Labor Secretary: Use those Unemployment Benefits to start new businesses

It's typically not a good idea to use pejoratives when making arguments against those with opposing views. Then again, there comes a point when you're actually lying by NOT using them. In this case, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is an idiot and an argument can be made that it's not even a pejorative; it's a statement of fact.

At the end of this clip, you will hear her say that she wants people to use their "UI" (Unemployment Insurance) benefits to start new businesses.

Idiot, right?

Via Washington Free Beacon:



There are generally two groups of people who rely on unemployment benefits. One group has no desire to be productive and wants the government to take care of them. Does anyone honestly think those people are going to take interest in suddenly becoming productive when they get the benefits for doing nothing? The second group of people are those who are using every cent of those benefits to pay for necessities like food and rent. In light of the rising food and gas prices - which are not calculated in the inflation index - does anyone for a minute think such people are going to prioritize starting a new business over feeding their families?

Like I said, idiot.

Then again, maybe she's doing her Jim Carrey impression in Fun with Dick and Jane. After thinking he was getting a promotion, Carrey's character found himself to be nothing more than the company's fall guy with the media.



h/t WZ

Video: Newt in 2008 on Freddie Mac

Here is Newt in 2008 explaining how pathetically poor the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were. Note at the very beginning that Newt issues a full disclosure about doing work for Freddie. He then goes on to chastise both institutions.

There have been a lot of past videos of Newt that have come back to haunt him during this election season. This is one that should do the opposite.



h/t Free Republic

Ruh Roh: How much do Solyndra and the Chevy Volt have in Common?

I must admit, I'm more than mildly surprised by how quickly the Solyndra scandal that seems to be entrapping the White House is catching fire. Perhaps because it strikes at the heart of what awakened the Tea Party in early 2009 - the stimulus bill. We are now seeing the bitter fruit from that monstrosity. A much bigger problem could be the very likely possibility that what happened at Solyndra is going to happen elsewhere. The Chevy Volt may just be the next gleaming pile of excrement.

Via National Legal and Policy Center:

The story of bankrupt solar company, Solyndra, has turned into a major scandal for the Obama Administration as questions arise about the government's free spending of taxpayer money on failing so-called green initiatives. A $535 million federal loan was initially rushed through for the company as Obama touted Solyndra as being a prime example of how the bold new green-energy driven economy would create jobs while saving the environment. Now the results bring into question how dangerous the green economy strategy may be.

1,100 jobs were created at Solyndra at a cost to taxpayers of about half a million dollars per job. Both the jobs and the money are now gone. White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, dismissed the failure by pointing out that there are no guarantees in the business world. Well here's a novel thought; ventures that are getting taxpayer money poured into them should actually be able to make a profit and eventually stand on their own. Dumping billions of taxpayer dollars into money losing green ideas like Solyndra, as well as on the dismally selling Chevy Volt, does nothing to help the economy or the environment.

A recent Reuters' article [1] points out that the auto industry is relying on fleets to support sales of plug-in vehicles like the Chevy Volt. In a nutshell, this means that government agencies (along with cronies at GE) will use taxpayer funds to purchase Chevy Volts that have been widely rejected by retail consumers. All to support a vehicle that was developed using billions of dollars of that same taxpayer money. Not even the most naïve, green energy supporting apologist for the Volt can legitimately debate that the car is not profitable for General Motors. Former car czar, Steven Rattner, admitted that the vehicle had "commercial clay feet" and would not be profitable for GM in the foreseeable future. Yet this is not stopping the continued wastefulness of our government's taxpayer subsidized support for the vehicle as well as for a future Cadillac version of the car.

The author goes on to point out that the taxpayer dollars wasted at Solyndra pale in comparison to those wasted on the Chevy Volt and wonders why there isn't far more outrage about the money pit that is the latter as opposed to the former. Though he doesn't go here, the political climate that is forming right now, in the wake of the recent NY 9 election that saw Anthony Weiner's old seat go Republican, may just get us there.

h/t Fox Nation

Video: Judge Judy Exposes Parasite, Vows to send Tape to Congress

Just to set this up. Judge Judy is presiding over a dispute between a man (in age only) named Duane Brooks, Jr. and his apparent older girlfriend. Somehow, Brooks managed to get $450 / month from the government in rent allowance. However, he wasn't putting it toward rent. In his words, he was using it on himself. Though he signed a lease with his girlfriend, he expected her to cover the full amount of the rent. Even after Judge Judy breaks it all down in the simplest of terms for Mr. Brooks, he still doesn't comprehend where the $450 comes from, how it should be spent, or why.

