Quick Hits

Exactly how do you “save jobs”? Currently the administration is taking credit for creating or saving 150,000 jobs in first 100 days. Now, the administration claims to be able to create or save 600,000 by the end of the summer. Well that’s just dandy considering over 2 million jobs have been lost since Obama’s election in November and the unemployment rate is at a staggering 9.4%. What about the other millions of people whose jobs haven't been “saved” by Obama? The house of cards is falling.

But still, I want to know who is quantifying this. During the campaign, Obama promised to create or save anywhere from 2.5 million to 5 million new jobs (including "green" jobs). However, as expected, his rhetoric was very light on details. Even now with the proclamation of “saving” jobs, he’s still light on details. The perpetual campaign continues. As Mitch McConnell and others have observed, the economy would probably begin to recover organically if the government would just get out of the way. Another case of the cure being worse than the disease.

(Side note: I thought the vast majority these projects were “shovel-ready”: "It takes time to organize projects, to get the bids in, the funds out and the work started," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.)

Green is the color of money And that’s the money that people are making off of poor schlubs who think they have to “go green” in everything they do. However, it does not appear as though going green is always the best option. It looks like in many cases in the US, mass transit fares worse than the automobile both in operation AND in construction emissions. Wow. Can’t imagine how that is setting with Mr. Gore.

But the larger implication is this…if they can’t get it right on a smaller scale dealing ONLY with transportation systems, how do they think there will be any possibility of accuracy on a national/industrial scale and how will it be measured? Once again, ideology trumps common sense as the left attempts to hurry through more taxes (cap and trade) and controls over YOUR life. After all, you’re not smart enough to know what’s good for you, right? One size fits all around here now. Do you think the people in rural Nebraska are keen on the idea of paying federal taxes from cap and trade to pay for the pollution generated from the major coastal cities? Doubtful.

The Military wins another battle against a fierce enemy The Supreme Court upheld the military’s “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy. I think this is the appropriate decision. First of all, this is one thing that Clinton took heat for, but is turning out to be a good thing. Secondly, the last thing we need is a drop in morale because soldiers cannot trust or believe they can’t trust the man or woman fighting next to them. And finally, it does not matter what your sexual preference is if you can pick off a terrorist from 1000 yards.

The military is designed to fight external wars against common enemies of the country. It is not a place for fighting politically-driven ideological wars internally that ultimately benefit no one.

Anyone else sense the political winds are shifting? Rasmussen does.
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