Internet Dump

The creativity among my Internet comrades has exceeded the production quota for Ushanka's 2nd Five Year Plan.  Here are just the best from this past week:

Interweb Pics

English Russia has two photo album posts you may like. 

The first is a current assessment of Russia's hospitals - 15 years after the fall of Communism.  Imagine what these facilities looked like in 1991.  And remember, The Soviet health care system was the model the Democrats used for ObamaCare.  Be patient comrades - change is coming...

Another post is a photo album of Leningrad postcards from the 1980's. 

Corruption at the Highest

 

What 'rule of law?' 

When I said a couple days ago that the FBI is now "all about consensus," I assumed there was one agent of the 150 who was a hold out.  A single agent that had not yet been convinced a law had been broken when the Secretary of State launched an email server in her house and conducted years of State business on it, including sending, receiving and storing classified material.

My assumption was wrong.  Apparently there was one agent who did think a crime was committed, but fell in line today to reach said consensus.

I can prove this new hypothesis.  Watch for FBI agents resigning in protest.  If you do not see any agents resign in protest, I am right.

The FBI now shares the same credibility as the Secret Service (Columbian prostitutes), the ATF (burning children alive and running guns to the Cartels), DEA (8-hour shifts surfing pornography), Dept. of Education (lowering standards for 30+ years), FEMA (Hurricane Katrina), the Republican Congress (trillion dollar deficits), EPA (poisoned rivers and unemployed coal miners), ObamaCare (less quality for higher prices), Bureau of Labor and Statistics (hiding inflation), and Orlando SWAT team (waiting three hours).

As a FB comrade said today, there is no better reason to buy gold. I can't argue.  I wouldn't even try.

Today's news was good for the Clintons and for the #NeverTrump movement.

Images above are from FB Comrades - the same people who keep me sane as we all watch our nation swirl down the toilet.  Eh, what difference does it make?

UPDATED 9:40pm:

Excellent editing by Reason TV (U/T: Ed Driscoll):



Glenn Reynolds' USA Today article: Glenn Reynolds: About that Clinton-Lynch accidental meeting.

UPDATED 7.6.16 6am:

Ken Denninger summarizes yesterday's decision:

The Rule of Law was officially burned and buried today on live television by the Director of the FBI.

You therefore no longer have any moral requirement to adhere to same; your entire analysis must now rest on whether you are sufficiently afraid of being shot -- and nothing more.

America, as envisioned and fought for by the founders, died today at 11:00 AM ET, 7/5/2016.

240 years and one day from birth to death.

UPDATED 7.7.16 4:30pm:

More memes from the FB Comrades:

UPDATED 7.8.16 10am:

Unless a Hitler Video comes out on the Clinton email scandal, IowaHawk will get credit for the top response:

Comrade Tucker's "Crisis of Conscience"

Illinois delegate C. Steven Tucker, a Ushanka Comrade and health insurance professional, pulled his pledge to vote for Ted Cruz last month over the candidate's false description of Donald Trump's plan to replace ObamaCare.  I just found out about this today.

This is BIG news, as Mr. Tucker stayed loyal to his Cruz pledge even after he was disturbed by Cruz's claim that Trump was responsible for the violence in Chicago at a cancelled rally.  I recall at that time he said he would switch his vote to Trump if a second vote were taken at the convention.  Apparently he has lost all patience with Cruz. 

Bill Still:




ConservativeTreehouse, Feb 11: No, Senator Cruz, Donald Trump Does NOT Support Single Payer Health Care…

Comrade Tucker's Blog.

Super Tuesday #2

I voted in Ohio today.  I won't say who I voted for. . .

Apparently, many of the Cruz folks are voting for John Kasich here today.  Ohio is a winner-take-all state and they like the idea of keeping Ohio's 66 delegates away from Trump.

That means there are two types of voters today.  In the Ohio primarily, but elsewhere too:

1) Voters who vote for the candidate who they think best represents them, and

2) The voters who don't stand for anything, but stand against Trump.

In other words, the Kasich voter may not stand for amnesty, gun-control, or obamacare as Kasich does.  The Kasich voter stands against Trump.  I have an Ohio FB comrade who shared this from today.  He felt good about his vote.

If you stand against Trump, you must dislike headlines like those on Drudge today.  We don't want China to be worried about who we elect, right?  We don't want George Soros upset at us for electing Trump, right?

Here are a couple more screenshots from FB comrades today.  The first is from a voter in Florida, the second from Ohio.

I just listened to an interview with C. Steven Tucker, a FB comrade.  He is an outspoken leader in the health insurance industry and a popular activist.  He posted this interview where he discusses the healthcare plans of both Cruz and Trump.  It is only 22 minutes - too short in my opinion - but I learned a LOT.  Comrade Tucker is my go-to guy for the healthcare debate.  Take a listen!

Last, an amazing thing.  Have you heard of Libertarians for Trump?  Walter E. Block writes at Lew Rockwell, where he makes the case that Libertarians should consider voting for Trump in 2016.  I have said before that Trump's GOP insurgency, his 3rd party run from within, shares many of the same traits that I've detected within Libertarians.  The anger, the common sense and the energy are three that come to mind.  He's looking for people to join him with the hope LFT can become a sizable block of voters that may steer Trump even more into their corner.

But, the perfect is the enemy of the good. It is our goal to throw our weight behind the candidate who has a reasonable chance of actually becoming President of the United States whose views are CLOSEST to libertarianism.
—
I ask you to do this [join LFT], rather, because it is the right thing to do; he is, of all the major candidates for the office of President of the United States, the one most closely, albeit very far from perfectly, aligned with our beloved libertarian philosophy.

UPDATED 3.17.16:

Bitter Cruzinger Hawkins posted this before the results came in Tuesday.

GOP Rankings Report #16

Here is the 16th and last Ushanka GOP Rankings Report.

The only change since the last report is Trump's announcement on March 3rd of his healthcare plan.  He is going to require providers to present their pricing to the patients, giving patients the ability to shop for their healthcare.  He is also promising to open the drug market to cheaper alternatives.

I've added the twelfth Domestic Policy category with these specifics to the GOP Rankings Report Criteria.  Trump has 3 points, the other three candidates have zero.

Click here to see the criteria for each rated category that I followed in each report.  All rankings are on a 0-3 scale, determined by specific conservative criteria that has been constant since the first report on August 1st.  The focus of the criteria is graded on specific campaign promises from the candidates' websites or from promises made in debates.

Here are the final Summary scores:

Here are the final Foreign Policy scores:

Here are the final Domestic Policy scores:

Websites:

I could not find any substantive changes at the candidate's websites.

Gov. Kasich still does not have an Issues page. 

Who put up an Issues page, and when?

Rubio had an Issues page on August 1st (the earliest date of my reports).
Trump started his Issues page on September 1st.
Cruz started his Issues page on January 15th.

Redistribution: The 401k Grab

The next front in the left's redistribution-of-wealth 'struggle' to make things 'fair' is in our retirement accounts.  Those 401k's and IRA's where private citizens privately manage their own retirement funds, and do so with a FAR higher rate of return than union pensions and Social Security.

We've seen other redistribution schemes win presidential elections in 2008 and 2012, pass with Congressional majorities, and even win the blessing of the Supreme Court.  Some small, like Cash for Clunkers, Tanning Salon tax, Solyndra, and auto-maker bailouts.  And some large: Progressive Tax Code, ObamaCare, Stimulus, Quantitative Easing (QE), Zero Percent Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP), and trillion-dollar deficit spending.

So, to sit back and think nationalizing private retirement accounts is not possible would be ignorant of both recent history and the events from 98 years ago.  Redistribution, with comforting promises of hope and change, always come first.  Only tremendous suffering follows.

The Set Up

The timing has to be right, but the groundwork can start now.

We've seen more than one Global Warming Summit get snowed out.  We've seen the math that says crop yields will go up with the temperature changes the left believes will occur if we do not address climate change stop Capitalism immediately.  We've also seen the science that says this movement is a fraud.  For the Global Warming folks to get any traction, they must exploit hot weather as it occurs.  This is tough to plan for and organize around, hence the failed attempts so far.

The same for the retirement-redistribution movement.  Timing is everything.  The Liberals Progressives Communists have to act when retirement accounts suffer and account holders panic.

Despite the $20T in debt (was $6T under Bush), the stock market has had record gains.  That may be more related to the increase in money supply to $4.5T (was $800B under Bush), and the funneling of that new money into the markets.  (Of course, do your own research as I am the product of the public schools.)

If QE were to end (the last QE was two years ago), and if ZIRP were to end ('ended' last week after 9 years), one might expect the economy to slow a bit.  "But we have such a strong economy," say those in power at the moment.  They will point to the 5.5% unemployment rate, but not the 9.9% U6 Unemployment rate.  They will point to iPhone sales, but not the fact 35.4% of Americans are receiving government assistance. 

And we are not alone here in the States.  The global economy isn't doing any better.  The price of oil has dropped two-thirds off its recent highs.  New supply gets some credit, but demand plays the bigger role here.  Are the benefits of Capitalism (innovation, faster growth, improved quality of living, increased trade, and retirement savings increases) linked at all to oil consumption?  Is it possible the economy is not doing as well as some say?

Selling a retirement 'modernization' policy that redistributes the trillions in wealth to a government IOU program, with promises of continued account growth, is easier in an economic decline than it is during an economic boom.  One question to ask yourself: Looking at the national and international scene today, do you think it is more likely an unexpected event or discovery will trigger a 10% jump in stocks, hiring, and/or personal income?  Or, is it more likely that a 10% drop would occur?

Ask the same, but with "25%" as the number.  Ask: 50%. 

Last, imagine the panic that will enable a total redistribution of retirement accounts, by consensus.

Meet the New Communists

Big government enthusiasts, Tony James and Teresa Ghilarducci, are setting the ground work for the redistribution of retirement accounts from the individual American citizen to the government.  Calling the 401k retirement plans "a faulty experiment," Tony concludes:

There’s really no alternative. It needs to be mandated.

The Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is available to any American who may or may not have access to a 401k plan.  It is, by definition, exactly an alternative.  Tony knows this, but assumes you do not.

I have used both types of accounts, and despite my public school education, my accounts have made more than the 1% return the government currently brags of Social Security. 

Control is the Goal

Bernie, Hillary, Pajama Boy, and every other leftist wants to control everything in your life, including your wallet.  They talk about it when they drink coffee.  They think about it when they go to bed.  They dream about it as they sleep.  And they get up in the morning to pursue it. With enthusiasm.  It is in their DNA.

To gain control over your health care, they had to first paint the picture of everyone getting top-quality care.  The actual results: lower quality and higher prices for all.  Promises broken but goal attained: control.

What conditions must exist for a majority consensus behind the redistribution of private retirement funds?  Envy, from the envy crowd, isn't enough this time.  But panic, caused by liberal policies within the private sector, will be enough.  Of all the solutions that will be offered if/when the market drops 50%, only Obama's will be simple, easy, and attractive to the historically ignorant and panic-stricken.  He'll promise to restore prior balances as he confiscates remaining balances.  His IOUs will be "backed by the full faith and credit of the United States of America." 

What could go wrong?

Political Solutions (assuming you trust politicians):
Double down on 401k and IRA accounts.  Remove the deposit limits, and tax incentive limits, for 401k's and IRA's.  If an employee wants to save 80% of his salary tax free, he should be allowed to.  Or even better, turn all accounts into IRA accounts by replacing all federal taxes (Income, gas, etc.) with a single-rate consumption tax.

Further protect retirement savings from litigation and confiscation with an amendment.  "The right to save for retirement shall not be infringed."

Individual Solutions:
Ann Barnhardt has advocated moving digital assets into hard assets (real estate, gold, etc.) with this truism: "You don't own it unless you can stand in front of it with an assault rifle."

Jim Rickards offers an asset allocation suggestion, based on the hard times he sees coming, in his latest book, The Death of Money.

Sources:
Story and photo - New York Times
Dow and Oil charts - MarketWatch
Unemployment chart - MacroTrends
Welfare Data:  Statistic Brain

See Also:
David Mills (via Doug Ross) - IF YOU LIKE YOUR 401(k), YOU CAN KEEP YOUR 401(k): Obama Labor Dept. Sets Stage for Nationalizing Retirement Accounts

The Obama administration has its sights set on an incredible amount of your money. By some estimates, Americans are holding well over $10 trillion in private retirement accounts.

For a country with debt that is clearly "unsustainable" (source: the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office), flashing that kind of figure to a Democrat politician is akin to showing a kilo of heroin to a desperate junkie.

THE GOAL: FINANCIAL REPRESSION

---

...the real goal of the Obama administration is to nationalize your retirement account and to invest it in debt that will become increasingly unsellable in the open market.