Freakin' amazing. Kudos to Judge Judy for pledging to send the exchange to Congress.



h/t Sharp Elbows

Video: Tea Party Freshmen Rips Tim Geithner

Here is yet another example of how the Tea Party's voice was heard last November. Check out this exchange between Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) and Treasury doofus Timothy Geithner. I'm not sure what the most inexplicable thing to come out of Geithner's mouth was but among them was his assertion that we have 'unsustainable deficits.' DUH! Timmy, remember that uneducated Tea Party? They've been sounding these alarm bells for years now, while this administration has been spending like crack addicts with money. The other argument Geithner attempts to make is that if spending cuts are implemented, government would 'shrink.' That would be bad how?

Our politicians and bureaucrats are finally having to pay the piper and they don't like it. Unfortunately, the piper will take it out on all of us. The American people are not being sold out; we've BEEN sold out.

Via CNS News:



h/t Weasel Zippers

AUDIO: HOUSTON TALK SHOW HOST GOES OFF!

Houston's big AM talk station, KTRH 740 has an afternoon drive talk show host named Michael Berry. He's definitely one of the good guys and a very strong conservative. If you are not inspired after this rant, there's not much anyone can do for you. Berry hits on a common theme by mocking those who say they want to get involved but don't know what to do. His response is not one I've heard before but I really like it. He RIPS them for not being able to figure it out on their own.

He basically rips the Tea Partiers for not being angry enough. Awesome. Scary, but awesome.

h/t to Barrackaid #3

VIDEO: NJ GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE SCHOOLS ANOTHER TEACHER

Notwithstanding Christie's inexplicable endorsement of Delaware RINO candidate for Senate, Mike Castle over Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell, he continues to be on the right side in the fight against teachers unions. In this exchange, the immaturity of this teacher's kids appears to have rubbed off on her a bit and Christie calls her on it. After finishing her rather lengthy diatribe, the woman is seen shaking her head in disgust, while giggling to demonstrate her disagreement with Christie's response.

After being put in her place, Christie delivers a response no rational human being could disagree with; the fact this teacher does, even up to the end, speaks directly to how rational she is.

This was a verbal paddling.



h/t to Hot Air

VIDEO: MILTON FRIEDMAN NAILS IT....IN 1977

Where to begin, where to begin. The relevant quotes thirty-three years later just rolled off of Friedman's tongue. Whether it's the notion that no man spends another man's money better than he spends his own or the underlying theme of 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions', Friedman got it. He also had the interviewer eating out of the palm of his hand, in spite of what that interviewer may have intended.

There are just some arguments that cannot be argued. Friedman delivers one here.



h/t to Jawa

VIDEO: LABOR SECRETARY VINDICATES JOE WILSON

Obama Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is featured in a 30 second PSA, in which she blatantly says that undocumented workers (illegal aliens) in the United States should be paid honest wages. How ironic. Solis is overtly advocating that illegal alien workers should feel justified in demanding something they're not eligible for in the first place, not to mention her outward rejection the law of the land while encouraging the furtherance of illegal behavior on the part of employers.

If this message isn't sanctioned by the White House, Solis should be fired. The fact she is not is actually an indictment of the Obama administration. Technically speaking, Solis is overtly advocating law-breaking. See for yourself and then let's talk Joe Wilson.



We all remember Joe Wilson's two famous words on September 9, 2009. He yelled, "You Lie!" directly at Obama. Do you remember what Obama said that Wilson specifically responded to? Wilson took umbrage with Obama's claim that his health care plan would not pay for illegals. In light of Solis' remarks that illegals working in the United States should be paid fairly - and assuming Obama agrees with her - why wouldn't health care apply as well?

Wilson continues to age like a fine wine...



h/t to Hot Air

VIDEO: JOE BARTON'S JOE WILSON MOMENT

Not only do Representative's Joe Barton (R-TX) and Joe Wilson (R-SC) share the same first name but they also now share something else in common. Both were chastised by leaders within their own party for speaking the truth. In the case of Wilson, one might argue that whether he was right or not, calling the president a liar during a joint session of congress was over the line and a breech of protocol. I guess we're supposed to ignore the fact that Wilson was proven right countless times since and consequently, his two words - 'you lie' - have been aging like a fine.

At a House Committee hearing on June 17th designed to give BP Executive Tony Hayward a political flogging while simultaneously giving U.S. Representatives the opportunity to grandstand as oil continues spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, Barton seemed to channel Wilson, stating the uncomfortable truth. He called the $20 Billion escrow fund BP was ordered by Barack Obama to create a "shakedown" and "slush fund". He also apologized to Hayward for it. The Democrats immediately went into shrill-mode, decrying Barton's comments.

Now, House Minority leader John Boehner is leading the charge of Republican House leaders in doing to Barton what John McCain and other Republicans did to Joe Wilson - turning on him for speaking the truth and forcing Barton to apologize.

Via Politico:

Showing just how involved Republican leadership was in damage control over Barton’s comments today, the retraction was forwarded to the media by House Minority Leader John Boehner’s office. Moments after Boehner’s office publicized Barton’s retraction, Boehner, Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) sent out a statement condemning Barton.

“Congressman Barton’s statements this morning were wrong,” the GOP leadership trio said in a rare joint statement. “BP itself has acknowledged that responsibility for the economic damages lies with them and has offered an initial pledge of $20 billion dollars for that purpose. The families and businesspeople in the Gulf region want leadership, accountability and action from BP and the Administration.”

These are the same leaders who've no doubt seen what this administration has done with money it has control over. Boehner himself once said, "Oh, my God" in reference to a previous shakedown.

Republican leadership once again shows that when forced to play a game of chicken with Democrats, it always bows out. Here are Barton's comments.



h/t to Big Journalism for the video

VIDEO: THIS COULD BE OBAMA'S OIL-LOO

In a warehouse in Maine, miles and miles of oil containment booms are sitting idle. The company who makes them says no one will come pick them up, despite BP being notified of their existence. As if that weren't enough, the company - Packgen - says it has the capacity to make many more. Meanwhile, Barack Obama goes on television to defend himself against un-named 'talking heads' who suggest he isn't doing enough, while proclaiming he needs to know 'whose ass to kick'.

Packgen is demonstrating in a very tangible way, what free market capitalism is all about. Oil booms are not even what they specialize in but after the rig explosion, the company's president saw a need and attempted to fill it. It was the quintessential example of entrepreneurship.

Via Pajamas Media:

Packgen’s main business is not making oil boom. They make specialty packaging materials for shipping and storing environmentally sensitive materials. But when Packgen’s president, John Lapoint, saw the BP oil spill in the news, he understood right away that to have any hope of containing the oil drifting towards the shoreline, lots of floating boom would be necessary.

Free market capitalism at work is a win/win for everyone. However, in this case, that free market capitalism ran into a corporate bureaucracy and Big Government incompetence, which ends up being a lose/lose for everyone.

Packgen took a risk based on a clear need. BP will not purchase the booms from them because they're not an approved vendor. BP suffers because it can't work around its own bureaucracy in a time of crisis; Obama suffers because he won't "kick" his own "ass" to get the booms down to the Gulf; countless industries like tourism and fishing suffer because the oil continues to come ashore; Packgen suffers because BP won't purchase something they desperately need and Packgen is willing to provide. Consequently, the company bleeds money like BP bleeds oil.

Once they started making the boom, Packgen got to be quite good at it:

Maine, like the rest of the country, is suffering from very high unemployment. But its residents aren’t out of work because they aren’t useful; they’re useful, but out of work because there’s nothing much useful to do. Lapoint was able to immediately add two shifts of competent and motivated workers, and by the fourth day of production was making forty thousand feet of boom a day.

What have the private sector champions been screaming about most? Government is a hindrance and needs to get out of the way. If there is a silver lining in all of this, perhaps a very real and tangible example like the one on display here will be it. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has been screaming at a big government bureaucracy that has been ignoring his pleas, likely for political reasons. If the government would let the private sector work, perhaps Jindal would have been listened to.

Even the Governor of Maine is trying to help by visiting the Packgen warehouse to call public attention to it. In a video, Gov. Baldacci offered encouragement to the Packgen workers, telling them they were doing excellent work and thanking them for their efforts.

The governor of Maine, John Baldacci, visited the facility and made a video plea to no one in particular to close the deal. Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins wrote a letter on May 21 to the secretary of the Interior, the administrator of NOAA, and the commandant of the Coast Guard to alert them to the existence of Packgen, their supply of boom, and their demonstrated capacity to make more. I have no idea if those are the correct persons and agencies to notify about the manufacturing capacity and the availability of boom. One wonders if the senators know.

A clearer example of the failings of Centralized planning, bureaucracy, and socialist policies you will not find.

Video of Baldacci talking to the Packgen workers via Gateway Pundit:



Senator Jim DeMint thought the health care debate might be Obama's "Waterloo". It's looking more and more like his Waterloo may actually involve red tape, red ink, and oil. Too bad it's at the expense of the country he was elected to lead.

Don't look now but Big Government and Bureaucracy is getting its A$$ kicked.

READ IT ALL

VIDEO: O'KEEFE GOES AFTER THE CENSUS

From the guy who took down ACORN - James O'Keefe - we see courtesy of another one of his video expose's that the U.S. Census is more concerned with pleasing those in its employ than it is in paying for an honest day's work. O'Keefe, who got a job with the U.S. Census discovered that his bosses were much more frivolous with taxpayer dollars than private sector business owners would be with their own.

Welcome to the inherent problems of socialism. The upside for the Census workers is that they think their bosses are "cool". The downside for taxpayers is that they're getting ripped off. Not only is O'Keefe informed that he is to fill out his time sheet before his work is completed but he is dismissed early without having to correct his time sheet. He then complains, as a conscientious worker, only to find several levels of management all too eager to tell him to sweep his concerns under the rug.

Via Big Government:



Subsequent to the above video being released, O'Keefe and Breitbart appeared on ABC's Good Morning America. Watch as George Stephanopolous refers to O'Keefe as an "activist" instead of as a "journalist". Don't tell anyone but the mainstream media is like the wicked witch of the west and doesn't know it's drenched with water.



h/t to Big Gov't

VIDEO: TEA PARTY MOVEMENT GAINING

Polls are showing that the American people more closely identify with the tea party movement than with either the Republican or Democrat parties. This video montage of a tea party in Los Angeles underscores that point. It would appear that the biggest tent might just be one that doesn't have an "R" or "D" on the front door.

I'm not advocating a third party but I am saying that Republican elites like David Frum need to finally lose in the arena of ideas.



h/t to INSTAPUNDIT

VIDEO: THE GOVERNMENT CAN

I am not a big fan of parodies so when one comes along that I decide to post, it's darn good. Superb! This one from Tim Hawkins. My favorite line? "They mix it up with lies and make it all taste good. The Government. The Government can."

Maybe he's overstating it by saying the government can tax the sunrise but relax, things take time.



h/t to HOT AIR

Two REALLY FROZEN Hams

UPDATE: We have an update on HAM-GATE. Obviously the wording of the invoice was so over-the-top that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack felt he had to clarify. His statement all but conceded that the wording of the invoice was poor. He reached out to the Drudge report to clear away the mayo

The references to "2 pound frozen ham sliced" are to the sizes of the packaging. Press reports suggesting that the Recovery Act spent $1.191 million to buy "2 pounds of ham" are wrong. In fact, the contract in question purchased 760,000 pounds of ham for $1.191 million, at a cost of approximately $1.50 per pound.

Gateway Pundit provides a link to Food Lion which sells sliced ham for $.79.

Note: if you can't see the price per pound on the Food Lion site, it mysteriously vanished after a link to it was posted on Drudge.

Yes, that's a difference of $.71 / lb. That Government machine is SO efficient, isn't it?

---------------------------


How much do you think it costs to slice two frozen hams? Before you answer, imagine them as frozen as they could possibly be. So frozen that if we catapulted them toward the sun, the earth would actually begin cooling not just because two of the most dangerously frozen hams would no longer be among us but because they'd cause the sun itself to cool. We're talkin' hams so frozen, you'd get frostbite just looking at them.

Have no fear, the Obama government took care of it and guess what? They were able to complete the daunting task of slicing two severely frozen hams in just over two months and just shy of $1.2 Million!

Don't believe me? Check out a copy of the invoice right here.

And you thought your tax dollars were being wasted. Shame on you.



h/t to Gateway Pundit