G-20 Summit is not Going Well For Obama

"We are not coming here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or in terms of how to manage our economy." said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso at G-20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico yesterday.

"This crisis was not originated in Europe. This crisis was originated in North America. Many in our financial sector were contaminated by unorthodox practices from some sectors of the financial market."

Although not all economists agree with the view that the U.S. financial markets were responsible for Europe's heaving borrowing and ongoing structural problems with debt in it's currency union, Barroso, nevertheless, became angry and this outburst ensued when a Canadian reporter asked why North American should help pay for the Europe's crisis.

This is not the first time the U. S. has been blamed for starting the contagion that Europe is caught up in. Perhaps not in the inherent sovereignty problems of keeping together the EU with countries who's standards are as historically diverse as Greece and Germany but, after all, where does one start? Blaming the U. S. is as good a place as any. 

If I were Obama I might look into taking the first campaign bus home...

The Real 'Iron Lady'

The Real 'Iron Lady' 

The Heritage Foundation 1-15-12

This week brings the nationwide release of The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Streep referred to the challenge of portraying Lady Thatcher as "daunting and exciting," and as requiring "as much zeal, fervour and attention to detail as the real Lady Thatcher possesses." Her performance has already been widely praised by critics, but for those who respect Lady Thatcher, not all the omens are positive.

In an interview with The New York Times, Streep comparedLady Thatcher to King Lear and commented that what interested her about the role "was the part of someone who does monstrous things maybe, or misguided things. Where do they come from?" That doesn't sound good.

Conservatives are used to unfair treatment from Hollywood--in fact, we've come to expect it

Click to read more ...

Mark Steyn: Who will restore reality to politics?

Unless things change, the man (or woman) elected in 2012 will be the last American president to preside over the world's leading economy. If things get really bad, he will find himself presiding over the early stages of American collapse. Not "decline" but "collapse." "Decline" is what happens when you're Britain in the 1940s, and you cede global dominance to a major ally that shares your language, legal system, cultural inheritance and broad geopolitical objectives. That deal isn't on offer this time round.

Mark Steyn - Orange County Register - Click To Read More...

Europe's War On Capitalism

"It remains to be seen if this new structural backstop will achieve the desired results -- or if it's logistically feasible -- given the European crisis is but one of many global concerns. Let's not forget that U.S. states are in a similarly dire financial condition, as are many of its citizens."

DSMW - Europe may very well be the other shoe to drop that pulls us back into recession and finally pulls down the Chinese behemoth.

You must read this article on the European financial crisis

The Kindness of Strangers

The U. S. will have to sell massive amounts of debt overseas to cover the looming fiscal deficits.  By one projection (before the meltdown and Obama's fiscal  response) financing the federal government would mean, by 2026, convincing foreigners to pour all their incremental savings into U. S. Treasury paper.  It's unlikely they will be willing to do so.

Read Daniel Fisher at Forbes

A Decadent Nobel

Barack Obama admires Europe for the same reasons it admires him.  Europe lives in a world of pension obligations, weak job creation and history's most crucial proof of decay-the inability to finance one's armies.  This inability to no longer rise in the world is the result of too many people discovering that soft moralism is a more congenial pastime than coming up with the really hard answers.

Read the insightful article @ WSJ.com