Remember how everyone for a period of time thought Britain was doomed in WWII?  The Battle of Britain was long and hard due to constant bombings and assaults by the Germans.  The people and its leaders held strong under the enduring character of Winston Churchill.

Today we find another battle that has been waging for the last several months:  The Battle of Business.  Instead of bombs and mortars, U.S. business finds themselves under attack from several avenues.  We have seen the following attacks launched on business in America:

• Bailouts for union auto companies
• Government aggression towards a non-union company — Toyota
• Bankruptcy laws thrown out the window while pension stakeholders are left with nothing as part of the GM bailout
• EPA desiring to regulate carbon and essentially increase the cost of doing business overnight
• Obamacare enacted and the horrendous increase in cost for all businesses to meet requirements of that law
• Offshore oil drilling ban
• Looming energy regulation that would tax every aspect of the energy infrastructure
• Card check bill, tax law changes and the list goes on.

All these items that have been created by government have generated something much worse.  The environment in America is not friendly to business right now.  And that leads business leaders to hold off on hiring, expanding facilities and investments that allow America to move forward.  For some reason “progressives” see business moving forward as somewhat of a few steps backward.  Chew on that one for a while.

Well today America’s business is fighting back.  It was outlined in this article that national groups supporting business and industry are going full force against some Senate Democrats up for election this November.   My thought is that it is about time!  Business has been bending over backwards trying to objective and compliant, but they now realize that this administration is a threat to their very existence in this country.  Remember this folks that business in this country provides the jobs, the growth and the cash flow that keeps our economy humming.  Growth in government does NOT help with any of that.  Government growth is to business as the bubonic plague is to a person:  a deadly threat.  It is because of the threat to the overall business environment in this country that most businesses feel cornered and are now coming out to defend itself against the government aggressor.  I myself do applaud their efforts.

Cross posted from Free or Bound

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It’s a tragic comedy. Normally after a recession an economy will naturally rebound, unless something gets in the way, such as government intervention. Just yesterday Obama’s now departed economic adviser, Christina Romer, all but admitted that they have been clueless on the economy. Unfortunately, we’re all paying the price. (Oh, except for government workers.)

So, how bad is it? I’m glad you asked.

How bad is it? In the data for the last few weeks and months, real personal disposable income was flat; core capital goods orders, a precursor of business capital spending, declined 8%; new home sales fell 12.4%, existing sales 27%, despite record low mortgage rates; single-family housing starts declined 4.2%; building permits, foreshadowing future construction, fell 1.2%; initial jobless claims spiked to over 500,000, leading forecasters to expect at best meager short-term private-sector job growth; the Kansas City, Philadelphia and New York Fed manufacturing indexes fell; and the trade deficit increased, as exports fell and imports rose.

These weak backward-looking data were accompanied by big downdrafts in forward-looking financial markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq over 6% in August—partly retraced yesterday—and the 10-year U.S. bond yield, at 2.47%, was back to its lows of March 2009. Real GDP growth slowed from 3.7% in the first quarter to just 1.6% last quarter.

Worse yet, much of the growth in the first half of 2010 was due to inventory-rebuilding; real final sales grew at only about 1%. Consumers are cautious, saving and paying down debt. The surge in government spending is abating. Global trade, dependent on growth abroad, is slowing: Japan is stalled, China slowing, and despite Germany’s strong quarter, eurozone growth is projected to be only half America’s modest rate through 2011.

The one bright spot has been the rebound in business capital spending. Businesses are flush with cash and profits have been solid. But the weak core durable goods report, the manufacturing downshift, and continued uncertainty about the economy and the Obama administration’s economic policy have many forecasters reducing capital expenditure projections.

This is what happens when we have clueless Keynesians controlling our government and meddling in the economy. They’ve willfully ignored historic economic data to advance an agenda at our peril. Now you know what “hope and change” is all about. It isn’t pretty.

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What does Richard Trumka stand for? I’ll let him explain in his own words. He has some admirers in Europe, too.

