On Intimacy

"If you talk about intimacy in public, it's not intimacy anymore."

-- Imam John

Papers Please

Politico is reporting that birth certificate legislation has now been sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives:

The House sponsor of legislation that would require presidential candidates to provide a copy of their original birth certificate is praising a similar Arizona measure, which is drawing condemnation from one of George W. Bush’s former White House press secretaries [Dana Perino].

Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.), sponsor of the House bill, which has attracted 11 co-sponsors, said an Arizona House-passed measure would help clarify murky guidelines about presidential eligibility.

The measure, adopted 31-22 earlier this week as part of a separate bill, would require President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate if he hopes to be on the state’s ballot when he runs for re-election. It would require U.S. presidential candidates who want to appear on the ballot in Arizona to submit documents proving they meet the constitutional requirements to be president.

Read more here.

"I'm A Democrat But I'm Not A Communist"

Peter Ferrara of The American Spectator puts his finger on the Democrats' growing political problem:

Start with the brutal fact that this is not your father's Democrat party. Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and others have thoroughly documented Obama's radical left roots, from his openly communist father, to his Marxist mother, to the Communist Party's Franklin Marshall Davis who mentored Obama through adolescence, while his parents were off pursuing the cause around the world. Obama's own books disclose that he was drawn to radical left Marxist professors in college and law school. And all of this was before Obama the adult hooked up with 1960s Weatherman bomb thrower Bill Ay[er]s, the anti-American preacher Jeremiah Wright, and the far left radical front group ACORN. This is all well-established public information, as hard as that should be to believe.

As Beck has so rightly asked, if Obama has grown up and changed from this radical foundation, when exactly did that happen? There is nothing in the public record to support such a change. ...

In the Democrat party of the past, Southern conservatives were the longest serving members of Congress, heading all the Committees as a result, where they sharply restrained the Left in the '60s and '70s. But today the former Southern conservative Democrats have mostly been replaced by Republicans, and it is the northern urban ultraliberals who are the longest serving, and now head all the committees.

This ugly and dangerous reality is what moved one recent talk radio caller to proclaim, "I'm a Democrat, but I'm not a Communist." The left-wing extremism of the currently ruling Democrat party is one huge dark cloud on the horizon indicating the coming political tsunami. Treating grassroots voters who question that left-wing extremism with disdain and name-calling is only further gathering the storm.

Read the rest here.

It All Depends On What The Meaning Of "They" Is

The Boston Herald editorial staff pointed out yesterday how Bill Clinton's recent attempt to vilify the whole Tea Party Movement depended, as usual, on the slick use of a single term, "they."

By that sleight of hand, Clinton hoped to convey the notion of equivalency between Timothy McVeigh and the Tea Parties, presupposing that a whole movement existed behind McVeigh when in reality he had "one accomplice and two other individuals who knew of his plans."

The Tea Party Movement, by contrast, is enormous, is Everyman, and must be one hell of a threat if the inventor of the politics of personal destruction at Waco has to be trotted out to join the battle.

We'll see you on the battlefield, in November, creep.

The opinion was posted here.

Bill Clinton's War Crimes

A fine one to warn us about other people's character and motives. He was lucky he was impeached only for perjury, and ended up losing his law license for five years, when he should have been convicted of a crime against humanity.

Saddam Hussein gassed Kurds.

Bill Clinton gassed American kids.

In case you forgot.

Refresh your memory here. And here.

Financial Reform: Of Torches And Pitchforks

Edward Harrison of creditwritedowns.com weighs in on the Goldman case, but can't quite bring himself to commit to the view that this is all just for show and will do nothing but continue the lie that is America and the farce of extend and pretend in particular which government has modeled for decades, and the consumer, business and the banking system have dutifully imitated in their turn. Abandon hope all ye who enter here: Everything Obama says comes with an expiration date. The following excerpts come from here:As I left for the conference, I chatted with a friend who is far from the financial sector. Her take puts this debate into perspective. The issues are pretty easy to understand:We have had an economic crisis the likes of which we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. People are still losing their jobs and homes as a direct result of the boom and bust caused by the financial sector. Yet, we have bailed the banks out with taxpayer money and the bankers act like they never needed the bailout, didn’t cause the crisis or some other ridiculous argument of that ilk. In fact, they are rewarding themselves with huge bonuses while everyone else is still in a world of hurt.Forget about whether these arguments make any sense. They don’t. The only thing ordinary Americans need to know is that these people are paying themselves obscene amounts of money while everyone else is suffering despite the fact that we bailed them out of the crisis they caused. That’s the pitchfork thesis in a nutshell.  All of the other stuff is a sideshow. Johnson confirmed that this is exactly what people have been telling him in his book signings all across America. To my mind, this is what the Goldman fraud case is all about. Do you think the political payoff would be as high for going after JPMorgan Chase? Goldman is the vampire squid in mainstream America’s eyes and the Feds know this. That is why they have been targeted.

