1 I will eat my cat last.

2 first, and this bailout sounds like another wreck in the making

3 was it the states or Wash DC that extended unemployment benefits to two years? Obviously he who calls the pipe should pay the tuner. (Said without the benefit of 12 writers, two teleprompter screens and menthol arugula.)

4 Want to "help" them, Obama?  Remember how Nixon left office?  Yeah, that.

5 Soon, we all shall be millionaires.

6 Unexpected, right?

The man-killing chickens have come home to roost.

7 Just a scorpion acting like a scorpion - the ponziconomists and ponziticians don't know anything else.

Road.  Can.  Kick.

The bailouts will continue until the currency, and the economy, implodes.

8 So, State debt becomes Federal debt. States continue their debt-generating policies. Feds continue their support. That's like strapping rockets to a runaway train.

9 2014????

Not gonna get there..... not on MY watch.

10

Nothing like buying your way to re-election, eh, Barry?

Hope.  Change.  Finanical ruin.

11 Ronald Reagan would highly approve this measure!

12 Here's how the scheme will work: the Feds will "lay off" the debt by saying the states will use their tax-power to make up the difference; but the Feds *know* that the states cannot jack up taxes indefinitely (especially given the pension and OPEB bombs waiting in the wings); so in time the loans will be "forgiven", thus giving the states a grant of federal tax dollars. It's a bailout -- don't kid yourself otherwise. The same thing is going to happen on a much larger scale when all the municipal and state pension obligations explode, unless some mechanism is put into place to allow states to declare bankruptcy.

13

Rising unemployment has placed such a burden on states

No. The real burden is from large numbers of government employees with generous salraies, pensions and benefits. The states that are going bankrupt now were already on the path to bankruptcy five years ago and ten years ago. The economic depression just speeded that up a bit.

14 The impugning and degradation of the American people by this Administration will continue until morale improves.

15 How boned are we?
Let me count the ways....

16 The biggest problem states are going to have is dealing with the newly added people mandated to get Medicaid coverage.

17 11 Ronald Reagan would highly approve this measure!

Posted by: Andrea Mitchell at February 08, 2011 10:28 AM (zgZzy)

Brian(apparently the white lib dog from Family Guy) in the previous thread thinks Reagan was just chockablock with major errors and cowardice.

I guess Reagan wouldn't have had the balls to bail out the states? Hmmmm?

18

Want to "help" them, Obama?  Remember how Nixon left office?  Yeah, that.   Posted by: AmishDude at February 08, 2011 10:21 AM (T0NGe)

Thanks for playing folks, WE HAVE A WINNER.

19 Repeat what I said earlier:

This has to be a pure political gesture to try to make the Repubs look bad when the laugh at it in the House. I guarantee asshole Reid will introduce it in the Senate first. The question then will become will it even make it to the floor of the House.  But what is a sure thing is that it will be touted daily by the MFM straight from the talking points memo given them by the commie-dem Party.

What is laughable is that shit like this destroys any credibility he may have had with the stupids for “moving to the center” and for reducing the deficit. Yes, he told O’Really that he wanted to cut 400 billion from the budget.

20 The feds actually caused this problem in several states via the "stimulus bill".

The bill contained block grants for things such as unemployment which didn't fully fund all benefits but contained language forcing states to raise the amount of payments and length of benefits to federally-mandated levels in order to get the money.

Of course, this won't be reported as such in the media, it'll be that "the states screwed up" or that "business didn't create enough jobs" instead of "Barry gave them a sample to get them hooked and is now jacking up the price"

21

I want to be a millionaire. I want to be a millionaire.

_Inflation.

22 Another opportunity for the Zero administration to push the Carterian limits of FAIL. Wonderful.

23 Please stand by for important news about the chocolate ration.

24

And the right-wingers are all for it:

As states groan and stumble through the recession, some politicians are trying to exploit their financial crises for ideological purposes. Many Republicans want to use hard times to fundamentally reduce the role of states and public employee unions, in the same way federal tax cuts forced a debate on how to cut the deficit.

Some want to cut back severely on federal aid to the states, no matter how much new joblessness that may cause, while others want to ensure that Washington will never bail out a state close to defaulting on its bonds.

The latest pernicious idea, pushed by Newt Gingrich, Jeb Bush and several members of Congress, would allow the states to declare bankruptcy, for the principal purpose of tearing up union contracts and negating pension obligations.

[ . . . ]

But bankruptcy would fight fire with gasoline, spreading instability to the bond markets, scaring off investors who might think they would never get repaid, and making it much harder and more expensive for states to raise desperately needed capital. Some bond experts say even talk of allowing states to declare bankruptcy has rattled markets.

Magic-bullet ideas like this one are no substitute for the hard work of governing responsibly. Union contracts and benefits need to be changed at the bargaining table, and budget-cutting governors have all kinds of leverage. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York got the attention of state unions last week by threatening to lay off 9,800 workers if the unions donÂ’t give up at least $450 million in payroll cuts and other givebacks. Other governors are talking about changing collective bargaining laws.

25

I would sure like to see Chris Christie and the other GOP governors come out and simply tell the people of their states that they are all going to have to pay higher state taxes because of all the new mandates from Obama and the Democrats.  Make these things line items in their budgets this year.  Show people EXACTLY how much all this "largesse" from Washington to help "others" is going to cost THEM.

We've allowed this to go on much too long.  Numbers get moved around and nobody understands the true cost of anything anymore.

26 This is a new scheme to bail out the Dem's unionized state and municipal workers.. pure and simple.  It's just robbing Peter to pay Paul.  Obama knows the states will have to start laying off state workers (can you hear the cries of "oh no.. teachers and policemen!  Think of the children!") because it has to pay back the feds.. this is a way for them to keep their jobs.

27 Solution is easy.... Obama resign immediately!

28 Just going out on a limb here, this bailout will predominantly help Democratic states?

29

I want to be a millionaire. I want to be a millionaire.

_Inflation.

Posted by: Dummy rubbing lamp in ironic TV show episode

I'm all ensued out.

30 Other governors are talking about changing collective bargaining laws. If "talking" was the same as "doing", we wouldn't be in the mess we're in, wouldn't you agree?

