After Trump, The GOP Needs To Change Their Primary System Or Something

By William Teach May 11, 2016 – 8:06 am

Over at the Washington Post, their resident (ultra squishy Establishment) Republican, Kathleen Parker, is vexed by the voting system that allowed Donald Trump to become the presumptive GOP nominee, and she has a few ideas

After Trump, the GOP may need a better voting system

(Massive snip to the meat)

To answer my earlier question, the better candidates didn’t win because, obviously, so many of them siphoned votes from stronger ones, giving Trump the lead and all-important momentum. Thus, the constant refrain from Trump supporters that the “establishment” is ignoring the “will of the people” is true only to a point. Trump is the choice of a plurality of the GOP but not of the majority — a distinction with a crucial difference.

At this stage, as the GOP convenes its circular firing squad composed of party leaders, operatives, hacks, flacks, politicos — if you’ll pardon the redundancy — and, yes, certain media, they might better expend their energies considering alternative voting methods that might have prevented Trump’s ascendancy and likely would prevent future demagogues.

One of these methods, already used by a variety of professional organizations to elect officers, as well as by the United Nations to elect the secretary general, uses an “approval” ballot by which voters rank all the candidates of whom they approve rather than selecting just one. Far from new, this idea was suggested in 1770 by French mathematician and astronomer Jean-Charles de Borda, who expressed concern that several similar candidates would split the majority vote and allow a non-consensus candidate to win.

Viola!

Chatty Kathy offers up several more ideas, all designed to make sure, let’s be clear, that the GOP establishment pick wins. Anyone who thinks she and the establishment would be happy if Ted Cruz won the nomination, raise your hand.

That’s what I thought. They do not want a competent conservative. They would prefer squishes like John McCain and Mitt Romney. How’d that work out? They often do no like the conservatives (or populists) chosen by the voters. Christine O’Donnell. Remember who the NRSC immediately stated they would not help her out?

Parker’s ideas are exactly why Donald Trump was able to whip his supporters up to a frenzy, or, at least, one of the reasons. Namely, complaints about the system trying to shut him down. That it was rigged. That the system was attempting to put an establishment guy in as the nominee. There’s surely a reason Trump went after Jeb Bush first. Not because Jeb polled well with the primary voters (he didn’t, but, he was a much better candidate than portrayed), but because he was a darling of the establishment. Parker wants to change the system so that the establishment pick makes it, rather than the voters picks.

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IBD: Thanks For Exposing The True Cost Of Socialized Medicine, Bernie

By William Teach May 11, 2016 – 7:46 am

The Editorial Board of Investors Business Daily shows their gratitude to Bernie Sanders

Health Reform: For decades the left has been pushing “single payer” health care without ever coming clean about how much it would cost. Now, thanks to Bernie Sanders, we have our answer. And the price tag is mind-boggling.

Sanders’ plan would eliminate private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and ObamaCare in favor of a single, government-run program, which he calls “Medicare for all.” There’d be no out-of-pocket costs for health care and long-term care.

When he released his plan, Sanders claimed it would cost about $14 trillion over 10 years. But not to worry, he said, since it would be fully paid for by the rich, and the middle class, and the working class, who would all see their taxes go up.

However, a new study from the liberal Urban Institute says that Sanders’s plan would cost more than twice what he says.

Under Bernie’s plan, Los Federales would pay all costs for the consumers, state governments, and local governments. The real price tag? $32 trillion over 10 years. The direct costs would be shifted to the federal government, but, the money has to come from somewhere, so, taxes and fees will go up somewhere, and services will go down.

The idea that a central government can plan 1/6th of the economy better than the private sector, for example, is belied by every other attempt at socialism.

And anyone who thinks health care quality would improve just needs to look at the string of calamities in Canada, the U.K. or the single-payer Veterans Health Administration, which are each characterized by massive waste, chronic delays, doctor strikes, lack of innovation and worse outcomes for specific diseases.

Doctors strikes. Seems ridiculous, right? Doctors don’t strike. They wouldn’t walk off the job like auto or communications workers, leaving sick people in danger, right? Except, they did just that in England. And Nigeria.

Give Sanders credit for exposing the enormous cost of the left’s socialist dreams. And give him credit for making it clear how extreme the Democratic Party, which made Sanders a serious contender for the nomination, has become.

While Bernie is the one pushing this all right now the hardest, don’t think he is the only one who wants it. Certainly Hillary and the rest of the Democrats want single payer. They should all be careful what they wish for, because they might get it. Or, to put it another way, with my favorite Obamacare quote of all time

“I was laughing at Boehner — until the mail came today,” Waschura said, referring to House Speaker John Boehner, who is leading the Republican charge to defund Obamacare.

“I really don’t like the Republican tactics, but at least now I can understand why they are so pissed about this. When you take $10,000 out of my family’s pocket each year, that’s otherwise disposable income or retirement savings that will not be going into our local economy.”

“Of course, I want people to have health care,” Vinson said. “I just didn’t realize I would be the one who was going to pay for it personally.”

Perfectly encapsulates the Liberal position: they always want Someone Else to pay for their policies, and are upset when they are hoist on their own petard.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: IBD: Thanks For Exposing The True Cost Of Socialized Medicine, Bernie »

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 10, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil fossil fueled machine causing flooding, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Maggie’s Farm, with a post on Mark Steyn’s stand against climate alarmism.

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South Miami Mayor Totally Wants A Climate Change Tower Of Shame

By William Teach May 10, 2016 – 11:27 am

Leftists are very big on telling everyone that shaming and bullying are Bad Things. Funny how they use them so often themselves, including for their pet cultish political project, anthropogenic climate change

(Creative Loafing Tampa Bay) South Miami Mayor Phillip Stoddard has an idea on how to deal with elected officials who deny climate change’s existence: build a “tower of shame” with each of their names on it.

“And starting at the bottom, at sea level, we inscribe the name and elected offices of every federal and state-level elected official in Florida who failed to commit significant resources to address climate change and sea level rise when they had the chance to do so,” he said Wednesday.

Stoddard, who was of course being facetious, spoke during a conference call in which environmental advocates called out the two dozen top officials throughout the U.S. — including three attorneys general and, of course, our own governor, Rick Scott — who openly deny that climate change is real.

Perhaps we should build a tower of failed climate predictions. Or, hey, how about a tower dedicated to those who fear-monger but refuse to give up their own use of fossil fuels and big carbon footprints? Sea rise in Miami is a bit over 2mm a year. The closest long term active tide gauge to Miami is in Key West, which shows just 2.37mm of sea rise a year going back to 1913 (Miami’s gauge ran from 1931-1980). Other Florida gauges track the same. It’s equivalent to .78 feet per 100 years, much less than would be expected during a Holocene warm period.

But, hey, why would anyone expect facts from a cult?

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DOJ: The Rights Of The Gender Confused Trump Those Of Real Biological Women

By William Teach May 10, 2016 – 7:15 am

A few days ago I ran a post excerpting Todd Starnes, who asked the question “Do the rights of boys who identify as girls trump the rights of girls who are born girls?” Starnes also included in his piece a quote along the same lines

Fox Business anchor Trish Regan asked a profound question on her show this week regarding the transgender bathroom controversy that has gripped the nation.

“What about the civil rights of women who don’t want men in their bathrooms,” she asked. “Do their rights matter at all?”

I’m afraid the answer to that question is no – the rights of women do not matter.

And any woman or young girl who complains about sharing locker rooms or shower stalls or bathrooms with a biological male — risks being labeled a transphobic bigot.

And that’s exactly where the US Department Of Justice went in regards to their countersuit against North Carolina

(Breitbart) Attorney General Janet Lynch argued May 9 that any one person’s desire to choose a male or female “gender identity” is more important than Americans’ right to sexual privacy in shared public facilities, such as bathrooms and school locker rooms.

“This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms,” Lynch declared Monday, without setting any definition or limits on her demand that people have a right to change their “gender identity.”

