Maggie's Farm

Photo above: Train of death, according to James Hansen. Cranks rule the world.

And just one related comment about all of the excitement about electric cars. What do they run on? Coal. Coal is where the electricity comes from. Some people seem to think it comes from magic out of sockets.

Aspiring moonbat Prince of Wales to travel with gigantic carbon footprint to spread warming religion

We used to joke about "thought police." It's become real, in the UK. Spiked

Driving ships through the graveyard of the Pacific. I have run a few bars in my time in boats, and it is scary.

Depressing. What we just did. Surber: "Too bad this bill is born-again communism."

The Obama plans for February. They were serious about changing America.

Have Obamacons been Obamaconned? Q&O. Duh.

Obama to Eastern Europeans: You're on your own. Nice. Looks more and more like Carter.

Who was America's best Presidential speechwriter? Ted Sorensen answers.

Jeb Bush: Make Repubs a national party.

I'd be scared to lend too, with these economic idiots in charge

Sign above from Right Wing Prof. More seriously from him, What have I been saying? College kids are not prepared for college-level work.

Get ready. I don't know what this has to do with stimulus, but the stimulus bill gives the government the power to over-rule your doctor for cost purposes. That is insane, politically and humanly.

Stimulus gives states incentive to add to their welfare rolls.

New York State gets stimulus windfall:

Gov. Paterson called yesterday for fiscal restraint with the massive influx of federal aid. His budget office estimated that New York will receive $24.6 billion over the next two years, $4 billion more than first believed.

Restraint? Haha. Fat chance.

Obama's "shock and awe" will be paying the bill. But what the heck, White House admits stimulus won't do anything.

A few things economists agree upon. Mankiw

 From a piece by Paglia:

Speaking of talk radio (which I listen to constantly), I remain incredulous that any Democrat who professes liberal values would give a moment's thought to supporting a return of the Fairness Doctrine to muzzle conservative shows. (My latest manifesto on this subject appeared in my last column.) The failure of liberals to master the vibrant medium of talk radio remains puzzling. To reach the radio audience (whether the topic is sports, politics or car repair), a host must have populist instincts and use the robust common voice. Too many Democrats have become arrogant elitists, speaking down in snide, condescending tones toward tradition-minded middle Americans whom they stereotype as rubes and buffoons. But the bottom line is that government surveillance of the ideological content of talk radio is a shocking first step toward totalitarianism.

One of the nuggets I've gleaned from several radio sources is that Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who has been in the aggressive forefront of the campaign to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, is married to Tom Athans, who works extensively with left-wing radio organizations and was once the executive vice-president of Air America, the liberal radio syndicate that, despite massive publicity from major media, has failed miserably to win a national audience. Stabenow's outrageous conflict of interest has of course been largely ignored by the prestige press, which should have been demanding that she recuse herself from all political involvement with this issue.

Stimulus is largest increase in government hand-outs in history. Good grief. Yes, we are back to the dole again, undoing Clinton's best deed for the poor. I think the Admin is over-reaching here. Same mistake Clinton made in the beginning. Nobody wants a change back to 1970.

Greenies upset with stimulus' billions for highways. I am actually sympathetic with them. Don't we have highways everywhere? Around here, we have highways to nowhere already.

Do the Blue Dog Dems have any clout anymore? Less, but still some.

Road to Serfdom, in cartoons. We linked this once in the past. h/t, Insty

Stimulus problems, at RCP. A quote:

"If we borrow money from China to give money back to individuals to spend (in the form of tax cuts or tax credits), will their spending eventually go back to China because they use it to make purchases at stores such as Wal-Mart?" she asks.

Which begs a follow-up question: How would that stimulate job growth here?

The current stimulus plan lacks ambition, innovation and creativity, Brown says. Government shouldn't create jobs; it should create markets that spur private companies to create jobs. "The government's job is to speed up the process known as 'creative destruction,' " she says.

Much of the money in the stimulus plan goes to states to help balance their budgets or to programs created long ago -- some successful (such as Pell grants) and some controversial (sexually transmitted disease prevention) -- but not many that are really "new" or experimental.

"Too much for too little" is Brown's assessment of the stimulus package.

Plus I always wonder what happens when China stops wanting to buy our debt...Won't we be in the same position as the banks? Insolvent, with nowhere to borrow and nobody left to tax? Which is precisely where California is right now.

Bumper sticker below from Gay Patriot: