Archives for 2009

In the familiar round of terror attempts, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab failed in his attempt to bomb a Detroit bound plane. His efforts were not foiled by the tens of billions of dollars the US Government spends on intelligence and homeland security, but by vigilant citizens who took just action when called upon. The travelling [...]

This week, the EPA extended its reach into every aspect of every American’s life. Relying on shaky research and logic, the EPA declared CO2 and other gasses a public health hazard. Never mind that the plants, animals, and people the EPA seeks to protect have all lived through natural climate changes greater than any foretold [...]

Among the many deceptions in the current health care bills, perhaps the most devious is the accounting trick whereby new tax revenues begin immediately, but the new expenses begin a year after Pres. Obama faces reelection. Proper accounting rules require that these two streams of funds be matched to understand the bill’s impact, but for [...]

In the face of a stagnant jobs economy, the media-academia complex is ginning up a second stimulus. Saturday’s New York Times reported that the original $800bln stimulus package was both “worthy” but “way too small;” translation: it’s time for more spending. Of course, more wasteful spending designed to entrench budget bloat is very unpopular outside [...]

The mainstream media’s narrative for the financial meltdown of 2008 generally states that a bunch of overly greedy Wall Street insiders cooked up inscrutable instruments like CDOs and MBSs, and then parsed them into further inscrutable derivatives like default swaps until nobody knew how much risk was out there. These instruments, which ultimately relied on [...]

Saturday’s big news is that liberal Republican Deirdre Scozzafava has dropped out of the race for an upstate New York House seat. Scozzafava, under pressure from a third party candidate, did not want to place third and become a kingmaker for her ideological peer, Bill Owens. Without a wedge in the Republican base, the race [...]

Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly can be an irritant to all with his bombastic populism, but he remains the most popular cable news figure. Still, people should think twice before siding with him or believing he sides with them. O’Reilly is both a conservative and a collectivist, but never a freedom lover. A recent diatribe [...]

In the great tradition of Washington’s solving vaporous problems, Congress is moving on Net Neutrality legislation, while the FCC is also working on the very same issue with an eye to regulate and eventually strangle free speech on the internet. Net Neutrality, for those who have better things to worry about, is a proposal for [...]

Not so much a retraction, but just an apology, Shout Bits seems to have gotten the wrong impression of John Mackey, Whole Foods CEO. Yesterday, Reason.TV posted a must see interview with Mackey in which he displayed his libertarian bonafides. A prior Shout Bits entry accused Whole Foods of being a pile of BS, and [...]

Back in December 2008, this blog predicted that Sec. Hillary Clinton would never run for the White House again (Secretary Clinton). The entry suggested that Clinton’s window of opportunity had closed and that Secretary of State would be the highest office she could ever expect to hold. Today, CNN is reporting that Clinton has acknowledged [...]

White House administrations should study the tight lipped Norwegians when it comes to media blackouts. A bombshell like Pres. Obama’s Peace Prize could never be kept secret in Washington. Friday’s announcement was the type of surprise that in retrospect makes so much sense that it is a surprise that it was a surprise. Well, no [...]

Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion. We were the people who did the fundraising telethon for the victims of 9/11. We were there for the victims of Katrina and any world catastrophe. – Harvey Weinstein This blog already opined on the Polanski issue over a year ago, yet Hollywood’s ability to [...]

I would like to see a show of hands. How many of you believe global climate change is a serious threat and caused by human activity? – Carolyn Washburn During the December 2008 GOP primary debate Ms. Washburn asked the presidential hopefuls if they “believed in global warming.” Aside from being a classic gotcha question [...]

Racismist: One who finds anyone with whom he disagrees to be racist. In July, this blog lightly accused V.P. Biden of being a racist for gushing over Pres. Obama’s cleanliness and articulateness. While that was a joke, many jokes have kernel of truth, and this kernel has been exposed by the recent flood of racist [...]

On Friday, just in time for a soft news cycle, Pres. Obama announced a 35% punitive tariff on Chinese tires. Not only is this another example of Obama shifting policy and giving in to his left wing masters, this is the blue print for a second great depression. Obama campaigned to restore protectionism to the [...]

It is not news that Wall Street is Washington’s whipping boy lately. The Fed, Rep. Frank, and Fannie Mae can all relax, because they have pushed their culpability on to nefarious Wall Street bankers. Even though the financial meltdown involves trillions of dollars, the millions in Wall Street bonuses are the real problem. The AFL-CIO [...]

With the media reeling from the death of Sen. Kennedy, an underreported story is the sleazy machinations of the Massachusetts Democratic Party to ensure another Democrat replaces Kennedy. The Democrats aim to milk Kennedy’s passing in every way. They are already portraying socialized medicine as the fitting tribute to the late millionaire, but the more [...]

Many socialized medicine advocates consider health care to be a basic human right. They see any system that does not grant health care to all as violating the rights of the uninsured. No doubt their intentions are good; it is painful to watch a loved one suffer. Sometimes the world seems unfair, and the government [...]

Across the US, hundreds of thousands of drivers have changed their minds. Rather than hold on to their older cars for a while longer, they have taken the Government’s incentive to trade up to a newer model. All this amounts to a $3 Bln study that seeks to answer the question: “Do people like free [...]

Last week’s Shout Bits posited that Speaker Pelosi had become so radical and bitter that she was doing damage to her own party. We predicted that the Democrats would cast her out if she continued to be a liability. Well, none other than the very liberal Salon has called for her ouster. Said Camille Paglia: [...]

Speaker Pelosi must think her district is in danger next year. That is the only explanation for her absurd raving – she is trying to roust her base for the next election. Of course San Francisco will never elect a Republican to the House, but she could face a challenger if she exposes her left [...]

Speaker Pelosi and Pres. Obama may enjoy an unprecedented hegemony over Washington’s levers of power, but that did not stop them from working both sides of the auto issue. Back in May, Obama announced new fuel efficiency standards that will add about $1,300 to the cost of an average new car. Now, in July, Pelosi’s [...]

Many of you have spent an uncomfortable evening listening to a group of lefties rail on about how Republicans are stupid, evil, and still ruining the world. As people in the majority often are, they were completely oblivious to the possibility that not everyone shares their views. To be sure, any individualist or capitalist who [...]