A Nation Of Laws . . . A Refuge Of Liberty

Sarah Palin In The News

Back in January I wrote that "In my department, this move removes Sarah Palin from my list of serious candidates for president in 2012. It wouldn't matter what news organization she joined, either. One does not pursue statesmanship by lowering oneself in this way. And perhaps that's what she is trying to tell everyone: that she's packing it in."

Someone who knows her well, Fred Malek, recently came to a similar conclusion about Palin here.

h/t Allahpundit

A Simple Illustration Of Why Healthcare Is Not A Right

Because, quite simply, it's a contract. And if the provider doesn't agree to make a contract with you, no healthcare is provided. As in this case of yet another doctor who puts up a warning notice to his patients:

“If you voted for Obamacare, be aware these doors will close before it goes into effect.” The note is signed Joseph M. Scherzer M.D. and includes the following addendum: “****Unless Congress or the Courts repeal the BILL.”

People who insist that healthcare is a right would enslave another human being to make him or her provide it. If they really mean it then they ought to take intellectually promising children away from their mothers and fathers at an early age and raise and educate them to this end, just as Plato discussed long ago.

Funny how it's the Democrat Party which is so enthusiastic for a new form of slavery. Didn't they have something to do with it the last time? That went well.

The Daily Caller has the story and a picture here.

I Said, "Hey Bartender!"

"Last year alone, the State Department sent taxpayers tabs totaling nearly $300,000 for alcoholic beverages — about twice as much compared to the previous year, according to an analysis of spending records by The Washington Times."

Read all about it, here.

Asset Value Lies Are S.O.P. In Banking

Karl Denninger has a new post here reflecting on a recent entry at Institutional Risk Analytics on "Events of Default" which shines the light on approximately $500 billion in private collateralized debt obligations which continue to be carried by the banks at par value but which are in fact nearly worthless:

It's called legalized accounting fraud, and I've been hollering about it for three years. As the loss severities have continued to climb and the impact accelerate[s] into other areas of securitized debt, the so-called "regulators" have scrambled to find new corners of the carpet to allow the banksters to hide the truth under.

A culture built on lies cannot endure.

The Bailouts Still Do Not Add Up

Ritholtz gets it right on the bailouts, bringing up what others would still like us to forget. Notice the little problem of toxic assets he includes on his list of six things which today's happy talkers ignore. Those non-performing assets remain spread all over the place like so much pig manure, stinking up the springtime air. It's the huge problem which STILL remains unresolved, even though the public and Congress were fervently pitched the story that TARP was necessary and designed to address it, until a couple of weeks later when it wasn't. The old bait and switch. These bastards should all hang for it, starting with George Bush and Henry Paulson, and every member of Congress who voted for it.

The following appeared here, with supporting links:

- The Big Picture - http://www.ritholtz.com/blog -

An Improved Version of Bailout Math

By Barry Ritholtz

April 13, 2010

The New York Times one ups the Wall Street Journal, taking a more philosophical — and broader — look at the Treasury’s Bailout Math.

It is still incomplete, but a significant improvement. Recall yesterday we criticized the WSJ’s wide approach (Light At the End of the Bailout Tunnel) as so much happy talk.

The Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin followed our advice. In addition to a snarkier tone (Uncle Sam down $89 billion? “It’s enough to make us all feel rich, isn’t it?”) his article included the following bullet points:

• Probable losses from American International Group = $48 billion

• Losses from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac = about $320 billion

• The Federal Reserve virtually interest-free loans to Wall Street = $1 trillion dollars

• Moral Hazard: Numbers don’t help avoid another financial mess in the future

• Last, its about right and wrong.

