SUNDAY,  FEBRUARY 15,  2009

SINGALONG - AT 8:53 P.M. ET:  Sunday evening entertainment from Gerald Warner at Britain's Telegraph.  It's Warner's version, based on current happenings, of our "Battle Hymn of the Republic":

Mine eyes have been bedazzled by the coming of The One:
He is doling out the dollars that the suckers' toil has won;
He is doling out the dollars and he's only just begun -
The pork tub's rolling on.
Glory, glory to Obama!
Glory, glory to Obama!
Glory, glory to Obama!
The pork tub's rolling on.

A billion bucks for Amtrak and four billion more for those
Who are ramping up the franchise as the ACORN project grows;
Three hundred million extra for poor souls who've caught a dose -
The pork tub's rolling on.
Don'tcha just love stimulation!
Don'tcha just love stimulation!
Economic simulation -
The barrel's rolling on.

There's tax cuts for illegals, while six billion dollars mean
We can save the whole darn planet, turning public buildings green;
A big handout for Hollywood - who thinks that that's obscene?
The pork tub's rolling on.
Change we need is in the pipeline!
Change we need is in the pipeline!
Wealth and comfort all our lifetime!
The pork tub's rolling on.

Forget the Grand Old Party we were surely wise to spurn,
For Obama is our saviour, he has cash enough to burn;
If you're puzzled, Mr Geithner - that strange form's a tax return.
The pork tub's rolling on.
Glory, glory to Obama!
Glory, glory to Obama!
Glory, glory to Obama!
The pork tub's rolling on.

COMMENT:  I want to see that on iTunes.

SYMBOLISM

Posted at 12:10 p.m. ET

Symbolism is, obviously, very significant in international politics.  Therefore, this story is disturbing.  In the first month of his presidency, Barack Obama has done some things that should worry all of us - groveling to the Muslim world in a bizarre interview, insulting President Karzai of Afghanistan by saying he has a bunker mentality, and this week snubbing the king of Spain, who is on a visit to the U.S.  Apparently, Mr. Obama hasn't got time to see him.  But he had plenty of time to make his first call to a foreign leader to the president of "Palestine."  Further, the Obama administration has hinted at concessions to Russia on our missile-defense program, undercutting our East European allies.

But get this one for symbolism.  From London's Telegraph:

Barack Obama has sent Sir Winston Churchill packing and pulse rates soaring among anxious British diplomats.

A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back.

The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush's tenure.

But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: "Thanks, but no thanks."

An absolutely unnecessary snub.

The rejection of the bust has left some British officials nervously reading the runes to see how much influence the UK can wield with the new regime in Washington.

There's almost some justice in this.  The British lefties and chattering classes were all over themselves when Obama was elected. 

Finally...

A British Embassy spokesman said: "The bust of Sir Winston Churchill by Sir Jacob Epstein was uniquely lent to a foreign head of state, President George W Bush, from the Government Art Collection in the wake of 9/11 as a signal of the strong transatlantic relationship.

"It was lent for the first term of office of President Bush. When the President was elected for his second and final term, the loan was extended until January 2009.

"The new President has decided not to continue this loan and the bust has now been returned. It is on display at the Ambassador's Residence."  

COMMENT:  Obama's action is crude.  There's been some suggestion that he returned the bust because Churchill was a colonialist, and Kenya - land of Obama's father - was a British colony.  But Churchill was half American, and Britain's stand against fascism was at least as important to "making Obama possible" as was Lincoln's victory in the Civil War. 

This is not good.  It suggests that Obama may be a small-minded, petty man, much like Jimmy Carter.  We'll have more on some strange hints about Obama's foreign policy tomorrow morning.  By the way, notice the way the American press ignored this story.

February 15, 2009.      Permalink          

HEY LOOK, YOU REMEMBER DIFFERENT THINGS AT DIFFERENT TIMES, RIGHT? - AT 10:37 A.M. ET:  From The Chicago Sun-Times: 

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother solicited U.S. Sen. Roland Burris for up to $10,000 in campaign cash before Blagojevich named Burris to the coveted post — something Burris initially failed to disclose under oath before an Illinois House impeachment panel, records and interviews show...

...Burris’ statement offers the third version of events he has given about his discussions concerning the Senate seat, to which Blagojevich appointed him in late December, after Blagojevich was hit with federal corruption charges that included an allegation he tried to sell the Senate appointment.

COMMENT:  Why is this being emphasized?  Why can't political reporters respect good fiction when they see it?  The sheer inventiveness of Illinois politicians should make them eligible for a federal arts grant under the stimulus package.  But you can be sure that the good-government crowd will block it.

REMEMBER? - AT 10:26 A.M. ET:  Reader Tom Wharton dug up this cartoon from 1980, reminding us that the smallness of Jimmah Carter was understood even then.   Thought you'd enjoy it:

PRESIDENT FOR LIFE? - AT 10:12 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Post:

Hugo Chávez appears to be everywhere, in his trademark button-down red shirt or army fatigues, singing songs of love to adoring throngs or waving from a campaign truck winding through helter-skelter slums...

...With Chávez promoting a referendum Sunday that could extend his presidency far into the 21st century, the message drummed into Venezuelans is simple: Vote for me, or risk calamity.

COMMENT:  And he might just win.  You can fool some of the people all of the time...  Where are his American pals, like Danny Glover?  Do they understand the implications of a "president for life"?  Do they care?

YOU CAN ASK, BUT DON'T TELL - AT 9:55 A.M. ET:  From The New York Post:

Senior executives at some of Wall Street's biggest firms were convinced Bernard Madoff was a fraud as early as 2005 - yet none alerted authorities, documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveal.

Leon Gross, the former managing director in charge of worldwide equity derivatives research for Citigroup, told friends and colleagues on Wall Street in 2005 that he thought Madoff was being less than honest about the returns he could make for investors but did nothing to prevent the fraud.

COMMENT:  I suspect that the problem was probably fear, and the clubby atmosphere on Wall Street.  If you speak out, and some powerful figure gets hurt, your career doesn't get a gold star. 

NOT CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN - AT 9:53 A.M. ET:  From The Times of London:

The new administration's economic stimulus plan may undo reforms that cut the dole queues, critics say

RONALD REAGAN started it, Bill Clinton finished it and last week Barack Obama was accused of engineering its destruction. One of the few undisputed triumphs of American government of the past 20 years – the sweeping welfare reform programme that sent millions of dole claimants back to work – has been plunged into jeopardy by billions of dollars in state handouts included in the president’s controversial economic stimulus package.

COMMENT:  This is one of the great sleeper stories of the "stimulus" package.  The fact is, the left loves welfare.  First, it makes people dependent on government programs run by the left, thus insuring that those programs, and the salaries paid to the staffs, will continue.  Second, it ratifies the left's criticism of capitalism.  At one point in the 1960s, one in eight residents of New York City was on welfare.  The left was in ecstasy.

THE WARMTH, THE SINCERITY - AT 9:45 A.M. ET:  From AP:

North Korea is ready to improve relations with countries that "treat us friendly," the communist country's No. 2 leader said Sunday ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Asia.

The remark by Kim Yong Nam, North Korea's ceremonial head of state, could be an olive branch to Washington before Clinton's trip - even though it came amid reports the North is gearing up to test-fire a long-range missile in an apparent attempt to grab President Barack Obama's attention.

COMMENT:  Please notice the almost identical language used by both Iran and North Korea in their response to the Obama "peace" overtures.  Both countries demand that we change our behavior before they do anything.  That's what happens when you project an image of weakness, which is what Obama is doing.

NEXT TO FALL? - AT 9:38 A.M. ET:  From Britain's Telegraph:

The unfolding debt drama in Russia, Ukraine, and the EU states of Eastern Europe has reached acute danger point.

If mishandled by the world policy establishment, this debacle is big enough to shatter the fragile banking systems of Western Europe and set off round two of our financial Götterdämmerung.

Austria's finance minister Josef Pröll made frantic efforts last week to put together a €150bn rescue for the ex-Soviet bloc. Well he might. His banks have lent €230bn to the region, equal to 70pc of Austria's GDP.

"A failure rate of 10pc would lead to the collapse of the Austrian financial sector," reported Der Standard in Vienna. Unfortunately, that is about to happen.

COMMENT:  The way some Europeans, and their American lackeys, are talking, it's all America's fault.  Well, apparently it isn't.  There were some pretty high-flying financial gimmicks being pulled in Europe while we were doing the same here.

SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY 14,  2009

PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL - AT 3:18 P.M. ET:  Rasmussen, now judged the most accurate pollster in the 2008 election, is out with his latest presidential approval ratings.  They're here.  They show total approval of the president's performance at 60%, total disapproval at 39%.  That certainly isn't terrible, but it isn't spectacular either, especially for a messiah.  Approval has gone down five points since inauguration day.  Disapproval has gone up nine points.

BARONE

Posted at 10:51 a.m. ET

Michael Barone writes, as he always does, a thoughtful column, this time concentrating on the lessons for today of the Depression era.  We don't have to agree with everything here, but Barone is provocative:

"Not since the Great Depression." "Not since the 1930s." You hear those phrases a lot these days, and with some reason. As Congress prepares to pass the Democratic stimulus package, it may be worthwhile to look back at Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and consider how well it worked as policy -- and politically.

Some New Deal programs may have made a positive contribution to the country in some areas.  However...

After eight years of the New Deal, unemployment remained at 15 percent in 1940 -- double the figure for today. What really got us out of the Depression was World War II. The total number of employed persons and military personnel increased from 44 million in 1938 to 65 million in 1944.

And...

So it would be unwise to copy the New Deal as a recipe for economic recovery. And the policies that produced the wartime boom are not replicable today.

Unless we slide into a larger conflict through appeasement.

There has been general agreement, however, that Roosevelt's policies were politically successful. Most of us in the political commentary business make frequent use of the phrase "New Deal Democratic majority" and tend to believe that Roosevelt's policies worked for his party for a long generation extending into the 1960s.

But is it true?

I think the picture is more complicated than that. Democrats did win big in the 1934 and 1936 elections. They made big gains in large cities and factory towns, many of which were staunchly Republican in the 1920s. But these gains were not sustained, as the effects of some New Deal policies -- high taxes on high earners, the unionization-promoting Wagner Act and jobs programs like the WPA -- became apparent...

...As pro-New Deal historians have conceded, New Deal policies no longer had congressional majorities, given the opposition of many Southern Democrats. Nor was the outlook for Democrats rosy as the 1940 elections approached. Polling, then in its rudimentary stages, suggested that Republicans would win if the election were decided on domestic issues.

However, something intervened. 

But in September 1939, World War II broke out in Europe. In June 1940, France fell; Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, then allies, seemed to have most of Europe under their sway...

...(Roosevelt) won his third term in November not, as he put it later, as "Dr. New Deal," but as an experienced leader when the nation was facing grave peril.

And...

In my view, it was the war effort, the mobilization of big government, big business and big labor, that much more than the New Deal enhanced the prestige of the state.

Finally...

No two political times are ever the same. But as we watch the stimulus package moving to passage, we get the whiff of bailout favoritism and crony capitalism that was also present in the New Deal. The forced unionization envisaged by the card-check bill may prove to be no more popular than the unionization forced by the sit-ins was in Michigan and Ohio in 1938. Today's Democratic programs may get as mixed a political reaction as the New Deal did in the years before World War II.

I think Barone may take too bleak a view of the New Deal.  Much of it plainly didn't work to end the Depression, but the introduction of humane "social safety net" policies, later fully supported by Ronald Reagan, was a gain for the nation.  Also, some of the better-run unions did advance workers' interests in collective bargaining, a right now accepted by both political parties.  We've said here many times that we're a free-enterprise site, but that free enterprise doesn't mean blindness or callousness.  It certainly doesn't mean indifference to the vast corruption we've seen in some parts of the private sector.  And employees must be seen as assets to businesses, and as human beings, not just "labor costs" on a ledger.   

FDR was many things, some of them brilliant, and some of them very bad.  He was a cold, calculating and somewhat dishonest man, but a natural leader who knew how to hold the country together in a very rough time.  He was Ronald Reagan's role model. 

We don't have an FDR or a Reagan today, and that is what worries me.  Both men knew how to handle foreign crises.  The man currently in the White House does not.  A bad stimulus package won't destroy the nation or kill its citizens.  A bad foreign policy might.

February 14, 2009.      Permalink          

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE - AT 9:55 A.M. ET: 

BERLIN, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed U.S. signals to review a missile defence shield in eastern Europe, in an interview with German news magazine Der Spiegel.

Lavrov said Russia wanted to work more closely with the West due to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and he expressly welcomed signals from President Barack Obama's administration on Iran.

COMMENT:  Be careful of Russians bearing gifts.  If Lavrov suddenly "welcomes" American signals, we might examine just how far those signals go.  Some observers are defining the Obama foreign policy as "Jimmy Carter on speed."  We can't be sure yet.  Let's hope it isn't true.

POISON IVY BY ANY OTHER NAME - AT 9:29 A.M. ET --  Do you know what the formal name of the stimulus bill is?  Get this:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

COMMENT:  Those old Soviet propagandists had nothing over us.

OH, THANKS FOR TELLING US - AT 9:25 A.M. ET:  From London's Telegraph:

President Barack Obama on Friday warned that economic recovery in the United States "will be measured in years, not months" as he scored a major victory in his young presidency with the approval in Congress of a $787 billion (£542) bill to revive the economy.

COMMENT:  That's the first speech of the 2012 election campaign. " Look, I told you this wouldn't work immediately.  But over time, and with more pork for our constituent groups..."

A FEW LITTLE DETAILS - AT 8:40 A.M. ET:  From the Washington Times, your stimulus dollars at work:

Congress has removed the key check on making sure illegal immigrants aren't hired by firms getting money from the economic stimulus package, but left in nearly $200 million in spending for Filipino veterans of World War II...

...On the immigration issue, Democrats removed from the final bill a House-adopted provision that would have required those who received money from the stimulus spending bill to check their new employees against E-Verify, the federal government's chief tool to weed illegal immigrants out of the work force.

COMMENT:  Great, isn't it?  So, how many illegals will get those jobs this bill is supposed to create?  Which party will these illegals vote for in the next election?  Take the quiz, find out what's really happening.

WE'RE SO STIMULATED - AT 8:33 A.M. ET:  From the Washington Post:

With the final vote coming late in the night, Congress yesterday approved a $787 billion stimulus package that aims to spur millions of jobs through massive new investments in energy, transportation, education and health-care projects, while reviving social safety-net programs that have been shrinking for nearly three decades...

...The legislation represents the start of a new ideological era that places the federal government at the center of the nation's economic recovery. It also provides a down payment on much of President Obama's domestic agenda, including his pledges to upgrade the nation's aging roads, bridges and electricity grid; overhaul health-care record-keeping and invest billions in alternative energy research to reverse climate change and wean the country from foreign oil.

COMMENT:  Note the second paragraph.  That's what it's really about, and yet not one member of Congress had the time to read the bill and consider each of the items.  Change we can't believe in. 

SHOPPING BULLETIN AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

For years, executives of Saks Fifth Avenue have been wooing one of the world’s most exclusive men’s wear lines...

...The retailer is about to find out how many men are left in New York with the money, and the moxie, to pay more than $7,000 for an off-the-rack suit, or as much as $21,025 for the made-to-order version.

COMMENT:  I wonder how many of these suits will be bought with federal bailout money.