Making, Mining and Growing Things

Its raining soup out there, but we’re stuck with dimwits who think that shuffling paper around will solve our economic problems:

Dozens of fruitful wells beneath the rich Bakken shale in North Dakota continue to fuel a hunch among oilmen and geologists that another vast crude-bearing formation may be buried in the state’s vast oil patch.

Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources, said recent production results from 103 newly tapped wells in the Three Forks-Sanish formation show many that are “as good or better” than some in the Bakken, which lies two miles under the surface in western North Dakota and holds billions of barrels of oil.

“I think it’s a big deal and we’re pretty fired up about it,” Helms said.

Drill, baby, drill. We have 275 billion tons of coal in our ground, 30 billion barrels of oil, 238 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and we invented nuclear power…and that is just proven reserves. Lord only knows what we’ve missed because we’ve been slack in using our own natural wealth. We don’t have a shortage of energy, dear people; what we have is a shortage of good sense. We need to make, mine and grow more of our own things and we have vast and scarcely tapped energy resources – all we lack is the will to exploit them to their fullest extent. Obama talks about creating “green jobs”, as if windmill manufacturing will some how solve our energy problems, and replace the millions of jobs lost in the manufacturing, mining and farming sectors of our economy over the past few decades…meanwhile, we’ve got enough coal in the ground to last us nearly three centuries…certainly enough for us to slowly and carefully transit from carbon to non-carbon energy sources, don’t you think?

Potential wealth is the stuff you’ve got in and on the ground in its natural state. Actual wealth is what you’ve got when you have in some way modified natural materials into something usable. Wealth is not Wall Street pinheads and DC bureaucrats shuffling paper around and maintaining a good old boy network where you go from DC to Wall Street and back again in an endless cycle of well paid jobs which produce nothing of worth.

We ran up a massive amount of debt thinking that we could ponzi-scheme ourselves on to easy street – at least as long as we lived, and who cared what came after. Well, “came after” is here, today. Those who warned back in the 1930′s that welfare State nonsense wouldn’t work were right; our grandfathers should have listened to them, but the siren song of getting something for nothing drowned out common sense. So, here we are, flat broke and trillions of dollars in debt – a good portion of which is owed to Chinese tyrants who threaten our lives and our global position with their massive and entirely un-called for military buildup. Do we really want change? Then we’d better start changing – and that means giving up the get rich quick schemes of the past and getting back to work.

Phrase of the Day

From the man who arguably founded the modern study of law:

“No enactment of man can be considered law unless it conforms to the law of God” – William Blackstone

"Intellectually unqualified to be on the Supreme Court"

Ouch! From liberal Louis Michael Seidman – hammers on Sotomayor’s testimony (scroll down):

Speaking only for myself (I guess that’s obvious), I was completely disgusted by Judge Sotomayor’s testimony today. If she was not perjuring herself, she is intellectually unqualified to be on the Supreme Court. If she was perjuring herself, she is morally unqualified. How could someone who has been on the bench for seventeen years possibly believe that judging in hard cases involves no more than applying the law to the facts? First year law students understand within a month that many areas of the law are open textured and indeterminate—that the legal material frequently (actually, I would say always) must be supplemented by contestable presuppositions, empirical assumptions, and moral judgments. To claim otherwise—to claim that fidelity to uncontested legal principles dictates results—is to claim that whenever Justices disagree among themselves, someone is either a fool or acting in bad faith. What does it say about our legal system that in order to get confirmed Judge Sotomayor must tell the lies that she told today? That judges and justices must live these lies throughout their professional carers?

Perhaps Justice Sotomayor should be excused because our official ideology about judging is so degraded that she would sacrifice a position on the Supreme Court if she told the truth. Legal academics who defend what she did today have no such excuse. They should be ashamed of themselves.

To me, of course, judging should only be about applying law to the facts – but if you’re to be a liberal judge, that isn’t what you hold to be correct. And Sotomayor certainly is no conservative jurist – so, why is she lying about her own views or, if you wish to put it charitably, being a moron? Because even with a 60-Seat Senate majority, liberal jurisprudence is politically toxic. Its not so much that the Democrats couldn’t muscle her through – they could, because at least one or two GOP Senators (and probably more) will vote to confirm even if she’s in favor of clubbing baby seals to death. No, its because Democrat Senators up for re-election in red States don’t want to have to defend a vote in favor of liberal, judicial activism to the folks back home. Voting for the first hispanic Justice is great – voting for a liberal kook who will invent constitutional law out of thin air is less great.

Rush Limbaugh commented yesterday that if Sotomayor’s “wise Latina” remark was available on good quality video, she wouldn’t be getting confirmed. Here is an excellent example of the dishonesty and cowardice of our modern politics. Everyone knows she’s a kook leftist, but as there’s no televised proof of this, the fact that she says she’s not a kook leftist is going to be held as sufficient by the gathered Senators. As long as Sotomayor doesn’t spill the beans in the hearings, all will be well – and so she just blandly states what everyone knows to be false; making the claim that she’s not a kook leftist in judicial get-up.

Mr. Seidman, God bless him, is outraged that Sotomayor doesn’t show the courage of her convictions and wishes that people had a better understanding of the issue, so that Sotomayor’s dissembling would be un-necessary. Poor man – he doesn’t realize that people understand the issue perfectly well, and thus the issue – as it were – is being shoved under the rug in favor of non-issues which poll better in focus groups. A dishonest obscuring of the truth is necessary to get Sotomayor on the court – and she appears to be mercenary enough to play the game (hey, its a well-paid life appointment requiring minimal work and no thought at all – thought will be provided by NARAL and the ACLU). And this should come as no surprise – after all, it took a dishonest obscuring of the truth to make President Obama palatable to the American people.

So, what can we do? Not much – but we can start to figure out ways to trick liberals in to admitting to their views. Do that, and we’ll have 80 Senate seats, and then we won’t have to play these silly games any more.

This is Liberalism

From Mark Steyn:

According to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, we only have 96 months left to save the planet.

I’m impressed. 96 months. Not 95. Not 97. July 2017… In April, Prince Charles predicted that the red squirrel would be extinct “within ten years,” which suggests that, while it may be curtains for man and all his wretched works come summer of 2017, the poor doomed red squirrel will have the best part of two years to frolic and gambol on a ruined landscape.

So, unless you’re a squirrel, don’t start any long books in 95 months’ time, because time is running out! “Time is running out to deal with climate change,” said Steven Guilbeault of Greenpeace in 2006. “Ten years ago, we thought we had a lot of time.”

Really? Ten years ago, we had a lot of time? Funny, that’s not the way I remember it. (“Time is running out for the climate,” said Chris Rose of Greenpeace in 1997.) So what’s to blame for this eternally looming rendezvous with the iceberg of apocalypse? As the British newspaper the Independent reported:

Capitalism and consumerism have brought the world to the brink of economic and environmental collapse, the Prince of Wales has warned. . . . And in a searing indictment on capitalist society, Charles said we can no longer afford consumerism and that the ‘age of convenience’ was over.

He then got in his limo and was driven to his other palace.

A liberal is someone who believes that everyone other than himself will have to sacrifice to save the planet. Its ok for the privileged elite to continue to be privileged and elite because…well…because they donate money to environmentalist causes and add glitz to environmentalist causes and….and….and just who do you think you are asking questions? Just do as you’re told, dammit…

GOP Leads "Generic" Congressional Ballot

According to Rasmussen:

Republican candidates continue to lead on the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot as Democrats fall to their lowest level of support among voters in recent years.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 40% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 37% would choose the Democratic candidate.

A 40/37 split doesn’t sound that bad for Democrats, until you realize that the split was 47/41 in the Democrats favor on election day last year. So, the GOP support hasn’t really changed, but the Democrat “brand” is being battered to pieces – guess there’s just so much Reid and Pelosi that people can take. Watch Obama to start distancing himself from that Toxic Duo.

Phrase of the Day

We’re not a Christian nation?

The Definitive Treaty of Peace 1783

In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.

It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most potent Prince George the Third, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, duke of Brunswick and Lunebourg, arch- treasurer and prince elector of the Holy Roman Empire etc., and of the United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and differences that have unhappily interrupted the good correspondence and friendship which they mutually wish to restore…

…Done at Paris, this third day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three. (emphasis added)

This is, as it were, the baptismal certificate of the United States of America – the treaty by which Britain, in the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity – acknowledged the independence of our nation…and they did it in the year of our Lord, 1783. Now, our liberal friends like to point to one (1) treaty with some north African barbarians where we say we’re not founded on Christianity – but I think this treaty carries a bit more weight in demonstrating American beliefs. Not just a belief in God, but a belief in the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So, stick that in your atheist pipe and smoke it, if you like – but we are a Christian nation, and have been from the start.

"Roe" Stands for Justice

A brave woman who is making the rest of us look like cowards:

The woman at the center of the Supreme Court’s landmark abortion rights ruling was arrested today at the confirmation hearing for Sonia Sotomayor among a wave of anti-abortion protesters who lined the sidewalks outside the Senate office buildings and several of whom made it into the hearing room and disrupted in an attempt to disrupt the proceedings.

Norma McCorvey, 61, of Texas, better known as “Jane Roe” in the famous Roe v. Wade case from January 1973, was arrested after she and another protester started yelling during the opening statement of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), according to Capitol Police. McCorvey, whose pursuit of the right to access to abortion in the early 1970s led to the ruling that has been a pivotal part of every Supreme Court nomination process since, eventually become a notable opponent of the procedure.

As we’ve said, we can’t stop Sotomayor – only a complete screw up on her own part (unlikely as the Senate Democrats have carefully coached her on what to say, and will put all sorts of roadblocks up against any GOP attempt to get at the truth about her) will derail this nomination…but the bottom line of Sotomayor and all liberal judges is an insane and inhuman defense of Roe…but the wheel is turning, and the time of these liberals is passing.

Budge Deficit Hits One Trillion Dollars

That is $1,000,000,000,000.00 – or, if you spent a million dollars a day, enough money to last you 2,739 years. So, if you were Caesar, made immortal, and started spending it on the day you were born, you’d still have enough money for 630 years. A nice chunk of change, but not nearly the limit:

The federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time ever and could grow to nearly $2 trillion by this fall, intensifying fears about higher interest rates, inflation and the strength of the dollar.

The deficit has been widened by the huge sum the government has spent to ease the recession, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. The cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also is a major factor.

The soaring deficit is making Chinese and other foreign buyers of U.S. debt nervous, which could make them reluctant lenders down the road. It could also force the Treasury Department to pay higher interest rates to make U.S. debt attractive longer-term.

“These are mind-boggling numbers,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at the Smith School of Business at California State University. “Our foreign investors from China and elsewhere are starting to have concerns about not only the value of the dollar but how safe their investments will be in the long run.”

The Treasury Department said Monday that the deficit in June totaled $94.3 billion, pushing the total since the budget year started in October to $1.09 trillion. The administration forecasts that the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.84 trillion in October.

Ok, liberals, pay attention. Suppose this ultimately $2 trillion dollar deficit got the economy moving again – ok, so we’ve now got $2 trillion debt on top of the debt we already had…and given the nature of things, we’re bound to hit another downturn, at which time you’d naturally call for another stimulus package. This would certainly be long before all of the debt piled up is paid off and, likely, before the additional debt we’ve piled up was discharged. In other words, before we’re back to square one on debt, the “need” for additional debt will arrive. How many times can you do this before it just becomes impossible, supposing that this time it is, indeed, possible? When do we actually pay off the debt between economic downturns?

I won’t hold my breath waiting for answers.

The Roadblock to Recovery

From the WSJ via Pajamas Media:

In December 2008, forecasters surveyed by the Wall Street Journal predicted the jobless rate would hit what then seemed a very high 8.1% at the end of 2009. Surveyed again this past week, forecasters now anticipate year-end unemployment of 10%. That suggests 775,000 more Americans will join the ranks of the jobless in the next six months. Because most Americans depend on their paychecks for their shopping, a weak job market and lousy wage growth have cast an ominous shadow over consumer spending and the overall economy.

Officially, predictions are for the recession to end in late 2009 – which prediction I can only figure is either wishful thinking, or some bizarre assertion that “not immediately getting massively worse” is “recovery”. To be sure, we could very well see a quarter or two of allegedly positive growth in GDP – but expect full analysis of such GDP growth to be entirely in government spending with only trivial amounts of new GDP coming from wealth creation.

And therein lies the problem with the linked quote – we’re expecting a rise in consumer spending to pull us out of this, and the people who see the flaws in Obamunism are noting that Obama’s policies will keep consumer spending low, thus short circuiting a recovery. But we shouldn’t be looking for consumer spending to drive us out of the ditch – we should be looking for making, mining and growing things to move the economy. We can punch up consumer spending in a lot of ways and, perhaps, get some GDP growth…but until we, as a people, start making, mining and growing more of our own things – ie, more of our own wealth – we’re just going to be spinning our wheels. We shouldn’t be buying manufactured goods from China, food from Argentina or importing oil from Arabia…we should be doing all this on our own.

We must learn the lesson – we’re in this mess because we bought the scam that money managing was the way to wealth. We can’t get genuinely rich by, as it were, taking in each others laundry. We have to produce something – and production ultimately means things out of our own soil and made by the sweat of our own brow. Unless we’re willing to put in a bit of sweat equity and get a bit dirty, we’re just going to push ourselves further and further down the hole. Obama wants to spend us in to wealth, more sensible economic gurus want us to privately consume our way in to wealth – I want us to earn a living.

Franken Really Is Stupid

Former comedian and failed radio host Al Franken, had some bizarre things to say about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

Franken told Sotomayor that she was “the most experienced Supreme Court nominee in 100 years.” He said her story is inspirational and one in which “all Americans should take great pride in.

“Interestingly enough, many others are seeing Sotomayor for what she really is…

Sonia Sotomayor will begin her confirmation hearings next week with some of the highest levels of public opposition of any Supreme Court nominee in the last two decades, according to a new poll by CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation.

In fact, only one nominee had a higher level of opposition: Harriet Miers, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005. Miers later withdrew her nomination under questions about her qualifications from both the political left and right.