It's a more skeptical improvement over other less critical takes on the success of the Bailouts. Still, Sorkin’s piece is also incomplete, leaving out:

• Depleted FDIC reserves;

• FASB 157 suspension allowed banks to hide losses

• Bad loans on bank balance sheets

• General Motors & Chrysler Bailouts

• Ongoing Foreclosures and Housing Problems

• Highly concentrated banking sector/lack of competition

I believe the best we can honestly say about the bailouts (without any spin or bias) is that, so far, the worst case scenarios have not played out, and that the return on investment is in the top quartile of expectations. Further, we still do not know what the final costs will look like, given a variety of factors such as housing, economy, etc. Also, we have no idea what the longstanding repercussions and moral hazard will end up doing in the future. Lastly, we have created a less competitive banking system, and allowed banks to fabricate their balance sheets.

But other than that Mrs. Lincoln . . .

Born To Serv . . . ility

The Answer: "Bo Has Papers"

The Question: "What's the difference between Obama and his dog, Bo?"

h/t Jimmy Kimmel

The Original Birthers: ModernGhana.Com

The Original Birthers: The Nigerian Observer

The Original Birthers: The Botswana Sunday Standard

The Original Birthers: NPR.ORG Refers To Obama As "Kenyan-Born"

Tiger Woods and Barack Obama, Compared

"I THINK IT IS REMARKABLE THAT WITHIN A WEEK OF TIGER WOODS CRASHING HIS ESCALADE, THE PRESS FOUND EVERY WOMAN WITH WHOM TIGER HAS HAD AN AFFAIR IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, WITH PHOTOS, TEXT MESSAGES, RECORDED PHONE CALLS, ETC.

AND, THEY NOT ONLY KNOW THE CAUSE OF THE FAMILY FIGHT, BUT THEY EVEN KNOW IT WAS A WEDGE FROM HIS GOLF BAG THAT HIS WIFE USED TO BREAK OUT THE WINDOWS IN THE ESCALADE. NOT ONLY THAT, THEY KNOW WHICH WEDGE!

AND EACH AND EVERY DAY, THEY GIVE AMERICA MORE UPDATES ON HIS SEX-REHAB STAY, HIS WIFE’S PLANS FOR DIVORCE, AND HIS PLANS TO RETURN TO THE PRO-GOLF CIRCUIT.

OBAMA HAS BEEN IN OFFICE FOR OVER A YEAR NOW, AND THIS SAME PRESS STILL CANNOT LOCATE OBAMA'S OFFICIAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE, OR ANY OF HIS PAPERS WHILE IN COLLEGE, OR HOW HE PAID FOR A HARVARD EDUCATION, OR WHICH COUNTRY ISSUED HIS VISA TO TRAVEL TO PAKISTAN IN THE 1980'S AS BARRY SOETORO. EVEN MICHELLE OBAMA’S PRINCETON THESIS ON RACISM. IT JUST CAN’T BE FOUND.

YET THE PUBLIC STILL TRUSTS THAT SAME PRESS TO GIVE THEM . . .

THE WHOLE TRUTH . . . TRULY REMARKABLE!"

h/t Scott

Facts Are Stupid Things

as in this from The Wall Street Journal:

At the end of 2009, nearly eight million households, or 15% of those with mortgages, were behind on mortgage payments or in the foreclosure process;

when compared with this from The New York Times:

Why So Glum? Numbers Point to a Recovery: . . . Firms have begun to hire and consumer spending seems to be accelerating.

At a median home price of $165,000, eight million mortgages going belly up represent assets of $1.32 trillion of an undercapitalized, indeed, insolvent banking system whose insured deposits total something in the neighborhood of $4.6 trillion but whose cash on hand is presently $1.2958 trillion, nearly the equivalent of those troubled assets.

How the banks have managed to increase their cash so dramatically from the less than $300 billion on hand just two years ago is another question. Are they counting increases to the base money supply provided by the Federal Reserve in the wake of the financial meltdown, which went from $800 billion to over $2 trillion? Almost overnight? Talk about monopoly money.

With over 700 banks on the FDIC "troubled" list and the FDIC openly stating it expects bank failures over the next few years to cost $100 billion on top of last year's $30 billion, does any of this sound like a reason to be happy? Like the worst is over?

I don't think so.