February 1-11, 2019

Feb 01 09:57 What shutdown?

Feb 02 09:48 Death to America Democrats

Feb 04 09:54 Will wimpy Dems stand up to Pelosi?

Feb 08 01:17 I'm back (for a while)
Feb 08 02:03 SOTU recap

Feb 10 07:14 Why Amy Klobuchar?
Feb 10 11:04 Ilhan Omar's border insecurity plan

Feb 11 14:07 Ilhan Omar's anti-Semitism

Prior Months: Jan

Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

What shutdown?

During the partial government shutdown, we were told that the economy was getting hurt. It's possible that might still be the case but this morning's jobs report didn't provide proof of that:

Job growth in January shattered expectations, with nonfarm payrolls surging by 304,000 despite a partial government shutdown that was the longest in history, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The unemployment rate ticked higher to 4 percent, a level where it had last been in June, a likely effect of the shutdown, according to the department. However, officials said federal workers generally were counted as employed during the period because they received pay during the survey week of Jan. 12. On balance, federal government employment actually rose by 1,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected payrolls to rise by 170,000 and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.9 percent.

Simply put, the doom and gloom that was forecast by Democrats didn't materialize. Instead, Larry Kudlow's prediction that the economy would remain strong proved true.

This is why politicians shouldn't talk about the economy:


Now Sen. Schumer will be able to dine on a major helping of crow at next Tuesday's SOTU Address. Earlier this week, Sen. Schumer told President Trump to stay out of the negotiations and leave the governing to the Senate. After this jobs report, which blew away the expectations by 140,000 jobs (304,000 actual vs. 165,000 forecast), Sen. Schumer should stick to what he does best -- whining while wearing bad-fitting glasses.

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi issued this statement :

The January jobs report holds some encouraging news, but it belies the lasting financial damage that the Trump Shutdown has inflicted on hundreds of thousands of Americans across the nation. Federal workers, many of them veterans, saw their financial security shaken, their credit ratings harmed, and their lives upended by the longest shutdown in history. And now, with families still hurting, President Trump refuses to take a second senseless shutdown off the table.

Meanwhile, House Republicans overwhelmingly voted against a pay raise for federal civilian workers, refusing to respect the perseverance and patriotism of the men and women who were just furloughed or forced to work without pay. This consistently callous GOP attitude disrespects workers, dishonors our values and damages our economy.

House Democrats are working For The People, moving forward with our bold agenda to lower health costs, raise workers' wages, and restore integrity to government. We must keep government open, and keep working to deliver an economy that works for every American, not just the wealthy and well-connected few.

What financial damage? I don't see it. Next, getting told that Democrats "are working For The People" is a little like being told that arsonists are assisting firefighters. There just isn't a ring of truth to it. Finally, saying that the "GOP attitude" is damaging the economy is BS. The economy isn't damaged.

Posted Friday, February 1, 2019 9:57 AM

Comment 1 by Chad Q at 01-Feb-19 05:50 PM
Why would a federal worker miss a doctors appt because the government was shutdown? If you missed a payment because you didn't get paid, it probably wasn't the first time so it probably was no concern to most.



Trump can pay the federal contractors with money that shouldn't be going to federal workers, especially those who have been cited for sexual misconduct at work.



Progressive's couldn't care less about the plight of the working man unless it gives them TV time to bash the president.

Comment 2 by J. Ewing at 03-Feb-19 08:47 AM
Cut the Dems some slack. If it wasn't for hate of all things Right and good, they would have no reason to exist. :->

Death to America Democrats

It's stunning to think that Democrats actually think this but a group of Democrats are imploring Speaker Pelosi to cut funding to DHS :

As Congress seeks to reach a deal on border security that President Trump will sign, a group of freshman progressive House members want their colleagues to reduce funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., are poised to their urge their colleagues to "cut" funding to DHS as Trump calls for $5.7 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Wow! As yet another caravan approaches the US-Mexican border, these Democrat nitwits are asking Nancy Pelosi to make the US less safe. How stupid can these Democrats get? (I'm reminded of the old saying that there's no sense in making something idiot-proof; they'll just build a better idiot.) Check out this letter:


In the third paragraph, it says " Cut, do not increase funding. A Republican-controlled Congress has already sharply increased DHS spending without clear justification. We have seen rampant spending on detention facilities for young children - reports indicate DHS is paying for-profit companies $700 a day in inhumane facilities."

Simply put, thanks to these women and Gov. Northam and Speaker Pelosi, the Democratic Party is quickly becoming the 'Party of Haters'. They simply aren't showing the ability to be compassionate or thoughtful. The Democrats' majority in the House is in jeopardy.g

Posted Saturday, February 2, 2019 9:48 AM

Comment 1 by Chad Q at 02-Feb-19 02:16 PM
And people say progressives don't hate America.

Will wimpy Dems stand up to Pelosi?

The question that will determine next year's House races is a simple one. Will Democrats finally stand up to Nancy Pelosi, especially on the border barrier? Throughout the campaign, we were told that Democrats had recruited a bunch of moderates to challenge Republicans. Thus far, we haven't seen proof that they recruited moderates. Thus far, nobody has challenged Nancy Pelosi.

Thus far, Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn have voiced their opinions that they don't object to funding President Trump's wall. Thus far, they haven't led a rebellion against Ms. Pelosi.
[Video no longer available]
Byron York quotes a Republican this way:

"This is not a negotiation between Republicans and Democrats," said one GOP lawmaker who is keeping close tabs on the process. "This is a negotiation between rank-and-file Democrats and Nancy Pelosi."

Then there's this:

"That is unmistakably true," added a Republican who is taking part in the talks. "There are many reasonable voices within the Democratic conference who want to see a positive resolution here." The speaker of the House's "emboldened stance" - her decision to refuse to consider any funds for a border barrier - has been "very hurtful to the process," the lawmaker added.

If so-called moderates won't stand up to Ms. Pelosi, then they worthless.

Posted Monday, February 4, 2019 9:54 AM

Comment 1 by J. Ewing at 04-Feb-19 01:45 PM
this seems insane to me, since as I see it trump holds all the cards. If Pelosi succeeds in blocking wall money, the government shuts down again for lack of funding. At that point Trump declares his national emergency and starts building the wall. Since he will do this in Texas, it will be upheld in the US District Court there (the fifth district, not the ninth where opponents might prevail).

then Trump gets to go on television, blame Pelosi for the shutdown and demand that she fund the government and end the shutdown. Then he gets to blame her for not getting DACA and all of the other reforms that she could have had if she had negotiated for them. Right now it looks like a huge loss for Pelosi, unless she changes her tune quickly.

I'm back (for a while)

Regular readers of LFR undoubtedly have noticed that I haven't posted in a while. That's because I've been diagnosed with an arthritic hip, which will be getting replaced in the next couple months. The hip gets so painful that I can't sit in my computer chair very long.

Please keep me in your prayers.

Posted Friday, February 8, 2019 1:17 AM

No comments.

SOTU recap

Since this is my first time on the computer since the SOTU Address, here's my take on what happened. The biggest thing I took from it is that President Trump looked big by using history effectively. This was one of those moments:
[Video no longer available]
Here's another:
[Video no longer available]
By using history, President Trump made Democrats look petty. He looked strong, too. When Democrats play legislative small-ball, he'll look like the man with the plan. Democrats won't have a defense.

Another thing I took from the speech was how petulant Democrats looked. One particular moment that struck me was when Democrats looked indecisive on whether to stand or whether to sit after President Trump rattled off an impressive list of economic successes. Real Americans don't hesitate in that moment -- they stand and applaud.

Finally, when President Trump talked about Alice Johnson, he brought the house down:
And just weeks ago, both parties united for groundbreaking criminal justice reform. Last year, I heard through friends the story of Alice Johnson. I was deeply moved. In 1997, Alice was sentenced to life in prison as a first-time non-violent drug offender. Over the next two decades, she became a prison minister, inspiring others to choose a better path. She had a big impact on that prison population -- and far beyond.
Alice's story underscores the disparities and unfairness that can exist in criminal sentencing -- and the need to remedy this injustice. She served almost 22 years and had expected to be in prison for the rest of her life.
In June, I commuted Alice's sentence -- and she is here with us tonight. Alice, thank you for reminding us that we always have the power to shape our own destiny.
When I saw Alice's beautiful family greet her at the prison gates, hugging and kissing and crying and laughing , I knew I did the right thing.

