Tuesday, February 17, 2009

More Suspicious ...

Yesterday's post laid out a suspicion started by a "voice" - what I call those little occurrences, events, or worries that one often ignores ... to one's peril. An article in Today's WSJ articulated an aspect of that in more depth.

***Excerpt begins***

"John McCain Was Right."

That's one headline we ought to see when President Barack Obama puts his name to the stimulus bill in Denver later today. But we won't. And the reason points to a glaring double standard on bipartisanship.

When Mr. McCain accepted the Republican nomination for president, he noted that while he and his opponent both spoke about moving beyond partisan divisions, only one of them had a history of working with members of both parties to get things done. "I have that record and the scars to prove it," he said. "Senator Obama does not."

Only a month ago, with Mr. Obama holding a dinner in Mr. McCain's honor, it wasn't hard to imagine the two coming together on the big challenges facing our nation. But now Mr. McCain has come out strongly against the stimulus in a spirited dissent suggesting that the whole process was a "bad beginning" for someone who promised a new spirit of bipartisanship. That ought to give White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel pause, if only because it wasn't all that long ago that Barack Obama was speaking the same way.

In a passage from his 2006 book, "The Audacity of Hope," he sounds like a Republican complaining about the stimulus. "Genuine bipartisanship," he wrote, "assumes an honest process of give-and-take, and that the quality of the compromise is measured by how well it serves some agreed-upon goal, whether better schools or lower deficits. This in turn assumes that the majority will be constrained -- by an exacting press corps and ultimately an informed electorate -- to negotiate in good faith.

"If these conditions do not hold -- if nobody outside Washington is really paying attention to the substance of the bill, if the true costs . . . are buried in phony accounting and understated by a trillion dollars or so -- the majority party can begin every negotiation by asking for 100% of what it wants, go on to concede 10%, and then accuse any member of the minority party who fails to support this 'compromise' of being 'obstructionist.'

"For the minority party in such circumstances, 'bipartisanship' comes to mean getting chronically steamrolled, although individual senators may enjoy certain political rewards by consistently going along with the majority and hence gaining a reputation for being 'moderate' or 'centrist.'"

As a rule, complaints about the "lack of bipartisanship" generally represent the whine of the losing side. With regard to Mr. Obama's handling of the stimulus, however -- his first big test as president -- they have a more interesting subtext. For one thing, his promises of a postpartisan future in some ways became the substance of a campaign built on lofty but largely undefined invocations of "hope" and "change."

Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter suggests, for example, infrastructure as one area popular with some of his fellow Republicans. Had Democrats added, say, a few more infrastructure projects, perhaps a half-dozen Republicans in the Senate and as many as 30 or 40 in the House might have signed on. But the White House went the other way.

"President Obama has never been able to say 'No' to the left of his party," he says. "So instead of having Rahm Emanuel keeping Congressional Democrats in line, they left this bill to the most partisan members of Congress, starting with Nancy Pelosi."

...

***Excerpt ends***

John McCain was very gracious on election day eve, promising to support Obama's leadership for the good of that Nation. That he now leads opposition is troubling.

As is the unwillingness of Obama to insist on a lot more true infrastructure spending in the stimulus bill.

The stimulus does still represent Federal demand for goods and services, partly as funding for the states that otherwise would be forced to cut spending. So it's a net positive for the economy to replace some consumer demand with Federal demand.

By the way, follow this logic: the economy is hurting because consumers cut spending because they are cutting back debt. So the Federal government issues debt to fund replacement spending. That's the simple economic logic. The potential problem is that the Federal spending might be for items/services that no one truly wants, while consumer spending is for items/services the consumer does want. That is a dislocation that might cause trouble in the future.

Markets

Poor beginning, in part to catch up to Europe's falloff yesterday. The Chinese stimulus does seems to have some traction.

This talk about a "Buy America" part of the stimulus bill being protectionist is idiotic. It's US taxpayer money purportedly being spent to stimulate the US. So obviously it has to be spent here. The secondary effects go worldwide, though.

Word of the Day

"Objurgation" - noun [$10] from "Objurgate" - verb, transitive [$10] literary
Objurgate means to chide or scold.
Sentence: So far, Bunkerman's objurgations of Obama are limited to pointing out errors and worries. Events will determine whether those objurgations grow into full opposition.

Le Mot du Jour

"Décevoir" - verb, transitive; irregular - conjugated like recevoir and devoir
Décevoir means to disappoint.
La Phrase: L'administration Obama déçoit l'homme du bunker jusqu'a present.
Sentence: The Obama adminstration is disappointing Bunkerman so far.

