The good times are drawing to a close for the "green energy" disciples. Subsidies are drying up. Spain, once the most prolific supporter of "green tech" teeters on bankruptcy, and have killed most subsidies as a result. Here in the USA, where wind and solar and light rail and all that got $110 billion between 2009 and 2011, they're looking at maybe $40 billion between 2012 and 2014 - hardly enough for a decent CEO bonus.
This is really bad news for the Metro/Tri-Met/City of Portland light-rail mafia, as the gravy for their trains is winding down. They may actually have to come up with ways to pay for their "plans" themselves - which, in view of the fact that they're broke, may force them to put a halt to their collective insanity.
They may even have to start charging people to ride their little two-car trains.
If that happens, then ridership - never significant anyway - is certain to decline. The loony $1.5 billion, seven mile "line" between Portland and Milwaukie could well be their last. As for the $150 million that's been spent so far on "planning" a new Columbia River bridge with loot rail? That could well be dead in the water as well - especially since they now have to defend themselves in court.
Campaign season has been on Barry's mind for months, and that can mean only one thing: it's time to gas up the bus, get it rolling, and start throwing folks under it. First up this season looks to be Ron Weich, Barry's Assistant Attorney General, who's rumored to be "resigning soon" as a result of his maladroit attempts to follow orders: he was supposed to play "hide the salami" on a couple of high-profile issues, and he blew it. Congress saw a full third of it peeking out of his waistband, and the administration had to try to walk back lies he fed to Congressional investigators looking into "Operation Fast and Furious".
Then, a couple of months ago, he failed to hide the salami when Senator Chuck Grassley began looking into DoJ involvement in a bribery scheme involving finance execs in the Virgin Islands, resulting in more embarassment for Barry and his gang. No question, he's got to go. Fortunately, they plan to ease him out and into a cushy new job as Dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law.
Doubtless, he has a lot to offer up-and-coming shysters.
Add in the recent comedic efforts by the Democrats in general (remember those old cartoons, where the cigar would blow up in a character's face right after he lit it?), and we're in for some good times, this summer. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with to follow the revelations that Romney put his dog in a kennel and strapped it to the roof of the car back in 1983, and that he has polygamous ancestry. Unlike Barry, of course, Romney hasn't eaten a dog - and Barry's father apparently had multiple wives.
But count on the Dems to give Romney a rigorous "vetting" over the summer, even as they continue to hide Barry's academic records, his birth certificate, and other "irrelevant" material.
Last September, Congress froze funds for the Palestinian Authority after the PA violated treaty agreements. Last night, Barry once again told Congress to screw off; announcing that "we" will provide $192 million to them anyway.
Aside from the fact that we don't have the money, which is kind of a problem, there's another one: Barry lied (again); claiming that the PA has lived up to its agreements when in fact they have failed to fulfill even one. But he's decided to borrow more money to give to them - for what? To enhance his status amongst the Muslim Brotherhood, with whom the PA is allied?
So, having put up with David Wu for years (and continuing to elect him), voters replaced him with the wife of Wu's long-time lawyer. Feeling good about that? Not so much? Well, maybe it's time for a clean slate at the national level. Delinda Morgan can restore some dignity and confidence to Oregon's CD-1 district, and that's long overdue. On the other hand, if you just love dark comedy, there's always the wife of the lawyer for the guy in the tiger suit.
As well, something interesting has cropped up on the screen over in Oregon's Senate District 18, where Suzanne Gallagher has started up a write-in campaign. A small business owner, she's seen first-hand what decades of governmental (and bureaucratic) intervention has done, and is ready to step up to get some actual improvements going. Consider writing her in - and bureaucrats out.
A lot of stuff came through the feeds today, a sure sign that it's Friday. Digging in is difficult, but we'll take a stab at it after doing some winnowing:
EPA is, of course, a hot topic, especially after their boy, Al Armendariz, shot off his mouth about "crucifying" companies - apparently to make an example of them. Hey, it worked in Roman times. EPA, however, is going to go after the small fry first, as Steve Maley discusses.
As if that's not freakish enough, Barry Milhous Obama has an "enemy" list, and he's already going after folks to pillory for having the audacity to oppose his glorious plans for the Motherland. This just in from the legacy media: "chirp, chirp, chirp".
On the other hand, Barry's decided to soften his attack on family farms for the moment - at least until after his re-election, when he'll have the flexibility to do anything he damn well pleases. I WILL TRANSMIT THIS INFORMATION TO VLADIMIR.
Of course, Barry's pals in the Muslim Brotherhood have managed a bit of notoriety of their own; presumably to help distract from Barry's multiple failures. As Mark Steyn noted: "Gotta hand it to the Muslim Brotherhood. Hard to come up with a more apt image of the Arab Spring than an aroused Islamist rogering a corpse."
(CBS News) -- House Republicans investigating the Fast and Furious scandal have gotten the go-ahead by their party leaders to pursue a contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder, senior congressional aides told CBS News. The resolution will accuse Holder and his Justice Department of obstructing the congressional probe into the allegations that the government let thousands of weapons fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
Grieve them though it may, somebody there recognized that if they don't report it, the network might lose credibility. Can't have that.
You may have noticed that Barry's golf game's been suffering of late, but that's because he's had other, more pressing issues to deal with: he's graciously allowed you to pay to fly him and his entourage around the country on campaign trips, although the official word from Jay Carnival Carney is that it's not campaigning, but rather, Very Important Business. Besides, after the whole Secret Servicing flap, Barry kind of wants to avoid thinking about balls, just now.
Nonetheless, and despite what may charitably be described as his "best efforts", there's agrowing grumble from his Blue-Collar Democrats, who are reportedly more than a little ticked off about the constant (and expensive) "First Family" vacations.
Blue collar Democratic voters, stuck taking depressing “staycations” because they can’t afford gas and hotels, are resentful of the first family’s 17 lavish vacations around the world and don’t want their tax dollars paying for the Obamas’ holidays, according to a new analysis of swing voters.
Barry's got a lot of shuckin' and jivin' to do if he hopes to herd those sheep back into the fold. But it may not be needed.
His squeeze, Ms.Hell, confided on CNN that she has a fantasy:
But you know one fantasy I have, and the Secret Service they keep looking at me because they think I might actually do it, is to walk right out the front door and just keep walking.
It's one a lot of us share. We're willing to do what it takes to see that her dream comes true.
John Kroger is conveniently stepping out of the Oregon Attorney General office and into a much higher-paying office as president of Reed College, and no sooner was the move announced than a Marion County Circuit judge ruled that the good AG intentionally withheld documents related to a 2010 criminal investigation.
"This court finds and believes there was a deliberate choice not to produce documents during the time period... at a time when it would have been useful to Mr. Long," Judge Thomas Hart ruled from the bench on Friday.
The judge said he would order the state to pay Long's six-figure legal fees. He also said he would order the state to produce certain additional documents related to the case.
Conveniently, though, Johnny has a cushy slot all lined up at Reed.
Meanwhile, in squeaky-clean Portland, where Ellis McCoy (former parking manager and, yes, from the infamous Gladys McCoy family) remains under federal investigation, comes another question - and lawsuit:
Portland, Ore. -- "Can the government protect you from cheap fares and innovative service merely to shield politically connected businesses from competition?
That is the question the Institute for Justice and its clients want answered in a federal lawsuit filed today in Portland, Ore, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Their lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Portland's limousine and sedan regulations, which punish small limo and sedan companies that offer discounted rides through online deal sites like Groupon.com.
In 2009, the city passed a law requiring a $50 minimum fare for limousine and sedan rides to or from Portland International Airport. The law imposes a city-wide minimum fare that requires limos and sedans to charge at least 35 percent more than what taxis would charge for the same route and imposes a minimum wait time of at least one hour before customers can be picked up.
"These laws amount to nothing more than naked economic protectionism; they are designed to protect the profits of Portland's taxicab companies, and now they are being enforced at everyone else's expense," said Institute for Justice Attorney Wesley Hottot, which represents the plaintiffs. "Portland's minimum-fare law and minimum wait time have nothing to do with protecting the riding public. They have everything to do with protecting the city's taxicab companies from competition and driving up prices for consumers."
Oh good heavens, how could that be? Cronyism at Portland City Hall? There must be some mistake!
Or not - when even The Zero gets involved enough to print an article about it, the stench has to be pretty bad.
U.S. District Judge James A. Redden, who presided over the Northwest's biggest salmon lawsuit for nearly a decade, told Idaho Public Television that the Snake River's four hydropower dams should be breached to help wild salmon.
"I think we need to take those dams down," Redden said.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber wants an extensive federal government review of exporting coal to Asia through Northwest ports, saying coal export could clog barge and train routes, increase diesel and coal dust pollution and boost amounts of toxic mercury drifting back to Oregon when Asian countries burn coal.
Kitzhaber, a Democrat with strong ties to environmental groups that oppose coal export, requested the comprehensive review in a letter Wednesday to the Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corps of Engineers today. He also called for the review in a broader speech on "clean energy" today before the Future Energy Conference in Portland.
Yep, Kitz is right in there, fighting for Oregon jobs and economic growth (as long as only wind power is used to keep those all-important espresso machines running for the legions of baristas who'll be flocking here Real Soon Now). Even though the USA has a lot of coal - and the technology to burn it cleaner than anybody else on the planet - Retread doesn't want us to use it. But he also doesn't want anybody else to use it, either.
Jimmy hates hydro; Johnny hates coal. Both hate inexpensive energy. Neither live in mud huts.
MONTREAL - Montreal is waking up to a morning of smashed windows, vandalized cars and questions about how a protest degenerated into yet another violent clash between police and demonstrators.
Anger over a short-lived effort to put an end to the tuition crisis through negotiations bubbled over Wednesday night when a hastily-organized demonstration turned ugly and police used batons, pepper spray and percussion bombs to disperse the crowd.
After two hours of peaceful protest, police declared the march illegal and the situation unravelled quickly.
Ah, yes - "students" who want everything given to them, or else they burn cars and smash windows. Here's an idea: why not give them no school? Just close all public universities for a year or so. Tax dollars would be saved, and the kiddies can go try to find a real-world job - because they don't get welfare or health-care either.
See how they feel after a year or so, and if they still want to throw tantrums, repeat.
And the Occufails have a poster for that. Because of course, police should be beheaded. And you wondered why they were meeting in Tehran, of all places?
Fascism is very similar to communism, although where communism exerts naked authority, fascism covers it in a thin veneer of illusion: an iron fist inside a velvet glove. Have a happy May day.
As noted previously here, the parts of Arizona anti-illegal alien law, SB 1070, have already had a pronounced and desirable effect: mass self-deportation, a reduction in crime and in inmate populations, and other taxpayer savings. As Politico notes, SCOTUS appears likely to side with the state; handing Team Barry yet another stinging rebuke, while NPR predictably forecasts dark and dire consequences. They imagine a totalitarian state in which brown-skinned people are obliged to show papers whenever they venture outside their barricaded doors - making the case, yet again, for de-funding the organization.
Great lines from SCOTUS:
When Verrilli argued that international concerns factor into the federal government’s supremacy over immigration policy, Scalia angrily interrupted, “So we have to enforce our laws in a manner that will please Mexico. Is that what you’re saying?”
"Putting aside your argument that this -- that a systematic cooperation is wrong -- you can see it's not selling very well -- why don't you try to come up with something else?" she said to Verrilli.
"Because I, frankly -- as the chief has said to you, it's not that it's forcing you to change your enforcement priorities. You don't have to take the person into custody. So what's left of your argument?"
For even more fun, read the comments from the loony Left following the TMPDC article. That's unsurprising, as Talking Points Memo pushes toward the Left and does what they can to portray Justice Scalia as out-of-touch and over the top, but even in the face of his comments and those of Justices Roberts and Sotomayor, and despite the demonstrable success of even partial implementation of SB 1070, the commenters on the Left just can't help themselves. Just as the folks in the Monty Python skits perfected the Silly Walk, American Leftists are working hard to perfect the Silly Argument.