This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we, as a people and as a country, have enacted to protect them – indeed, to protect all of us. And it’s about the founding ideals that have led this country – haltingly but inexorably – in the direction of fairness, inclusion and equality for all Americans.

This unprecedented federal power-grab over the nation’s civic culture — and of the nation’s toilets and bathrooms, K-12 locker rooms and showers, and of retail stores’ changing rooms — is likely intended to boost progressive anger and political action before November 2016.

Take note, biologically female women, you have just been thrown under the bus by Democrats yet again. Democrats take the side of hardcore Islamists over women’s rights, and now take the side of the gender confused over women. Democrats could care less about young girls being exposed to young boys who think they are girls, mostly thanks to insane parents filling the little boys head with crazy ideas. The Democrats want to pander to and patronize the LGBT community for political purposes, so, the rest of you women need to just suck it up and deal with the loss of privacy. And pee on the toilet seat and floors.

McCrory is getting support from mainstream groups. “If the White House can dictate the bathroom policies of America, what could possibly be beyond their reach? … The governor rightly asserts that the Obama team can’t simply rewrite a 50-year-old law [against sex discrimination] to suit their agenda,” said a statement from the Family Research Council.

Remember when Democrats said they wanted the federal government out of our bedrooms, which meant they should be out of our private lives? Ah, good times, friends, good times. Now they want to dictate everything that occurs. Liberals should remember that their private lives could be next.

Read: DOJ: The Rights Of The Gender Confused Trump Those Of Real Biological Women »

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What If We’re Looking At The Wrong Polling Question On Trump?

By William Teach May 10, 2016 – 6:57 am

Does Donald Trump really have a chance to win because other metric should be considered?

Democrats, don’t celebrate Trump’s nomination. Fear it.

I know the polls say Donald Trump cannot win. But what if we are looking at the wrong poll question?

What if Trump’s overwhelming negatives don’t matter? Or, to put it another way, what if the country’s negatives matter more?

Right now, about 6 in 10 Americans have an unfavorable view of Trump, and only 36 percent view him positively.

But the country is faring even worse. In the most recent average of polls calculated by RealClearPolitics, 26.9 percent of Americans think the nation is headed in the right direction and 64.9 percent think we are heading down the wrong track.

There are lots of polls that track similarly, things like consumer confidence, good jobs, earnings, and others, that are poor news that would have people saying that the country is on the wrong track. A brand spanking new poll by Rasmussen says that 60% want to put America first, which helps Trump.

So what if even voters who respect Hillary Clinton’s competence reject her as the embodiment of business as usual? And what if even voters who do not like Trump’s bigotry or bluster care more that he will, in their view, shake things up?

Sure, these voters might tell themselves, he may be crude, or inconsistent, or ill-informed. He may insult women and Hispanics and other groups. But it’s part of a shtick. He probably doesn’t mean half of it. He’s just an entertainer. The desire to send a message of disgust or disapproval, in other words, could lead voters to overlook, discount, wish away or excuse many Trump sins.

Hillary is status quo, and she’s not as talented as Bill. She has quite a few negatives and problems, one of which is Bill’s misogyny and attacks on women. Do not for a moment think that Trump will not beat that horse on a constant basis.

Still, when I hear smart people explaining why Trump cannot win, all I can think is: Aren’t you the ones who told us that he couldn’t top 30 percent, and then 40 percent, and then 50 percent in the Republican primaries? Weren’t you confident that he was finished after he called Mexicans rapists, and insulted prisoners of war, and dished out a menstruation insult?

Here’s the thing: whether you like, dislike, love, or loath Donald Trump, don’t discount him. I hear pundits on TV wondering when he’s going to pivot to a kinder, gentler version for the general election. Who says he will? This schtick has worked so far. It’s a pretty safe bet that a guy like Trump has a massive action plan, written prior to jumping into the race, just like business people do for running businesses. It surely included things like finding nicknames for opponents, like calling Ted Cruz “lyin’ Ted” and Jeb Bush “low energy”. And “Crooked Hillary”. The bluster, the attacks, the whipping people up. I remember a football coach saying he would keep running the same plays that work until the other team could stop him. If it works, keep doing it.

And it is working. The question is, will enough people buy into the schitck for the general to get Donald to the requisite number of electoral college votes? Will he woo enough people? Are there enough folks who see the country heading in the wrong direction and want to change? Think what you will, but don’t think Trump doesn’t have a plan, one which takes advantage of things like almost 75% of the nation thinking we’re heading in the wrong direction. And he will beat Hillary around the shoulders as part of the problem.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 9, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil fossil fueled vehicle causing desert to encroach on forests, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Chicks On The Right, with a post on John Kerry hating borders.

Read: If All You See… »

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The Bathroom Wars Are Meant To Excite Democratic Party Voters (And NC Files Lawsuit)

By William Teach May 9, 2016 – 10:00 am

Over at A View From The Beach, Fritz is running a post based on an article by PJ Media’s Megan Fox (Widespread Mental Illness Taking Over America, One Bathroom at a Time). I initially intended to link Fritz’s post in today’s If All You See… post, but, there are two points he makes that I’d like to highlight before sending you over to read the whole thing. First up

It is not a mental illness. It is a carefully calculated campaign being promoted by the administration through the Justice Department, and the remainder of the liberal media/academic alliance designed to keep the LGBTQRXY . . . movement focused on electing Democrats. With the gay marriage debate all but over, the movement needs a goal, and designated enemies to keep the fight alive. Otherwise, the newly married  middle class and working gays might be susceptible to the economic blandishments of the Republicans, lower taxes, and less regulation on their businesses.

And Liberal Establishment is more than willing to patronize, pander to, and use these folks, who rarely seem to realize that their being patronized, pandered to, and used.

Next up, this is great

I have a modest proposal for the Republican Congress, that should immediately throw some light on the issue. They should propose to immediately (like tomorrow), order that the Federal Government make all Federal Government bathrooms immediately available to all.  A single Senator and Congressman could propose it, and how could any modern Democrat oppose it? Enough Republicans could go along, and voila! the feds would be suffering under the same rules that they are trying to force on everyone else.

I know the Federal bureaucracy is largely run by little old ladies, and I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to death with the new rules.

And if it works out the way I expect, maybe Republicans in blue states could start introducing similar legislation.

Excellent idea. Included should be all changing rooms and showers used throughout the federal government, with those for the Senate, the House, and the White House specifically mentioned.

Go read the whole thing.

More: No one seems to have the printed story yet, but the TV media, primarily MSNBC, is reporting that North Carolina has filed a lawsuit against the federal government in response to los Federales demanding North Carolina respond to their demands by 5pm today. I’ll update when there are details.

OK, from WRAL

“The Obama administration is bypassing Congress by attempting to rewrite the law and set restroom policies for public and private employers across the country, not just North Carolina. This is now a national issue that applies to every state and it needs to be resolved at the federal level,” McCrory said in a prepared statement Monday. “They are now telling every government agency and every company that employs more than 15 people that men should be allowed to use a women’s locker room, restroom or shower facility.” 1

Specifically, the filing asks the federal court to declare that the law does not violate federal protections for students or federal workplace discrimination laws.

The lawsuit as filed is embedded at the link.

More: Rush Limbaugh has a funny take on this

“The solution here might be that the North Carolina governor could say that we don’t identify as North Carolina anymore, and therefore your lawsuit against us is irrelevant,” Limbaugh suggested. “‘We’re not North Carolina. We don’t identify that way, as long as your lawsuit [is in effect].’”

“I mean, it’s absurd here! What do you mean, the way I want to present one day,” Limbaugh commented.

“So North Carolina, I say just turn it right around” on the DOJ, Limbaugh said, adding, “You know what, we do not identify as North Carolina for the length of your suit.”

Imitating a detractor to the idea who would most likely say, “You can’t do that,” Limbaugh concluded, “Exactly.”

Read: The Bathroom Wars Are Meant To Excite Democratic Party Voters (And NC Files Lawsuit) »

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Some Parts Of The World Will Become So Hot As To Be Uninhabitable Or Something

By William Teach May 9, 2016 – 8:37 am

Today’s prognostication of doom and gloom

Researchers say some parts of the globe will become so hot they’ll be uninhabitable

Man-made climate change is a problem that simply won’t go away.

It will increase the likelihood of conflict in water-scarce regions for one thing, and there’s already some evidence that it played a vital role in sparking the initial uprising in Syria back in 2011.

Warmists never give up a good talking point.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia have been studying the effects of climate change on the notoriously dry and hot Middle East and North African regions for some time, and they have come to a chilling conclusion.

Even with the Paris climate change agreement enforced by all signatories, who have pledged to limit warming to no more than 2°C (3.6°F), these parts of the world will still become so hot as to be uninhabitable within the near future.

Their study, published in the journal Climatic Change, notes that the peak summer temperatures in the region will rise almost twice as fast compared to the global average. Temperatures will regularly reach 46°C (114°F), and extremely hot days will occur five times more often than they have done since the year 2000.

The near future in their study is 2050. All based on computer models. The same models that have failed spectacularly in predicting not just current warming, where 95% off the models failed to predict the Pause, but also past warming.

Most people look on at the refugee crisis happening across Europe and despair and argue over the resilience of its myriad possible causes – war, revolution, sectarian violence, economic collapse, and so on. In the near future, another type of refugee will become commonplace: climate refugees. And this time around, the driving cause is certainly not up for debate.

Another Warmist meme. “Climate refugees.” Well, two, actually, that the science is settled and No One Is Allowed To Debate Or Question It. Because science works like that in Warmist World. Which bears a striking resemblance to Fascist World.

Read: Some Parts Of The World Will Become So Hot As To Be Uninhabitable Or Something »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Washington Post: You Stupid Citizens Are Dragging Down Obama’s Awesome Economy By Not Spending

By William Teach May 9, 2016 – 8:25 am

There’s nothing more amusing than seeing the Obama Media Lapdogs spin things to protect Dear Leader. Obama will be the first president to never see a year of 3% GDP growth. And guess whose fault it is? The Washington Post’s Fred Hiatt* tells blames us

The economy’s real drag: Us

American consumers aren’t what they used to be — and that helps explain the plodding economic recovery. It gets no respect despite creating 14 million jobs and lasting almost seven years. The great gripe is that economic growth has been held to about 2 percent a year, well below historical standards. This sluggishness reflects a profound psychological transformation of American shoppers, who have dampened their consumption spending, affecting about two-thirds of the economy. To be blunt: We have sobered up.

Hiatt throws out lots of reasons, such as people saving more now than pre-recession, as well as people working to clear up old debt. Not mentioned is the reality of the jobs being created, which are low wage and often part time. These are the jobs that Democrats called “bad jobs” during the Bush presidency, and blamed him directly. People just don’t have the money to spend like they used to in the Obama economy.

The surge in saving is the real drag on the economy. It has many causes. “People got a cruel lesson about [the dangers] of debt,” says economist Matthew Shapiro of the University of Michigan. Households also save more to replace the losses suffered on homes and stocks. But much saving is precautionary: Having once assumed that a financial crisis of the 2008-2009 variety could never happen, people now save to protect themselves against the unknown. Research by economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics finds higher saving at all income levels.

In theory, it’s easy to replace lost consumer demand. In practice, it’s not so easy. Businesses could build more factories and shopping malls. But with weaker consumer spending, do we need them? More exports would help, but economies abroad are weak.

People also see the weakness in the Obama economy. They see the weak underpinnings. They know that record numbers of people have dropped out of the workforce in despair. They put money away because they know things could crash easily, since many of the same policies that helped cause the great recession have not been addressed, or are being re-implemented again. There’s unease in the jobs market by citizens.

But to blame the citizens avoids blaming the people who implement the policies that lead to the weak economy and jobs market. Can’t blame Obama though. That’s probably racist.

* the article itself had Hiatt’s name attached to it as of Monday morning. The WP changed it to Robert Samuelson at some point during the day.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Washington Post: You Stupid Citizens Are Dragging Down Obama’s Awesome Economy By Not Spending »

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