California leavin'

Reason: "California Won't Let Homeowners Insurance Companies Raise Rates, so They're Leaving the State Instead." 

Oh, do tell, LeBron

Outkick: "LeBron Is 'Very Concerned' About Squatters Taking Residence In His Neighborhood."

You would need a heart of stone not to laugh.

Hey, any updates on your "I Promise" school, LeBron?

AYFKM?

Daily Caller: "White House Bans Religious Easter Eggs From Art Contest"

The Biden administration banned children from submitting Easter eggs with religious themes for its 2024 “Celebrating National Guard Families” art contest.

The competition, which is part of the White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll, explicitly stipulated that egg designs not feature any “religious symbols” on the Christian holiday.

"No religious themes on Easter Eggs" is peak 2024.

To be fair, they're all falling apart

PJ Media: "Jack Smith’s Case Against Trump Appears to Be Falling Apart." 

NBC News confirms every conservative stereotype about the media

Wall Street Journal: "NBC’s Ronna McDaniel Tantrum - The conformity caucus chases the former RNC chairwoman off the air."

The tempest over Ms. McDaniel suggests the press is preparing to make the same mistake again. This is bad for the country, but it’s even worse for the press, which still doesn’t understand why it is so mistrusted.

This long march of the media destroying its own credibility and simultaneously wondering why Americans don't want to buy their product is fascinating to watch.  Enjoyable, too.

New poll numbers are in

Legal Insurrection: "Poll: 71% of Palestinians Support October 7 Massacre, Majority Wants Hamas Returned to Power in Gaza." 

Same ole same ole class warfare

Hot Air: "Democrats Are Still Pushing a Wealth Tax."

Paying more than the bottom 70% is what Democrats call "not paying their fair share." In any case, Biden's claim about billionaires paying an 8% rate is a lie which he has been repeated for three years despite fact checks from every major news outlet pointing out that this is very misleading. In all, he's made this dishonest claim more than 30 times.

As this article notes, Dementia Joe has been fact-checked on this false claim multiple times in multiple different news sources but he keeps on repeating it.  This is why he won't do media interviews anymore: the fear he'll be called out on his multiple, repeated, self-hagiographic lies.

Just like student loans, this is more of Democrats making promises they cannot possibly keep because they are unconstitutional.  But after they falsely raise hopes and then these actions are squashed as illegal, they'll declare "we tried but we were shut down by evil forces!" 

The problem is not going away

Reason: "Biden and Trump Try To Wish Away the Looming Entitlement Crisis" - "Neither presidential candidate is willing to back the reforms necessary to close the gap between revenue and benefits." 

Six Americans

PJ Media: "Let's Face It: the Hostages Are Probably Dead." 

The channel of Sharpton and Maddow are concerned about journalistic integrity

You can't make this up.  College dropout Chuck Todd is leading the charge: "What in the Actual F— Is Wrong With These People? (NBC News Edition)."

For YEARS you have falsely claimed that Trump stole the 2016 election by colluding with Russia. You spent years attacking people who didn't agree with your dangerous conspiracy theory. You can sit down.

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) March 26, 2024

Bridge collapse in Baltimore

NY Post: "Divers frantically searching water for victims after ship strikes, collapses Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge."

There are some videos going around and this looks intentional to me.  This container ship just aims right for the main support beam.  (see update below)

Update - After reading some additional news sources, it was reported that the ship had a mechanical issue and lost steering control.

You'll never guess what happened next

Hot Air: "California Pizza Chains Plan Layoffs in Advance of New $20 Minimum Wage."  

This is only going to accelerate automation technology. 

Just makin' s--- up

Ace: "You Know That Bizarre Story Biden Told the Special Counsel About a Worker Getting His Penis Burned Off? Yeah, Biden Lied About It." - "It's yet another case of Biden hearing about something and just incorporating it into his ever-expanding self-mythology." 

Your daily NYT gaslighting

Every single day, the NY Times has to admonish that you just don't understand how great the Biden economy is:

Americans are desperate for a fundamentally different, fairer kind of economy, and Mr. Biden is working to give them one. The urgent challenge, politically, is helping voters understand that.

This BS article is just an in-kind contribution to Dementia Joe's campaign, regurgitating the same tired talking points to get you forget how much you just spent at the supermarket.

Let it go broke

Reason: "A GOP Plan To Raise the Retirement Age Reveals How Unserious Washington Is About Social Security."

It's important to keep in mind that if you're someone interested in maintaining Social Security as a functioning program, the real threat isn't from proposed changes but from doing nothing. The trustees that oversee Social Security estimate that benefits will be cut by 23 percent starting in 2033, with further cuts needed in future years, unless policymakers make changes to the program's fundamental math.

"Virtually every serious person who works on Social Security policy knows the eligibility age must eventually rise higher," Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and expert on the broken math that is pushing America's entitlement programs into a death spiral, told Reason. "That said, partisan reform blueprints only attract partisan demagoguery and poison the well for reform."

Raising the retirement age for far-off retirees is one of the most anodyne reforms even though it won't stave off the immediate budgetary problems.  But even that is a bridge too far for both political parties.  Better off to let the automatic benefit cuts kick in and embrace the chaos.

The losing team did NOT get a call from Kamala

And, in a sense, that makes them the winners!

Outkick: "Kamala Harris Calls Grambling State After Their First Tournament Win, And They Couldn't Have Cared Less." 

NY Times is gonna NY Times

Banana republic backlash

Red State: "Frank Luntz Hits CNN Panel With Reality - Says If NY Seizes Trump's Assets They Are Electing Him."

There are columnists who can't write an article without mentioning Trump's 91 felony charges.  Remember these words: "You are going to elect Donald Trump." 

You are going to elect Donald Trump. 

Mass shooting in Moscow

Fox News: "Russia investigating shooting, explosions at concert hall as terror attack = At least 40 people have been killed and 100 others injured, Russia’s Federal Security Service said."

Ukrainians?  Chechnyans?  Domestic terrorists? 

Update - Islamic State.

How many times can Krugman write the same article?

Via Real Clear Politics, here's former Enron advisor Paul Krugman: "What's the matter with Ohio?"

If you've read one Krugman article over the past year, you've read them all: Americans just don't understand how great they have it under Bidenomics.  They need to do their homework!  

This past week, the Federal Reserve held off on interest rate cuts because - you guessed it - core inflation is still too high.  Yes, it's down but that means that the cost of things is still going up, just slower.

The media is gonna bias

ICYMI: Google stealth-edited the definition of "bloodbath" to stick it to Trump.  Keep it up, clowns.

Orange man bad - year 10

TIPP Insights: "The Left's Lies Are Powering Trump's Lead - Voters do not buy the Left's and media's lies about Trump anymore."

Victor Davis Hanson: "From Russian Collusion to “Bloodbath”—A Decade of Toxic Hysteria."

I can't believe that 1) we're entering an entire decade of "worse than Hitler" hysteria and that 2) the Left still believes this is going to work.  Trump lost in 2020 because it was - as I like to say - a "turn the page" moment where a lot of Americans wanted less Trumpian drama and to forget about covid.  What they got in exchange for that bargain is a United States that is worse off in nearly every measurable way, except for the stock market (which is artificially boosted by inflation.)  

David Frum said (paraphrasing) that if you call everyone who wants to secure the border a "fascist" then Americans are going to hire the fascists.  Americans are getting wise to the damage being done and no surplus of Paul Krugman articles is going to convince them otherwise.

That's Bidenomics, baby!

CBS News: "U.S. drops from top 20 happiest countries list in 2024 World Happiness Report."

Unhappy news for Americans: The United States is no longer among the 20 happiest countries in the world, according to new data from Gallup and its partners.

In the newly released 2024 World Happiness Report, the U.S. dropped out of the top 20 on the list for the first time in the report's 12-year history. The U.S. now ranks at No. 23, compared to No. 15 last year. 

Well, at least Biden can point to his successful foreign policy: "Biden Sets Record for Embassy Evacuations."

Another record!  How does he do it?

Yeah, that's not gonna happen

Here's a good question for the White House with the expected response:

Q Thanks, Karine. Yeah. When will the President hold another news conference so we can ask a question of him without having helicopter noise or jet noise in the background?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don’t have anything to preview — to share. Obviously, the President — the President, as you just say- — as you were just saying, the President takes questions pretty regularly, enjoys having engagement with all of you.

I don’t have a press conference to lay out for you at this time.

Q But is there — is there talk of one?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don’t have anything for you.

Dementia Joe can't do it.  In every public event, he is either tethered to a teleprompter, a laminated large-print binder, or cheat-sheet note cards.  A news conference without the questions in advance?  No chance.

Science can surprise you sometimes

NY Post: "‘Woke’ people more likely to be unhappy, anxious and depressed, new study suggests."

Don't forget condescending!  Greta Thunberg would be unhappy if you left that out.

Extra - Outkick: "The Wokes Are Miserable, Study Finds -- I've Never Trusted A Study More Than I Trust This One." 

A perfect example of the government "helping"

Reason: "Seattle Law Mandating Higher Delivery Driver Pay Is a Disaster - Just two weeks after the law went into effect, Seattleites had to contend with $26 coffees and $32 sandwiches." 

In other words, while the ordinance theoretically raises driver earnings to over $26 per hour—a number that ironically far exceeds Seattle's $19.97 standard minimum wage—drivers are barely logging any hours as a result of the drastic decrease in demand for food delivery. As one Seattle driver summarized: "It was dead. Demand was dead." A second driver put it more bluntly: "I've got nothin'. I'm not gonna sit here for hours for one frickin' order."

Great job, Seattle.  But good intentions, amirite?

So...more taxes

Here's the Boston Globe jumping into the fray: "How to fix Social Security."

I'll save you the trouble of reading: it's automatic tax increases.  And while the article hints at pairing tax increases with benefit cuts to bridge the gap, that latter measure floats away like a feather in the wind.

We simply cannot have an honest discussion about Social Security

In today's NY Times, their tendentious resident economist Paul Krugman writes: "Social Security and Medicare Are on the Ballot."

If you're accustomed to either Krugman's style or typical discussions on Social Security, you'll be unsurprised to find that this argument is long on emotional appeal and short on numbers:

All of this has, I believe, encouraged Biden and his officials to stake out a firm position opposing cuts to America’s social safety net — indeed, calling for increased benefits, to be paid for with increased taxes on corporations and high-income individuals.

Yeah, baby!  Is there anything easier than asking somebody else to pay for your benefit?  But as I've regularly noted: Social Security is (by law) a universal program that requires benefits to (roughly) equal the amount of money paid into the system (by law).  Is Krugman OK with Bill Gates receiving a monthly million-dollar benefit check?

To ask is to answer.

Even the Congressional Budget Office admits this would happen under current law:

Because Social Security benefits are tied to the amount of earnings on which taxes are paid, however, some of that increase in revenues would be offset by additional benefits paid to people with earnings above the maximum taxable amount under current law.

Also: how long would we extend the solvency of Social Security with these huge tax increases and unprecedented changes to the program?  Answer: 13 years until we're facing insolvency again:

The first alternative, which would increase the taxable share of earnings from jobs covered by Social Security to 90 percent, would delay the exhaustion of the combined trust funds by 4 years, until calendar year 2037. The second alternative, which would apply the 12.4 percent payroll tax to earnings over $250,000, would delay the exhaustion of the combined trust funds by 13 years, until calendar year 2046.

Having destroyed the universality of Social Security, what will be the next gimmick?  Do Paul Krugman and the NY Times even care?  Nope: we're just trying to get past the next election.

And then everyone clapped

Ace: "Biden: I Can Remember In College A Math Professor Put Up an Equation He Said Was Unsolvable and I Solved It While On Break from My Job as a Janitor."

Dementia Joe literally recounted an obviously fake story that resulted in a standing ovation from his classmates.  It's like an internet meme come to life.  The media is rushing to protect Dementia Joe but anybody who reads the official transcript will find a guy with bad memory who constantly has to be guided back to the questions at hand after lengthy tangents about his Corvette and archery skills.

Props for the Seinfeld reference

Federalist: "Stuff Your Sorries In A Sack, Janet Yellen." 

The post-SOTU polls are in

Newsweek: "Joe Biden's Approval Rating Falls to All-Time Low After SOTU."

Red State: "Panic Time for Democrats As Joe Biden Gets No Bump From Terrible State of the Union Speech."

I don't understand. Didn't America see the fiery vigor from Old Yeller?

Biden has seen no State of the Union poll bump yet. In fact, today's updated approval rating average is a new all-time lowhttps://t.co/hBrpbNmo7Q pic.twitter.com/kDP2Fc4xjK

— G Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris) March 12, 2024

He lies about everything, all the time

Federalist: "Turns Out Biden Lied About Hur, Beau, And Why He Pilfered Classified Documents."

Dementia Joe had an $8 million payday coming for his ghostwritten book, so he needed those classified documents for his story.  Biden is on tape telling his ghostwriter to check out the classified material:

When Hur asked the president about the classified papers in his possession, the president contended that he “had no purpose for them, and I think it would be inappropriate for me to keep clearly classified documents.” But Hur, in his prepared testimony for Congress, says: “We also identified other recorded conversations during which Mr. Biden read classified information aloud to his ghostwriter.”

Looking back on Biden's hastily-assembled press conference on February 8th, it's now clear that almost everything he said was a lie:

Q    Mr. President, why did you share classified information with your ghostwriter?

THE PRESIDENT:  I did not share classified information.  I did not share it.

Q    With your ghostwriter?

THE PRESIDENT:  With my ghostwriter, I did not.  Guarantee you, I did not.  What the —

Q    But the special counsel said that —

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, no, they did not say that. 

Q    Okay.

THE PRESIDENT:  He did not say that.

Oh he most certainly did.

Vroom vroom! BrrrrRRRRRRRR!!!!

Twitchy: "The Adults Are Back in Charge: Transcript Shows Biden Made CAR NOISES During Interview With Robert Hur."

It's not dementia...he's fine.

Unraveling the cover-up

National Review: "Exclusive: Jim Jordan Threatens to Hold FBI Director in Contempt over Hunter Biden Laptop Story."

Here's more from the (paywalled) NRO article over at Ace:

"During her transcribed interview, Ms. Dehmlow revealed that the same FBI personnel who were warning social media companies about a potential Russian 'hack and leak' operation in the lead-up to the 2020 election knew that the laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was not Russian disinformation," the letter reads.

"After the New York Post published a story based on the contents of the laptop about Biden family influence peddling, the FBI made the institutional decision to refuse to answer direct questions from social media companies about the laptop's authenticity," the letter adds.

IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, an IRS agent with years of experience on the Hunter Biden tax case, testified to the House Ways and Means Committee last year that the FBI verified the authenticity of the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop in November 2019.

They knew.  But tell me the story again, Papa, about how the government was almost overthrown by a bunch of middle-age guys with selfie sticks.

Priorities

 

Let me get this straight. The President wants to use American taxpayer dollars to build a port in Gaza, and we won't even be getting back the six American hostages still being held there.

I now understand the meaning of Two State Solution.

The 2 states are Michigan & Minnesota.

— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) March 8, 2024

Because of course they did

Federalist: "Exclusive: Liz Cheney, January 6 Committee Suppressed Exonerating Evidence Of Trump’s Push For National Guard." 

There was plenty of material to criticize Trump that day but when the J6 committee suppressed his "peacefully and patriotically" comment and then highlighted that ridiculous story about him grabbing the steering wheel of the Presidential limo, they committed themselves to a Soviet show trial. 

The 24/7 job of a Biden minder

I got a chuckle out of this scene from the NY Post: "Biden blames ‘eavesdropping’ media after Netanyahu needs ‘come to Jesus’ moment hot-mic snafu."

The president, 81, made the awkward comment about the Jewish state’s head of government while mingling with lawmakers following his State of the Union address — asking Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) to keep what he said confidential.

“I told him, ‘Bibi’ — and don’t repeat this, but [I said] ‘You and I are going to have a come to Jesus—’,” Biden began as an aide rushed over to stop him from saying more, exclaiming “Sir!” and whispering in his ear.

“I’m on a hot mic here,” Biden said out loud after the aide conveyed his message, adding sarcastically, “Good. That was good.”

Who would have expected that a guy couldn't have a private conversation in the well of the House of Representatives with a hundred people milling around?  Sheesh. 

Remember this classic moment of White House aide panic?

The lie that cannot die

Hot Air: "Biden's Discussion of Billionaire Tax Rates Is a Lie He's Been Telling for Years."

Dementia Joe has repeated this false claim dozens of times, including last night, despite being called a falsehood by no less than the New York Times, the Washington Post, FactCheck and even Politifact.

For some reason, he's never been confronted with this lie so he just continues on his merry way.  I guess that's what happens when you never sit down for interviews or do press conferences.

Polling from Michigan is in

New Neo: "Tonight’s State of the Union address: Biden to supply Hamas."

We can't control the Southern border but we're going to build a port in Gaza.  Sure.

I’m not edumacated on military matters but I would imagine sticking US troops right on the beaches of Gaza to do construction work smack in the middle of a hot Middle East conflict is A PRETTY BAD IDEA JUST AN AWFUL STUPID RECIPE FOR DISASTER BUT OH WELL MICHIGAN MUSLIMS ARE MAD

— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) March 7, 2024

The media is nothing but shameless hacks

Hot Air: "There's Shameless - Then There's the New York Times and Mara Gay." 

Desperate times call for desperate measures

Hot Air: "Are Price Controls Next?"

Joe Biden is getting desperate, and when people are desperate they do especially stupid things. 

In a move that should worry everybody, Biden's war on "shrinkflation" and "corporate greed" has him inching toward a regime of price controls.

The American Left is firmly wedded to the idea that everybody is a victim.  Sure, you may think you have the free will to purchase something at the price it is offered, but you're a fool.  You're being exploited...somehow.

So Dementia Joe and his team of flunkies are going to clamp down on "unfair and illegal" pricing.  How is setting a price as a seller "illegal?"  Dunno.

We're all trying to find out who did this, Joe

Reason: "Shrinkflation Is Real—and It's Largely Biden's Fault"

The wave of shrinkflation came in response to the rise in inflation the country experienced starting in 2021. I am baffled that the president would make such a big deal out of it now. The administration has been trying to fool voters into conflating the fact that inflation has tempered with the idea that prices are basically back to normal. It's not the case. While inflation has declined, the price of food is up by 20 percent on average since February 2021. Chicken and bread are up 25 percent, and rents are still mightily elevated.

These higher prices explain why voters continue to express plenty of frustration about the economy despite low unemployment, positive economic growth, and rising wages.

In the fight against inflation, Dementia Joe has enlisted the help of noted economist [checks notes] Cookie Monster to make his case and find out who caused this runaway price spiral.

Even Sotomayor

Legal Insurrection: "Supreme Court Unanimously Reinstates Trump to Colorado Ballot - “Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse.”

Hot Air: "Meltdowns and Validation: Reactions to SCOTUS Ruling."

I have to confess that I was wrong about Sonia Sotomayor who - in my opinion - reaches her conclusion first and then works backwards to find legal reasoning.  This has been my feeling ever since the disgraceful "bake me a cake" ruling.  I guess even this case was a bridge too far.

Otherwise, there is no shortage of "legal scholars" who let their Trump hatred override objective judgement of the Constitutional text and meaning.

Here. We. Go.

JUST IN: #SCOTUS sets unusual, short-notice opinion release for Monday morning. Appears to signal that ruling on Trump ballot eligibility is looming. Earlier:https://t.co/tWUv8rxpsX

— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) March 3, 2024

I'm sticking with my original prediction that this will be an 8-1 decision with always-wrong Sonia Sotomayor beclowning herself again. 

Ego and dementia

John Podhoretz in Commentary: "How can Biden stay in now?" 

I might have to buy the Sunday NY Times tomorrow just to read about the poll:

If you dig into the crosstabs of the NYT-Siena poll you’ll find that there are a bunch of questions they haven’t yet released the answers to but will (I’m guessing) on subsequent days to keep their poll generating new news. I’m guessing those unreleased numbers have to do with perceptions of Biden and Trump on matters of age, competence, and criminality. And given that the results in this poll dovetail pretty well with the recent NBC News poll released three weeks ago, the age response is likely to be devastating for Biden.

Ever since the Hur report, I've been saying that things are only going to get worse for Dementia Joe.  The economy is slowing, the impeachment hearings are uncovering some unsavory (if not illegal) details, the border is still wide open and yukking it up with Seth Meyers is not going to reverse perceptions that Biden can't handle an unscripted interview.

Excellent article

The Dispatch: "Ten Myths Sabotaging Social Security Reform - Distorting history and underestimating the severity of the problem only increases the chance of insolvency."

What's great about this article is that it doesn't pull any punches: there are no easy fixes (anymore).  

There's a reason for that

Huffington Post: "Why So Many Republicans Believe Biden Won’t Be The Democratic Nominee."

Here's the reason why: Democrats keep talking about replacing Biden.

The Left hates free speech, MSNBC edition

Jonathan Turley: "MSNBC Legal Analyst: Free Speech Could Be America’s “Achilles Heel”

Well, the question is what “we want to do related to speech.” If it involves blacklisting, throttling, deplatforming, and bans, it most certainly does raise questions of censorship. Free speech is now portrayed as an existential threat to the country as opposed to the very thing that defines us as a free people.

McQuade captures the theoretical divide over free speech, though she is clearly voicing a view that is increasingly popular among law professors. She advances views of free speech that I have discussed in prior academic writings and the new book as “functionalist.” These views allow for greater trade offs between free speech and overriding social or political priorities.

I'm constantly amazed by the argument that speech should be censored for "misinformation" when anybody can whip out their phones to look up facts.  Defeat bad speech with better speech.