Due to budget cuts, all tours of the White House have been cancelled indefinitely. When he heard, Joe Biden said, "Now I'll never see it."...Leno
- Several weeks ago, I wrote about the feckless Republicans. In short, up until that point, serious leadership in the party was lacking. That all changed this week with Rand Paul's filibuster. I have some disagreements with Rand Paul especially when it comes to some of his policies on foreign policy and the use of military force. Having said all that, with Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and others, the Republican party is witnessing a new generation of Republicans---with guts---rising. And ironically, this new crowd, is not only presenting new ideas; they are also presenting old ideas. Namely, they are defending the Republic and the Constitution.
- And how effective was Rand Paul yesterday? He was able to force an answer out of Eric Holder regarding the question: Does the president have the authority to use drones to kill an American on American soil who is not engaged in combat? It was almost a silly question to ask, but it had to be asked. Yet, it took Holder over 24 hours to answer it only after Paul, Cruz and Rubio pressed him on it. Of course, the answer was no.
- However, it was disappointing to listen to Sen. McCain and others from the Old Guard bashing Rand. Consider this. The Old Guard had dinner with the president, and, as soon as they get the opportunity, they bashed members of THEIR OWN PARTY.
- Let's be frank. There was some good economic news today. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7% and 236K jobs were created. However, we need to double those job creation numbers to get back to pre-2007 levels (about 5%). In addition, African-American unemployment is still hovering just under 14% while Hispanic unemployment is just under 10%. Youth unemployment remains at a disturbing 25%. And these numbers do not factor in "real unemployment" or the U-6 numbers that include underemployment. For example, black youth unemployment in many parts of the country is still well over 40%. Dept of Labor
- Moreover, one of the reasons the unemployment rate fell is that 296,000 people dropped out of the labor force. We now have almost 90 million out of the labor force. Folks, there's only 315 million in America. Do the math. US Census + Dept of Labor
- Earlier this week, I wrote about the multi-billions wasted on education. For example, in NYC, the poorest performing schools---about 100---get $20,000 per student (the national average is just over $10 grand). Today, CBS News in NY reported that 80% of NYC high school gradutes lack the basic skills to enter community college.
- The progressive presstitute media is highlighting the huge crowds at Hugo's funeral. There were also huge crowds at Stalin's funeral as there will be at Castro's. Should not surprise anyone. The fact is a dictator is a dictator. And stupids are stupid.
- As the debate rages on about the TSA allowing specific sized knives back on aircraft, the NY Post is reporting that TSA screeners missed TSA "red team" auditors who were carrying IED's in their pants. To make matters worse, one of the TSA Red Team members was cleared through two security screenings and checkpoints.
- Obama Legacy: NYC alone experienced an increase of 20% in costs in funding shelters for homeless people. In 2008, the city spent $626M. It is now spending almost $900 million.
