Here We Go: Warmists Pushing “Micro-Housing” Again

By William Teach December 14, 2012 – 11:55 am

I dare them to move in themselves

(Grist) At the bus stop one day, Molly noticed a building of “aPodments” — a trademarked brand of microhousing that has sprung up in Seattle over the last year like mushrooms after a rainstorm. (One local blog counts at least 15 projects constructed or in the works in just one neighborhood.) She called to inquire on a Friday and moved in on Monday. She has a three-month lease and pays $595 per month (utilities and internet included) for a furnished, dorm-sized room with a private bathroom, refrigerator, and access to a full-sized common kitchen.

Microhousing — a catch-all term for ultra-compact apartments that sometimes share common spaces — offers a way to reconcile rising urban housing prices with a financially struggling generation’s preference for city living. It’s proliferating in cities where the tension between those contradictory trends is most acute: Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Vancouver. San Francisco updated its city code to allow developers to build smaller individual units (a minimum of 150 square feet), and New York is reviewing design proposals for a pilot microhousing project of apartments around 275 to 300 square feet. Seattle’s approach has been a bit messier.

Good grief. Altogether, I pay around $800 a month for mortgage and utilities for a 1,200 square foot townhouse with a view of the Neuse River here in Raleigh. I even have my own kitchen! These crazies pay approaching that for a tiny dwelling. Of course, this is what Warmists want for Other People, to live tiny lives. It’s also easier to control and monitor people if you get them all living in the cities.

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Right To Work Laws Empower Employees

By William Teach December 14, 2012 – 7:32 am

In Liberal World, having the choice to abort a baby is a good thing. Having the choice to pay union dues? That’s tantamount to heresy and the End Of Life As We Know It. James Sherk explains that liberals should take a deep breath

(US News And World Report) Right-to-work laws benefit both nonunion and union workers as well as the unemployed. Without right-to-work, unions negotiate contracts requiring employers to fire workers who don’t pay union dues. Employees must pay the union $500 to $1,000 a year or lose their job.

Workers have the right to unionize if they choose. But if workers don’t support a union, the law shouldn’t force them to pay dues.

Right-to-work puts employees in the driver’s seat: They pay only if they see value from the union’s services. This accountability prevents unions from presuming workers’ support. In the long run, right-to-work makes them more effective representatives.

And if they see no value in the union, they shouldn’t be forced to pay dues. The stated purpose of unions is to protect workers and represent them. But, unions, especially public sector unions, seem to spend most of their time strong arming companies and especially the government, wringing massive, unfordable concessions, and lobbying for more Democrats to be elected in order to get even more concessions out of government, all while spending tons of union dues on supporting Democrats. This is an incestuous relationship, which would be termed a conflict of interest out in the private sector. And the taxpayers are the ones on the hook.

Do unions serve a purpose? Yes, when they are dealing with their proper mission, which is protecting the workers. As someone who previously worked for a big, big company in which a union was present, said union was mostly helpful. It didn’t necessarily protect the worker from the company, but from crummy bosses. I could mention a few times where bargained employees were able to use the union to protect themselves, as they were not comfortable going to HR, as they knew damned well that they would be subject to very subtle retaliation. In fact, one of the cases revolved around a worker at another store using the union after first going to HR, because there was subtle retaliation from a higher ranking company official. Hell, as a non-bargained employee (management) I would have liked the same protection at times. I even called the union rep one time to ask them to have a talk with an employee who was getting close to termination for attendance issues but was tuning me out. Didn’t listen to the rep, either.

Unions have a place when they are realistic. Unfortunately, they also go way, way too far. Especially with public sector negotiations. However

Unions respond by arguing that right-to-work allows nonunion employees to “freeload.” They argue the law shouldn’t force them to represent employees who don’t pay dues. It’s a powerful argument, but rests on a false premise.

The National Labor Relations Act permits—but doesn’t mandate—unions to represent every worker at a company. If unions do so, the law requires them to represent nonunion employees fairly. However, as Justice William Brennan wrote a half-century ago, “‘Members only’ contracts have long been recognized” by the Supreme Court. Unions voluntarily represent nonunion workers. That hardly justifies forcing them to pay dues.

First off, they make the choice to represent only bargained employees. As management level, I couldn’t have gone to them (bummer). But, they can choose to not represent those who do not pay dues. And, in my opinion, if someone chooses to not pay dues, then the union should not represent them. Perhaps they could come up with a “pay for play” scheme for those who do not pay dues. Either way, no pay, no representation. Perhaps this would also give employees the power to negotiate for their own pay, and receive raises according to their own work, rather than a pay scale. There were numerous times when I was giving the same pay raise to a person rated as a 1 as a worker rated a 5 (on a scale of 0-5). Prior to the union, the former would have gotten a 1% raise, the latter a 5% raise.

Either way, the big issue is the public sector workers, which put the US taxpayer on the hook for unsustainable and out of control pay and benefits.

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Steve King Calls Benghazi 10 Times Bigger Than Watergate

By William Teach December 14, 2012 – 7:02 am

Now that Susan Rice has dropped out in the race to be the next Secretary of State (she whines about making the right call), perhaps we can finally get to the inquiry regarding the real issues surrounding Benghazi

(Washington Times) Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, said Wednesday that the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, is 10 times bigger than the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals put together.

“I believe that it’s a lot bigger than Watergate, and if you link Watergate and Iran-Contra together and multiply it times maybe 10 or so, you’re going to get in the zone where Benghazi is,” Mr. King said. “I don’t think the public has any idea, and I tell you, I don’t either, of the chronology of the events — what took place, and who was where doing what and why. And all the way down through — we still haven’t seen an autopsy report on the ambassador yet. Simple questions that you would ask in the first 24 hours have not been asked yet.”

He, and others, are calling for a massive Watergate style committee investigation. And it would be about time. The question is, what will they investigate? So far, the Republicans involved, such as John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and Kelly Ayote, have been investigating the 3rd most important issue, namely, what’s up with the stupid talking points that came out post-attack. The issues of why security was so lax at the consulate, even though they knew the area was increasing dangerous and those in Libya were screaming for more security, and what was actually done during the attack, leaving Americans to die, are much more important.

Some have suggested that the talking points were cover for the Obama administration since they might have been running guns, or something else. Bad, yes. Leaving Americans to die on the ground while drones circled overhead and broadcasting the attack in real time? Much, much worse. That’s what needs investigation.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is heading to Capital Hill

Amid ongoing questions about the September violence in Benghazi that left four Americans dead, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to Capitol Hill next week to testify on the matter, appearing before both House and Senate committees to answer questions about the sequence of events that led up to the attacks, and how the State Department hopes to prevent similar incidents in the future.

“We ask our diplomats and development personnel to operate in some of the most dangerous places on the planet,” said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she’ll appear next Thursday morning. “We owe it to them, and we owe it to the memory of Ambassador Chris Stevens and his three fellow Americans who lost their lives in Benghazi to get past the politics and focus on the substance of what happened and what it tells us about diplomatic security going forward.”

Who wants to place a bet that the Senate FRC whitewashes what happens and shuts down Republicans who ask tough questions? I’m hoping that the GOP asks important questions on what was going on before and during the attack, not on the talking points about it being a spontaneous film review with heavy weapons and RPGs.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

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PBO faces task of running dozens of health exchanges

By William Teach December 13, 2012 – 6:16 pm

I’m shocked that most states aren’t interested in developing and administering ObamaCare exchanges

Fourteen U.S. states and the District of Columbia so far have told the federal govern­ ment they plan to operate healthcare ex­ changes under President Barack Obama’s reform law, leaving Washington with the daunting task of creating online market­ places for at least two-thirds of the coun­ try.

On the eve of a federal deadline for states to say whether they will run their own exchanges, a top U.S. healthcare policy official told lawmakers that the exchanges will start enrolling eligible families starting on Oct. 1, 2013.

So, they’re just going overwhelm the Central Planning Office.

  http://tinyurl.com/aja7o5z shared via www.newshog.co

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Schoolkids Won’t Know What Angeles National Forest Looks Like

By William Teach December 13, 2012 – 5:46 pm

Won’t someone think of the kids?

Roads in the Angeles National Forest will close at 10 p.m. Wednesday because of expected snow and ice from a storm making its way to Southern California from the Gulf of Alaska.

It’s so terrible!

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If All You See…

By William Teach December 13, 2012 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible planet killing dog, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Lonely Conservative, with a post on Obama’s regulation pipeline.

Read: If All You See… »

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Scientist Wants To Refreeze Arctic

By William Teach December 13, 2012 – 12:27 pm

What could possibly go wrong?

(Times of India) A US scientist has offered a radical solution to global warming by suggesting that we could refreeze the Arctic using a few modified jets.

David Keith, professor of applied physics at Harvard University, used climate models to suggest that injecting reflective particles into the atmosphere could reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth, engineering a regional effect that could bring ice back to the Arctic.

He claims that reducing the penetration of sunlight by just 0.5 per cent could be possible to restore the sea-ice around the North Pole back to pre-industrial era levels, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

Keith’s research suggests the whole operation could be accomplished with just a few modified Gulfstream jets, costing around USD 8 billion a year.

I wonder what Keith thinks of the whole operation

Keith suggested such drastic geo-engineering could have disastrous unintended effects but could be a viable response to a “climate emergency” such as the sudden collapse of ice sheets or a killing drought.

We’re still waiting for the “climate emergency” to emerge. Warmists have been making this claim for decades, yet, there is no climate emergency. Though, we did have massive drought back in the 1930’s. We survived. The ice sheets have not collapsed. They aren’t even close to the loss that occurred during the previous warm periods.

Read: Scientist Wants To Refreeze Arctic »

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Violent, Racist Union Thugs Destroy Hot Dog Cart

By William Teach December 13, 2012 – 9:42 am

This is apparently OK with the Legacy Media, since the violent, racist union thugs funnel money to and vote Democrat

(The Blaze) A man running a local hot dog stand in Michigan’s state capital was among those attacked by protesters of the state’s “Right to Work” legislation while he served food in a tent that was torn down yesterday. The man was also allegedly taunted when he tried to salvage some of his property.

During Tuesday’s protests — the day Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law what he said is “pro-worker” legislation — the equipment Clint Tarver uses to run Clint’s Hot Dog Cart and Casual Catering was destroyed by people some have called “union thugs.”

According to the Lansing State Journal, Tarver was hired by the pro-Right-to-Work group Americans for Prosperity to serve hot dogs in the tent. TheBlaze reported about the tent’s destruction Tuesday — and how protesters were reportedly cutting up and distributing pieces of it as “souvenirs.”

Tarver was simply doing an honest days work for an honest days pay, but, he was in the way of the violent union goons and became collateral damage. Fortunately, responsible and caring people (who would be Conservatives) have taken up a collection to replace his business.

Tarver is a caring man, a kind man. Unfortunately, he ran into Democrats

Clint Tarver was a guest on Dana Loesch’s FM 97.1 radio showtoday. In the interview he explained what happened at the tent from his perspective. He said by 11: 30 a.m. the “mayhem” started. Two men entered the tent, one wearing a devil’s mask, the other a ski mask. These two men provided Tarver with a ticket to get a hot dog, which he provided them.

“Three minutes later, they’re next to me turning coffee urns over at another table,” Tarver said on the show.

He went onto explain how he was urged by another to leave the tent, which he had to crawl out of because it collapsed. Tarver confirmed that he was targeted with racial slurs, including the “n-word” and people saying “you’re on the wrong side.”

“I said to them ‘I’m here for a job. I’m not on this side, I’m not on that side. I’m here for a job.’” Tarver recounted. “And I just stood there and took it.”

Any liberals care to defend this? Or will you call this a “false flag operation,” too? More at Twitchy, including

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GAO: Federal Government On Unsustainable Long-Term Fiscal Path

By William Teach December 13, 2012 – 9:24 am

One of the big Memeorandum pulls is a report from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, which has made Leftist supporters of (NMP) Obama’s policies ecstatic

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in October suggests that economic activity and employment have continued to expand at a moderate pace in recent months, apart from weather-related disruptions. Although the unemployment rate has declined somewhat since the summer, it remains elevated. Household spending has continued to advance, and the housing sector has shown further signs of improvement, but growth in business fixed investment has slowed. Inflation has been running somewhat below the Committee’s longer-run objective, apart from temporary variations that largely reflect fluctuations in energy prices. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.

Let’s look at another release, this one from the GAO

(Daily Caller) The Government Accountability Office warned in a report Monday that if cuts are not made to mandatory spending — including Social Security and Medicare — there will be a fundamental gap between spending and revenue as more baby boomers retire.

“Significant actions to change the long-term fiscal path must be taken,” the GAO warned.

The first line of the report warns

GAO’s simulations continue to illustrate that the federal government is on an unsustainable long-term fiscal path

Continuing the Daily Caller write-up

The GAO warned that discretionary spending is not the crux of the problem. “Discretionary spending limits [which includes defense spending] alone do not address the fundamental imbalance between estimated revenue and spending, which is driven largely by the aging of the population and rising health care costs.” (snip)

“[S]pending for the major health and retirement programs will increase in coming decades, putting greater pressure on the rest of the federal budget,” the GAO study pointed out, attributing this trend to an aging population.

While we certainly need to make cuts in discretionary spending (and, yes, the military needs to see some cuts, as well. We can start with closing bases that are remnants of the Cold War, particularly overseas, and reduce their waste and antiquated weapons systems), it is the big safety net programs that are the danger. Welfare, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, ObamaCare, and massive government pensions eat up more and more of the federal budget. These are promises that lawmakers have made that cannot be sustained and will drive this country further into bankruptcy.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: GAO: Federal Government On Unsustainable Long-Term Fiscal Path »

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Democrats Recommend Delay For Job Killing ObamaCare Taxes

By William Teach December 12, 2012 – 4:10 pm

Perhaps they should have read the bill before voting for it. Byron York reports

Sixteen Democratic senators who voted for the Affordable Care Act are asking that one of its fundraising mechanisms, a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices scheduled to take effect January 1, be delayed.  Echoing arguments made by Republicans against Obamacare, the Democratic senators say the levy will cost jobs — in a statement Monday, Sen. Al Franken called it a “job-killing tax” — and also impair American competitiveness in the medical device field.

The senators, who made the request in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, are Franken, Richard Durbin, Charles Schumer, Patty Murray, John Kerry, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Joseph Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Robert Casey, Debbie Stabenow, Barbara Mikulski, Kay Hagan, Herb Kohl, Jeanne Shaheen, and Richard Blumenthal.  All voted for Obamacare.

Now that the reality of the situation is coming true, they realize that parts of Obamacare are bad. If only they could do something like introduce legislation…..

The Lonely Conservative has more.

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