89 comments:

mfl59 said...

Bunkerman have you seen anything from the Obama administration to date that gives you confidence in the future performance of the Obama Fund?

Bud said...

A-fraud today meets the media in Tampa


more lies ...........but it will be great comedy.........the yankees should be ashamed of themselves.........givin this liar and cheat and choker 300million dollars

mern said...

again i say what is the difference between the repubs and the dems?

when the repubs ran everything this decade, they lost their religion (fiscal discipline) and found a new religion, bible thumping.

now that they got their asses handed to them, they seemed to have toned down the bible thumpin and have been pounding the table on fiscal discipline, FINALLY!

after watching the hearing last wednesday, u seriously have to wonder if anyone in DC, seriously gives a rats ass about the USA?
congress people r simply retarded. i suppose it goes all the way up the food chain.

watching this back and forth, while we slip into depresslation, is like watching retards try to fuck a door knob.

im stunned mccain thinx barry is doing a bad job! whats next, palin gonna say her state is running well?

Bunkerman said...

Getting the stimulus bill through is a modest plus.

But my list is short.

My return expectations shrinking ...

I have thought about bailing ... but he has one more chance with the "son of TARP".

mfl59 said...

come on Bud....ARod is "sorry"....I really believe him...

lmaooooooooooooooo

Bunkerman said...

McCain is not a Bible thumper - never was.

he opposed the Bush spendng, too.

R party has to change ... as they did after Nixon (who was like W in many ways - spending, etc.)

mern said...

santelli

"three stooges"

he is the best!

Spin-em said...

Buddy and Arod sittin in a tree
K*I*S*S*I*N*G
first comes luv
then comes marriage
then come lil a-bud in the baby carriage

mern said...

mccain only thought the economy was fine about 3 weeks before the election. and he VP mate, cant tie her own shoes.

u really think mccain wud have done any better? NO WAY!

we had to pick between a douche bag, and a wet fart. when the wet fart took on the devil as a running mate, i voted for the douche bag.

jamie moyer trashed aroid. funny stuff.

Bud said...

spin lmaoooooooooooooooooooo

Spin-em said...

sorry merny....you were "Barry... go with throttle up" alll the freeekin way....dont try to distance yourself from him now...you fell in luv with words from a guy who never owned or ran a thing....well its a big boy word...not for teenager ideals that got him elected...YOU drank the grape kool aid.. you own him.

Spin-em said...

welcome new member Arte Johnson...SOCK IT TO ME!!!...lmaoooo

Bud said...

uhhhhh.............the election is over.............the spook won


he better focus on this economy and take heat from the opposition...........y'know............just just like he whined and complained and bitched all last year


"it's george bush's fault" works great when you running for office..........not when you president

mern said...

lets get the facts straight. i bet on barry in feb. but i was not going to vote.

only after i saw what palin was about, is that i decided to vote for the first time since 2000.

i bet on barry. i voted against palin.

mfl59 said...

uhhh, why was obama playing pickup basketball this weekend in chicago? I thought we were entering a depression....I will say one thing....he couldnt go right if his life depended on it....all left hand...fitting i guess....

Spin-em said...

(picture spinny like the church lady) HOW CONVEEEEEEEEEENIENT!!

Bud said...

good luck everyone............joe torre jr says we have our work cut out for us

i see you guys on the other side

Spin-em said...

Loooooooool mfl

Bunkerman said...

so far Barry is fitting the scouting book I had heard - "a speech, period."

He needs to realize he is President and has power.

Spin-em said...

ALL IS WELL!!!.....ALL IS WELL!!!!

Spin-em said...

"you own him."???...you own him??...Cantstanya???.....nutten???? pffttttt..lool

maverick said...

ROFL "the spook won"

NOW WHAT?

Spin-em said...

May Day approaches comrads...hope youve been practicing...we dont want to upset our great leader Kim Jong-Barry at the 5 million man dance

mfl59 said...

Mike Francesa: "I really think ARod is sorry...I have no reson to think he would ever lie"


uhhhh....sir???

Bunkerman said...

I wonder when Barry / Geitner figures out that letting the banks make a profit is the solution.

Borrow from Fed at 0%, lend at 8% solves a lot of problems.

Spin-em said...

bunk you're a wise man....how can you explain this obsession with Arod with a certain 2 members of your blog...could it be that are they the only boy in the familiy and secretly desire a big brother?? ..I hope that's all it is ...

mern said...

hes sorry for 2 things.

getting caught and the multiple STD's from madonna.

mfl59 said...

maybe I wasn;t hugged enough as a young child spin....

or maybe I think ARod is an overrated hack liar....