This brought tears to my eyes:
Joining Melania in the gallery this evening is a very brave 10-year-old girl, Grace Eline. Every birthday since she was 4, Grace asked her friends to donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. She did not know that one day she might be a patient herself. Last year, Grace was diagnosed with brain cancer. Immediately, she began radiation treatment. At the same time, she rallied her community and raised more than $40,000 for the fight against cancer. When Grace completed treatment last fall, her doctors and nurses cheered with tears in their eyes as she hung up a poster that read: "Last Day of Chemo." Grace -- you are an inspiration to us all.

All in all, I'd say that President Trump changed minds, even if it's just for a little while.

Posted Friday, February 8, 2019 2:03 AM

No comments.

Why Amy Klobuchar?

I've paid attention to Amy Klobuchar's Senate career with equal parts admiration and confusion. I genuinely admire her ability to get re-elected without doing anything noteworthy. Seriously, what significant legislation has she led on? Hubert Humphrey's signature achievement was teaming with Everett Dirksen in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. Sen. Klobuchar's signature accomplishment is virtually impossible to define. Paul Wellstone's signature accomplishment was being the lead author of the Motor Voter bill.

One time, Klobuchar issued a statement saying that she'd worked with Roy Blunt to get additional money put into the federal budget for advertising tourism. Somehow, that pales in comparison with being the chief author of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

What does Amy Klobuchar bring to the 2020 presidential race? Will she put in place better economic policies than are in right now? That's doubtful. The economy is already running strong. Would Sen. Klobuchar bring sensible-minded environmental policies to the Oval Office? Certainly not, especially since she's endorsed AOC's Green New Deal, which is really socialism on steroids.
[Video no longer available]
Let's be clear about this. Sen. Klobuchar isn't a moderate. She's a partisan hack. Her voting record proves it. When Democrats debated the ACA, Sen. Klobuchar could've been a leader and insisted on incorporating Minnesota's MCHA provisions into the bill. She didn't. Instead, she did what Harry Reid told her to do.

We need leaders, not partisan shills. Klobuchar is the latter, unfortunately, not the former.

Posted Sunday, February 10, 2019 7:14 AM

Comment 1 by Chad Q at 10-Feb-19 08:02 AM
I'm glad someone other than me sees than Saint Amy is as worthless to MN as are tits on a boar. This woman has done nothing for MN as a whole and what she has done is only in response to fixing the terrible legislation she has voted for in the first place, i.e. working to fix the medical device tax. Sounds like she's a pain in the ass to work for too so I can only imagine that it would only get worse on a presidential run.

Ilhan Omar's border insecurity plan

It's pretty obvious that Ilhan Omar is a serious threat to national security. Last Friday, Rep. Omar called for completely defunding DHS :


Seriously? What type of idiot would suggest that? Perhaps the better question is 'what type of anti-Semitic America-hating person would propose this'? Watch how Rep. Omar ran away from a CNN camera:
[Video no longer available]
Ilhan Omar sits on the House Foreign Relations Committee, where she can spread her anti-Semitic policies. What the hell is Pelosi thinking? Is Pelosi intent on alienating Jews from Democrats?

Finally, Rep. Omar deserves to be officially criticized by the full House for her racist statements.

PS- Omar might be further out there than Maxine Waters. (I never thought I'd say that.)

Posted Sunday, February 10, 2019 11:04 AM

Comment 1 by Chad Q at 10-Feb-19 05:39 PM
I'd like to criticize her but you can't unless you live in her district because she makes you jump through 4 hoops to prove that you actually do live in the district. Way to much trouble to tell a rep she's worse than her predecessor.

This "not 1 dollar for DHS" is just about as dumb as the green new deal. While she and AOC are dumber than bags of hair, they need to be taken seriously because they have lots of followers who are just as dumb if not dumber.

And as I said before, she is the poster child for not allowing asylum seekers entry into the US just because their home country is tough to live in.

Ilhan Omar's anti-Semitism

It's safe to say that Speaker Pelosi isn't attempting to rein in Ilhan Omar. Frankly, Omar has been on an anti-Semitic rampage since before joining Congress. This weekend, she added to her 'collection' with this tweet:


This says it all:


This is meaningless:

The statement issued by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic leadership team followed the latest in a string of controversial comments from the freshman lawmaker -- as well as pressure from Republican leaders to speak out.

Anti-Semitism must be called out, confronted and condemned whenever it is encountered, without exception. We are and will always be strong supporters of Israel in Congress because we understand that our support is based on shared values and strategic interests. Legitimate criticism of Israel's policies is protected by the values of free speech and democratic debate that the United States and Israel share. But Congresswoman Omar's use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel's supporters is deeply offensive.

We condemn these remarks and we call upon Congresswoman Omar to immediately apologize for these hurtful comments.

Pelosi's statement came out days after Rep. Omar's anti-Semitic comments. If Democrats were as supportive of Jews as they say they are, their statements would've been distributed minutes, not days, after Rep. Omar's statements.

Posted Monday, February 11, 2019 2:07 PM

No comments.

Popular posts from this blog

January 19-20, 2012

Image
Jan 19 02:57 Minnesota Majority report an indictment against Minnesota's election integrity Jan 19 03:41 Ron Paul's Logic Jan 19 08:08 Newt thrives despite Mitt's hatchet job efforts Jan 19 09:19 Potential Game-Changer: Perry dropping out this am Jan 20 05:12 Newt takes Sen. Santorum to proverbial woodshed Jan 20 00:56 ABC, CNN, crawl into bed with National Enquirer Jan 20 04:00 Child Care small businesses file federal lawsuit Jan 20 04:41 Mitt's biggest policy blunder Jan 20 18:58 Gingrich, Reagan re-united Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Newt takes Sen. Santorum to proverbial woodshed Rick Santorum was really feeling it Thursday night. Then he said something that's certain to cause him pain this morning. Here's what he said that got him in trouble: SANTORUM: But you also have to admit that this freshman congressman who wasn't supposed to win a race came and did something you never did, which is blew the li...
Read more

March 21-24, 2016

Image
Mar 21 01:28 SCSU's budget cuts? Mar 21 02:29 When will the Range change? Mar 21 08:54 DFL's Marty in charge of environment Mar 21 11:45 OLA report, DFL & Meyer Associates Mar 23 12:48 Liberals' definition of moderate Mar 23 14:37 DFL activists: Government is racist Mar 24 08:59 IRRRB: Revamping vs. scrapping Prior Months: Jan Feb Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 SCSU's budget cuts? Cuts in Athletics at SCSU - Will it Really Save Money? by Silence Dogood With a $6,000,000 "structural deficit" and the need to "rebuild reserves by at least $3 million," SCSU has a $9,000,000 hole in its' FY17 budget. It doesn't take a Noble Prize in economics to figure out that reductions in expenditures (i.e., cuts) are going to be made at SCSU. On the Wednesday before Spring Break, SCSU President Dr. Earl H. Potter sent an email to the campus community announcing cuts to the athlet...
Read more

October 31, 2007

Oct 31 01:01 Media Matter's Alter Ego? Oct 31 03:32 Iraqi Civilian Casualties Dropping Oct 31 10:52 Hillary's Panderfest Blows Up in Her Face Oct 31 13:15 Brod, Emmer Call For Investigation of Mark Ritchie Oct 31 19:43 Ritchie's 'Episode' a Tempest in a Teapot? Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Prior Years: 2006 Media Matter's Alter Ego? One Media Matters-like organization is already too many. It appears as though there's another liberal apologist blog out there. Their name is News Hounds . The post that caught my attention dealt with last weekend's interview of Justin and Darryl Sharraltt on Hannity's America. To say that their post didn't attempt to refute Justin's story is understatement. In fact, they jump right into criticizing Mr. Hannity: Last night's (October 27th) Hannity's America was a strange magazine format which combined stories about mediums and haunted houses...
Read more