Barack Obama's rhetoric about the economy in recent days has been a blizzard of excuses, euphemisms, denials, and scapegoating attacks. Notice that Democrats are more upset that he is caricaturing Las Vegas than Wall Street. By telling people not to "blow" their money in casinos, Obama is killing business there, they say. But what about demonizing and discrediting bankers and "fat cat" employers? How is that good for business and job seekers who depend upon them? Obama's sophomoric reliance on quasi-Marxist fragments, clichés, and favored villains in the place of real economic thought explain his ill-considered gibes at Nevada and New York. Obama is hurting business all around, even for allies at his unofficial headquarters, MSNBC. Keith Olbermann's ratings, according to reports, have plunged under the weight of anti-Obama ennui. "You don't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas," says Obama. No, you do it with him in D.C. What's "greed" in the private sector counts as "good government" in the public sector. It is always more virtuous to waste other people's money than your own. Many people use Microsoft Office 2007 to help their work and life.The mayor of Las Vegas calls Obama a "slow learner" now that he taken two swipes at the city's economy. Left-wing ideologue would have been a more polite way of putting it. Unfortunately, Obama's problem goes beyond business-killing comments to business-killing policies. Hire more people, he urges businessmen while saddling them with new taxes and regulations. He wants companies to "invest" and "grow" while telling Americans to view them as polluting profit machines.
WASHINGTON -- Irving Kristol, the recently deceased godfather of neoconservatism, once said to me, "Fairness is not a Liberal value." I thought about his asseveration while observing the Liberals' colossal indignation over conservative activist James O'Keefe's entry under false pretenses into the district offices of Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.). O'Keefe is the merry prankster who entered the offices of the left-wing community action group ACORN under the false pretense of being a pimp. Repeatedly and in ACORN offices across the country the ACORNiacs counseled this faux pimp on how to be a successful sex entrepreneur. He taped them! The tapes exposed ACORN for the criminal enterprise it has become. O'Keefe became a hero to some conservatives but a scoundrel to all Liberals. Office 2007 download is on sale now!Now O'Keefe is under threat of indictment for bringing a couple of fellow pranksters into Senator Landrieu's office, though he has toned down his act. This time his associates claimed only to be employees of the telephone company, which I guess is understandable. One would not expect a United States senator's staff to counsel young men on success in the sex trade. For that matter, I doubt that the senator's staff would even counsel them on phone sex. Rather it appears that O'Keefe wanted surreptitiously to film Landrieu staffers working the telephones. His intent had something to do with a controversy about telephone callers not getting through to Landrieu's office. At any rate, all hell has broken loose because O'Keefe and his faux telephone repairmen were up to something tricky on federal property. Now if they claimed to be members of a protest movement and were disorderly in a senator's office, Liberals would remain tranquil. In fact. Liberals did remain tranquil when this happened at Senator Lieberman's office last November. Or if they claimed to be environmentalists they could disrupt a member of Congress's office with no Liberal outrage. This happened in 1997 in Congressman Frank Riggs's office. Or for that matter they might claim to be associates of filmmaker Michael Moore and disrupt various congressional offices with cameras and microphones and general unpleasantness. Liberals have a double standard when it comes to political protest or even political parody. We have seen this unfairness for over a generation. During the youth rebellion of the late 1960s (and it was the youth rebellion of left-wing youths -- most 1960s youths were conservative and in 1972 the youth vote went to Richard Nixon), the Yippies's coarse and often criminal mischief was applauded by Liberals as idealistic, heroic, and amusing. At the time it became fashionable among left-wing youths on college campuses to ambush "establishment" speakers at public lectures with a pie in the face, no matter how old or decrepit or unaware the poor lecturer might be. I cannot recall one pie heaver ever being denounced as a violent assailant -- though all of them were.
A Federal Offense2The nominee is Craig Becker, who, at least until recently, was longtime associate general counsel to SEIU. Becker is considered radical in part because he believes that "employers should have no role in the unionization process," according to Brian Johnson, executive director of the Alliance for Worker Freedom. Office 2007 key is available here.During a hearing Tuesday by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked Becker this question: "Do you perform work for and provide advice to ACORN or ACORN-affiliated groups while employed by your current employers or on a volunteer basis?" Becker responded, "Senator McCain, I have never done so." But that answer -- that Becker "never" provided advice "to ACORN or ACORN-affiliated groups" -- is demonstrably false. Evidence abounds that he gave advice to SEIU Local 880, which, as I will show below, was part and parcel of ACORN before it merged with another SEIU bargaining unit. As the Wall Street Journal noted, Becker acknowledged previously that he had "worked with and provided advice" to Local 880. And in a blog post last April, ACORN founder Wade Rathke couldn't help bragging about Becker's NLRB nomination, calling it "a big win no matter how you shake and bake it." So far the only race the Democrats have likely taken off the table is Connecticut. Sen. Chris Dodd was a deeply unpopular incumbent with almost no hope of winning re-election. When Dodd stepped aside in favor of state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the Democrats' hopes of retaining the seat were aided immensely. But even there, the Republican field still includes a popular former congressman and a former wrestling executive who can finance her own campaign to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. The national GOP still has huge problems. It is benefiting more from luck and Democratic missteps than anything positive Republicans have done. But some of those problems -- Republicans are leaderless and directionless -- are actually positives now that Democrats are in decline. There is no clear leader like George W. Bush or Newt Gingrich to attack; there are no identifiable policies like Iraq or "risky Social Security schemes" to campaign against. Can Republicans retake the Senate this November? A smart man would have to bet against it. Of course, a
Even in states where Republicans have failed to recruit first-tier candidates, Democrats are trailing. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is down by double digits in Nevada, even though GOP recruiters were unable to talk Rep. Dean Heller into the race. Although no Republican of Mike Huckabee's stature is thinking of challenging Sen. Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas, she is already trailing by double digits too. Republicans face contentious primaries in Florida, Kentucky, California, and New Hampshire. But in most cases, either candidate would be competitive in the general election. The toughest of these is California, where Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer's numbers are not awe-inspiring. Republicans are even or slightly ahead in Ohio and Missouri, both considered possible Democratic pick-ups initially. Microsoft Office 2007 is welcomed by the whole world. "Republicans are solidly ahead to take at least five seats now held by Democrats -- in North Dakota, Delaware, Nevada, Arkansas and Pennsylvania," writes pollster John Zogby. "Five more are now considered winnable -- Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and even liberal New York. Two other races, in California and Washington, are tightening daily." To win back the Senate, Republicans would have to run the table: capture all the at-risk Democratic seats while retaining all of their own. That's a tall order. But in recent election cycles, Senate races have overwhelmingly favored one party over the other. In 2004, Colorado's Ken Salazar was the only Democrat to win a competitive Senate race. Two years later, Tennessee's Bob Corker was the only Republican to do so. Democrats effectively ran the table in 2008, falling short only in their reach states of Georgia, Mississippi, and Kentucky. When the Republicans were in trouble, Democrats could easily recruit candidates like Jim Webb, Jon Tester, and Mark Warner. Now that the pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction, Republicans can make appeals to Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin, George Pataki in New York, and Dino Rossi in Washington. Consider it a snowball effect Republicans must hope turns into an avalanche.
CHINA faces a key challenge of unwinding stimulus measures and easing credit expansion as it pushes ahead with rapid economic growth, the IMF said. The International Monetary Fund also said that a stronger Chinese currency following Beijing's recent decision to let the yuan trade more freely would help the country shift from dependence on exports and investment to private consumption as the primary driver of growth."The policy challenge now is to calibrate the pace and sequencing of exit from the fiscal stimulus and credit expansion, while making further progress in reorienting the economy toward private consumption,'' the Washington-based IMF said in a report after annual consultations with China.The IMF's executive directors supported a "gradual phase out of the fiscal stimulus in 2011, provided the current trajectory for the economy is maintained,'' the report said.Office 2007 makes life great!Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/breaking-news/winding-back-spending-chinas-challenge-imf/story-e6frfkur-1225897985763#ixzz0uwiIG7DkChina in 2008 unveiled a $US586 billion ($649.85 billion) stimulus package along with big tax breaks to boost domestic spending as the global slump bit following a financial crisis stemming from a US mortgage meltdown.The stimulus policies had sparked concerns of overheating and inflation, with even the Government warning of overcapacity in some key sectors.The IMF prodded China to take additional steps to cool its red-hot real estate market, including possible introduction of a property tax.It also suggested broader financial market development to provide alternative savings vehicles for people.The IMF executive board appeared divided over the yuan issue amid charges that the currency remains vastly undervalued against the US dollar despite a June 19 announcement by the Chinese central bank to let the yuan trade more freely.Since the decision, the yuan, which had been effectively pegged at 6.8 to the US dollar since mid-2008, has appreciated less than one per cent.Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/breaking-news/winding-back-spending-chinas-challenge-imf/story-e6frfkur-1225897985763#ixzz0u
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