He tells people to fight for economic justice, as if his idea of economic justice will do anything to help this dismal economy. He appeared before the European Socialists who lauded the work he’s done for progressive causes. He advocated a global tax to help spread the wealth around. He wanted financial reform to include a “Robin Hood” tax.

Via Breitbart

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JERUSALEM, Aug. 29 (UPI) — Washington is funding an ad campaign in Israel featuring billboards of Palestinian officials asking: “We are partners — what about you?”

The campaign launched Sunday includes the faces of senior Palestinian Authority officials Saeb Erekat, Jibril Rajoub and Yasser Abed Rabo, and Riad Malki, Palestinian foreign affairs minister, Yedioth Aharonoth said.

The aim of the campaign is to persuade Israelis that peace partners on the Palestinian side truly exist, and calls for support of a two-state solution, the Tel Aviv newspaper said.

Who did we borrow money from to pay for this? Here’s the commercial airing in Israel.

Yid with Lid adds:

The U.S. government was approached to fund the campaign by the Geneva Initiative founders. The founders are a group of leftists on all sides who drew up an unacceptable “peace” deal seven years ago, and have been trying to pimp it ever since. Since his inauguration, President Obama has been reaching out to fringe groups who say they are promoting peace, but in reality are simply supporting his disastrous middle east policy. Geneva Institute is one of those organizations, another was the pro-Hamas, J-Street.

Truth is, the Israeli Population has favored a two state solution, and the last Israeli Prime Minister that didn’t support a two state solution was Rabin. So this is just wasted tax dollars brought to you by the same folks that brought you change you can believe in.

Hope and change – ain’t it just the best?

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Rasmussen reported:

Heading into the final two months of the mid-term election campaign, most voters believe that Democrats in Congress want to raise taxes and spending while Republicans in Congress want to cut taxes and spending.

At the same time, most voters believe that reducing taxes and spending would be good for the economy.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 62% of Likely Voters believe Congressional Democrats want to increase government spending. Only 16% believe the party wants to cut spending.

On the tax front, 59% believe that most Democrats in Congress want to increase taxes. Only 17% hold the opposite view.

As for Republicans, 51% say that most Republicans want to cut government spending and 50% say they want to cut taxes.  Twenty-seven percent (27%) believe GOP legislators want to increase spending and 25% believe they want to increase taxes.

Will we now hear that a majority of voters are on the fringe?

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WAFB.com: The Coast Guard is responding to another oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the Coast Guard, 13 people were onboard when it exploded and caught fire Thursday morning.

Everyone is accounted for. Officials are reporting one injury.

The injured worker is being taken to Terrebonne General Medical Center.

The other workers are in the water in immersion suits.

The rig is located about 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay.

The environmental impact is unknown at this point. The report indicates that the well is non-producing so let’s hope that means there won’t be another oil spill. That’s the last thing the folks in the Gulf region need. They’re economy is already under assault by this administration.

Update: 4:45 PM ET – It looks like initial reports may have been incorrect, and some of the wells were active. Also, AP reports that there is a mile long sheen of oil near the explosion.

The company that owns the platform, Houston-based Mariner Energy, did not know what caused the blast, which was reported by a helicopter flying over the area. Seven Coast Guard helicopters, two airplanes and three cutters were dispatched to the scene.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Mariner officials told him there were seven active production wells on the platform, and they were shut down shortly after the fire broke out.

Photos from the scene showed at least five ships floating near the platform. Three of them were shooting great plumes of water onto the machinery. Light smoke could be seen drifting across the deep blue waters of the gulf.

The platform is in about 340 feet of water and about 100 miles south of Louisiana’s Vermilion Bay. Its location is considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000 feet where BP’s well spewed oil and gas for three months after the April rig explosion.

Since this rig is in shallow water, any clean up efforts will be less complicated than they were with the BP spill.

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The Crystal Ball’s predictions are clinical. We are fond of people in both parties. We cheer for no one.

2010 was always going to be a Republican year, in the midterm tradition. It has simply been a question of degree. Several scenarios were possible, depending in large measure on whether, or how quickly, the deeply troubled American economy recovered from the Great Recession. Had Democratic hopes on economic revitalization materialized, it is easy to see how the party could have used its superior financial resources, combined with the tendency of Republicans in some districts and states to nominate ideological fringe candidates, to keep losses to the low 30s in the House and a handful in the Senate.

