ready...and I know things."

Go Meg!

Potemkin Village Healthcare

#hhrs #tcot #rs #sgp
All we need to know about the just posted House Obamacare bill:

The Democrats' 2,309-page reconciliation bill was released for public viewing Sunday and will begin the mark-up process in the Budget Committee Monday at 3pm. Contrary to the Democratic pledge to post the reconciliation measure 72 hours before consideration, the bill posted is a dummy -- or a "shell" as Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wisc.) put it -- an early version of the House bill that cleared key committees in 2009, thus making it eligible for the reconciliation process under budget rules. Once that bill clears the the committee it will be gutted and replaced with the closed-door "fixes" agreed upon by Congressional Democrats, and appended with an unrelated student loan bill.

It is nothing but a Potemkin Village, set out to fool people, or better yet distract us from the real goings-on. The funny thing is, even with this previous version of the bill that was sitting around, they couldn't see fit to post it 72 prior to consideration.

The contempt for their constituents is palpable....

Tales From The Echo Chamber....

More developments out of the 'Coffee Party', or as I coined them, the 'Latte Party'

Coffee Party is a no-show on Fox and Friends
They did not accept the interview invitation because it would be "focused on fostering ongoing political divisions..."

In other words, we don't what any differing opinions from entering our liberal echo chamber...

News flash for the 'Coffee Party' crowd...there will always be "ongoing political divisions". That is how liberty and democracy work. People have free and differing opinions, they debate..they disagree...

I suspect that what this collectivist coffee klatch really means is that they only want to be interviewed by those who will tell them how courageous they are and won't challenge their sensitive ideals.

Thus if all they ever hear are supportive and re-affirming voices (hence the echo chamber), then they can convince themselves that they are the real voice of the American people, and not those racist, red-neck fascists and their Tea Party....

[Hat Tip: Instapundit]

Halt, Police....Drop the Fish!

Great news from the new & improved home of the free....

Culled out
Obama administration will accept no more public input for federal fishery strategy

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

Based on this news, we may have to change an old Chinese proverb...

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you might get him arrested.

So, American citizens will be prohibited from fishing in their own country. What the hell is going on around here?

This is SO not the Change I was hoping for....

[Hat Tip: Instapundit]

Socialism = Free Stuff!!

How could I have missed this?

According to this video, Socialism will bring you a free college education, free food, and a guaranteed job in the middle class!



How could I have been so wrong?!? Can I still vote for the utopia of Hope & Change?? Can I be on the People's Council?

Sign me up for the struggle!

[Hat Tip: Big Government]

Truffle Oil, Tunafish, and Obama

Instapundit links to one of his favorite blogs, Al Dente (Where "Serious gastronomy meets culinary calamity"), discussing the angst of being duped by the marketing of truffle oil and allegedly Italian tunafish.

In his summary the question is asked: "Have you been duped by product labeling lately? I'd love to hear about it."

I guess my only response to this would be:

Sure, its not food, but if Obama can worm his way into every aspect of my life (America's Most Wanted, College Basketball, NFL) I can at least use it as a vehicle to comment on his duping America via product labeling.....

Somebody call the Federal Trade Commission.

Watch out for that Ricochet!

I love me some podcasts.....

Much like I haven't read a newspaper or watched TV news on a regular basis for years, I rarely listen to the radio in my truck, especially during my commute hours. 98% of what comes out of the speakers comes off of my iPod/iPhone.

Most regular in the queue include Hugh Hewitt, Fred Thompson, Laura Ingraham, PJTV's Trifecta, as well as non-political fare such as The BS Report, Basic Brewing Radio, Move the Sticks...

In fact I usually have too many downloads than I have time to listen.

And now I have yet another to add to the mix. In fact it will go straight to the top of the queue.....the Ricochet podcast from ricochet.com.



I mean, what could be better than 45 mins to 1 hour of banter between smart, funny hosts Rob Long, Peter Robinson, and Mark Steyn? How about some great guests as well...Thus far they have had John Yoo (twice!), Andrew Breitbart (twice!!), Gov Mitch Daniels, Mike Murphy, Gov Haley Barbour, and John Hinderaker. Based on what I have heard thus far, it must be a guest requirement to have a sense of humor, which is always a good thing to have around this trio of hosts.

Go give it a listen..I think you will enjoy.

College Students Laid Off

Out in California, the usual rabble of lefty, anarchic students are throwing a tantrum because their universities are cutting budgets.

One interesting note from a protest by UC Davis students:

Police arrested Laura Mitchell, a fifth-year women's studies major, who lead the crowd on the march using a bullhorn. Mitchell is accused of failing to disperse.

This is an good example of how many of these lefties are professional students (Really, does it take 5 years to finish a women's studies degree program?).

So in a sense, if they can't go to UC Davis anymore they are not just losing an education, they are really getting laid off.

I suppose this *is* a crisis for the left, given that it may deny them access to comfortable student lounges. I can see the headline now...."University Budgets Cut - Leftists and Slackers Hardest Hit"