Chuck Schumer: Out of touch windbag

Chuck says the people don't care. The polls say the people do.

Cutting California

The Democrats in the California legislature want the people to cut carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels, yet they can't cut the budget to 2003 levels. Where's the leading by example?

A Tale of Two Senators

One senator is legally appointed but politically inconvenient. The other is declaring victory in a contested race rife with irregularities. Which one do you think Democrats are trying to keep out of the Senate?

Obama's Holiday Special: 3 million jobs for the low, low price of 24 million jobs!

Caroline Baum writes about the faulty arithmetic of Barack Obama's jobs plan (via Instapundit):

We know money buys influence. Now we find out it can buy jobs as well.

If only it were that simple.

Obama has been working with his advisers so that the proposed $750-billion-and-counting package of tax breaks and spending on infrastructure, education, health care and unemployment insurance is ready to go on Day One. (No on-the-job training necessary!)

There are currently about 10 million unemployed workers in the U.S. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines as unemployed those persons who didn’t work in the week of the monthly employment survey, were available for work and made an effort to find work in the previous month.)

“If we write a check for $75,000 to each of the unemployed, we won’t have anyone ‘unemployed,’” said former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill.

Now, all you middle class workers out there, wouldn't $75,000 for doing nothing be grand? Alas, 'tis not to be, because Obama and his cadre of advisors have found an even better way to waste the money!

The Obama administration’s goal of creating 3 million new jobs by January 2011 will run smack into “the natural demographic flow, which will add 3.2 million people to the workforce” in the same time period, O’Neill said. In effect, “we are going to spend $750 billion, the number of unemployed will rise and the (unemployment) rate will go down slightly.”

Shoveling to Prosperity

O’Neill did the math so you don’t have to. Each job “will cost $250,000, which doesn’t suggest much labor intensity for the dollars spent,” he said. “It makes me wonder if any of the planners or commentators are good at arithmetic.”

Now, ask yourself, what private company (aside from the Detroit 3) would spend a quarter million dollars for a marginally-skilled laborer? That alone is proof positive that, on net, this plan will destroy jobs, not create them. Three private sector jobs at $80,000 a year could be created for the money Obama wants to spend on one government job. Or, eight private sector jobs at $30,000 a year could be created!

Obama wants to create 3 million jobs with the resources that could create 24 million. That's a hell of a deal!

Thank You

At a ceremony this morning commemorating Veterans Day, an anonymous note was read, which I will do my best to relay to you:

On a recent airline flight, a man saw a uniformed group of soldiers talking about whether to spend the five dollars on lunch. When he heard several of the men decide not to, he promptly walked back to the galley and gave the flight attendant fifty dollars and asked that she make sure each of those men gets lunch.

As word spread throughout the plane, people walked over to this man to thank him, even the captain, a former military pilot, spared a minute to do so. Others gave the man some of their own money as a thank you.

By the time this man stepped off the plane, he was holding seventy-five dollars from the other passengers. He saw the soldiers standing together and approached them. He told them to make sure they got something good to eat on the way to where they were going.

On the way to his car, this man began to think about the promise these soldiers had made. He said that they had written a blank check to their country, worth everything up to and including their lives. He knew how many times over the history of this country that check had been cashed in full, and he felt bad that all he could do for them was pay for a couple of their meals.

Shortly after hearing this note read aloud, I was tasked with playing Taps to close the ceremony. Admittedly, I had a harder time making it through this time as the meaning of that "blank check" settled into my thoughts.

After the ceremony, I was thanked by many people for playing. I felt somewhat puzzled and a little guilty about this. To the left and to the right of me, there were people who deserved thanks for serving in the military, and I was being thanked for taking two hours out of my morning. All I could do was say "Thank You" in return, realizing the sacrifice these people were willing to make for me as a citizen.

On this day--on any day--please take the opportunity to thank a veteran you know.

Congratulations Mr. Obama

As much as a critic of Barack Obama as I have been, and will continue to be, I want to commend him for his victory in the race for President.

And if I may be so bold, let me offer the new president some advice...

- The most important information on the course to take in Iraq comes from the ground. Your plans should take a back seat to the reality on the ground. You owe it to the troops who have been wounded and died to make sure we leave Iraq in the best shape we can.

- Respect the American people. We are not yours to uplift and transform. In fact, you work for us, not the other way around.

- Don't go on a spending binge, no matter how many big government dreams you have. The profligracy of the Bush Administration is part of what got us into this economic crisis, profligate spending is a surefire way to deepen it. Change would be fiscal discipline. Change would be not running up the national debt to buy votes. You promised change, please deliver.

Of course, I'm in the minority. Most in the media and your party base will tell you to do just the opposite of what I'm saying. I hope your promise of "a new brand of politics" includes using common sense ideas from all ideologies.

Barack Obama Will Never Be My President

On this day when the nation elects the leaders of its government, I feel the need to make something very clear--no elected official presides over me. I am a free citizen of the United States. George W. Bush is not my President. Bill Clinton was not my President. Ronald Reagan was not my President. They were all legitimately elected leaders of the government that exists to protect my liberty. But they were the leaders of the government, not the citizenry. The next President, be it McCain or Obama, will not be my President. Ever.

My hope is that all the liberty-minded citizens will remember to hold the government to their role as servants, not rulers. We're in the minority, and the country depends on us.

Am I the only one...

...who pictures Barack Obama's Civilian National Security Force running around in brown shirts?