Tab Clearing

TheRightSchoop:  Ohio Governor and GOP hopeful offers to buy bibles for those of us who call him out as a big-government RINO for supporting the redistribution scheme of ObamaCare.  He supported the biggest liberal agenda item since The Communist Manifesto KNOWING that it will lower standards, eliminate accountability, reduce healthcare to a minimum, stifle innovation and increase suffering.  Keep the bible.  I have one.

Here is what government healthcare does.  TelegraphUK Headline: Boy, 6, died 'after negligent doctor mistook him for child under DNR order'.   And here is your furture team of healthcare 'professionals:'

FB Comrade Ben shared this cartoon.  Yep.  Planned Parenthood, like ObamaCare, is less about 'healthcare' and more about redistribution of wealth.  The blood, suffering and organ harvesting are just perks for the liberals who run it.

Last, the people of Roseburg Oregon, home of the recent school shooting that left nine people dead and many more injured, don't want Obama to come dance in the blood at this Friday's memorial service.  They have adopted a Communist tactic, the petition, to make their disgust in our dear leader clear, with over 1400 signatures so far.  (GP)

More Hammer and Sickle

You just can't get away from it in Obama's America.

Louisiana Run Off

Tomorrow is the runoff election between Democrat [ObamaCare] Mary Landrieu and some Republican guy.  It is looking like it'll be another Republican blowout.

A single Senate seat isn't a big deal now that the Republicans own the Senate.  Or as our VP would say, "it isn't a big f**king deal."  But a second defeat on the national stage a month after the November slaughter stands to deal the Democrats a huge psychological shock.

That is why I'll be wearing my Commie Obama hat and doing my happy dance tomorrow while:

The MSM all circle their wagons and tell us how little it matters,
Mary explains that she didn't get her message out to the voters, and
Obama dismisses any evidence of a Republican mandate.

Photo from LI.

UPDATED 12.7.14 10am:

Try reading this AP report and doing your happy dance at the same time:

In the South, Democrats will be left without a single U.S. senator or governor across nine states stretching from the Carolinas to Texas.

—

. . . Republicans will hold 54 seats when the Senate convenes in January, nine more than they have now.

—

Republican victories in two Louisiana House districts on Saturday . . . ensure at least 246 seats, compared to 188 for Democrats, the largest GOP advantage since the Truman administration after World War II.

Landrieu got 54%, the Republican guy 56%.

I won't be hanging up my Commie Obama Hat and telling myself "job well done."  Defeating the Democrat communists is important, and I'll admit fun.  But enemy #2 is the establishment Republicans, and their RINOs need to be replaced too.  The rollback must continue.

UPDATED 12.8.14 3:30pm:

Disloyal Subject over at ATRS came up with this image.  Is it any surprise she is a Commie Obama Hat owner?

Gruber-Gate

Unless you've been busy trying to sign up for ObamaCare these past couple weeks, you already know about Jonathan Gruber.

You already know he was the key consultant and architect of the Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare.  He conspired with Nancy Pelosi, Obama and others to get it passed.  He earned over $4,000,000 in consulting fees, paid for by taxpayers.

Gruber says they took advantage of "stupid voters" when they marketed the bill.

Ok if we blame this stupidity you speak of on government run public schools?

Gruber obviously believes they needed stupid voters to get their bill passed.  What I haven't seen anyone explore yet is: which voters are the stupid ones?

Democrats all agree that he meant the Republican voters are stupid.
Republicans all agree that he meant Democrats.
And all agree that at one time or another we all have said the same thing of voters.

 We need to dig deeper.  

Passing ObamaCare came down to Senator Mary Landrieu's vote.  It came down to the Senate.  The blue and red squares below represent all the senate votes for the bill:

 

Democrats wanted the bill passed.

Gruber confirms they had to get enough stupid people to vote for it.

Stupid people elected enough Democrats to pass the bill.

The bill passed with only Democrat votes.

Why does it seem only conservatives are upset at Gruber's remarks?

Why aren't Democrats furious that they are being called "stupid" by Democrat consultants?

Senator Landrieu will be in a runoff election on December 4th.  We'll see then how those stupid voters in Louisiana decide...

Still not convinced?  

Check out my Commie Obama Hat GiveAway videos from Dayton and Cincinnati.   

Warning: These videos will hurt your brain.

UPDATED 7pm:

Check out this excellent 2-min video on the subject, via ZH: