California Has Almost $1 Trillion In Unfunded Pension Liabilities

Hardly surprising.

Chris Street, former Orange County, California Treasurer points out that last years report by the Stanford University for Public Policy report on the three largest California public retiree plans (CalPERS, CalSTRS, and UCRS) concluded that those California retirement plans had an unfunded liability of over $500 billion.

As the report pointed out, a big part of the problem is the pension plan’s figuring on future annual investment returns of 7.75% which is totally unrealistic. Just how unrealistic can be calculated by what's happening as a bunch of local governments get wind of this and want to bail out of the plans..which are only offering to credit them with 3.8% expected return. If these state retirement plans base their figures on the same 3.8% rate they are only willing to credit when participants want to leave, the unfunded mandate increases to a whopping $884 billion shortfall!

The main culprits, of course, are the public employee unions aided and abetted by their political allies, the Democrats. These pensions are legislatively mandated to pay out at fixed rates no matter what happened to the investments they're based on, so the unions figured that it was a win-win crapshoot using public money.

They invested in the riskiest derivatives, figuring that if things worked out well their war chests would swell and give them increased leverage for bargaining with politicians for increased benefits and pay through campaign contributions. If things didn't go so well, the benefits still had to be paid by state law.

None of California's options to deal with this are good ones. Based on the last budget fiasco, the sort of massive cuts in spending that would make a difference wouldn't pass the legislature, and Governor Brown probably wouldn't sign them if they did. The state can either request that the employees covered by the three plans ante up with higher contributions, or pass new legislation weaseling out of their commitments. Both are politically toxic for the Democrat-dominated state government, and the second option would almost certainly be challenged in court.

Another option is to raise taxes massively in what's already one of the highest taxed states in the country to cover the shortfall. Governor Brown and the Democrats in the legislature would love this, but doing it would exacerbate the state's already poor economic climate, result in even more people and businesses leaving and worsen the problem at the other end.

Or they can go to Barack Obama for a bail out from Washington, getting in line with a number of other Blue states that have exactly the same problem.

Not good.

To me, it's a matter of supreme irony that the man who started this mess back in the 1970's by giving public employee unions the right to collective bargaining is now the governor again and was elected by a comfortable majority.

Not only did Governor Brown steer the ship of state into the iceberg when he was captain the last time, but the passengers on the Titanic just gave him the wheel again.

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Soccer Dad's Mideast Media Sampler 8/24/11‏

Today's sampler and analysis of Mideast media content from my pal Soccer Dad:
1) Moammar Scaramanga?


From Babylon and Beyond:

Footage is still emerging online of rebels seizing control of Moammar Kadafi's Tripoli compound on Tuesday, including some odd images of fighters with looted gold-plated guns.
In one video, a rebel fighter wearing a scarf around his head and an armored vest, a long gun slung across his shoulder, holds up what appears to be a gold-plated rifle.
"God is great," he says in Arabic before striding off among the palm trees outside the compound as a compatriot flashes a V-for-victory sign.

The article mentioned that gold plated guns were also found in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein. But it made me think of the final James Bond novel.


2) Helping themselves


Anne Applebaum wrrites in Let Libya take charge of its revolution

The Libyan revolution needn’t end in civil war. But there is no guarantee that it won’t. Either way, our ability to influence the course of events is limited. We can aid the rebels, as we have been doing all along: In fact, the Libyan opposition has quietly received not only NATO air support but also French and British military training, as well as weapons and advice from elsewhere in Europe and the Persian Gulf, most notably Qatar. But we can’t fight their war for them, we can’t unify them by force, and we can’t write their new constitution. On the contrary, if we make ourselves too visible in Libya, with troops on the ground or too many advisers in dark glasses, we will instantly become another enemy. If we try to create their government for them, we risk immediately making it unpopular.

What we should do instead — to use a much-mocked phrase — is bravely, proudly and forthrightly lead from behind. When the NATO engagement started, I argued that Obama’s best weapon was silence: no false promises, no soaring rhetoric, no threats. Keep this their war, not ours. The result: The rebels who just marched into Tripoli and waved at Al-Jazeera’s cameras looked like a Libyan force, not a Western one — because they were. The images of them stomping on Gaddafi’s photograph looked a lot more authentic, and will play better in Libya and across the Arab world, than did the images of Marines pulling down a statue of Saddam Hussein in 2003, an American flag draped over his head.

I don't know if she's correct, especially because there is reason to believe that the rebels may not be liberal democrats or that the revolution will otherwise not end well. Even if the revolution ends up badly, though, Applebaum's argument would be that a less obvious American presence would be the source of less friction.


This translates to the opposite of Thomas Friedman "pottery store rule."

Let's start with the Bush hawks. The first rule of any Iraq invasion is the pottery store rule: You break it, you own it. We break Iraq, we own Iraq -- and we own the primary responsibility for rebuilding a country of 23 million people that has more in common with Yugoslavia than with any other Arab nation. I am among those who believe this is a job worth doing, both for what it could do to liberate Iraqis from a terrible tyranny and to stimulate reform elsewhere in the Arab world. But it is worth doing only if we can do it right. And the only way we can do it right is if we can see it through, which will take years. And the only way we can see it through is if we have the maximum allies and U.N. legitimacy.
We don't need a broad coalition to break Iraq. We can do that ourselves. But we do need a broad coalition to rebuild Iraq, so that the American taxpayer and Army do not have to bear that full burden or be exposed alone at the heart of the Arab-Muslim world. President Bush, if he alienates the allies from going to war -- the part we can do alone -- is depriving himself of allies for the peace -- the part where we'll need all the friends we can get.

Friedman was arguing that remaking Iraq was a major consideration of any invasion.


Daniel Pipes on the other hand argued:

This is in no way to argue against providing benefits to Afghanistan and Iraq; but it is to say that these are not a moral obligation. Nor should wars be launched for humanitarian reasons alone.
Should democratic leaders forget this iron law and decide to launch purely philanthropic efforts, the results will be unpleasant. Take the American case: When the population does not see the benefits to themselves of warfare, U.S. soldiers are pulled from the battlefield, as in Lebanon in 1984 and Somalia in 1993. There simply is no readiness to take casualties for the purposes of social work.
So, by all means, bring on "Iraqi Freedom." But always keep in mind, as President Bush has done, that the ultimate war goal is to enhance American security.

