Archive for category analysis
Exit Barney Frank
Posted by Bruce Kaskubar in analysis, news on November 29, 2011
The Editors at National Review Online reflect on Barney Frank’s retirement.
Tim Penny disappointed in Tim Walz
Posted by Bruce Kaskubar in analysis on October 29, 2010
On his Making Sense radio show, today, Tim Penny lambasted Tim Walz for dishonest campaigning and personal attacks.
The First District can’t let Tim Walz fool them again
Posted by Bruce Kaskubar in analysis, video on October 27, 2010
Lars, Steve, Tim
Posted by Bruce Kaskubar in analysis, news on October 19, 2010
Lars Johnson is running for Congress as the Party-free candidate. In an email to supporters, he stated, “I only need 26% to win this race… This can happen!”
Mathematically, a candidate in a 4-way race can win with 26%. But in this race, Democrats and Republicans have bases that exceed 25%. So, 26% will not win this contest. It’s probably going to take at least 47%. In the recent KSTP/SurveyUSA poll, Johnson carried 1%.
How much is anyone willing to bet that Johnson can grow his support by a factor of 47 (4,600%) in two weeks? Similarly, how many think that Steve Wilson’s support will increase by a factor of 12 (1,100%)?
In a race as close as this seems to be, it appears that Johnson and Wilson supporters can only help Tim Walz win. And it looks like Walz thinks so, too. He was wooing Wilson at Rochester’s Wednesday debate. It looked like an attempt to get Demmer voters to consider Wilson. That’s a winning tactic for Walz.
Tim Walz’s NRA Endorsement
Posted by Bruce Kaskubar in analysis on October 12, 2010
RedState has some reactions to the NRA’s endorsement of Tim Walz. The NRA gave both Walz and Demmer their A rating. But the NRA prefers incumbents for endorsement.
The Gun Owners of America, GOA, gave Walz a D rating while Randy Demmer gets an A.
Department of Justice ditches red, white and blue stars and stripes
Posted by Bruce Kaskubar in analysis on August 31, 2010
American Thinker noticed a change at the Department of Justice’s web site.
Why would anyone think our President is a Marxist?
A few questions for climate alarmists
Posted by Bruce Kaskubar in analysis, columnist on May 15, 2010
Paul Driessen has some questions at Townhall.com.
Our Congressman, Tim Walz, already voted for the House version of this legislation. In his recent spate of glossy mailings to constituents, he says he’s concerned about our federal budget deficit and about job creation. Yet, if this legislation becomes law, the planet will not be saved, energy will be more expensive for Americans, and everything that relies on energy will be more expensive (unless produced outside of the U.S.). For all of us, that means we can afford less of everything (or have fewer jobs). That means we need less production of everything. That means fewer jobs. That means less tax revenue for the government. That means more pressure on government deficits.
Democrats like Tim Walz are either incapable of connecting the dots — fools — or unwilling to expose the dots — dishonest. In any case, what Tim Walz claims to be concerned about and what Tim Walz votes for are two different things.
The Dollar’s Inevitable Demise
Posted by Bruce Kaskubar in analysis, columnist on May 4, 2010
Vasko Kohlmayer writes about our national debt at American Thinker. An excerpt:
The White House Office of Management and Budget estimated that at the end of 2010, the national debt will breach the $14 trillion mark. This means that America’s sovereign debt will soon equal the annual output of our economy. History shows that most governments that reach such levels of debt are ultimately unable to contain them. In most cases, this leads to the disintegration of the country’s monetary regime and the collapse of its currency.
While I agree with Mr. Kohlmayer’s economics, I disagree with his believes that our nation’s collapse is inevitable. Inevitable means it’s too late for hope and change; that we may as well bend over and kiss ourselves goodbye. Our spending is completely out of control. The Obama/Pelosi/Reid spending is a completely different phenomenon than Bush 43’s. It is not too late but we have to make big moves, soon.
Removing members of Congress that believe in programs such as government stimulus, cash for clunkers, cap and trade, increased government health care, emboldened labor unions, and constricted job makers is the right way to start.
Shenanigans in federal healthcare reform
Posted by Bruce Kaskubar in analysis on March 18, 2010
I’d like to emphasize a point made by Rochester’s Fran Bradley in his Medicare article.
He mentioned efforts to address Medicare fraud and abuse. The monster ObamaCare legislation includes such measures. The shenanigan, the disgusting political reality of it, is this…
Fraud and abuse in an existing system should be dealt with as quickly as it can possibly be identified and corrected. Right?
Not in ObamaCare’s Washington. Oh no. You see, reducing fraud and abuse reduces healthcare costs. Those reductions are needed in the ObamaCare legislation to help the CBO run the numbers in a way that show ObamaCare reducing the deficit. Take the fixes to fraud and abuse out of ObamaCare and it no longer reduces the deficit.
On the other hand, proposed Medicare changes actually related to ObamaCare were taken out and passed as separate legislation. Why? Because they added over $200 billion of cost to ObamaCare. Taking that expense out was an other way of fixing the CBO math.
So, fraud and abuse that should be fixed as quickly as possible and that have nothing to do with ObamaCare are in ObamaCare (waiting for a year to be passed) while costly bits related to ObamaCare are taken out and fast-tracked.
What a bunch of crap from a bunch of crappy people.
A Perfect Storm of Ignorance
Posted by Bruce Kaskubar in analysis, columnist on March 13, 2010
This is fantastic. Jeffrey Friedman writes in the Cato Policy Report about the history and effects of regulations on the banks, regulators, rating companies, and (of course) us, particularly related to the housing bubble and subsequent banking collapse. If you can’t stand the details, stick with it for the nature of the beast.