31 Jobless aid help?  Wtf?  There are no jobs in my area of my state...it has to do with the crappy economy and the new crappy tax structure, and it isn't likely to change anytime soon thanks to that crappy economy and crappy new tax structure, but mostly that crappy new tax structure.  And the feds are just going to throw some money to the state gov't. to "help" that out?  That's rich.

32 28 Well,yeah,they are in the worse shape after all.

33

Under federal law, such tax increases are automatic once the money owed reaches a certain level.

Hmmm... this is an interesting statement.  Congress FORCES States to give more unemployment insurance, and then has the Power to Force them to raise taxes "by law".

Are not States Sovereign Entitys?  Just where does the US Congress have the power to force a STATE to raise taxes?

Or are we just ignoring that pesky old document, the Constitution now...

34 O/T but has anyone else seen this?
Mandatory Arabic Classes Coming to Texas Schools

35 (That NYT editorial that Ed posted had me actually shouting at my computer screen, bulging veins and all. Assholes.)

36 Monty I will have to pick one bone with the title. The bailout they are talking about has not begun yet. he will have to get it past the House and that is not going to happen,

He has to know that.

37 Magic-bullet ideas like this one are no substitute for the hard work of governing responsibly. Union contracts and benefits need to be changed at the bargaining table, and budget-cutting governors have all kinds of leverage. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York got the attention of state unions last week by threatening to lay off 9,800 workers if the unions donÂ’t give up at least $450 million in payroll cuts and other givebacks. Other governors are talking about changing collective bargaining laws.
Posted by: Ed Anger
-----------
Bullshit.  Bargaining table and leverage, my ass.  Fuck the public employees.  They have been raping the states for decades.. the game is up.

38

Hmmm... this is an interesting statement.  Congress FORCES States to give more unemployment insurance, and then has the Power to Force them to raise taxes "by law".

Are not States Sovereign Entitys?  Just where does the US Congress have the power to force a STATE to raise taxes?

Technically, Congress didn't force the states to give more insurance, it was a trade-off by those states accepting block grants from the government. 

Of course, the government made it unfeasible for many states to turn down the money, specifically lobbying legislatures like the one in Louisiana to overrule the governor if they turned down parts of the money which had such requirements attached to it.

39 From that O/T link above:

Some Students at Mansfield ISD schools could soon be learning Arabic as a required language.  The school district wants students at select schools to take Arabic language and culture classes as part of a federally funded grant.

The Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant was awarded to Mansfield ISD last summer by the U.S. Department of Education.

I just read that to my wife who is from TX. She was not amused. 

Just more reason to kill the Dept of Ed completely dead.

40 28 Just going out on a limb here, this bailout will predominantly help Democratic states?

Of course.  Which is why I love stories such as this:

Low-tax Texas beats big-government California

41
(That NYT editorial that Ed posted had me actually shouting at my computer screen, bulging veins and all. Assholes.)

Posted by: Monty at February 08, 2011 10:38 AM (4Pleu)

Ahhh! The desired effect was achieved!

42 That turd of a speech that Bammer recently delivered to the US Chamber of Commerce should tell you about where his heart is regarding the business world, by the way. Here's a guy who's never actually held a real job lecturing actual businessmen on their responsibility to "give back" to their communities (apparently Bammer doesn't understand the role a "paycheck" plays). Under this unemployment bailout, guess who gets a huge tax increase? Business owners. And when they fail or move to a lower-tax state, guess who will be blamed for exacerbating the problem?

43 O/T but has anyone else seen this?
Mandatory Arabic Classes Coming to Texas Schools

Posted by: antisocialist at February 08, 2011 10:37 AM (Rwudm)

Yep.  Pathetic, in addition to being stupid.  I do get a kick out of the idea that the language with one of the largest number of illiterate speakers (even though the arabic speaking world is drowning in free petro-dollars for an industry that they had nothing to do with, at all) is something that American kids should be forced to learn.

Evidently, that district has people on its board who need to be sent back to elementary school.  And the idea that the federal government is giving cash to districts in order to force arabic on elementary and middle school students should be the subject of, yet, more Congressional investigations - not to mention another key point for why the federal Dept of Ed needs to be killed.

America is slipping away very, very quickly.

44 Rep. Beohner, you know what to hoist.

45

OT

Looking more and more like the Zerocracy backed the wrong camel in Egypt. FAIL is the religion, and Zero is it's Pope.

46

Posted by: antisocialist at February 08, 2011 10:37 AM (Rwudm)

The DOE has identified Arabic as a ‘language of the future.’

Only if you are telling them to surrender or throw down their weapons.

Arabic has no future. It's a dead language from a dead culture that has been living in the past for most of it's existance.

47 The bailout they are talking about has not begun yet. he will have to get it past the House and that is not going to happen,

He has to know that.
Posted by: Vic at February 08, 2011 10:38 AM

Uh-huh. Best guess is this will go the way the raising of the debt ceiling is progressing: "We have to pass this because, like, we can't go all bankrupt and stuff, but we're going to insist that the over-spenders cut back some day."

I have no faith in the 535 worthless cockholsters who are living the life of pampered royalty in D.C. When it's nut-cutting time, they'll all be giving each other backrubs and pushing the burden for their stupidity on to us.

I hope they prove me wrong. I really do. But then I have faith that the next lottery ticket I buy is gonna be the Big One, too.

48 I find it funny that the states "owe" the federal government anything.

49 We don't have the money.

50 Meredith Whitney is married to John Bradshaw Layfield, who happens to be quite a strong conservative.

51 Yep.  Pathetic, in addition to being stupid.  I do get a kick out of the idea that the language with one of the largest number of illiterate speakers (even though the arabic speaking world is drowning in free petro-dollars for an industry that they had nothing to do with, at all) is something that American kids should be forced to learn.

They're saying "Arabic is the language of the future" - yeah, and I guess we should all be comfortable with that, huh?
Pure B.S.

52 Zimbabwe here we come!!! Yea Haw !!!

Extra credit, why do all African countries turn out this way?

53 That turd of a speech that Bammer recently delivered to the US Chamber of Commerce should tell you about where his heart is regarding the business world, by the way. Here's a guy who's never actually held a real job lecturing actual businessmen on their responsibility to "give back" to their communities (apparently Bammer doesn't understand the role a "paycheck" plays).

Posted by: Monty at February 08, 2011 10:44 AM (4Pleu)

Speaking of turds and the Chamber of Commerce, did you see that idiot Chavern (VP of something or another at the Chamber) talking on Fox about how he loved the speech and thought it was great? 

You know, the Chamber is just dying to get invited to the White House dinners to chow down on some Wagyu.  They can't contain their excitement at the prospect.  They are pitiful dipshits.  All it would take is a little bit of cash headed their way and they'd sell out American business in a second.  They're drooling themselves to sleep wishing for it.

I don't care what minor resistance the Chamber has put up against wholly un-American and stupid marxist ideas of the Indonesian and his lunatic junta, the Chamber is ready and willing to stab America in the back.

54 They're saying "Arabic is the language of the future" - yeah, and I guess we should all be comfortable with that, huh?
Pure B.S.

Posted by: antisocialist at February 08, 2011 10:48 AM (Rwudm)

Yea, you should, for the call to prayer is one of the most beautiful things in the world... no hidden agenda here... trust me...

55 41 Yeah thanks,I needed the blood pressure spike.

56 52 Zimbabwe here we come!!! Yea Haw !!!

Extra credit, why do all African countries turn out this way?

Posted by: tarpon at February 08, 2011 10:49 AM (g0QB

Western imperialism.....or something.....who cares?

57 We don't need to have the money, you have me.

58 Zimbabwe here we come!!! Yea Haw !!!

Extra credit, why do all African countries turn out this way?

Posted by: tarpon at February 08, 2011 10:49 AM (g0QB

Because they can.

59 50 Meredith Whitney is married to John Bradshaw Layfield, who happens to be quite a strong conservative

I'd forgotten that she was the one who JBL married. 

I knew that his wife was receiving death threats from Citigroup back in 2007 over comments she made about their stock's viability.  Those comments ended up causing a flurry of trading on the market that erased about *$370 billion* in paper value.

Considering that Citigroup has been in the toilet for the past few years, I'd say that her comments were probably warranted and were prescient of the shit-storm that hit in 2008 that required the TARP bailout.

60 55 41 Yeah thanks,I needed the blood pressure spike.

Anger can be a great motivator and a great focuser when channeled correctly.

61 @40
Which is why I love stories such as this:

Low-tax Texas beats big-government California


----

Legal Insurrection had a cautionary tale about Texas' economy and how real (or not) some of the spin is coming from the governor there. 

I still would be very interested in seeing Perry run for POTUS, though, given our very limited options right now.  Some of the folks from deep red states who say guys like Perry or Huntsman or even Jindal aren't conservative enough seem to have lost perspective on our situation (see HotAir statements on Perry, for example).  It really strikes me as being more about a desire for purity and rejection of any pragmatism on a seated politician's part.  The set up always winds up with the favorite outsider on top simply because that person isn't actually running anything. 

Everyone says Herbert (our gov here in Utah) is a great conservative and he's doing a terrific job, but at the end of the day, he'll endorse someone and that person may not be the most conservative person.  That's politics.  I don't see why people get outraged by that. 

62 34 O/T but has anyone else seen this?
Mandatory Arabic Classes Coming to Texas Schools

That's apparently for only* Mansfield ISD, which serves Mansfield, Grand Prairie, Burleson, and parts of Arlington.

*Only is still too much. What is happening to my beloved Texas?

63 O/T but has anyone else seen this?
Mandatory Arabic Classes Coming to Texas Schools
Posted by: antisocialist at February 08, 2011 10:37 AM

It's not enough for Osama Obama to aid the Muzzie Bros' takeover of Egypt. He's pushing for it here, too.

Texas won't be the only state that gets this. Until the Traitor-in-Chief is removed from office and all his terrorist pals are rooted out of their government jobs, our way of life, culture and religions will be under constant attack.

64 Maybe I've got this all wrong, but the states pay for the first 6 months of UI and the feds have been picking up most, if not all, of the tab for the extended portion going out as far as 2 years.
 
The problem is that the states couldn't afford to pay their 6 month shares any more due to the lengthy nature of the unemployment cycle. So the feds have been loaning the states the cash to keep paying the first 6 months. Then they have given favorable terms on the loans including some subsidies.
 
The time period from 6 months to 2 years of UI is all on the fed backs; you know, part of our ongoing deficit that just got re-extended once again in the lame duck.
 
The states should have already raised their UI rates charged to companies to close the shortfall, but have held the rate increases down to less than replenishment levels.
 
Someone tell what I've got wrong here.

65 They're saying "Arabic is the language of the future".

And you know that when called on it, they'll excuse this idiocy by pointing out our military's need for more Arabic speakers.  To which I reply, so then you are enabling our wars?

66 Some of the folks from deep red states who say guys like Perry or Huntsman or even Jindal aren't conservative enough seem to have lost perspective on our situation (see HotAir statements on Perry, for example)

Jindal's conservative enough, IMHO. 

The problem he's got that other governors may not have is that there is an entrenched political establishment in Louisiana that still does "good ol' boy" politics.  This limits the amount of real reforms he can make because people will undercut him at every turn.

67 Bets on whether Obama makes it to 2012? Anyone...Anyone...Bueller?

68 I was informed that once the military stopped DADT'ing all their language experts, there would be no more shortage. Right up until then, I'd never realized you had to be gay-proud to speak Arabic. Explains a lot though.

69 67 Bets on whether Obama makes it to 2012? Anyone...Anyone...Bueller?

I'll bet he makes it solely on the backs of his ego and the unwavering support of the black community.

If his approval rating in the black community starts diving below about 80% from the 90+% it's at now, he's in trouble because he'll be bleeding voters who not only support him but make up the backbone of the Dem caucus.

70
The problem he's got that other governors may not have is that there is an entrenched political establishment in Louisiana that still does "good ol' boy" politics.

Bingo!  That's my point.  There's ideology and then there's pragmatism.  You can only do what you can actually do.  Some folks seem to forget that. 

I don't see Jindal running this time.  I think he needs to rehabilitate himself a bit (image-wise) and it sure seems as though LA has had a run of bad luck that he seems intent on fixing (which is good). 

71 I see also some Demoncrat Senators wanting to buck the savior.... They see the writing on the wall, but it may be too late. You make a deal with the devil, you have to pay in ways you never thought. Y'all just lost your soul !!!

72 OT Looking more and more like the Zerocracy backed the wrong camel in Egypt. FAIL is the religion, and Zero is it's Pope. ZERO FAIL (my first 2x4, if I did it right)

73 67 Bets on whether Obama makes it to 2012? Anyone...Anyone...Bueller?       He'll get re-elected in a landslide.  Bank on it.  Voters are stupid and they have very short memories.  Not to mention there's a lit of White Guilt out there.

74 Posted by: Vic at February 08, 2011 10:41 AM (M9Ie6)

I just read it.  Gross.
My wife and I moved to the Mansfield ISD before we had kids specifically because they're supposed to be among the best schools in the area (we'd prefer home school or private school, but things can happen that take those off the table, so we figured we'd be prepared).  Now, I'm not quite so cool with them going there.

75 My guess is that unions will be benefitting from this "help".

76 So Big Tonsil wants to steal my body parts, and Big Labor wants to insert body parts into my orifices?

77 They're saying "Arabic is the language of the future". 'til 2012.

78 Some of the folks from deep red states who say guys like Perry or Huntsman or even Jindal aren't conservative enough seem to have lost perspective on our situation (see HotAir statements on Perry, for example)

Huntsman allied himself with the Indonesian, for no good reason (as if being ambassador to China was anything more than being the Indonesian's hand-puppet).  Huntsman is a worthless piece of shit.  He also took awful positions on important issues, but his allying with an enemy of America is enough to determine that the only chance he would have is as a democrat.

79 How large is the black population....8-10%? They have been shrinking by their own doing the past decade. The black vote is not enough to carry Obama. He desperately needs those racist whites to vote for him !!!

80 the Chamber is ready and willing to stab America in the back.
Posted by: iknowtheleft at February 08, 2011 10:50 AM

The C of C is no different from tunnel-vision stock market shills who see short-term gains for themselves and cannot look ahead to the destruction their policies and associations cause.

They say "business is supposed to make money," and that's true. But the job of business is not to steal money, or have it handed to them by the government; they are supposed to get rich providing services, not profit from illegality and oppression.

81 Question: Not that Teh Won would do it; but could a president sign an Executive Order banning public sector unions?

82 NYT editorial board translation...

"hard work of governing responsibly" == giving public employees everything their black hearts desire while sodomizing the private sector and blaming it for all the country's problems.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

83

McCain just proposed legislation giving Obama line item veto authority.

84 How large is the black population....8-10%? They have been shrinking by their own doing the past decade. Hey, how about a little credit over here?

85 79 How large is the black population....8-10%? They have been shrinking by their own doing the past decade. The black vote is not enough to carry Obama. He desperately needs those racist whites to vote for him !!!

It may be only 8-10% of the country, but they make up a large voting bloc within the Dems and will likely attempt to swipe out The Race Card (TM) to keep him from being tossed like LBJ effectively was in '68  and Carter nearly was in '80.

86 81 Question: Not that Teh Won would do it; but could a president sign an Executive Order banning public sector unions?

Since public sector unions were born via JFK's Executive Order, I don't see why they can't die in a similar manner.  Circle of life and all that. 

87 And you know that when called on it, they'll excuse this idiocy by pointing out our military's need for more Arabic speakers.

I thought with DADT's appeal we now had legions of Arabic speakers!

88  Obama's a young man.  He could be president for another 40, 50 years.

89

I've been saying this for awhile.  The Republicans say they're not going to bailout the states but the problem is that the infrasructure for the bailouts are already in place.  The Rep's don't have to lift a finger.  The Unemployment is just one program.  We also have the the pension bailout program, Medicare, Food stamps. 

Its all there.  And Congress will lie to our faces and say that they are not forwarding a bailout package. 

Bull

90 Amazing how black people support the leftards, when the leftards have done everything they can to minimize whatever they haven't been able to destroy of them.

91 I have no problem with more Texans knowing Arabic.  Know your enemy and all that.  Someone has to decipher the language to protect our people.

I wouldn't call that stupid any more than I'd call learning Japanese or German stupid in the run up to WWII.

The Feds shouldn't be making grants, at least not via a Dept. of Ed. If it were the DoD doing it, that would make more sense.

92 I think AA are more like %12-13,unless the last census changed that.

93 Bets on whether Obama makes it to 2012?

Honestly, I thought he'd have a breakdown before now.  That he'd blow up at a press conference or something.  I also thought he never thought he had a shot at re-election so he'd just pack it in post-2010 and coast along in a lame-duck stupor.

But with the approval numbers hovering between 46 and 52, he must be spurred on.

94 28 Just going out on a limb here, this bailout will predominantly help Democratic states? Posted by: t-bird at February 08, 2011 10:35 AM (FcR7P) And some Commonwealths, too.

95

Problem is, once the Feds attempt to bail out one state (California anyone)?, then the rest are going to line up for hand-outs.

What the hell, since we are just playing with numbers and printing money, why not?

And once that ball starts rolling, ain't a politician worth his/her job description that won't jump on that band-wagon.

I think the term "boned" just jumped up to dinosauer level.

96 1. Transfer the failures and debts of private companies to the public taxpayers.
2. Transfer irresponsible state debts to the public taxpayers.
3. Bailout foreign governments.
3????
4. Profit!!

97 91 Yeah,but I suspect their intentions are not the ones we would like.

98 Leave my fun-employment alone! I have a nice long summer ahead and a lounge chair in the sun with my name on it. After the winter I've sat through, you'd think you people would have some compassion.

99 Meanwhile ... McShame is at it again, trying to destroy the Constitution by giving the Indonesian a line item veto.

As much as I abhor McShame, he always finds a way to show me that it's not nearly enough.

100 Wasn't line item found to be unconstitutional anyway?

101 99 We really dodged a bullet with Hayworth huh?

102 And some Commonwealths, too. Obscure. Nice! PA, VA, and MA are the commonwealths, right?

103 Is aid help like mind thoughts?

104 Obscure. Nice! PA, VA, and MA are the commonwealths, right?

KY also, I think.

105 100 Wasn't line item found to be unconstitutional anyway?

Yes

106 Watching Faux News now eating lunch. Spit spit fckty fck fck fck.

McCain just on there now crossing he aisle and teaming with a Dem to give congress another fig leaf on the budget. He wants to give Obama the "line item veto". A process that has already been shot down by SCOTUS with the help of RINO Rudy when he was mayor of NYC.

Damn these sorry aisle crossing SOBs and damn every asshole in AZ that voted for that shithead in the primary.

107 Damn I see someone already beat me to it.

108 Posted by: grognard at February 08, 2011 11:07 AM (NS2Mo)

The problem is making it mandatory.  And the addition of all the "culture" crap they're adding to the curriculum.  As though part-and-parcel of the "Arabic" culture isn't Islam and Sharia Law.

If you want to offer Arabic within your Foreign Language department, and if you want to make the cultural stuff optional even for kids taking the language (as used to be the case with the Mexican heritage stuff they do with Spanish now- btw, why aren't they learning about Spain's culture?  You'd almost think they were trying to lionize Mexican culture rather than educate about the culture that birthed a language), then I'm cool with that.  I might even encourage kids to take it as a useful alternative to French (I'm sorry, no one in Texas exclusively speaks French.  There are some who exclusively speak Spanish and probably some who exclusively speak Arabic).

The further problem, as you point out, is it coming from the Feds at all.  If the DoD wants to include an Arabic Language requirement for Schools to qualify for JROTC programs, I can see that argument, but DoE shouldn't even exist, let alone be mandating required courses for students.

109

My fellow Americans and Taxpayers,

As you know, my party has been in power in the State of California, both the Asymbly and the Senate for decades.  We have wasted and spent billions of dollars over all these years.  We are broke today.  In order to continue our drunken spend-fest, we will need your hard earned money.  In order to contine the most generous entitlement programs in the country, especially for illegal aliens, you need to fork over your hard earned cash.  Yes, you can cry a river over this, but in the end, you and I know we will get your money one way or another.  Wealth Distribution is coming, get over it, and open your damn wallets.

 

110

Technically, Congress didn't force the states to give more insurance, it was a trade-off by those states accepting block grants from the government. 

Of course, the government made it unfeasible for many states to turn down the money, specifically lobbying legislatures like the one in Louisiana to overrule the governor if they turned down parts of the money which had such requirements attached to it.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at February 08, 2011 10:40 AM (iBaup)

 

Yes, but what we are talking about here is a Federal LAW, infringing on the Sovereigns States authority to tax.  I don't beleive that any agreement, or contract, can void their Sovereign power...

Contracts do not over rule Consitutional Powers... (wow... just wrote that and thinking on it, they may, considering the Gag orders which are imposed on the Military, even on Social Issues like DADT...).

111 if foreign language is still a HS graduation requirement, Mandarin and Arabic are better choices than dead languages such as German and French. Don't all Texans speak Spanish already?

112 KY also, I think.

I prefer butter.

113 If the federal government really wanted to help the states, it would slash federal tax rates to give the states room to raise theirs.

114 I have no problem with more Texans knowing Arabic.  Know your enemy and all that.  Someone has to decipher the language to protect our people.

I wouldn't call that stupid any more than I'd call learning Japanese or German stupid in the run up to WWII.

Posted by: grognard at February 08, 2011 11:07 AM (NS2Mo)

For elementary school kids?  Mandatory?  Come on.  

This has nothing to do with training people to fight arabs.  Exactly the opposite.  And it's just stupid, on top of that.

115 Posted by: steevy at February 08, 2011 11:10 AM (TMTBg)

The Line Item Veto is a singularly bad idea.  Which I've said as far back as 2000, at least.  One of the ways Congress can be a "check" on the power of the President is to force him to consider whole bills- some parts of which he might like, and some he might not, and choose to take the good with the bad, or veto the whole thing.

116 Posted by: Eddie 'Hotlips' Rendell at February 08, 2011 11:14 AM (le5qc)

No.  We don't.  Ese.  Many of us find it only encourages them.

117

Under the proposal, the administration would impose a moratorium in 2011 and 2012 on state tax increases and on state interest payments on the debt.

Oh, yeah. Leave the tough business of raising taxes to the next guy, you FUCK.

I hate this malevolent piece of shit so much. I'm goddamned enraged about what is happening to the country i love.

Thanks a lot 52%. I wish I could punch each and every one of you right in your ignorant fucking faces. Especially you white guilt types. Fuck you a million times over. If you feel so guilty about being white, then take all your money and give it to the first black person you see instead of ruining my country by voting for some low-IQ fuckstick just because he has dark skin.

118 as used to be the case with the Mexican heritage stuff they do with Spanish now- btw, why aren't they learning about Spain's culture?  You'd almost think they were trying to lionize Mexican culture rather than educate about the culture that birthed a language

I think the reason for that is that the chances of dealing with someone actually from Spain is pretty low, whereas dealing with someone from either Mexico or some Central American or South American country colonized by Spain in the 1500s who speaks Spanish is pretty high.  ESPECIALLY if you're in the Southwest, bordering Mexico.

The actual effect may be to lionize Mexican culture, such as in an outgrowth of the "Brown Power!" movement of the 60s and 70s, but the *intent* is apparently to educate kids about the culture of the Spanish-speaking country they're most likely to interact with.

119 Awesome.  Let's just get this out of the way early. Turn the suck up to 11 and when the link and WIC cards stop working, we'll all get jobs as cast members on Planet of the Apes meets Mad Max, with special guest Snake Plissken.

120 Elementary kids learn languages better.  I have no problem with it starting there.  Adolescents tend, for a variety of reasons, to not learn languages as well.

I concede the point about it being mandatory, and I concede the point about the culture stuff.  However, *some* cultural understanding is necessary with certain languages to understand turns of phrase and things like that. 

I know as well as you do that what the DoE intends is different than what I'm talking about.  I just don't think it's a good idea to reflexively see Arabic and think BAD. The bottom line is that learning the facts about the culture and language can only help right-minded folks defend against Islam and Sharia. 

Will this program provide that?  Probably not.  I just don't have a problem with a program with the right goals in mind.

121 There is no substitute for actually crafting and passing a balanced budget and cutting spending.

All of these other gimmicks like PAYGO, Graham-Rudmand, and every one of the ones they are talking about now are nothing more than a smoke screen to give them a talking point to feed to the MFM.

The public is going to have to learn to see this kind of shit for what it is. That is where our job comes in. The MFM is sure not going to get the word out there.

122 but the *intent* is apparently to educate kids about the culture of the Spanish-speaking country they're most likely to interact with.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at February 08, 2011 11:19 AM (iBaup)

You know what they say about the Road to Hell....

123 Posted by: Warden at February 08, 2011 11:18 AM (XGvLe)

Have you taken your nitrates this morning?  It seems like you may need them.

That, or a good outing at the gun-range pouring hot lead into paper targets to take out the 52% in effigy.

124 122 but the *intent* is apparently to educate kids about the culture of the Spanish-speaking country they're most likely to interact with.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at February 08, 2011 11:19 AM (iBaup)

You know what they say about the Road to Hell....

Yeah, I think we've been long headed down that road, but this at least explains *why* we're headed there.

125

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at February 08, 2011 11:19 AM (iBaup)

/sings..

The Inquistion, let's begin
The Inquistion, look out sin
We have a mission to convert the Jews (Jew ja Jew ja Jew ja Jews)
We're gonna teach them wrong from right
We're gonna help them see the light
And make an offer that they can't refuse (that the Jews just can't

126 Huh? What?
Fore!

127 You know what they say about the Road to Hell....

Yeah, I think we've been long headed down that road, but this at least explains *why* we're headed there.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at February 08, 2011 11:22 AM (iBaup)

Road??? Road??? We'ze be buildin a High Speed Rail Baby!

128 Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at February 08, 2011 11:19 AM (iBaup)

And as an American in America their culture should be mandatory education material for me... why?
***

You know what they say about the Road to Hell....
Posted by: KG at February 08, 2011 11:21 AM (DeCj1)

"Broad is the road, and wide is the gate..."

129

WASHINGTON – Employers posted fewer job openings in December, the second straight month of declines. That's a sign hiring is still weak even as the economy is gaining strength.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that employers advertised nearly 3.1 million jobs that month, a drop of almost 140,000 from November. That's the lowest total since September.

 

Hey comrades what's all this worry about unemployment? Things are great! The unemployment number just keeps going down and Barry keeps inventing creating or saving trillions of new jobs.

130 Just dropping by to sat it again: You WILL bail us out. There is no escape.

131 125

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at February 08, 2011 11:19 AM (iBaup)

/sings..

The Inquistion, let's begin
The Inquistion, look out sin
We have a mission to convert the Jews (Jew ja Jew ja Jew ja Jews)
We're gonna teach them wrong from right
We're gonna help them see the light
And make an offer that they can't refuse (that the Jews just can't

Torquemada - do not beg him for mercy. Torquemada - do not ask him for forgiveness. Let's face it - you can't Torquemada anything!

132 130 Just dropping by to sat it again: You WILL bail us out. There is no escape

Posted by: Clownifornia at February 08, 2011 11:25 AM (AZGON)

Actually, no, you're being handed over to China in lieu of paying off all that outstanding debt.

133 Will this program provide that?  Probably not.  I just don't have a problem with a program with the right goals in mind.

Posted by: grognard at February 08, 2011 11:20 AM (NS2Mo)

Problem is that this program is from the Dept of ENERGY... and its stated reason is that ARABS are the defacto winners in the energy Economy...

So when little Johny asks teacher why he has to learn Arabic, the teacher will tell him a LIE... that Arabs are bound to win... and things you learn young tend to stay with you.

We have PLENTY of energy in this country, but our GOVERNMENT won't let us get it... thus THEY... the ones who want our kids to learn Arabic, are CHOOSING to loose, and teach our children we are bound to loose...

134 I know as well as you do that what the DoE intends is different than what I'm talking about.  I just don't think it's a good idea to reflexively see Arabic and think BAD. The bottom line is that learning the facts about the culture and language can only help right-minded folks defend against Islam and Sharia.

I agree with all of this and i don't view learning Arabic as inherently bad.  I want my kids learning foreign languages and cultures, just not at the point of a DoE bayonet to satisfy their other agendas.  Of course, I demand that the cultural education be accurate, and not just the usual hagiography of whatever culture is PC at the moment.  Warts and all is my motto.

135 China? Suits us fine. We Clownifornians like one party rule, in case you haven't noticed.

136 I just don't think it's a good idea to reflexively see Arabic and think BAD. The bottom line is that learning the facts about the culture and language can only help right-minded folks defend against Islam and Sharia.

Posted by: grognard at February 08, 2011 11:20 AM (NS2Mo)

I disagree.  Young heads full of mush will not be proof against the vileness of Arab "culture" (a laughable term when applied to those people).  They will internalize much of it, and many will become sympathizers.  This is true because you can bet that the mandatory curriculum will be slanted toward a positive version of Arab ways and beliefs.   We already have enough 5th Columnists in the US.  We don't need to make more.

Better that only adults, free of the lies of the education establishment, learn about the Arabs in independent study.  They need to be kept as the "other" in the popular mind - the outsider. 

 

137 I have been noticing a lot more Muzzies at the store lately. Sure, half of 'em are self-hating cracka ass crackas who preemptively converted to earn diversity points/avoid the beheading, but still...

138

The plan all along was to explode the budgets and to raise taxes.  Run up the credit card - pay later off the backs of whatever private industry is left.

gotta pay all the state employees their big phat retirements.  Screw the rest of yas.

Cloward Piven.

139 --Elementary kids learn languages better.  I have no problem with it starting there.  Adolescents tend, for a variety of reasons, to not learn languages as well.

And 3 year olds pick up languages even more easily.  So what?  The point is that the parents are the ones who decide what languages they want their kids to speak.  There are far more important things for elementary schools to be teaching - which they currently fail at, miserably - than foreign languages.  And arabic is a throwback language.  It hasn't changed measurably in hundreds of years, which ought to tell you something about it and the culture that spawned it.

--I concede the point about it being mandatory, and I concede the point about the culture stuff.  However, *some* cultural understanding is necessary with certain languages to understand turns of phrase and things like that. 

Anyone who doesn't understand what the arab/persian/muslim world is about, just by seeing their actions and knowing a small slice of history, is too stupid to ever understand them, no matter how much arabic they speak.

--I know as well as you do that what the DoE intends is different than what I'm talking about.  I just don't think it's a good idea to reflexively see Arabic and think BAD. The bottom line is that learning the facts about the culture and language can only help right-minded folks defend against Islam and Sharia. 

Arabic is one of the most useless languages in the world today.  Yes, we need interpreters to help spy on those who are set on doing harm to us and our nation, but we had that need for Russian for over a half century and generated the needed resources ... though you would never know it if we went by the current administration and its inability to even accurately translate one simple word in to Russian for a major (though stupid) diplomatic gesture.

And frankly, we've been importing arabic speakers like they're going out of style - which is even dumber than this program.  If those arabic speakers are unwilling to help us (as is pretty much the case) then that says more than any amount of arabic fluency among actual Americans will ever find out.  It's our fault for denying this obvious fact, but it doesn't take any knowledge of arabic to see it.

--Will this program provide that?  Probably not.  I just don't have a problem with a program with the right goals in mind.

Posted by: grognard at February 08, 2011 11:20 AM (NS2Mo)

I have a gigantic problem with this program; from the idiotic idea that a primitive language is "the language of the future" to the idea that the feds are pushing it to the idea that one of the most savage and backward cultures on Earth deserves any sort of special attention, other than pointing out how much it stands in opposition to just about every American value.

140

saw this on Yahoo news:

President Barack Obama is calling for a six-year, $53 billion investment in high-speed rail, as he seeks to use infrastructure spending to jumpstart job creation.

An initial $8 billion investment will be part of the budget plan Obama is set to release Monday. If Congress approves the plan, the money would go toward developing or improving trains that travel up to 250 miles per hour, and connecting existing rail lines to new projects. The White House wouldn't say where the money for the rest of the program would come from, though it's likely Obama would seek funding in future budgets or transportation bills.

mmmmm... Bacon-Davis jobs for unions... jobs for the tranportation workers union... amtrak-like subsidies as far as the eye can see... Hey, Boehner, dry your eyes and kill this, too.

141 President Barack Obama is calling for a six-year, $53 billion investment in high-speed rail, as he seeks to use infrastructure spending to jumpstart job creation.

Gotta love the weasel language here... it's not "spending" if it's an "investment" in something no one will use.  And it's also about 106 times as large as the "spending cuts" he proposed in the past few days.

142

I have a gigantic problem with this program; from the idiotic idea that a primitive language is "the language of the future" to the idea that the feds are pushing it to the idea that one of the most savage and backward cultures on Earth deserves any sort of special attention, other than pointing out how much it stands in opposition to just about every American value.

Posted by: iknowtheleft at February 08, 2011 11:39 AM (N49h9)

If they really want to mandate a foreign language - and one that might actually be useful in commerce, a "language of the future", so to speak - it seems to me that Chinese would be more appropriate. 

As far as I'm concerned, mandating any specific language is complete and utter bullshit. I went to school in upstate New York in the '70's...if you went to this school, you learned Spanish, this one, French, and you stuck with that language all through high school

I took 7 years of Spanish. Can't converse in it to save my life, but I can conjugate the hell out of some verbs.

143

Problem is that this program is from the Dept of ENERGY... and its stated reason is that ARABS are the defacto winners in the energy Economy...

Dude, it's the Dept. of Education, not Energy.

Might want to read a litlle more closely before you get all excited.

144 More like high-speed FAIL.

145

Chris Christie gets it

Make sure to hear what he says just after the 3 minute mark.  boom.

-insta-

146 So the governor is how hiring advisers to advise the bankrupt munis on how to cope? Good Lord! What is the salary? I want the job.

Me: Cut spending.
City: Okay.

147 Obama Plans Jobless Aid Help for States

It's the least the asshole can do for making the job-creation climate as unfriendly as it currently is.

148 I took 7 years of Spanish. Can't converse in it to save my life, but I can conjugate the hell out of some verbs.

I'm somewhat in the same boat.  I took 3 levels of Spanish across 4 years, plus a course in "Business Languages" in which I had sections in Spanish, French, German, and Japanese, and I probably couldn't do more than ask "Donde esta el ban~o? and say "Dos cervesas, por favor." without some serious refresher.

149

Whatever ends up being done about unemployment, it will probably be the wrong thing.  Let's just hope it's the least-wrong of the available options.

A major part of the problem is that we don't need those unemployed folks as much.  We can produce so much with so little labor that the old employment paradigm is breaking down.  Expansion of production does not equate nearly so closely with expansion of employment as it once did.  Indeed, dealing with the human factor is one of the worst parts of running a business - employers will always be looking for means of automating away the HR element, and these days there are a lot of tools available to make that happen.  In the factory where I work the elimination of workers, replaced by robots, has greatly improved quality and productivity - our sales are growing (as competitors die off) and we're not adding people unless forced. 

Until the extra people are eliminated from the employment pool in some way, unemployment will remain high.  I assume they'll be stuck falling back on families (the single-income family might become the norm once more, I suspect), or going on welfare. 

Even if we took solid control over all three branches of government tomorrow, we couldn't fix this without decades of work - much of which would make us widely hated.  There are litterally dozens of difficult problems in the way of getting to full employment. 

150 Hey, Boehner, dry your eyes and kill this, too.

Posted by: mallfly at February 08, 2011 11:42 AM (bJm7W)

First, you will replace my divot. Now, you may blow me.

151 In the factory where I work the elimination of workers, replaced by robots, has greatly improved quality and productivity - our sales are growing (as competitors die off) and we're not adding people unless forced.

We warned you. 

152 A major part of the problem is that we don't need those unemployed folks as much. Yep. An (unintended) side-effect of this recession is that it forced businesses to become more productive with less labor. Now that the recession is -- ever so slowly -- abating, those workers are not being re-hired because the need for the new labor is not there. This sort of thing hits the trades and manufacturing industries (mostly males) harder than services (mostly females), which is why men have borne the brunt of this recession. The only thing that will solve the employment issue is global growth...but there's not much of that on the horizon right now. There is a prevailing belief right now that global growth is going to be fairly flat for the next decade or so -- whatever gains you see in China and India are going to be offset by falloffs in Japan, Europe, and the US. So I think a lot of the hope that the stock market will somehow save us all is pretty misplaced -- states and municipalities who are counting on 8% annualized returns over the next decade are likely to be sorely disappointed. (They'll be lucky, IMO, to get 5-6%.)

153

In the factory where I work the elimination of workers, replaced by robots,

While true where you work, I'd think that is fairly rare these days, as you just don't find old time factories anymore converting. So I'd think that effect on unemployment would be pretty minimal.

154 So I'd think that effect on unemployment would be pretty minimal. The main gains are actually in other forms of automation and materials usage. CNC machines have vastly cut down on the amount of raw materials needed for a lot of manufactured goods because they eliminate waste; automated shaping and finishing processes not only are faster, but lead to a more consistent result. The most labor-intensive parts of many manufacturing concerns right now is in the warehousing and shipping areas, and even those areas get more automated by the day. In the old days it might take four or five factories each employing 100 or 200 people to produce 10,000 units of some widget; now you only need one factory with 50 people to produce the same amount of the same widget -- at a lower price-point and a higher overall quality than used to be the case. This is true for everything from microwave ovens to steam-irons to shoes. The biggest expense in this production line, overall, is human labor -- so the less of it you need, the bigger your ultimate profit-margin will be.

155

While true where you work, I'd think that is fairly rare these days, as you just don't find old time factories anymore converting. So I'd think that effect on unemployment would be pretty minimal.

Posted by: HH at February 08, 2011 12:02 PM (6oDXl)

Well, this is just one man's view, but from what I've seen those plants that aren't converting are shutting down.  Most of the trade mags we get, both for plastic molding in particular and for the auto industry as a whole, give the impression that automation is now the essential ingredient to survival in the US, given that we do not enjoy $2 per day labor rates.  A good robot will last 10 or more years, and be paid off in terms of labor cost in 2-3 years.  Plus it never calls in sick, undermines work rules it doesn't like, sexually harrass the other employees, etc. 

156 Until the extra people are eliminated

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157 Until the extra people are eliminated from the employment pool in some way

Mmm... Soylent Green!

158

I'm just wondering if we are past that point, at least as far as factory production is concerned.

As opposed to the service sector.

By that I mean, stuff is being produced at the highest mechanical level, but you still need truck drivers, unloaders, people in a store stocking, and then sales people on the floor.

So there still has to be that employment sector.

159

Just have  every non-union, non-government worker  in the country send their income to Washington.   They can spend it on any bailout and/or entitlement they choose.   What little money  is left over can then be divided up equally and returned to the tax payer -Problem solved.

160 I will eat my cat last.

Have you ever tried to catch me outside.

161 I'm just wondering if we are past that point, at least as far as factory production is concerned.

I have said this a million times but I'll say it again. What is hurting American manufacturing the most is the over-regulation of everything under the sun.

But, be that as it may, before the economic collapse the U.S. still had the largest manufacturing sector in the world. It beat China by far. The story of the collapse of U.S. manufacturing and change to a service economy is a myth pushed by the MFM.

162

Young heads full of mush will not be proof against the vileness of Arab "culture" (a laughable term when applied to those people).  They will internalize much of it, and many will become sympathizers. 

Maybe not - you tell an elementary school class that they have to wipe with their bare hands - see how it takes.  Then again, the parts about women and submission to men would probably be popular with high school Lotharios. 

163 That's true, re the robots. Look at the grocery strike in CA for an example. The union got what it wanted (the members mostly did not want to strike) so after they returned to work, they had to operate four customer self-serve lanes instead of the one lane where they scanned the food.

164 If you go to the manufacturing association's web sites and look at the total manufacturing output in constant dollars you will find that it is a myth. Our manufacturing out put has declined some, but it is still the greatest in the world by far, or it was before the current collapse.

When you start throwing in other shit like "percentage of GDP" you only confuse to the real issue.  Don't forget that out GDP here counts government spending as well. Now that has explded more than anything in the universe,

165 The numbers were gross manufacturing input by U.S. factories in constant dollars. Simple number to understand.

What you may be missing is that we are keeping the manufacturing output up more and more with automation. The combined whammy of over-regulation and labor costs have to be offset in some manner. They are still beating the system on some products simply because wages are offset by machines, but they can not offset regulations.

So they have to concentrate on products that can beat the system. Usually those are high priced and complicated industrial products. Stuff like cheap incandescent bulbs don't fit in that category.

The other thing you will find that the Japanese are having the same problem now. Look at low cost electronic products now. You will find that very few of them are now made in Japan.

166

#136, I'd be painting it as the language of the hated Other, but one we have to learn to hunt them effectively.

Look, I tried learning a little Arabic after a high school and college career in German and Russian, and Army crash courses-for-infantrymen in Korean, Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, and Albanian (depending where I was going at the time) , and I just couldn't do it past the "Get down and put your hands on your head" stage. Reading it? No fucking way. Any language that reads backwards with that curvy script? I had to be dependent on cheat sheets and local-hire interpreters. Now some of my terps were great, especially the Kurds, but there is no substitute for knowing how to read your enemy's papers or speak his language.

Probably one Japanese officer in three spoke English, even more in the Navy, while probably not one American officer in 200 spoke fluent Japanese. That shit makes a big difference sometimes.

167 There is almost no need for Arabic interpreters for the war in Afghanistan.  They speak Dari/Pashtu/Farsi, not Arabic.

168 170, my brigade did Iraq three times, and has only done Afghan now that I'm out. While Afghanistan is a concern, and speaking the languages of it is important, there are LOTS of other Arab-speaking nations we might have a need to change the regimes of over the next few decades. It's a long, long war, my friend.

169 I've got it!  The only people to get unemployment should be union people!  If you are not in a union you are doing work Americans should not be doing anyway.  - President Bubbles and the D.C. crowd plus the MFM.

170 altın çilek - fx15 - leke kremi - yudali - maurers - ozon yağı