Pipes favored the first Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Alawi, and strongly opposed a massive American presence. But Allawi was interim and eventually replaced. Maliki has been moving away from the United States and towards Iran.


We don't know how the Libyan revolution will play out, though Barry Rubin is not optimistic:

To begin with, President Obama’s supporters are praising him for having overthrown Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qadhafi at no cost in American lives. I predict that the situation will break down within months into factional infighting, atrocities against civilians, and become a general mess. The main likelihood is not of an Islamist takeover but of rather nasty anarchy.

If Libya does descend into anarchy, then the smaller American footprint would likely be good in terms of evading responsibility.


There were two ironies in Applebaum's column. One was her own argument that while "leading from behind" may have been good from Libya's perspective; it was bad from NATO's. The other is that even as she criticizes President Bush's handling of Iraq, I think that the defeat of Saddam has to be viewed as a factor in the "Arab spring" as it showed that dictators were not necessarily invincible.


3) A photograph of you


The Washington Post's BlogPost republishes a photograph described here:

On Sunday, as hundreds of rebels swarmed into Tripoli and took control of large parts of the capital, and Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s rule looked close to collapse, a photo was shared on Facebook and Twitter again and again and again.
Taken less than a year before, the photo captured the ear-to-ear smiles of the leaders of several autocratic regimes. At the center of the photo stood Gaddafi, smiling and resplendent in his golden-brown robes and trademark sunglasses.
To his far left stood then-Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, laughing, and looking for all the world like he was invincible. To his right stood then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, with Gaddafi’s elbow jauntily on his soldier.

Surely the quickness with which these three fell from power is shocking.


But let's go back 9 years. All three were at the Arab summit in 2002, where the Saudi "peace initiative" were presented. I won't critique the peace initiative here, except to say that it seemed more like an ultimatum than an offer of peace. Consider this excerpt from a New York Times editorial from 2002:

The other important new element in Mideast diplomacy is the peace initiative begun by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah, offering Arab recognition and security guarantees to Israel in return for withdrawals from most of the Arab territory Israel has occupied since 1967.
The Saudi plan is gaining momentum. This weekend Arab foreign ministers gather in Cairo to prepare for the Arab League summit meeting at the end of this month at which Crown Prince Abdullah is expected to present his plan. Syria has given crucial support to the Saudi proposal. An unambiguous offer by the Arab world of security and recognition for Israel would fundamentally transform the equation that has brought more than half a century of bloodshed and tension to the Mideast.

Many of the participants at summit are now facing popular revolts at home or have been deposed. The New York Times and similarly minded "experts," who are now supporting the protesters against their leaders, were asking Israel, nine years ago (and subsequently) to trust these very same despots they now dismiss contemptuously.


4) Gaza's Middle Class


The AP reports Rise of Gaza middle class fuels resentment toward Hamas rulers, say wealth isn’t tricking down:

This middle class, which has become visible at the same time as a mini-construction boom in this blockaded territory, is celebrating its weddings in opulent halls and vacationing in newly built beach bungalows. That level of consumption may be modest by Western standards, but it’s in startling contrast to the grinding poverty of most Gazans, who rely on U.N. food handouts to get by.
Some of the well-off are Hamas loyalists. That rankles many Gaza residents because the conservative Islamic movement gained popularity by tending to the poor — through charitable aid, education and medical care — along with its armed struggle against Israel.
“Hamas has become rich at the expense of the people,” fumed a 22-year-old seamstress, Nisrine, as she stitched decorative applique onto a dress. She wouldn’t disclose her family name, not wanting to be seen criticizing the militant group.

I believe it has always been the case that the leadership of Hamas was (to borrow from Orwell) "more equal" than most residents of Gaza.


There are some other aspects of the story worth noting:

The blockade was a failed attempt to crush Hamas; instead it impoverished already poor Gazans, killed off trade and effectively imprisoned residents inside the territory.

The blockade is an effort to reduce arms traffic to Gaza. If the poverty caused by the blockade made Hamas unpopular with the residents of Gaza, that would have been an added bonus.

To circumvent the blockade, Palestinians built hundreds of underground tunnels crisscrossing the Gaza-Egypt border to bring in scarce consumer goods, as well as weapons. But after Israel started letting in more consumer goods a year ago, tunnels were freed up to bring in materials that remained severely restricted — such as raw construction materials.
The prices of raw materials dropped, sparking a flurry of construction.
Some 150 of Gaza’s estimated 700 tunnels are solely used for raw materials, said two tunnel traders who requested anonymity because they dodge Hamas taxes. Some 120 tons of raw materials are typically hauled daily through a single tunnel, they said. The rush of new building materials pushed down concrete from a blockade high of $900 a ton to $157. Gravel was $990, now it’s $28.

The incidental mention of weapon smuggling is interesting as Israel has charged recently:

In the two years since Operation Cast Lead, Hamas (with aid from Iran) has doubled and upgraded its rocket arsenal. It now has thousands of rockets of various ranges, both standard and homemade, including Fajr 5 rockets which can reach the center of Israel. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad has also upgraded its rocket capabilities.

Typical of the mainstream media, the threat to Israel is barely mentioned or minimized.

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Watcher's Council Nominations - Dog Days Edition

Ah, the sultry lazy days at the end of summer, when the warm weather brings out the torpor and laziness in all of us and little gets accomplished except by the determined and the desperate.The Romans were the first to label this time of year the Dog Days(diēs caniculārēs), noting that the skies were ruled by Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky at this time of year,

Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.

This week's contest dedicated to letting sleeping dogs lie...at least for awhile.


Council News:

This week, Steven Givler Online, The Jewish Leadership Blog and Capitalist Preservation took advantage of my generous offer of link whorage and earned honorable mention status.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to the ‘Contact Me’ page at Joshuapundit and post a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address ( which won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST to be considered for our honorable mention category, and return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week.

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let's see what we have this week....

Council Submissions

• Rhymes With Right – More On Rick Perry And Gardasil


• Simply Jews – New Russians and their old tricks


• The Noisy Room – Of Secrets, Jobs and Tea


• Right Truth – Israel In The Crosshairs


• Joshuapundit-A Lefty's Heart Breaks So Easily...


• The Colossus of Rhodey – There is such thing as a free lunch


• New Zeal – Rebuild the Dream: IPS Steals the Phrase 'American Dream'


• The Razor – Fighting Good For The GOP’s 2012 Prospects


• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Revo Guards Rise


• The Political Commentator – Barack Obama et al: When you get a chance, can you give these domestic and national security issues a little attention?


• Bookworm Room – Bright line bureaucratic rules that make no sense


• Snapped Shot – Starving Palestinians


• The Glittering Eye -Battle Of The Billionaires


• VA Right! - Warren Buffett Pays More in Taxes Then He Realizes

Honorable Mentions

• Steven Givler Online - Riots in England - Democracy in Action


• The Jewish Leadership Blog - Israel (not so) Random Thoughts


• Capitalist Preservation - Capitalist Preservation Special Report: Child labor in the United States

Non-Council Submissions

• Yid With Lid – I have Proof That God Still Performs Miracles submitted by Rhymes with Right


• Mick Hartley – Hope In The Pipeline submitted by Simply Jews


• Sultan Knish –Time for an American Spring submitted by The Noisy Room


• Big Government - Jeannie DeAngelis -A 'Windshield Rancher' and the Nouveau Riche submitted by Right Truth


• Victor Davis Hanson – Obama's Paradoxes submitted by Joshuapundit


• The Foundry – O, Canada! The Greenies Are On the Attack! submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey


• Liberty's Spirit – Sometimes Israel’s real friends also need to know when to be quiet… submitted by New Zeal


• The American Interest/Via Meadia –Feeding The Masses On Unicorn Ribs submitted by The Razor


• IDF Reports – Terror Groups Operating From Sinai submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD


• The Blaze -Did the White House ‘Cleanse’ References To Jerusalem, Israel From Its Web Site? submitted by The Political Commentator


• Ed Driscoll/Pajamas Media -Two Men Say They're Jesus, One of Them Must Be Wrong submitted by Bookworm Room


• Prairie Pundit – Journalist quakes writing about religion submitted by Snapped Shot


• Glenn Greenwald/Salon.com – The Libya War Argument submitted by The Glittering Eye


• The Foundry – DOJ's Troubling Trend of Political Uniformity in Hiring submitted by VA Right!


• Peter Berkowitz/WSJ – College Rape Accusations and the Presumption of Male Guilt submitted by The Watcher


• Seraphic Secret – Restoring Courage submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy! And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!

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Do Blacks Realize They've Been Played By Obama ?

It was a fairly tense scene at a Congressional Black Caucus- sponsored event in Miami, where President Obama's executive director of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, Don Graves had to dodge heated questions from the likes of Maxine Waters ( D-CA) and Laura Richardson (D-Ca) in front of a fairly hostile crowd.

In his remarks, Graves said that the president is “focused on every community across the country” but when he attempted some careful race pandering, saying that “certain communities have been hit harder than other communities,” Waters pushed him. “Let me hear you say ‘black,’” the California Democrat yelled.

As the crowd cheered, The Washington Post said in its report on the event that Graves tried backtracking, saying: “black, African-American, Latino — we’re going to focus on getting people back to work.”

Notice what groups this fine public servant, who gets paid a handsome salary by all of the American people left out.

Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.), who being an expert practitioner herself knows a lie when she hears it referred to Graves' remarks as “a bunch of bull.” She later asked Graves to bypass Congress and shuttle dozens of pieces of special interest legislation authored by CBC members to the president so he could enact them using executive authority.

“Let’s be honest", Richardson said. "We have met with the president. We are asking you in the capacity of your position [at the council on] jobs, are you willing to review our bills, to work with us?”

“You may not feel like the president is listening to you, but he hears you loud and clear,” Graves said. And of course, he blamed “folks who are going to stand in the way and block the legislation that the Congressional Black Caucus has proposed.”

Waters interrupted him. “What people are you talking about?” she said, according to the Miami Herald. “Say tea party. Say it!”

Graves did, though the Post described him as doing so “reluctantly.” “It was tea party Republicans,” he said.

Except I don't think it was so reluctant at all. Graves was merely playing to the crowd. After all, at the same event race-pimp-in-chief Jesse Jackson described the Tea Party as the “Fort Sumter tea party that sought to maintain states’ rights and slavery.”

I'm sure it went over big, and that Bull Connor, Lester Maddox,Governor Faubus, Bill Clinton's old mentor Senator Fulbright, Senator Byrd and the rest of the Dixiecrats had a real chuckle wherever they are now.

But here's the real irony. After all the adulation and support for Barack Obama and the Democrats by most of the Black Community, do they realize they've been sold out? And it wasn't by the Tea Party.

Black unemployment was a huge problem in America even before the current recession. And it has skyrocketed primarily due to one major factor, the huge influx of illegal aliens into America. Not only is there significant competition for jobs in industries like construction, but the costs incurred by states with significant illegal alien populations have contributed significantly to budget crunches and hiring freezes in the county, municipal and state jobs where the black middle class has historically been created.

It was President Obama, not the Tea Party who just legitimized that influx and turned his back on the black community by ignoring Congress and US law and pushing through the DREAM Act by executive order.

It's quite simple, really. There's an election coming up. Obama needed to pander for votes to those Hispanics who favor amnestia rather than concern himself about black unemployment, because he figures that he can take the black vote for granted no matter what...especially with shills like AL Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, much of the Congressional Black Caucus and Obama's pals in the media pushing the narrative that 'the racist Tea Party did it'.

They cynically figure that enough black voters are stupid enough to believe it. And politicians like Laura Richardson and Maxine Waters, safely hunkered down in racially gerrymandered districts are more than happy to pimp the unwary. It's worked for years, and they've done pretty well out of it. Call it a new form of parasitic slavery, refined and brought up to date for the 21st century.

Rep. Allen West, the only Republican member of the Congressional Black Caucus put this clearly when he advised his fellow blacks that it was time to "get off the plantation" and start voting their interests and referred to Jesse Jackson as an 'overseer.'

The sign of a truly post racial America along the lines of Dr. King's famous vision will be when a significant amount of black voters think things through, look at where their real interests lie and follow Rep. West and Dr. King's advice.

UPDATE: Another prominent member of the Congressional Black Caucus apparently weighed in on what is obviously going to be a major theme for the coming elections to try to build black turnout. At the Miami event mentioned above, Rep. Andre' Carson (D-IN) said:

"This is the effort that we're seeing of Jim Crow.Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see us as second-class citizens. Some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me hanging on a tree."

Carson, who inherited his racially gerrymandered Indianapolis district form his late grandmother Rep. Julia Carson is the second Muslim member of Congress along with Keith Ellison(D-MN) and likewise a member of the far Left Progressive Caucus. Carson was also the one who stated that racial epithets were thrown by Tea Party members at Georgia Democrat Rep. John Lewis in Washington during the protests against the ramming through of ObamaCare.

As you may know, there were countless cameras and microphones in attendance looking to capture just that kind of utterance, and conservative icon Andrew Breitbart offered $100,000 in cash to anyone who could provide proof of this accusation. That money remains unclaimed, for obvious reasons.

When contacted about the ridiculous rant comparing the Tea Party to his Democrat fore bearers in the Klan, Carson's spokesperson said he stood by the remarks.

Look to hear a lot more of this kind of language.

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Obama's Number One! At Least In Debt Creation..

Yes, the numbers are officially in. The latest posting by the Treasury Department puts President Obama far in the lead for all US presidents when it comes to increasing the national debt with with over $4 trillion piled on since he slithered into the Oval Office.

The Treasury department calculates that the debt has hit $14.639 trillion compared to $10.626 trillion when President Obama started his term

It's also, by far, the fastest increase in the debt under any U.S. president. Now, President George W. Bush ran up $4.9 trillion in debt, but it took him eight years. Plus, he had help, and not just from the multi-billion dollar hits from Hurricane Katrina and 9/11.

According to the Treasury Department's own figures, in fiscal 2005, the national debt stood at $7,932,76 trillion, about $2.1 trillion above where it was in 2000 when President Bush took office. The other $2.8 trillion was added after January 2006 - when the Democrats gained control of both Houses of Congress.

So as much as President Obama might modestly want to share the glory of being the most spendthrift president in history with his predecessor, it definitely belongs to the current occupant of the Oval Office. Although he might want to let the Democrat supermajority in Congress he had for two years take a bow..no quarterback makes it into the record books without a great team behind him.

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Margaret Thatcher Film Bio - Inaccurate, Revolting And Heartless

The new film bio of former British PM Margaret Thatcher has been screened, and friends of Baroness Thatcher are outraged.

Friends of Margaret Thatcher last night expressed their revulsion at a new film that shows her having nightmares about the miners’ strike and the Falklands War, while her late husband Denis appears as a ghost in a pink turban raging at her -‘insufferable’ selfishness.

Viewers invited to an early screening of the film, The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep as the former Prime Minister and Jim Broadbent as Sir Denis, were aghast at the way that it mocks her frail condition in recent years.One called it ‘insulting’. Another said: ‘I didn’t come here to see a film about granny going mad.’

Apparently the film shows Baroness Thatcher as a hallucinating, crazed old lady tortured by visions of her supposed 'mistakes' and by her dead husband's cruelty.

As the Mirror points out, in real life,the Thatchers were a devoted and loving couple.

Friends of Lady Thatcher are also furious at the timing of the film, which is due to be released in January. The former Prime Minister has been forced to give up ¬public appearances following a series of strokes and is so poorly she was unable to attend the unveiling of a statue of her political ally Ronald Reagan in London last month.

Conservative MP Conor Burns, one of her closest confidants, said last night: ‘Any portrayal of Margaret Thatcher that does not show her as one of the titans of British politics in the 20th Century will be a travesty.

‘The idea that Denis would ever have been cruel to her is twisted and untrue. They were devoted.’

Not only does the film mischaracterize her personal family life, but it's riddled with historical inaccuracies as well if reports from the screening are accurate. It's one thing to do this to someone when they're dead, but its the height of insensitivity and cruelty to torture someone like this when they're infirm and incapable of fighting back.

They would never have dared to do it back when Baroness Thatcher was in her fighting trim, a warrior queen who scared the pants off of Britain's socialist establishment by pointing out loudly and clearly what they were doing to her country and where it would ultimately lead. She was entirely right about them. They've never forgiven her for that.

As Baroness Thatcher herself once said: "I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left."

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Andrew Breitbart On Education "The Status Quo Is Deplorable"

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Germany's Merkel Says Nein On Eurobonds

This is one of those stories of huge importance that usually slips under the radar of the news cycle.

As you remember, I reported about two weeks ago on the stiff opposition in the Bundestag over deals that were made in Brussels back in July to bail out some of the failing members of the Eurozone...much of it coming from Chancellor Angela Merkel's own Christian Democratic Union party.

The heart of the deal was the use of eurobonds to bail out financially troubled countries countries like Greece and Portugal, because the eurobonds would have interest rates lower than the government bonds of those countries, thus allowing them to to reduce their debt-to-GDP ratios.

The only catch ( and what the Germans strongly objected to) was that the eurobonds would be based on Germany's credit rating, thus subsidizing the government spending of these other countries at Germany's expense.

With the export dependent German economy stagnant at 0.1 percent growth in the June quarter and both parties in her ruling coalition revolting, Chancellor Merkel was faced with an unpleasant choice. Either she scrapped the Eurozone deal, in which case either negotiations would resume or the Eurozone would crumble with every man for himself. Or she would have faced cutting deals with the Left wing opposition parties, the Social Democrats and the Greens to get the deal through, which meant Merkel and the CDU would have had to absorb considerable electoral and political damage, perhaps even enough to cause her government to fall.

Well, Chancellor Merkel has made her decision, and it's a grim one for the Eurozone. Instead of issuing the Eurobonds, she announced that the emphasis is going to be on what she referred to as the “extremely difficult task” of cutting debt and raising competitiveness in member countries, rather than issuing joint bonds:

“Politics cannot and will not simply follow the markets,” she told German public television on Sunday in her first interview after returning from holiday a week ago. “The markets want to force us into doing certain things – and that we won’t do.”

[...] Ms Merkel told ZDF television that “solving the current crisis won’t be possible with eurobonds” as the crisis had been brought about by investors losing confidence in the ability of member states to achieve enough growth to pay off their debts.“That’s why eurobonds are not the answer,” she said, exhorting eurozone members to go on tackling the financial markets’ crisis of confidence “at the roots” – by improving competitiveness and economic growth, and aiming to cut excessive debt.

“The ’debt union’ has to be replaced by a ‘stability union,” she said. “This is a hard and arduous path, which we will not be able to avoid by means of some magic bullet, like issuing eurobonds.” The latter could even lead further into a “debt union”.

Well, she's right, especially from the German prospective. The answer to out of control debt is not more debt, something the current occupant of the White House seems not to understand. And in another lesson in basic econ for our fiscally challenged president, 'new revenues' (the rest of us call them by their right name, taxes) aren't the answer either. At this point,most of the eurozone countries have everything the Democrats drool over - high energy taxes, high VATs, high personal and corporate income taxes, huge taxes on property, costly regulations and a welfare state gone amuck. All those 'new revenues' haven't kept pace with government's desire to spend other people's money.

But while Merkel has the right ideas, the timing is a bit late. The problem is that her solution is not going to be able to be implemented overnight, especially given the massive resistance to be expected in certain quarters to the kind of cuts that are going to be necessary. Had measures to cut welfare state spending and increase productivity been put in place a few years ago, it might have had a chance. As it is now, the eurozone is already on life-support from the European Central Bank...and time is one thing it doesn't have.

The situation in the eurozone is exactly where America is heading if we don't change course quickly.

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Khaddaffi: The Fall Of The Brother Leader

Rebels entered Tripoli today from the west, meeting almost no resistance. A planned uprising within Khaddaffi's stronghold broke out as the rebels attacked the city.

According to what rebel spokesperson Adel Dabbechi told Reuters, Khaddaffi's younger son Saif Al-Islam had been captured and his eldest son Mohammed Al-Gaddafi have surrendered to rebel forces.

The rebels have secured Green Square in central Tripoli, there are racous celebrations going on and the city appears to have fallen although sporadic fighting continues.

And the Brother Leader? Conflicting reports. Some reports on Twitter say he was shot and killed near the Rixos Hotel while trying to escape. Other reports have him in Algeria and en route to Tunis and exile.

In any case, the regime has obviously fallen. But before we break out the champagne, there's an important thing to consider - what happens next?



As those regular members of Joshua's Army know, the rebels are severely divided and there are Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda factions among them. The Obama Administration got us involved in this costly adventure on behalf of one side in a civil war without even a clear idea of whom we're helping.

At this point, Khaddaffi's arsenals have been looted and the booty widely dispersed, including cute little toys like SA-7 missiles, portable shoulder fired surface-to-air heat seeking missiles that can be used against civilian and military aircraft.

What happens next? My bet is chaos as various factions fight for the spoils.And I doubt the ultimate outcome is going to be what the Obama Administration expected.

I only hope he doesn't waste more of our money on another farcical nation building extravaganza.

Between this and an Islamist regime taking over in Egypt, the foundations for the New Caliphate have likely been laid.

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The Song Of Norway's Ambassador To Israel

Norwegian Ambassador to Israel Svein Sevje discusses the history of Jews in Norway and the relationship between Norway and Israel ( hat tip Norway, Israel and the Jews via Tundra Tabloids) .

Norway, Israel and the Jews points out that the ambassador is rather figures challenged when it comes to what happened to Norway's Jews during the Holocaust, but to me the ambassador's most revealing comments come when he portrays Norway as a tolerant, pro-Israel country who only turned against Israel after the '67 war.

It’s not fair in my opinion to demonize Norway as a whole because of what occurred during the Shoah, when they were under Nazi occupation.But it is fair to note that Norway was and is an historically anti-Semitic country, and attitudes towards Jews and Israel go a long way back.

Aside from a few ‘useful’ merchants, Jews were legally banned from Norway and the handful allowed to reside there had their movements severely restricted. This continued after Norway’s independence; no Jews were legally allowed to enter until 1851 and a number of suspected Jews or people suspected of Jewish ancestry were even deported.

Even after 1851, Norway still allowed hardly any Jews to emigrate and deliberately framed its immigration laws to keep them out. This was largely because the Jews were stereotyped in public opinion as criminals, subversives and freeloaders, something that's almost comical in view of a significant part of the Muslim immigration Norway encourages today.

Norway had a large fascist movement in the early 20th century, and was one of the first countries in Europe to officially ban schechita, Jewish kosher slaughter in 1929. As a prominent member of parliament said at the time, “If they don’t like it, let them go live somewhere else.” That ban remains in place today, while Muslim halal slaughter is legal as is the slaughter of seals, whales and other animals that are protected by international treaties.

As in other parts of Europe, the Nazis found enough pro-Nazi anti-Semites to do the work of rounding up the Jews for them, and as in other parts of Europe, a far smaller number of people made a personal and courageous decision not to collude with that agenda. But Norway's historic anti-Semitism made the Nazis' work a great deal easier as opposed to the other Scandinavian countries, and it's inherently dishonest of the ambassador to gloss over it.

His statement about how things 'changed' after the 1967 War is also particularly revealing. How inconvenient of Israel's Jews to have survived an attempt at genocide!

As for Norway's Labor Party, make no mistake that Israel's affiliation with America and the West had a great deal to do with that change in attitude. If Israel had rejected allying itself with America and become a socialist people's republic and part of the Soviet sphere of influence, I guarantee you the Left world wide would be singing its praises the way they do Cuba.

The original Norwegian attitude towards Jews was shaped predominantly by Christian anti-semitism. Like Mohammed, Martin Luther became a raging anti-Semite once the Jews let him know they were perfectly happy with the religion they had, thank you.

Today, it’s the height of irony that as the country becomes less Christian, the Left wing secular Labor government is demonizing Jews and Israel while importing Muslims wholesale who mostly hold the country’s culture in contempt and are a bigger danger to Norway’s freedom,prosperity and peace than the Jews ever were.

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Sarah Palin Moves Iowa Event To Larger Venue After Being Mobbed At The State Fair

Governor Sarah Palin's event scheduled in Iowa for September 3rd has had to be moved to a larger venue to accomodate the anticipated crowds. The decision was made after she attracted huge crowds in her surprise show up at the Iowa State Fair.

Is she planning on using the opportunity to announce her run for the presidency? "I don't know if she's going to announce or not," said Charlie Gruschow, co-founder of Tea Party of America. "But whether or not she announces, we're going to have a huge event."

As for my guess, I predicted a long time ago that if she ran, the Governor would lay back and wait for the other players to flame out and get in sometime in August or September.

This video, put out by SarahPac certainly looks like a candidate in waiting to me.



I certainly don't know Governor Palin's plans, but I do know this much. It's a long time down the line, but barring something crazy happening, if she does get into the race not only will she win the nomination handily but the election. And make a superb president in the bargain.

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How Should Much Should Conservatives Slime GOP Primary Candidates ?

My good friend Bookworm has a post today that explores a vital question...how far should conservatives go when it comes to attacking GOP primary candidates?

As she points out:

As the primary season heats up, here’s a good question to ask: If we want to end the primary season with a viable political candidate to face off against Barack Obama, are there limits limits to the nature of the attacks that bloggers launch against the Republican candidates during this primary season?

My take is that it is very important for us to learn as many facts as possible about the candidates, whether we’re learning good things or bad. However, I’m not yet ready to leap up and castigate any candidate as the devil incarnate. (Even Ron Paul, whom I would not like to see win, can be challenged through facts, not hyperbolic insults.)

As we learned in 2008, there are no perfect Republican candidates. Unfortunately, the other lesson we’ve learned in the last 2.5 years is that Obama is a perfectly scary Democrat president/candidate. This means that, when the Republican primary ends, we need the last Republican candidate still standing to have the strength to face off against Obama. If we inflict too many wounds against our own people, the primary winner may be so weakened, s/he cannot win the final, presidential battle. Further, if s/he’s bleeding badly from the ideological wounds we inflict, Independents will shy away, as they will almost certainly be incapable of discerning between the wounds inflicted during internecine conflict from the type of fatal flaws that spell death at the presidential polls.

As of today, I can easily say yucky things about every one of the Republicans now seeking office (especially Ron Paul):

(1) Michele Bachmann has no more executive experience than Obama did at this stage in the game, and we all rightly predicted that he was grossly unprepared for high executive office;

(2) Paul Ryan, should he weigh in, will also lack that experience, plus he’s got a geeky quality that might not play well in the media;

(3) Mitt Romney has the RomneyCare albatross and all the charm (and good looks) of a Ken doll;

(4) Ron Paul takes libertarianism to an inhuman extreme that includes jettisoning the nation of Israel and supporting Iran’s quest for nuclear arms;

(5) Rick Perry tried to strong-arm Gardasil, whether because of fear of cancer, ties with Merck, power lust, or something else, plus he’s kind of smarmy;

(6) Chris Christie, should he weigh in, has sharia ties, offends people with his outspokeness, and will have to fight the fat-taboo that governs in America.

While I certainly concur, my own take on this is somewhat different.

Today in Memeorandum, the first 13 stories are anti-Perry pieces and the next 3 are anti Bachmann pieces, put out by outlets like the NYT, CNN and what I'll call the Soros media ( Think progress, Steve Benen in the Washington Monthly, Right Wing Watch, etc.). This stuff is being co-ordinated from the White House and it's going to be like that for the next 14 months.

As far as I'm concerned, the three major candidates, Perry , Bachmann and Romney all have their flaws ( none of the others have a shot at getting the nomination) but the next election isn't going to be about them. It's going to be about the presidency of Barack Hussein Obama. That's why anyone who gets the nomination or looks like they might is going to be demonized. As I've said in print before, if the GOP ran Daffy Duck as the nominee, I'd probably vote for him over Obama.

2008 isn't really a good example, since we ended up with a candidate whose relationship with most of his own party was largely one of mutual and intense dislike and whom ran one of the most inept campaigns in modern memory, awash with self-inflicted wounds. The only reason John McCain even managed to get within six points of a qualifications challenged candidate like Barack Obama was his gritting his teeth and picking Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Yes, we ought to vet the candidates, but our chief task, as I see it, is getting this sorry excuse for a president and a man out of the White House, retaining the House and taking the Senate with a conservative majority.

In terms of executive experience, all three major candidates could be slimed a bit - Romney accomplished little except RomneyCare, Rick Perry was governor of the weakest executive branch in the 50 states and had comparatively little decision making power, and Michelle Bachmann has never run a government entity. In fact, Governor Palin or Rudy Giuliani would be the strongest choices if we're looking for a record of executive experience and accomplishment, and neither is in the race yet.

But each of the three have at least accomplished things in life outside of government and run something. To me the central issue is the quality of their instincts and their moral character, because the rest you can hire out. That's what we ought to be focused on, in my opinion.

Character is what kicks in when you're called on to make the tough decisions. And that's a major part of the equation of leadership, something this country has been literally starved of for a long time.

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Rocket Attacks On Israel Continue - Synagogue Hit, 10 Injured

Israel continues to absorb terrorist attacks from Gaza, at the rate of 20 rockets over the last 25 hours.

The worst strike was in Ashdod, where an Iranian Grad Rocket hit a synagogue while the worshipers were at morning prayers. A number of people were injured, two of them seriously.

IAF aircraft hit seven Hamas security installations in Gaza early Friday morning, killing at least one Palestinian.

Again, this escalation was planned long in advance. My guess is that Hamas is attempting to provoke the Israelis into a massive response in advance of the 'Palestinian' attempt to get the UN to unilaterally declare them a state.

That's the choice Israelis faced with. Allow Hamas to continue to attack them and deny them their propaganda coup, or to respond the way any other nation would to protect their people. Either choice has its pros and cons, and I can certainly see the point in waiting until the UN business shakes out.

But if Israel is going to respond effectively, I think their best bet is to make it a massive and total response that will end the attacks from Gaza once and for all. That's going to mean completely destroying Hamas and their ilk in Gaza, annexing the Strip and transferring a lot of the population to Egypt or to the 'Palestinian' occupied areas of Judea and Samaria.

It's probably going to come to that eventually anyway.

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House Ethics Committee Prohibits Members From Attending Glenn Beck's Pro-Israel Rally

Unbelievable, but true. The Republican chaired House Ethics Committee has barred member of Congress from attending Glenn Beck’s upcoming Restoring Courage rally in Jerusalem, Israel.

According to Rep. Joe Walsh (R.-Ill) who informed Beck of this on the air, they were told the rally in Jerusalem “had the appearance of a political event” and therefore Congress members “were rejected” from attending.

“To me it surely is ... an additional way to go over there and do some fact-finding and learn. That's what we as members of Congress do. But for some reason, they shied away from what you are doing over there,” Walsh told Beck.

Beck was furious, and rightfully so.

“Speaker Boehner, you should be ashamed of yourself. The Republican Party should be ashamed of themselves. They don’t have to attend my event. Let them come to our biggest ally and only friend we still have in the Middle East in their hour of need,” Beck said.

“There are so many people, good people, that are in the Republican Party trying to fight for common sense values, trying to hold some semblance of the line of America, trying to hold together what little credibility we have overseas. But the Republicans would much rather punish ‘bad Republicans.' Good for you, Speaker Boehner. Good for you,” Beck said.

Beck reportedly attempted to contact the Committee directly to try and get th reasoning behind the decision, the specific reasoning behind the decision, but was told by Dan Schwager, staff director for the House Ethics Committee, that the committee is not “permitted to speak about individual matters.”

Congress holds the purse strings of the US government, which as I've pointed out is directly funding 'Palestinian' terrorism and outright thieves like Charley Rangel get off with a slap on the wrist. But the Ethics Committee is angsting over members of the House showing support for Israel. Shameful doesn't even cover it.

UPDATE:A glance at the Committee's makeup provides a few clues as to what happened.The Democrats involved include Linda Sanchez (D-CA), the ranking member, John Yarmuth (D-KY) and Donna Edwards (D-MD).

Sanchez has never been a particular friend of Israel based on her voting record, and Yarmuth and Edwards are actively anti-Israel and have both received substantial campaign cash from the George Soros funded J-Street.

They likely got together with Sanchez and approached chairwoman Jo Bonner(R-AL)and did some horse trading...make Beck's pro-Israel event off limits in exchange for something else.

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The Council Has Spoken!! This Week's Watcher's Council Results

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week, carved eternally in the Akashic records of cyberspace.

One thing we've always taken for granted here in America is the availability of doctors and being able to see them in a timely manner. As this week's thought provoking winner, Working for Free: The Economics of Being a Primary Care Physician by the Razor reveals, if present trends continue, that maybe a thing of the past - especially if ObamaCare isn't repealed. Here's a slice:

Assume a business day of 8 hours. For each hour a family/primary care physician can see 3 patients at 20 minutes each. During each 20 minute visit a doctor has to review a patient’s history, listen to the patient’s complaint or reason for the visit, make a clinical diagnosis on how to best treat the patient’s problem, and assess the patient for signs of any other disease process. All this must be carefully notated in the patient’s chart to track progress and to document the visit for insurance purposes and in rare cases, legal actions.

So the doctor sees 24 patient’s in a day. Assume each patient’s insurance is billed $100 for the visit. Of that $100 the doctor’s practice expects to receive (including patient co-pays) $50. 50% of that $50 is kept by the practice to pay for overhead (medical assistants, receptionists, nurse practitioners, building costs etc). That leaves the doctor $25 per patient.

3 patients an hour means $75 hour, and that equals at 2000 hours a year, $150,000. This is a good wage by most standards. The problem is that doctors don’t work 2000 hours.

As well as seeing 24 patients, the doctor is responsible for managing physician assistants and nurse practitioners. He or she is ultimately responsible for the treatments made by these mid-levels and can be held accountable by the medical board and in court for any mistakes they make. This usually means monitoring what the mid-levels are doing, reviewing their charts, and assisting with their treatment options. This supervision is completely unpaid; the doctor is not reimbursed for his or her time.

Throughout the day test and lab results from current patients arrive on the doctor’s desk. S/he must review these and sign-off on them, adjusting medications or marking for follow-ups as needed. This work is unpaid.

Each refill request made by a patient must be reviewed and signed off by the doctor. He or she is not paid for this work.

20 minutes is not enough time to adequately document a patient’s chart. A doctor will often make quick notes during the patient visit and complete the chart after visiting hours. Charts for those with complex problems and chronic conditions can take upwards of 30-60 minutes to document each visit – all done for free.

In our non-Council category, the winner was a superb piece by Terry Glavin – The Final Nail In The Coffin Of The Pakistani Pantomime? submitted by Simply Jews. It outlines the misconceptions about the war in AfPak and especially about our 'ally' Pakistan that have cost us dearly in blood and treasure.


Here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 1/3 votes! The Razor–-Working for Free: The Economics of Being a Primary Care Physician


• Second place with 2 2/3 votes – Simply Jews-Ron Paul 2012 and Paultards


• Third Place with 2 votes – New Zeal- Yes They Did!: Barack Obama, Cesar Chavez and Their Common Communist Roots


• Fourth place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – The Colossus of Rhodey-The Wrest Of The West


• Fourth place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit-China's Chief Of Staff Visits Israel To Discuss Strategic, Military Cooperation


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Sudanocide


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – VA Right! – Thoughts on Last Night's Republican Debate


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Noisy Room – Reminds Me of What to Do Before I'm Dead


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Right Truth – Losing the Habit of Work?


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Bookworm Room – Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Terry Glavin- The Final Nail In The Coffin Of The Pakistani Pantomime? submitted bySimply Jews


• Second place with 2 votes -Big Peace – Ron Paul: The GOP's Henry Wallace submitted by New Zeal


• Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Bizzy Blog – AP Puts Dem Propaganda Spin on Obama's 'Me Too' Tour submitted by Snapped Shot


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 vote -City Journal – Why the Gender Gap Won't Go Away. Ever. submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 vote -Sultan Knish – Anatomy Of Law Enforcement Impotence submitted by The Noisy Room


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -Peter Hitchens' Blog – Police water cannons and plastic bullets? submitted by Joshuapundit


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - 2012 Campaign Report Patriot Action Network – Take A Bow submitted by Right Truth


• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Danny Ayalon – The Truth About The West Bank submitted by Bookworm Room


• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Daily Caller – Presidential debates should focus more on foreign policy submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD


• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Atlas Shrugs – An Old Custom submitted by The Political Commentator


• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote -The League Of Ordinary Gentlemen – To Boldly Go Where No Two Men Have Gone Together Before submitted by Rhymes With Right


• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Atlas Shrugs – An Old Custom submitted by The Political Commentator


• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Atlas Shrugs – Obama Betrays Another Ally: U.S. to Deny Taiwan's request, "We are so disappointed in the United States" submitted by VA Right!


• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote -JustOneMinute – All He Is Saying Is, Give War A Chance submitted by The Glittering Eye

See you next week! And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!

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Obama: 'Immigration Laws? What Immigrations Laws'?

The Obama Administration said today that it will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria, such as attending school, having family in the military or having primary responsible for other family members’ care.

In other words, the DREAM act by presidential diktat without the consent of Congress, who have already repudiated the DREAM Act three times.

President Obama has been telling the amnestia lobby for months that he doesn't have the authority to halt deportations and that he has to follow the laws as Congress has written them.

Funny how a 39% approval rating and an election coming up changed his perspective, no?

In letters to Congress today, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she now has discretion to focus on “priorities” and that Homeland Security and the Justice Department will review all ongoing cases to see who meets the new criteria.

“This case-by-case approach will enhance public safety,” she said. “Immigration judges will be able to more swiftly adjudicate high-priority cases, such as those involving convicted felons.”

Since the Justice Department has been implementing what an interdepartmental memo called "a non-legislative version of amnesty" for months by flouting the law and simply refusing to prosecute hundreds of deportation cases in the courts, this just makes it official.

Of course, the Administration made the announcement right before the president left for another long vacation from Washington, and as members of Congress are out of session and back in their home districts.

The president took an oath to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

In taking that oath, he simply lied.

(Via Memeorandum)

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Israel Terrorist Attack Update

The IDF did not snooze in retaliating for today's attacks from Gaza that killed six civilians and one IDF soldier.

Israel's prime minister Benyamin Netanyu made a televised statement and said that Israel “responds immediately and with strength” to terror attacks against its citizens.

Prior to Netanyahu’s remarks, the IDF attacked targets in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, killing six in a joint IDF and Shin Bet targeted strike. Among the dead were the chief of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), Kamal 'Abu Oud' al-Nairab and one of his chief commanders, Khaled Shaath.

Netanyahu praised the IDF and Shin Bet “for killing in Gaza the leaders of the group who carried out the terror attack in the South.”

In a separate and new attack, Hamas terrorists in Gaza fired off three rockets at Ashkelon. Al three were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome anti-Missile system.

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, threatened retaliation against Israel. A Hamas spokesman, Abu Obeida, said: "Any Israeli military operation against the Gaza Strip will be considered an act of aggression. We will respond to any such aggression with all our might."

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak stated that harsh retaliation for the attacks will follow, saying that "Gaza is a source of terror, and we will take full-force action against them."

"There will be a price tag to this event," he said. "Gaza will be severely hit.

I found Barak's use of the term 'price tag' interesting, since it is used commonly by some residents of Judea and Samaria in calling for forceful responses to terrorist attacks there on civilians.It's thus not a term I would have though Ehud Barak would use, but perhaps today's events even shook him up.

The White House issued a statement through the press secretary condemning the attacks, as did Hillary Clinton at the State Department, and for once there was no garbage included about 'restraint'. Needless to say. that isn't going to stop the Obama Administration from funding the terrorist entity in Gaza.

House Foreign Affairs chairwoman Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who's working on legislation to curb US foreign aid to questionable sources put out statement that was a lot more to the point:

Today’s coordinated attacks against Israeli civilians and members of the Israeli Defense Forces further illustrate the continued targeting of Israel by enemies of freedom and peace. The attacks reinforce concerns about the ability and willingness of the Egyptian government to safeguard its borders against the passage of militants and weapons.

Such brazen, coordinate assaults in this specific area of Israel have not been seen in many years. We anxiously await further details on the origin and perpetrators, and stand ready to assist the Israeli authorities in this effort.

One has to wonder how long it will take before the Obama Administration, the EU and the UN face up to the fact that by engaging with the Hamas-ruled entity in the Gaza Strip and continuing to throw money at them, they are enabling Hamas to spend it's money on armaments and attacks of this kind..feeding them with one hand and condemning them with the other.

Also in question is how long the Israelis are going to continue to put up with a hostile entity in Gaza that is actively engaging in war against them. This was exactly what I and a number of others said would happen when Israel retreated from Gaza. And as you might remember, when the Israelis left they had iron clad security assurances from Egypt, the 'Palestinian' Authority, the EU and the United States that the nightmare Israel is facing now would never happen. Hopefully the Israeli government will remember that when people like our president pressure them to retreat even further, back to the indefensible pre '67 lines.

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