Been busy with my daytime job...

I've been busy with work, but alas I will be blogging again today or tomorrow. So much material to talk about. Not sure where to start... I'm considering the "Ground Zero" Mosque, but not from the most direct angle. Stay tuned...

When you can't win on ideas, you resort to ad hominem and other absurd attacks, Part 2

Previously, the St. Louis Daily Conservative wrote a piece about ad hominem attacks and other ridiculous lines of attack being employed in lieu of actual winning ideas. It was noted, that two of most common strategies employed since the 2008 election were blaming Bush for all negative news and blaming criticism of Obama on racism.

When you can't win on ideas... (Part 1)

As a follow-piece, I am exploring the upcoming midterm elections. If you've noticed, the Democrats party has realized that people are not buying their solutions so much anymore. Obama's approval is averaging 44.8% with a net -5.2% approval.

On a number of issues they are and the losing side of public opinion. The "stimulus" package which was sold as keeping employment below 8.0%, has failed miserably in that regard with employment keeping near 10% for the last number of months.

In this environment, the incumbent party and their candidates have little to build themselves up on and instead must try to must rely on trying to personally discredit their opponents by any means possible to minimize their losses.

Rand Paul was accused of kidnapping a female student while he was in college and forcing her to smoke pot against her will. We later find out the story was about a silly college prank which they never appeared to contact the "victim" about before running with the story:

Desperate Democrats

...GQ magazine reported that Rand Paul, the Republican Senate candidate in Kentucky, had “kidnapped” a female student while he was in college, the story was widely disseminated by the media. Later, the “victim” came forward to explain there was no kidnapping, only a college prank that she went along with willingly. Despite its short life, the story distracted attention from bigger issues.

A NOTED CONSERVATIVE EXTREMIST?

The Democrats and the shills in the media are happy to bash Linda McMahon and wresting:

The National Anthem is a Demonstration?

In a story perhaps rivaling the idiocy of misguided zero tolerance enforcement, a group of students who spontaneously decided to sing the national anthem at the Lincoln Memorial, were ordered by a security guard to stop singing it.

Apparently, regulations are such that displays such as in the area by the memorial they were located are considered a demonstration. Great message to send to our students. Instead of encouraging love and reverence for country, a federal bureaucracy decided to make an issue out of it.

Apparently, the boy scouts weren't available to be ridiculed... ;-)

Students Told to Stop Singing National Anthem at Lincoln Memorial

A group of high school students attending a conservative leadership conference in Washington, D.C. said they were ordered by a security guard to stop singing the national anthem during a June 25 visit to the Lincoln Memorial.

“They told them to stop singing,” said Evan Gassman, a spokesman for the Young America’s Foundation. “I was taken aback. You wouldn’t expect a display of national patriotism to be censored."

U.S. Park Police confirmed that the students were in violation of federal law and their impromptu performance constituted a demonstration in an area that must remain “completely content neutral.”

“The area they were standing in and singing is an area that is restricted for this type of activity,” said Sgt. David Schlosser. “The United States Park Police is absolutely content-neutral when it comes to any sort of demonstrations in these areas.”

FOOLING ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME

Is the U.S. really bankrupt? What we all intuitively know.

How to solve the federal deficit/debt problem (poll).
Americans intuitively know that we are in a world of hurt with our national debt and annual deficits. We don't necessarily know exact numbers or how exactly our debt and deficits affect us on a micro level. However, anyone who has ever had to make a budget and/or taken out a line of credit or two understands these basic notions:

1) When you buy on credit you eventually have to pay it back. The longer you take to pay it back, the more it will cost.

2) Credit is a double edge sword: too much credit begets the need for more credit. Eventually, you will be working just to keep the debt current.

3) When you have too much debt, your future is at risk. Your ability to borrow is squeezed, your ability to keep what you have is at risk and your ability to provide for others is more limited.

In any case, few truly appreciate the concept of debt in the trillions. Whether it is 1 trillion or 10 trillion. However, they know it is an absurdly large number. When we break it down to the following, most people start to understand the gravity of the problem.

Per capita debt:

The national debt equates to $30,400 per person U.S. population, or $60,100 per member of the U.S. working population,[36] as of February 2008.

In any case, most people know without hearing exact figures, that between social security, Medicare and Medicaid our unfunded liability to seniors in in the next generation will be crushing and probably unsustainable. This begs the question: are we effectively bankrupt now?
I think Mr. Kotlikoff makes an excellent argument in favor of that hypothesis.

Between the financial crash of 2008, the downturn that followed and between the endless bailouts and 'stimulus', people are pushing back against the runaway train of debt. It's pretty clear we will have to endure pain now to avoid it compounded more later...

U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don't Even Know It: Laurence Kotlikoff

Let’s get real. The U.S. is bankrupt. Neither spending more nor taxing less will help the country pay its bills.