Bud said...

" A-fraud............we know you and roger misremeber clemens stuck needles in each other's ass......you guys stick anything else ? "

Bud said...

" A-fraud......why didn't you ask your dealer for a steroid that works in october ? "

Frosty said...

any sign of real buyers?...time to back up the half track...fat Al a buyer my bet.

Bud said...

" A-fraud..........lemme understand you correctly..........you felt pressure in small-town arlington with a 250m dollar contract.........so you juiced.......now you in big-city nyc with a 300m dollar contract .....and you ain't juicing? "

and the follow up question

"A-fraud...........do you think we're stupid? "

Spin-em said...

come onnn Bud I used that last week....you could make Scranton Yankees with that old junk

Spin-em said...

Im gunna go out on a limb here...Im volunteering to be mfl's Big Brother...cuz Arod's not alaways going to be around..ok pal?...ya like bowling??....this weekend ok ??..I promise..lol

Frosty said...

"stuck in each other's ass."

aazzhead valentine indeed.

mfl59 said...

lmaoooooooooooooo.....I know youre too busy getting ready for the golf season....you have no time for me...

Bud said...

" A-fraud...........does it make you feel good that your fans.....like spin.......still love you ? "

Spin-em said...

hey...for you...Ill make time....thats what BB's do.....

Spin-em said...

Bud..learn a new trick already ...youre good at fumblin with balls....try juggling...lmaooooooooooo

Spin-em said...

I dont care if he took the drug
I dont care if hes poundin Madonna's rug
I dont care if he's ever lied.
just hit the ball ..the people cried..
I dont like green eggs and ham
Im a Yankees fan..that's who I Am....

Bud said...

A-fraud on deck at 130...........i got my popcorn ready


let the comedy begin


PS...........A-fraud you f'ng lying scumbag

mfl59 said...

thanks spin...I'll recite that poem to Nicholas when he asks about ARod and his lies....

Bud said...

sweeney murti......"A-fraud is a likable guy "


huh ??????????? another f'ng yankee apologist

mfl59 said...

Sweeney Murti....what a douchebag he is....he should be covering high school baseball, not the Yankees...

mern said...

http://www.pascosheriff.com/webapps/IMS500R.pgm?TASK=disp&rrn=000109968&rnd=98262

heres my mugshoot.

3 charges of aggravated assualt with a deadly a weapon.

great pic!

i miss still miss cindy, but my aim is improving!

Spin-em said...

HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN....CAST THE FIRST STONE WITH A ROID ARM!!!!

Spin-em said...

5' 8"...that not that short(spinnys a cup half full kinda guy)lol

Bud said...

apparently A-fraud still puttin on his makeup.......faggot

Bud said...

huh?? mern.....wtf??

did those charges get dropped??.....that sounds very serious

Bud said...

A-fraud !!!!!!!!!!! are you f'ng kiddin me ???????????


this is hilarious only 30seconds in!!!!!!!!!!


LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

mfl59 said...

odds Arod is lying as he reads his "statement"?

100%

Bud said...

'my cousin'


LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

mfl59 said...

ARod reminds me of Bob Pisani....

Spin-em said...

it'll be alright mern......one day at a time bud

mfl59 said...

"my cousin"....I havent laughed that hard in a few weeks....lmaooooooooooooooooooooooo

mfl59 said...

Does his "statement" say "queue up fake tears now"?

Bud said...

'fake tears now'


LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Bud said...

i told you guys this wud be hilarious.............i haven't laughed this hard since Office Space came out

mern said...

charges dropped in a week. but i still had to update my u4. and it cost me about 10 grand to get out of that mess.

i still cant believe they arrested me for kicking the movers out, with an empty gun in my hand!

thats y charges were dropped so fast. the state had no case!

Spin-em said...

ohhh good deal......


In that case..how do you ever get laid with the Amish look??...must be the hat..lol

mfl59 said...

True or False:

Mern you were stoned at the time of the mug shot.

Spin-em said...

sow......thanks jim

mern said...

frankly i was up all night drinking and the escort service left at 7am.................

thats how pathetic i was for about a month.

that all ended at 730 am, 8/9/08.

wow did she set me up! even the cop that took me in, told me i was totally played.

she dangled that ring, and i did everything she requested.

she knew i wud flip when she didnt show with the hardware. thats y 3 days before the exchange she drained the dog shops bank account.

she knew exactly what she was doing.

not to mention i asked her multiple times to take the gun, which she said she did.

she simply moved it from the hiding spot to my desk draw.

then she sent those movers in, just hoping i wud do exactly what i did.

then she showed up just before the cops and lied her ass off. got me arrested, a temp restraining order (which i beat, easily), and she got to empty my home, while i was in jail for 8 hours.

she is on the snipe list as is her mom.

Bud said...

atta boy mike francesa


'yankees aided and abetted A-fraud'



PS....yankees and A-fraud married for 9 more years??.........thank you lord......looooooooooooool

Spin-em said...

bunk just shakin his head..loooool

mfl59 said...

Johnny Rhetoric on tv....yippee...

the election is over "boy"

Spin-em said...

"With this new technology we will slash energy use...so the energy companies will raise rates..so it doesnt mean shit to you poor mother f's....just kepp workin for the man"

and this was the spinny Barry bust ur chops like merny/Bud did W's Salammmm of the day

Bud said...

uhhhh.........i haven't slammed W in over a year


i only slam A-fraud now......oh....and also joe douchebag torre

Spin-em said...

sorry...spinny never forgets

Bunkerman said...

Actually it's no surprise they arrested you. One learns not to do that in any firearms training class withjout cause, which can only be that your life was being threatened (except some states like Texas where one can use a firearm to protect property.)

Bunkerman said...

take a course and learn the laws, or risk lots of trouble.

Bunkerman said...

I guess I should have warned you, mern, about how a soon-to-be ex-wife can be so devious - one of my friends went thru that a few years ago. There must be some club or chat room they pass around these ideas/plans/schemes. But when you said it was all so amiable (at first), I shut up.

Sorry.

mern said...

texas, florida, whats the difference?

in florida, u can invite people into your home. u can have a disagreement. u can ask them to leave. if they dont u can get your gun and tell them to leave. no fuss, no muss.

but when x shows up before cops and says i waved the gun at her, and she is on the deed..........

when push came to shove at the injunction she changed her tune and told the truth. the judge then asked if any of the movers were related to her? she said no.

she also recanted some claims of verbal threats.

before my attorney got to cross examine her, the judge stopped, and dimissed the motion for the restraining order.

she got what she wanted. the ring, time to clean out my home, and her parents never wanting to speak to me again.

they really wanted us back together until that happened. funny thing is i and they didnt know she was having an affair with her boss at HSBC, already.

they wud have never arrested me if she didnt make up stuff.

r court days may not be over becuase i had to guarantee 10k on the dog shop loan. she paid that down 1500 and then went under, so cindy thinx i owe her 8500 bucks.

27 judges can tell me i owe her money and she will never get a cent. i will cross the border before she gets another dime.

Spin-em said...

bottomline merny...you shouldnt own a gun right?

Frosty said...

I would kill them all.

Bud said...

uhh mern.......you are interrupting my A-fraud rants


jealous florida-azzhole indeed

mern said...

when they returned my gun, the cops. i had them give it to my attorney. im glad i didnt have it over the holidays!

mern said...

y do u think i begged cindy to take it in the first place?

and she said she took it, at least 3 times. so when i checked and it was gone i believed her.

im stupid!

it was pretty hard to find, in my desk drawer.......pfffffft, friggin whore!

Spin-em said...

when you pointed the empty at em..did ya hold it sideways?..hood-like?

Spin-em said...

on the morning of the hearing...before the trial....didya say a lil prayer like....dear god.... if you get me outta this..I'll...??..lol

mern said...

no i pointed it towards the door and "shoed them out of the house"

Spin-em said...

at least its over..that could have been bad

mern said...

no, becuase the charges were already dropped and her injunction was totally based on those charges. she and her attorney had no idea the charges were dropped.

then everything out of her mouth my attorney said "objection" the judge said sustained. she gave up fast, and was really upset. she wanted like 150k. she got the ring, 10k and a guarantee for another 10k, that i will never pay.

mern said...

IT WAS BAD!

Spin-em said...

but ya might have right???..lol

Bunkerman said...

Hmm I wonder if her boss's boss or human resources found out about that affair, if he'd get fired ? Or both would ?

Some firms are really tough on that, even consensual affairs, particularly between boss & subordinate.

But I am suggesting nothing.

Keep it as anonymous as possible ;)

Bunkerman said...

what you describe is likely "brandishment".

If you pointed it at them, it's what they charged you with.

At least in Union states.
The old Confederacy is different often. As is the West sometimes.

I would always keep mine behind my back or in a pocket, unseen, unless really needed.

Spin-em said...

a ring.10k..and an fake IOU sounds pretty cheap to me...but hey....thats me

Frosty said...

Frosty said...
I would kill them all.

February 17, 2009 1:25 PM