State of the ULTRASOUND
Posted on 27. Jan, 2010 by OHC in United Kingdom
Cato has published a blog wish list ahead of Obama’s first State of the Union address tonight. Obama’s first year in office was crap. Absolutely crap. The only redeeming feature is that he’s been so crap that he hasn’t been able to impose Obamacare on America. If he implements these simple policies, we promise his second year will be a lot better:
1. Abandon Obamacare
2. Forget Cap and Trade
3. Reject the Card Check Bill
4. Withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan
5. Legalize Drugs
6. Scrap the tax code and replace with a flat tax
7. Expand free trade and immigration
8. Stop the bailouts
9. Cut spending
10. Cut spending
BONUS – Cut spending
Can’t say fairer than that! We bet you anything Obama doesn’t listen to a single one of these policies. But that’s the downside of being so frigging ultrasound.
Where’s the politicians’ Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee?!
Posted on 15. Jan, 2010 by OHC in United Kingdom
The US government’s plan to impose $100bn of fees on banks cannot go down well. The Orwellian-titled ‘Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee’ is a mockery of everything that American government ought to uphold: freedom, fairness… the Constitution.
It will cost British banks $11bn, despite them manifestly having nothing to do with America. It’s retrospective: grabbing money off people without them having a chance to modify their behaviour. And, of course, it misses the point entirely. And that’s the financial crisis was caused by government.
The US government has already accepted that its own banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, lied about mortgages. The FDIC, the government’s bank insurance company has joined everyone with common sense and blamed the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy. And, of course, the FDIC itself was responsible for encouraging riskier borrowing than the free market would have tolerated. The same story applies in Britain, but with Brownian incompetence.
When you put it that way… where do the politicians get the gall to tax anyone else for ‘Financial Crisis Responsibility’? They should be footing the bill by paying the Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee: every last penny of it.
Leaders debates: ancient history in the making
Posted on 21. Dec, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
Great news from the TV gods in the sky. The party leaders and the three major broadcasters have finally announced agreement on a series of televised leaders debates. Basically, the hesitant Gordon Brown was persuaded that he needed one last shot to turn his fortunes around.
Sky News’s legendary Glen O’Glaza summed it up like this:
It is no exageration to say this IS an historic moment in british political history. The television age has at last well and truly arrived
Next year will be the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark first presidential debate in the US: between a telegenic and comfortable JFK and an awkward, shifty, and sweaty Richard Nixon. It pushed JFK into the lead, and the rest, as they say, is rather ancient history. You decide who’s who in 2010.
Yes, the television age has at least arrived. Fifty years too late. After the Internet age! We can’t hold Gordon Brown accountable for all that delay. But he didn’t make it any easier towards the end – and who can blame him with his track record?
Left foot forward…
Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
The Daily Mirror led today with yet another pathetic personal smear on the Conservative leadership. Apparently, they’re successful, so they’re not allowed to pass policies that reward success. Hmm. Jonathan Isaby has put that argument in its place.
But what about the left? Labour’s a party filled with, and supported enthusiastically by, trade unionist, career politicians, and bureaucrats. They may have a vested interest in making the government big and crush the private sector that employs everyone else. But you don’t hear the Mirror say that, do you?
I haven’t seen any analysis of how much private sector experience British governments over the ages have had, but there’s a clear trend in the US. This chart from JP Morgan is damning.
If the President surrounds himself with bureaucrats, of course they’re going to give him advice that reflects well on the civil service. And, maybe, just maybe, that hurts the private sector that made America such a rich country in the first place.
Serious props to whoever makes a chart like that for the UK. No prizes for guessing which party has had the least private sector experience.
Yes We Scam!
Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by RK in United Kingdom
My fellow Americans,
Did you seriously believe One-term Barry would bring the ‘change’?
Yes, we did.
Do you feel conned at his all style, no substance policy of closure of Guantanamo?
Yes we do!
Can you today feel embarrassed for voting in this charlatan?
Yes we can!
Looky here, no new date, no new policy, no new promises… I guess you’ve got a Gordon Brown on your hands, chums. Buckle up tight. It’s a long and bumpy ride ahead.
Biden stops traffic
Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
Forget the curse of Jonah Brown. When it comes to political jinxes, the story of American Vice President Joe Biden is starting to get interesting. Anywhere ‘Disaster Joe’ goes, there seems to be tragedy! Earlier this week, it was a crash in New Mexico, and now it’s a crash in New York.
I never thought I’d say this, but I think Biden’s finally a traffic-stopping appointment.
Touch the Prime Minister for bad luck.
Protected Poking
Posted on 10. Oct, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
Protection is always a good idea (Ed: you can’t count that towards your community service, mate), but one Tennessean man decided to take matters further. By having a woman that poked him on Facebook arrested for breaching a court protection order. Ouch.
Something to bear in mind.
Can't stop the poking
What we hope we hear
Posted on 03. Oct, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
The Cartel is a new documentary being released in the US about the shocking inability of the American state school system to educate poor kids and stop the tide of illiteracy. The thesis: “Education is a business that has a monopoly; when you have a monopoly, you can do whatever you want.” Sound.
Although the exact same issues affect our state schools, sadly, there’s not much chance of it appearing in British cinemas. But that’s okay. We’ll be happy as long as, at some point over the next few days, we hear David Cameron mirroring the words of one interviewee: “We’ve got to think of some other solutions. Throwing money at the problem just isn’t working. That as an option is coming to an end.”
Yes, that’d make us very happy, indeed.
Harman boosts whore-rating website
Posted on 02. Oct, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
Yes, that’s right. You’d think the mere appearance of Harperson would put gentlemenpeople right off, but, apparently not. Her busybody condemnation of PunterNet, a Californian website dedicated to rating prostitutes in the UK, has given the website a massive hits boost.
The website owner has published an open letter to Harman under the name ‘Galahad’, pointing out some key issues to her on the legality of the website:
In the USA, there is a concept called “freedom of speech” which is considered the most important personal right guaranteed by the Constitution. It exists specifically to prevent the sort of abuse of power that you are attempting.
Given how little respect Labour has for our constitution, it’s little wonder that she’s happy to ignore little niceties in the US Constitution, too. The coup de grace, however, is the hat-tip for the hits boost:
In closing, I would like to thank you for the huge influx of traffic to my website which your actions have caused. I am sure that the ladies who are a part of the PunterNet community thank you as well, as they will no doubt benefit financially from the many new clients who might otherwise never have found them.
Thanks for stimulating the economy.
Glenn Beck converts to libertarianism?
Posted on 21. Sep, 2009 by OHC in United Kingdom
Fresh from his success in spearheading the 9/12 Project marches that rallied up to a million people to the streets of Washington DC, Fox News megastar Glenn Beck continues to go from strength to strength.
On his radio station a few days ago, Beck apologised to libertarians for his wayward ways, acknowledged the importance of limited government back in America to achieve American foreign policy objectives, lambasted American ‘imperialism’, and really broke up the monopoly that interventionists have on Fox News’s top line-up.
We all want the same policy outcomes: we want our people to be as prosperous as possible and as free and safe as possible, from both our enemies overseas and our government back home. The best way to do that, we believe, ought to be debated, rather than cast into left vs right, MSNBC vs Fox, Lib Dems vs the world terms.
At the very least, if the neo-conservatives win that discussion, their actions will have a greater legitimacy. If converts like Glenn Beck do, perhaps we’ll be freer, safer, and more prosperous as a result. What do you think?