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Flap’s Links and Comments for April 28th on 18:27
These are my links for April 28th from 18:27 to 21:13:
- Jerry Brown pulls plug on building San Quentin’s new death row – Gov. Jerry Brown pulled the plug today on plans to construct a new housing facility for condemned inmates at San Quentin.
Brown said in a statement that he believes it would "be unconscionable to earmark $356 million for a new and improved death row while making severe cuts to education and programs that serve the most vulnerable among us."
That bill would add an estimated $28.5 million general fund costs in annual debt service payments, his office said.
"At a time when children, the disabled and seniors face painful cuts to essential programs, the State of California cannot justify a massive expenditure of public dollars for the worst criminals in our state," said Brown. "California will have to find another way to address the housing needs of condemned inmates."
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Jerry Brown is grandstanding again. He knows inmates will go to court which will order the expenditure.
Besides Brown opposes the death penalty anyway and will try to derail California executions by any backhanded method he can.
Remember Chief Justice rose Bird who was appointed by Brown and recalled by the people of California?
- President 2012: The silver lining of the Trump show – But I don’t agree that this is all bad news for the Republican field of candidates and for the party as a whole. For one thing, those potential candidates not yet in the race can take their time, secure in the knowledge that nothing aside from the Trump travesty is going on for now. And the other candidates and potential candidates, some of whom I would argue have been too hastily dismissed by the punditocracy — e.g. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and those who seem to lack gravitas now seem more grounded and serious in comparison to the egomaniacal buffoon who has punchlines, not positions, on the issues. So Tim Pawlenty isn’t that exciting, but see how “exciting” has its limits? Maybe Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) has been too focused on one issue (the debt) to the exclusion of all others, but at least he’s obsessed with something important. (Certainly, any political coverage of the 2012 race that doesn’t concern RomneyCare is good news for the former Massachusetts governor.)
And we shouldn’t get carried away here. It is far from clear Trump will actually run for office, and unimaginable that a majority or even plurality of Republican primary voters will throw their votes and their chance to retake the White House down the drain by backing Trump. Eventually, a serious candidate or two will rise to the top of the heap and Trump will be a regrettable but ultimately irrelevant footnote in our political history.
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Absolutely agree….
- Jerry Brown pulls plug on building San Quentin’s new death row – Gov. Jerry Brown pulled the plug today on plans to construct a new housing facility for condemned inmates at San Quentin.
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Flap’s Links and Comments for April 27th on 06:02
These are my links for April 27th from 06:02 to 07:58:
- Medicare As We’ve Known It Isn’t an Option – The Democratic Party is urging Americans to choose Medicare as we've always known it rather than a new plan by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) that would enroll seniors in private health insurance beginning in 2022. This choice is a hoax: Medicare as we've always known it is already gone. It was eviscerated by President Obama's health law. Yet if the president and the Democratic Party successfully bamboozle voters, they may win back independents and registered Democrats who voted for Republicans in 2010. The 2012 election could turn on this falsehood.
The truth is that the Obama health law reduces future funding for Medicare by $575 billion over the next 10 years and spends the money on other programs, including a vast expansion of Medicaid. In 2019, Medicare spending under the Obama health law is projected to be $14,731 per senior, instead of $16,162 if the law had not passed, according to Medicare actuaries (Health Affairs, October 2010).
Such cuts might be justifiable if the savings extended the financial life of Medicare. Mr. Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius frequently make that false claim. Indeed, even Medicare's mailings to seniors repeat the claim that reducing spending on Medicare will make it more financially secure for future years.
The fact is that Mr. Obama's law raids Medicare. Mr. Ryan's plan, on the other hand, stops the Medicare heist and puts the funds "saved" in this decade toward health care for another generation of retirees.
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Read it all
- Is Paul Ryan Republicans’ dream presidential candidate? – There is a seventh reason as well: Everyone else is either horridly flawed (Newt Gingrich), a joke (Donald Trump) or just not that exciting ( Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels). That’s not to say one of these candidates couldn’t be “good enough,” but if you match each of the likely contenders up against Ryan, they look decidedly unattractive to many conservatives. The author of RomneyCare or the author of the “Roadmap for America”? The “social truce”advocate or the unabashed pro-life congressman? The disastrous former speaker of the House or the current, wonky budget committee chairman? You get the idea.
With fewer candidates than expected in the race, there is plenty of campaign talent around. (And did anyone notice how professional and effective was the ‘campaign’ to roll out his budget?) And, I suspect, that should Ryan enter the race he’d have no problem raising the needed cash.
Ryan has said he doesn’t want to run, but sometimes the question of “want to run” is a luxury. There are times when the moment presents itself, the party and the country are receptive, and there is no one else quite as compelling. Think Bill Clinton in 1992. Ryan has some time, though not much, to decide whether he wants to fill the obvious gap in the GOP field. And if party activists, insiders, Tea Partyers and operatives think Ryan is the man, then they’d better start making their wishes known.
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Paul Ryan and Mitch Daniels should both consider throwing their hats into the Presidency arena.
And, Mike Huckabee has to fish or cut bait very soon.
- Day By Day April 27, 2011 – Above His Pay Grade | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day April 27, 2011 – Above His Pay Grade #tcot #catcot
- President Obama’s Long Form Birth Certificate | The White House – Here ya go folks : RT @rickklein: President Obama's long-form birth certificate: #tcot #catcot
- Now Can We Call Him A RINO? – By Jonah Goldberg – The Corner – National Review Online – Donald Trump: Now Can We Call Him A RINO?
- Donald Trump: Now Can We Call Him A RINO? – Recipients include Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), former Pennsylvania governor Edward G. Rendell, and Rahm Emanuel, a former aide to President Obama who received $50,000 from Trump during his recent run to become Chicago’s mayor, records show. Many of the contributions have been concentrated in New York, Florida and other states where Trump has substantial real estate and casino interests….
….The Democratic recipients of Trump’s donations make up what looks like a Republican enemies list, including former senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), Rep. Charles B. Rangel (N.Y.), Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) and the late liberal lion Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.).
The biggest recipient of all has been the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee of New York, which has taken in more than $125,000 from Trump and his companies. Overall, Trump has given nearly $600,000 to New York state campaigns, with more than two-thirds going to Democrats.
- Medicare As We’ve Known It Isn’t an Option – The Democratic Party is urging Americans to choose Medicare as we've always known it rather than a new plan by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) that would enroll seniors in private health insurance beginning in 2022. This choice is a hoax: Medicare as we've always known it is already gone. It was eviscerated by President Obama's health law. Yet if the president and the Democratic Party successfully bamboozle voters, they may win back independents and registered Democrats who voted for Republicans in 2010. The 2012 election could turn on this falsehood.
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Flap’s Links and Comments for April 20th on 05:58
These are my links for April 20th from 05:58 to 07:27:
- San Francisco Supervisors Pass ‘Twitter Tax Break’ – San Francisco lawmakers approved the mid-Market "Twitter tax break" on Tuesday in a near-empty board chamber, drawing an anticlimactic close to a debate that had polarized the city for two months. The legislation freezes payroll taxes along the mid-Market corridor for six years, a move supervisors hope will keep Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco.
The Board immediately moved onto the next, thorny question: What should San Francisco do with the rest of its startups that are threatening to leave because of the city’s payroll tax?
Supervisor Mark Farrell introduced legislation Tuesday that would amend the payroll tax code to no longer consider stock options as employee compensation. Since 2004, the city has defined options as payroll to be taxed at 1.5 percent. But only now, as a handful of high-profile tech companies like Twitter and Zynga prepare for their initial public offerings, has the tax emerged as a concern.
In recent weeks a handful of companies including Twitter, Zynga, and Yelp have pressed city officials to amend the tax, saying they would rather relocate than stay in San Francisco and absorb a huge tax hit in the event they go public and their shares soar in value.
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If California wishes to retain business they will have to pass more such tax breaks and reduce regulation, plus streamline the process.
To deal with the less revenue, California will also have to cut government spending, including welfare, health and prison reform.
California better get busy.
- President 2012: Why Trump Shouldn’t Be Taken Seriously – But that's not the smell that bothers me. It's the stench of desperation coming up from those fickle souls taking a Trump presidential bid seriously.
How fickle? Well, not a day goes by when someone doesn't explain that Newt Gingrich can't win because he's damaged goods. And it's certainly true that the former speaker of the House has a lot of baggage – "enough to open a Louis Vuitton store," writes Ramesh Ponnuru in National Review. But surely "The Donald's" baggage would require an army of stevedores and sherpas.
And yet, the thrice-married lothario who says all women are gold diggers – at least when it comes to signing prenuptial agreements with him (and he may have a point there!) – is actually leading among Republican women, according to a CNN poll.
Forget Gingrich. Consider Mitt Romney. Nearly every conservative in Christendom not on Romney's payroll – and some who are – insists that his "Romneycare" law in Massachusetts is a political albatross given its similarities to Obamacare. Well, here's Trump in his book, The America We Deserve: "We must have universal healthcare. Our objective (should be) . . . to find an equivalent of the single-payer plan that is affordable, well-administered, and provides freedom of choice." Trump is flip-flopping now, as he is on his past support for Democrats, raising taxes, etc. And changes of heart are fine. But forgive me if I don't equate the word "Trump" with "sincere."
Indiana governor Mitch Daniels has been under fire for (foolishly) suggesting a "truce" on cultural issues with the Left. Social conservatives rightly saw this as a call for unilateral disarmament. But somehow gambling and wrestling impresario Trump would make a reliable champion of social issues?======
Read it all
But, Trump is serving a useful purpose as a non-serious surrogate who is attacking President Obama every day in a pop culture way.
Trump will certainly drop by the wayside soon but the damage to Obama will be done.
The GOP and America can thanks The Donald for that.
- California Dreamin’ About Texas Jobs – A group of California legislators recently made headlines when they traveled to Texas to learn why the Lone Star State has lately been generating the kind of job growth that the Golden State was once known for, and even luring many companies that once made California their home.
But every politician in California of either party ought to know that the answer to the state's economic woes lies not in Texas, but in California. Job migration is a very sexy issue, and one blogger, relocation expert Joseph Vranich, is even keeping an online list of firms that have exited California. But migration makes up only a small part of the job gains or losses a state experiences. By contrast, job creation through expansion of businesses and the formation of new companies is far more responsible for job growth. California once knew how to create new jobs and new companies, and a few places in the state still do it fairly well. The answers to California's woes lie in those places, not in Texas.
Over the last 15 years, California ranks as the third worst state in the country in terms of job migration, with a net outflow of jobs that is 1 percent greater than the flow of jobs into the state, according to the National Establishment Time Series database. Texas, by contrast, is 10th best in the nation in that period, with a plus 1.3 percent inflow of jobs from other states. Based on Vranich's anecdotal list, Texas is the biggest beneficiary of jobs leaving California.
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Sad but true.
I know many young Californians that have either left or planning to leave the Golden State because the jobs are few and the expenses are great.
California needs to right its budget, re-evaluate business regulations, reform its welfare systems and improve its educational system quickly or the export of jobs and people will continue.
- In Social Media Battle, Republicans Catch Up in Time for 2012 – “The notion that the Internet was owned by liberals, owned by the left in the wake of the Obama victory, has been proven false,” said Patrick Ruffini, a Republican political online strategist who is now advising the exploratory campaign of Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, after working as a digital adviser to President George W. Bush’s campaign in 2004 and later to the Republican National Committee.
During last year’s midterm elections, Republicans caught up with Democrats in using technology and social networks, and now many Republicans elected to the House and Senate are using these tools more than Democrats, according to several political and technology experts.
“This will be the first election in modern history that both parties are understanding the potential of the technology to change the results of the election,” said Andrew Rasiej, a co-founder of TechPresident.com, a blog that covers politics and technology, and a digital adviser to Democrats since Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in 2004. “Both Republicans and Democrats are ready to use online platforms and are no longer skeptical of its potential.”
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And, in many ways, the RIGHT has leaped ahead of the Democrats, especially with Twitter.
- San Francisco Supervisors Pass ‘Twitter Tax Break’ – San Francisco lawmakers approved the mid-Market "Twitter tax break" on Tuesday in a near-empty board chamber, drawing an anticlimactic close to a debate that had polarized the city for two months. The legislation freezes payroll taxes along the mid-Market corridor for six years, a move supervisors hope will keep Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco.