Zell Miller: Abortion Broke Social Security And Caused Military And Worker Shortages

Gotta love Zell Miller! He just gave a good speech at a pro-life meeting, including this bit, which is getting some (some) media attention (most notably, Rush Limbaugh, who gets a hat tip):

[The] killing: of unborn children has caused a number of social problems in the United States, including limiting the number of people who could be productive workers and contribute to social security. How could this great land of plenty produce too few people in the last 30 years..? Here is the brutal truth that no one dares to mention: We’re too few because too many of our babies have been killed... If those 45 million children had lived, today they would be defending our country, they would be filling our jobs, they would be paying into Social Security.

A good point, but liberals are pissed. You can't shed abortion in a poor light! Of course, this isn't really any different than when "rouge" economist Steven D. Levitt proposed that abortion led to a decrease in the crime rate. I didn't hear as many libs bitching then.

Of course, Rush notes that Miller's assertion is off. Rush asks how many of those children would have been Dems, who wouldn't have jobs and would never even think about joining the military? Of course, I'd say (following Kerry's lead) most of these murdered babies would have been poor blacks, so poor and so stupid they'd be duped into joining the military and get "stuck in Iraq."

Random Enviro/Econ Rant

Fox tells me that ethanol production is driving up corn prices, and since corn feeds animals, that's driving up beef prices. Damn environmentalist, they already bitch at us for eating steaks, now they're actually driving up prices with their inefficient fuel that uses more energy to make than it produces? Guh... Just had to get that off my chest, not that it matters tonight. It's Friday and it's Lent and I'm a God-fearin' man.

Poetic Justice - Criminals "Stealing" Illegals' Jobs

"You'll never get rid of the illegals! Even if you try and crack down there are just too many!" So say the liberal and the misguided conservative alike. Somewhat contradicting themselves they also say, "If you get rid of all of the illegals our economy will collapse without their cheap labor."

Conservatives have long stated in rebuttal to the first argument that you wouldn't really need to round up every illegal in the country to get rid of them. All you need to do is crackdown on those that would hire them and remove their access to welfare in all its forms. Once you remove the incentive for the illegal to be here, they'll go where they can find work - somewhere else.

As to the second point, conservatives have long understood that in the absence of a cheap labor force the market will adjust and compensate through innovation like it always does. Another great solution is to kill two birds with one stone, and that's what they're doing in Colorado:

DENVER, March 3 — As migrant laborers flee Colorado because of tough new immigration restrictions, worried farmers are looking to prisoners to fill their places in the fields.

In a pilot program run by the state Corrections Department, supervised teams of low-risk inmates beginning this month will be available to harvest the swaths of sweet corn, peppers and melons that sweep the southeastern portion of the state.

Under the program, which has drawn criticism from groups concerned about immigrants’ rights and from others seeking changes in the criminal justice system, farmers will pay a fee to the state, and the inmates, who volunteer for the work, will be paid about 60 cents a day, corrections officials said.

Concerned about the possible shortage of field labor, Dorothy B. Butcher, a state representative from Pueblo and a supporter of the program, said, “The workers on these farms do the weeding, the harvesting, the storing, everything that comes with growing crops for the market.”

What an idea. We want (notice, I didn't write need) cheap labor. What sector of the population is largely worthless, and a pariah on society?

'Let Them Eat Tofu!'

Coulter has a good article this week (or I guess it's from last week):

Liberals haven't the foggiest idea how the industrial world works. They act as if America could reduce its vast energy consumption by using fluorescent bulbs and driving hybrid cars rather than SUVs. They have no idea how light miraculously appears when they flick a switch or what allows them to go to the bathroom indoors in winter — luxuries Americans are not likely to abandon because Leo DiCaprio had solar panels trucked into his Malibu estate.

Read it here.

Stock Market Begins To Rebound

The stock market has rebounded "fitfully" after yesterdays plunge. Expect to hear little from the media. At least they're mentioning it, but probably just as damage control after blatant bias in ignoring record highs for months straight only to hastily report the first significant drop in as much time.

How To Get The MSM To Care About The Stock Market

I've seen this story all over my news feeds. Where was the MSM's interest in the stock market for the last couple months when it's been hitting record highs every other day?

The Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 500 points with about an hour of trading left today but then gained about 100 of it back. The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 100.

The Dow fell 546.02, or 4.3 percent, to 12,086.06 before recovering some ground. It was down 407.29, or 3.22 percent, at 12,224.97 in the last hour of trading.

...

A 9 percent slide in Chinese stocks, which came a day after investors sent Shanghai's benchmark index to a record high close, set the tone for U.S. trading. The Dow began the day falling sharply, and the decline accelerated throughout the course of the session before stocks took a precipitous plunge in late afternoon as computer-driven sell programs kicked in.

Presumably this is the market adjusting after China's slide. Economic recovery should follow shortly.

Who's Really Looking Out For 'The Poor'

By: Shane

Since LBJ first had the idea of a Great Society and began to implement massive socialist reforms, the Left has vastly redefined poverty to further their socialist agenda and welfare policy.

As the Washington think tank The Heritage Foundation points out, a rich man used to own a horse, and a poor man had to walk. These days a rich man owns a BMW and a poor man makes due with a used Buick. The difference between rich and poor in America has become merely aesthetic. When we think of poverty, we imagine people who are homeless and starving to death. This just isn’t the case. Liberals and the media have redefined poverty to include anyone who can’t afford to buy the luxury items that the average working American enjoys.

The Heritage foundation's data shows that “Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.” On top of that, 76% of “poor” households have air-conditioning, 75% own cars, 97% have colored televisions (more than 50% own two or more colored TVs), 78% have VCRs or DVD players, 62% have cable or satellite, 73% have microwaves, more than 50% have stereo systems, and 33% have dishwashers.

Welfare isn’t just going to people who could actually use it - the people who are starving on the streets with no place to sleep at night. A vast majority of it is going to people who are simply too lazy to find work. And why would they want to work when they can have a higher quality of living than the average citizen of Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe without lifting a finger?

The Left thrives on creating class warfare; convincing people that they are victims who need the government’s help. This is how they get votes, basically buying them by promising people who feel a sense of entitlement government paychecks for doing absolutely nothing. While the Left is exploiting the poor to gain power, you and I are paying for it through the countless taxes the Left has placed on practically everything, including sales tax on the things we buy, sin taxes on alcohol and tobacco, taxes on services such as auto repair and movie tickets, and taxes on our income, among many others.

If you want a government handout, you’d better actually need it, and not just be sitting in a nice house with the AC blasting watching your TV or driving to the mall to pick up some new clothes (and grabbing some groceries with your food stamps while your out). When a vast majority of welfare recipients have a better standard of living then most Europeans, you know the system is no longer helping those in need, but has become a means of redistributing wealth that's so sneaky Lennon, Marx and Mao would be impressed.

If the Left really cared about the poor they would stop stifling economic growth in America with their incessant taxes and regulations. Cutting taxes not only increases government revenue, but it allows the private sector to flourish, creating more high paying jobs, effectively reducing poverty. Government enforced minimum wage laws lead to an increase in unemployment, hurting the poor. Instead of making $5 an hour like they would before a minimum wage increase, many low skill workers would be fired by employers who couldn't afford to pay the new higher wages. Then they make no money at all; how does that help them? By attempting to restrain an increasingly intrusive government from hindering the free market, conservatives are the ones who are really looking out for the poor. Liberals have simply locked America's poor in a vicious cycle of poverty, and all so they could get a few more votes. Ask yourself; who's really helping the poor?

Shane is a writer for the conservative news blog UnrestInTheForest.BlogSpot.com. His other articles can be found here.

Again With This?

Sometimes I worry that there's something wrong with my news feed because this damn economy keeps booming and the Dow just won't stop hitting record highs.

Oh well. I'll learn to live with it.

What? The Deficit's Shrinking?

Look what the BBC caught on to after the Democrats took control of the House and Senate:

Sharp fall in US budget deficit

The US federal budget deficit for the first four months of the current spending year has fallen sharply.

The deficit for the budget year which began in October 2006 totalled $42.2bn (£21.7bn), down 57.2% on a year ago, the US Treasury Department reported.

The four-month figure was boosted by a £38.2bn budget surplus in January.

Revenues collected between October and January rose by almost 10% to a record $834.1bn, boosted by strong corporate profits and lower unemployment.

Government spending over the period also hit a record level, reaching $876.3bn.

Thanks to the BBC for telling us what we already knew long, long ago.

Minimum Wage Causing AZ Unemployment Rise

What? Raising the minimum wage leads to higher unemployment? Why didn't anyone tell us?

Sometimes it's a burden to constantly be right, but somehow we conservatives survive. No surprise here: The Arizona Republic is reporting that teens across the state are being fired as employers are forced to cut spending due to recent increases in the minimum wage:

Oh, for the days when Arizona's high school students could roll pizza dough, sweep up sticky floors in theaters or scoop ice cream without worrying about ballot initiatives affecting their earning power.

That's certainly not the case under the state's new minimum-wage law that went into effect last month.

Some Valley employers, especially those in the food industry, say payroll budgets have risen so much that they're cutting hours, instituting hiring freezes and laying off employees.

No More Taxes, Smaller Government

Here's a Constitutional amendment I could support: Representatives Ronald Paul (R, TX) and Jeff Miller (R, FL) have introduced a bill that would amend the Constitution to forbid "personal income, estate, and gift taxes" and to prohibit "the United States Government from engaging in business in competition with its citizens."

What a great bill. Will it ever happen? Not in our lifetime, and not with a lib House. The bill is currently heading to the House Judiciary Committee for review where John Conyers will laugh and rip it to shreds.

Chavez Starving Venezuela

Well, Hugo's crazy socialism is starting to starve his people. Remember seeing people in the good ol' USSR waiting in line for 5 hours for the possibility of a scrap of food? Yeah, that's what socialism does, and that's where Venezuela is heading.

Reports the AP, "Meat, Sugar Scarce in Venezuela Stores:"

Meat cuts vanished from Venezuelan supermarkets this week, leaving only unsavory bits like chicken feet, while costly artificial sweeteners have increasingly replaced sugar, and many staples sell far above government-fixed prices.

President Hugo Chavez's administration blames the food supply problems on unscrupulous speculators, but industry officials say government price controls that strangle profits are responsible.

Photo caption: "A supermarket worker explains to a customer that their meat section is out of beef and chicken in Caracas..."

Federal Surplus Predicted By 2009

Another hat tip to Jawa, who links to this RCP post about how a federal surplus is predicted by 2009:

In fact, our models expect average tax revenue growth of 9% over the next three years and spending growth of between 4% and 5%. This will generate a well below consensus deficit in FY07 of just $115 billion. Next year in FY08, we forecast a deficit of only $35 billion. On a 12-month basis, we suspect that the budget will move into balance early in FY2009, well before the Office of Management and Budget or the Congressional Budget Office expect.

But how can government revenues be increasing? Wasn't there a tax cut? Simple economics, my friend! When taxes are lowered, government revenue increases as people earn more money and spend more money, increasing the tax base.

Hillary - If You Earn It We'll Take It

Boy, Hillary's not even beating around the bush anymore on her liberal policies of stealing money from those who earn it. She actually said "I want to take those profits ..." in regard to Exxon and Shell's record breaking year.

Here's video:

Dow Soars ...

What's that? The Dow closed at an all time high? Again? Thank God the Dems took the House and Senate when they did to save our economy.

COLA Pay Hike Blocked For Lawmakers, But We Can't Say By Whom

As Breitbart accurately words it, "Republicans Block Congressional Pay Hike."

As Time ambiguously words it, "Congressional Pay Hike Blocked."

No matter the wording of the headline, the story is the same. Republicans are making the Democrats pay for their smarmy campaign retorhic:

When Democrats blasted Republicans last fall for taking annual congressional pay raises while blocking numerous attempts to raise the minimum wage, it was an effective campaign tactic. Democrats vowed not to accept the annual cost-of-living hike until Congress increases the minimum wage.

But Republicans angered over the political attacks are unwilling to allow Democrats to reinstate the so-called members' COLA, forcing Democratic leaders to scuttle the 1.7 percent pay hike for the entire year.

"There will be no COLA adjustment," said a disappointed Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the House's No. 2 Democrat, on Tuesday.

Hoyer has for years played a central role in finessing the ticklish issue of lawmakers' pay, working cozily with GOP leaders to make sure an annual pay-related vote went smoothly.

Lawmakers' pay will be frozen at $165,200 for this year in the dispute, in which Democrats violated a yearslong understanding that the competing parties would not use the pay raise issue in campaign ads.

I hope our lawmakers will be able to survive on their measly $165,200 salaries.

Tortilla Emergency!

There's a down-side to everything, I guess:

Thick, doughy tortillas roll hot off the conveyor belt all day at Aurora Rosales's little shop in this congested city built on a dry lake bed east of Mexico City.

Using cooking techniques that date to the Mayan empire, Rosales has never altered her recipe. Nor did her father, grandfather or great-grandfather.

On good days, the neighbors line up for her tortillas.

But these are not good days, and sometimes hours pass without any customers.

Mexico is in the grip of the worst tortilla crisis in its modern history. Dramatically rising international corn prices, spurred by demand for the grain-based fuel ethanol, have led to expensive tortillas. That, in turn, has led to lower sales for vendors such as Rosales and angry protests by consumers.

The uproar is exposing this country's outsize dependence on tortillas in its diet -- especially among the poor -- and testing the acumen of the new president, Felipe Calderón. It is also raising questions about the powerful businesses that dominate the Mexican corn market and are suspected by some lawmakers and regulators of unfair speculation and monopoly practices.

Tortilla prices have tripled or quadrupled in some parts of Mexico since last summer. On Jan. 18, Calderón announced an agreement with business leaders capping tortilla prices at 78 cents per kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, less than half the highest reported prices. The president's move was a throwback to a previous era when Mexico controlled prices -- the government subsidized tortillas until 1999, at which point cheap corn imports were rising under the NAFTA trade agreement. It was also a surprise given his carefully crafted image as an avowed supporter of free trade.

Wait a minute. I thought all these bio fuels were supposed to be made out of the waste, and that's what is going to keep them so cheap.

Democrats' Attempt To Sabotage Economy Runs Aground

Take it Democrats!

Democrats' promise of a quick increase in the minimum wage ran aground Wednesday in the Senate, where lawmakers are insisting it include new tax breaks for restaurants and other businesses that rely on low-pay workers...

The vote sent a message to House Democrats and liberals in the Senate that only a hybrid tax and minimum wage package could succeed in the Senate.

You try to sabotage the economy and we force you to vote for your worst enemy: the tax cut.

2007 State Of The Union: Good Stuff!

(Here's a full transcript of the speech)

Well, the State of the Union was far better than I thought it'd be. It definitely had some high points, which I'll mention while pretending the low points didn't exist (who needs a downer like hearing about more No Child Left Behind?)

First of all, GW mentioned what the MSM has refused to, the booming economy. Send this quote to all your friends who don't know the economy is booming:

A future of hope and opportunity begins with a growing economy -- and that is what we have. We're now in the 41st month of uninterrupted job growth, in a recovery that has created 7.2 million new jobs -- so far. Unemployment is low, inflation is low, and wages are rising. This economy is on the move, and our job is to keep it that way, not with more government, but with more enterprise. (Applause.)

Next week, I'll deliver a full report on the state of our economy. Tonight, I want to discuss three economic reforms that deserve to be priorities for this Congress.

First, we must balance the federal budget. (Applause.) We can do so without raising taxes. (Applause.) What we need is impose spending discipline in Washington, D.C. We set a goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009, and met that goal three years ahead of schedule. (Applause.) Now let us take the next step. In the coming weeks, I will submit a budget that eliminates the federal deficit within the next five years. (Applause.) I ask you to make the same commitment. Together, we can restrain the spending appetite of the federal government, and we can balance the federal budget. (Applause.)

Next, I loved this line about health care:

In all we do, we must remember that the best health care decisions are made not by government and insurance companies, but by patients and their doctors.

Take that Hillary, with your "universal health care!" You make me sick...

GW's whole part about Islamofascism was great! Here's a large chunk of it:

For all of us in this room, there is no higher responsibility than to protect the people of this country from danger. Five years have come and gone since we saw the scenes and felt the sorrow that the terrorists can cause. We've had time to take stock of our situation. We've added many critical protections to guard the homeland. We know with certainty that the horrors of that September morning were just a glimpse of what the terrorists intend for us -- unless we stop them.

With the distance of time, we find ourselves debating the causes of conflict and the course we have followed. Such debates are essential when a great democracy faces great questions. Yet one question has surely been settled: that to win the war on terror we must take the fight to the enemy. (Applause.)

From the start, America and our allies have protected our people by staying on the offense. The enemy knows that the days of comfortable sanctuary, easy movement, steady financing, and free flowing communications are long over. For the terrorists, life since 9/11 has never been the same.

Our success in this war is often measured by the things that did not happen. We cannot know the full extent of the attacks that we and our allies have prevented, but here is some of what we do know: We stopped an al Qaeda plot to fly a hijacked airplane into the tallest building on the West Coast. We broke up a Southeast Asian terror cell grooming operatives for attacks inside the United States. We uncovered an al Qaeda cell developing anthrax to be used in attacks against America. And just last August, British authorities uncovered a plot to blow up passenger planes bound for America over the Atlantic Ocean. For each life saved, we owe a debt of gratitude to the brave public servants who devote their lives to finding the terrorists and stopping them. (Applause.)

Every success against the terrorists is a reminder of the shoreless ambitions of this enemy. The evil that inspired and rejoiced in 9/11 is still at work in the world. And so long as that's the case, America is still a nation at war.

In the mind of the terrorist, this war began well before September the 11th, and will not end until their radical vision is fulfilled. And these past five years have given us a much clearer view of the nature of this enemy. Al Qaeda and its followers are Sunni extremists, possessed by hatred and commanded by a harsh and narrow ideology. Take almost any principle of civilization, and their goal is the opposite. They preach with threats, instruct with bullets and bombs, and promise paradise for the murder of the innocent.

Our enemies are quite explicit about their intentions. They want to overthrow moderate governments, and establish safe havens from which to plan and carry out new attacks on our country. By killing and terrorizing Americans, they want to force our country to retreat from the world and abandon the cause of liberty. They would then be free to impose their will and spread their totalitarian ideology. Listen to this warning from the late terrorist Zarqawi: "We will sacrifice our blood and bodies to put an end to your dreams, and what is coming is even worse." Osama bin Laden declared: "Death is better than living on this Earth with the unbelievers among us."

These men are not given to idle words, and they are just one camp in the Islamist radical movement. In recent times, it has also become clear that we face an escalating danger from Shia extremists who are just as hostile to America, and are also determined to dominate the Middle East. Many are known to take direction from the regime in Iran, which is funding and arming terrorists like Hezbollah -- a group second only to al Qaeda in the American lives it has taken.

The Shia and Sunni extremists are different faces of the same totalitarian threat. Whatever slogans they chant, when they slaughter the innocent they have the same wicked purposes. They want to kill Americans, kill democracy in the Middle East, and gain the weapons to kill on an even more horrific scale.

In the sixth year since our nation was attacked, I wish I could report to you that the dangers had ended. They have not. And so it remains the policy of this government to use every lawful and proper tool of intelligence, diplomacy, law enforcement, and military action to do our duty, to find these enemies, and to protect the American people. (Applause.)

This war is more than a clash of arms -- it is a decisive ideological struggle, and the security of our nation is in the balance. To prevail, we must remove the conditions that inspire blind hatred, and drove 19 men to get onto airplanes and to come and kill us. What every terrorist fears most is human freedom...

Good stuff! One of my favorite lines: "They preach with threats, instruct with bullets and bombs, and promise paradise for the murder of the innocent."

And as a final note, one part that made me sick to my stomach was when GW delivered this great line:

Ladies and gentlemen, nothing is more important at this moment in our history than for America to succeed in the Middle East, to succeed in Iraq and to spare the American people from this danger.

And the Dems actually didn't applaud! I mean, WTF is wrong with these people? They practically (and finally) admitted that they don't want America to succeed in Iraq!

And the speech ended with a definite high point, with GW introducing us to several people who show how great America is.

All in all, a great speech (with the exception of having to look at Nancy Pelosi the whole time) with some definite high points! I'll post video once it's on Youtube, until then, it can be viewed at Whitehouse.gov.

The Excellent Economic State Of Our Union

Despite the fact that it's common knowledge our economy is in ruins, it's not. It seems to me that nobody these days questions the media's constant insistence that our economy is in shambles. They've even stopped saying it, since there's no bad news to report and they're busy making stuff up about Iraq, but people just assume the economy is still in shambles. I mean, if the economy were booming the media would report it. Right? Right?

Anyway, Larry Kudlow over at NRO has an excellent article about the great economic state of our Union (hat tip to Ace).

Oh, that reminds me, the State of the Union is tonight. I should probably make a post on that...