But conditions have deteriorated badly for Democrats over the summer. The economy appears rotten, with little chance of a substantial comeback by November 2nd. Unemployment is very high, income growth sluggish, and public confidence quite low. The Democrats’ self-proclaimed “Recovery Summer” has become a term of derision, and to most voters—fair or not—it seems that President Obama has over-promised and under-delivered.

I love the way Republican candidates who vow to uphold the Constitution are referred to as “fringe” candidates. That’s how far we’ve come from even resembling a republican form of government. Good grief. But I digress.

The article goes on to predict that the Republicans will have a net gain of 47 seats. Sabato did a district-by-district analysis, so it isn’t based simply on Obama’s unpopularity or the predicted low democrat turnout at the polls. He also predicts the GOP could pick up 8 or 9 seats in the Senate, and that a full take over is a possibility. There’s no mention of what effect the shenanigans of the unions and other outside groups could have on the election.

We’re down to sixty days. What have you done to help elect a conservative to Congress today?

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He’s just reading words now. It’s separating him from us….

Don’t worry, it’s just a little lovers’ spat.

Via Breitbart

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CONSERVATIVE 100
Ratings #6, August 31, 2010DBKP has released its (mostly) monthly ratings of the Most Popular 100 Conservative sites on the web, the Conservative 100. The ratings are based on Alexa traffic rankings 3-month worldwide average.
Ratings taken from August 30-31, 2010.

The Conservative 100 list contains all sites of interest to conservatives or with a conservative point of view. Several Libertarian sites are also included, such as Reason and Freedom’s Phoenix.

There I am at number 100! ↓

Sweet!

Heh! Even without any links from memeorandum!

What a nice way to end what started out to be a pretty lousy evening.

Thank you!

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Here’s what I missed while enjoying my last week of  the summer vacation I didn’t ask for, but have enjoyed nonetheless. (Unemployment isn’t so bad when you have a job lined up.)

If you were anywhere near a radio or television this afternoon, no doubt you heard about the enviro-nut whack job who strapped a few bombs to his body and and held the folks at the Discovery Channel hostage. Maggie was all over the story. James Lee hated babies, and thought there should be less humans on the earth. He got his wish, there is now one less human on the earth – Lee. I’m sure the lefties are disappointed that he wasn’t some disgruntled tea partier. Not that they aren’t trying to portray him as one.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is moving to exempt his state from Obamacare. Isn’t that special? I’m with Brian Faughnan, let’s just repeal the whole thing.

Rumors are flying about what Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are planning for September 11 in Alaska. One rumor is that she will announce her candidacy for the presidency, but I find that highly unlikely. I guess we’ll find out soon enough, but it probably doesn’t have anything to do with Vanity Fair’s latest hit piece on her.

(Sorry for the rather abrupt ending, but I’m beat.)

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Let’s let Dan Maffei come back to the community permanently.

Support Ann Marie Buerkle

Reaganite Republican linked – thanks!

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The Washington Times: The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.

The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.

They warn travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8″ and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies at the center of major drug and alien smuggling routes to Phoenix and cities east and west, attests to the violence. He said his deputies are outmanned and outgunned by drug traffickers in the rough-hewn desert stretches of his own county.

“Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona,” he said. “They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has.

“This is going on here in Arizona,” he said. “This is 70 to 80 miles from the border – 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States.”

He said he asked the Obama administration for 3,000 National Guard soldiers to patrol the border, but what he got were 15 signs.

It’s a long article, but if you have time it’s worth reading the whole thing. President Obama and members of his administration would have you believe that the border is secure, when nothing could be farther from the truth.

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Read all about it at Maggie’s notebook, and click on the images for the larger views. Old Glory has been replaced by a message of international social justice.

What gives me the worst indigestion is that even if we remove the Democrats from power in Congress this fall, Obama’s team will still be in place. What a scary thought.

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