Mental Recession Makes the Right Wing News ‘Best Conservative Blogs For 2012’
Well, we managed to squeeze our way into the Right Wing News 6th Annual edition of the Best Conservative Blogs For 2012. Number 60.
Thanks to John Hawkins at Right Wing News for the honor, and hopefully we can climb our way up the ranks a bit as we head into our second year.
That said, all of the blogs that made the list deserve a round of applause. They make for great reading on a near-daily basis, and they set about doing the work the “real” media never does – mainly, delivering the truth.
Here is the list:
60) The Mental Recession
59) Polipundit
58) Jihad Watch
57) This Ain’t Hell
56) Hugh Hewitt
55) Patterico’s Pontifications
54) Moe Lane
53) Counter Cultured
52) Wizbang!
51) Maggie’s Farm
50) Gay Patriot
49) Creative Minority Report
48) Conservatives4Palin
47) Five Feet of Fury
46) American Glob
45) Doubleplusundead
44) Fire Andrea Mitchell
43) The Jawa Report
42) Nice Deb
41) Protein Wisdom
40) The Foundry
39) QandO
38) American Power
37) Tim Blair
36) The People’s Cube
35) I Own The World
34) the Hyacinth Girl
33) The Mellow Jihadi
32) YidwithLid
31) Power Line
30) The Other McCain
29) The Lonely Conservative
28) Pat Dollard
27) Jammie Wearing Fool
26) Riehl World View
25) Bookworm Room
24) Dr. Helen
23) Weasel Zippers
22) Andrew Malcolm
21) The Right Scoop
20) Althouse
19) Vox Popoli
18) Atlas Shrugs
17) IMAO
16) Rachel Lucas
15) Legal Insurrection
14) Moonbattery
13) The Corner
12) Michelle Malkin
11) Liberal Logic 101
10) Redstate
9) Naked DC
8) The Campaign Spot
7) Newsbusters
6) Twitchy
5) Ace Of Spades HQ
4) Breitbart
3) Gateway Pundit
2) Instapundit
1) Hot Air
PS #1: This was a really difficult list to judge and there are some very good blogs that I read every week that didn’t make the list.
Hurricane Sandy Victims Receive Citations for ‘Failure to Maintain’ Property
In a recent statement to residents of his city, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “For those faced with the hard work of rebuilding after the storm, we are doing all that we can to provide assistance and relief.”
Apparently the Department of Buildings didn’t get the ‘provide relief’ memo, as residents in Queens were recently delivered citations for a ‘failure to maintain’ their property.
Via CBS New York:
Residents in one Queens neighborhood are crying foul after they were written up for failing to clean up the city’s own mess. It is yet another new complication in life after Superstorm Sandy.
Rosanne and Joe Cavaliere are still trying to clean up from the hurricane.
They have branches through their roof, busted front windows, and, to add insult to injury, they recently received a citation notice from the city.
“It makes me angry, but it’s also ridiculous!” Rosanne Cavaliere told CBS 2’s Jessica Schneider.
They got it on Nov. 9, cited with “failure to maintain” their property.
But as they pointed out to CBS 2’s Schneider on Tuesday night, it’s a city tree that they were waiting for the city to remove.
New York Ready to Take Another Toll on Business?
Not merely content with holding this year’s position as the least business-friendly state in the nation, or ranking dead last for business tax climate, or even being named to the Top 10 list of states that Forbes considers to be in an economic “death spiral“, New York is showing once again that they remain unwilling to rest on their laurels, finding new ways to drive businesses away from the Empire State in droves.
The latest tactic? A proposal by the Thruway Authority to enact a massive 45% toll hike on trucks – a concept that would cripple the trucking industry, pass costs on to consumers, and increase safety hazards while tangentially creating untold problems for the state’s highway infrastructure.
All the while referring to the plan straight-faced as a “modest” increase.
State Assemblyman, and vocal opponent of the plan, Steve McLaughlin, tells FreedomWorks that referring to the toll hike as “modest” is simply dishonest.
“It is anything but,” he opines. “It’s a massive toll increase that follows on the heels of repeated toll hikes over the past years.”
McLaughlin, explains that the plan isn’t simply an economic burden on truckers and businesses alone either.
“It is nothing more nor less than a massive tax hike on the people of NY,” he said.
It was a little over a year ago that New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo launched a new marketing initiative called, “New York Open For Business“, which according to a press release, had the following aim:
The goal of the “New York Open for Business” initiative is to promote the many assets of investing in New York so the state can regain its reputation as a business-friendly location.
While the state itself may be open for business, the Thruway Authority is apparently trying to make conducting business as difficult as possible.
Via the Buffalo News:
The New York State Motor Truck Association insists that a 45 percent toll hike would cripple some firms and most assuredly result in trucking companies and their clients passing along the cost of the toll increase to consumers. Or some truckers could decide not to take the Thruway, cutting into the anticipated revenue stream.
McLaughlin also notes that a business decision to avoid the Thruway would create less-noticeable issues for the state.
“This action will lead to greatly increased wear and tear on roads that were not designed to handle big rigs, which in turn will result in increased cost’s to localities and the state to maintain those roads,” he says.
“Additionally, there is most definitely a safety issue involved if greater numbers of big rigs are using surface roads and a much greater risk of serious accidents.”
McLaughlin summarizes the impact, stating that the 45% toll increase on trucks “would be a disaster across the board”.
On this, there seems to be some bipartisan pushback against the Authority. Most notably, a former supporter of the plan in Governor Cuomo, is now referring to the possibility of a toll hike as “detrimental”, and urging officials to “get creative” in their efforts and avoid raising tolls on the 570-mile highway.
While some would see such a shift by the influential governor as damning to the Thruway Authority’s plan, McLaughlin says the fight is far from over.
“I believe they still intend to increase tolls and the fight now is over how much they will increase,” he says. “Given the chance and given their past behavior, I firmly believe the Thruway Authority will hold a meeting and slam an increase through.”
Can a state ranking dead last in business-friendliness currently afford a toll increase that would devastate businesses and consumers alike? Certainly not. And certainly not now in this economic client.
McLaughlin is urging Mental Recession readers to take action in the fight against a New York State Thruway toll increase.
“Please continue to spread the word about this issue and keep this in the spotlight,” he asks. “Public pressure is vital.”
Now, more than ever.
Cross-posted at FreedomWorks
Detroit Councilwoman: We Voted for Obama, Now He Owes Us Some Bacon
Nothing says ‘entitlement attitude’ quite like the demand for a bailout in exchange for an election victory. But that’s what Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson is proposing, essentially telling the President that he owes the city, and he needs to provide them “with some bacon”.
Via Detroit’s Fox 2 (h/t Memeorandum):
The city of Detroit faces a major financial crisis and one member of city council thinks President Barack Obama should step in and help.
City Council member JoAnn Watson said Tuesday the citizens support of Obama in last month’s election was enough reason for the president to bailout the struggling the city.
“Our people in an overwhelming way supported the re-election of this president and there ought to be a quid pro quo and you ought to exercise leadership on that,” said Watson. “Of course, not just that, but why not?”
Nearly 75 percent of Wayne County voters pulled the lever for Obama in November.
“After the election of Jimmy Carter, the honorable Coleman Alexander Young, he went to Washington, D.C. He came home with some bacon,” said Watson. “That’s what you do.”
Watch the video below…
Obama Campaign Still Accepting Donations
In what he called “my last election,” President Barack Obama scored a hard-fought but comfortable victory over Mitt Romney last month, but that doesn’t mean his email list will no longer be hit up for campaign cash. To wit, Mr. Obama’s electoral operation, Obama for America, is asking their supporters to contribute after filling out a form backing his plan to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
“Thanks for sharing your story. The next chapter begins today. Stand with President Obama for the next four years,” a subsequent contribution form declares. Suggested donation amounts range from $15 to $1,000 and a picture of Mr. Obama is presented with the text, “Stand with me, work with me, let’s finish what we’ve started.”
What the president’s short- or long-term objective might be is a less pressing question than the one pertaining to the legality of his fund-raising appeal. The article quotes former (current?) campaign manager, Jim Messina, as publicly signaling that the Obama for America website will continue to exist. There is no problem there. Campaign finance laws, however, are pretty specific and straightforward about the duration of campaign fund-raising. To wit, it ends with the election.
Messina seems to acknowledge this:
“What’s true is just from FEC [Federal Election Commission] law, the campaign needs to shut down. We cannot expend funds for non-presidential activities. So we have got to figure out what we do next. That’s a conversation we’re having with our supporters now.”
It is presumably with a wink that he added, “I think anything’s possible.”
New Photo Shows Bloodied George Zimmerman on Night of Trayvon Martin Shooting
Professional race-baiters Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson unavailable for comment.
Via Weasel Zippers:
This is a photo of George Zimmerman taken by a police officer on the night of February 26, 2012. A black and white photocopy of this image was provided by the State in the first Discovery. This high-resolution digital file was finally provided to the defense on October 29, 2012. This image was disclosed in the State’s 9th Supplemental Discovery. In accordance with the updates to our media policy that we published on November 13, we will be making all public documents related to the case available on our website, including the rest of the State’s 9th Supplemental Discovery as soon as we are sure it has been properly redacted according to the Court’s stipulations on protecting information regarding specific witnesses.
Remember this was the same man that ABC described as having “no blood or bruises” after they reviewed a police surveillance video.
Merry Christmas: Fire Victim Billed $1400 for Water Used to Fight Blaze
… the mailbox at 375 Garfield Road is now full, with a $1,400 bill from the Town of Poestenkill for the water used to combat the blaze that consumed his home on Monday. Petrio lives in the Town of Brunswick and firefighters traveled a mile down the rural road to fill their trucks at a Poestenkill hydrant.
It took multiple fire companies nine hours to knock down the inferno, Eagle Mills volunteer fire department chief Tom Martin said. The home was set a quarter-mile off the road and flames ripped through the structure. The roof collapsed into the home and the windows blew out. Firefighters set up temporary ponds and zipped down the road to fill their tanker trucks at the best hydrant.
Unfortunately for Petrio, that hydrant happened to be in Poestenkill, which buys its water from Brunswick.
There’s a reason for the billing, one that in my opinion doesn’t hold any water at all.
See Poestenkill buys its water from Brunswick and Troy, and Town Supervisor Dom Jacangelo seems to think it’s only fair they try to recoup the money “lost” in gallons of water to help the town’s tax-payers.
Wrong target Mr. J! Major misfire.
Charging this guy for the water used is beyond ludicrous, especially since he has ZERO control over what hydrant, or what water source, is being is used. Even if he did, it’s still nuts.
So sorry your house was destroyed, here’s the bill for the water.
The $2 Billion Stimulus Disaster You’ve Never Heard About
In 2009, the celebration was on for an oddly-named company known as CH2M Hill. The engineering firm, performing the vast majority of the work at a cleanup project located on the Hanford Nuclear Site in eastern Washington, had just received word of a $1.96 billion reward in stimulus money for their services. The company immediately set about conducting job fairs and hiring 1,300 employees.
Feel good story of the stimulus, right? Wrong. More like a prime example of how stimulus funding was nothing more than a short-term band-aid for a long-term economic wound.
In the past couple of years, CH2M Hill has repeatedly announced layoffs that have met and exceeded the number of hires created by the stimulus, have slashed the pensions of non-union workers, and are currently demanding wage and benefit cuts from their union employees.
In January of 2011, specifically citing the drying up of stimulus funds, the Hanford nuclear site braced for a loss of 1,600 jobs, with 1,350 starting in September for CH2M Hill.
This past August, the company announced another 400 layoffs were imminent, informing members of the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council (HAMTC) union of the news.
All told, the Hanford site started 2011 with 12,000 workers, but lost about 2,000 nine months later. An article by the Tri-City Herald featured several interviews with people who had lost their jobs after stimulus funding had dissipated. Most understood that their positions were only temporary – meaning, they recognized that once the stimulus money had been thrown at the project, their jobs would be eliminated.
Why didn’t the government?
Not only was it temporary, but in the end was proof positive that the stimulus could not counter the effects of an ailing economy. CH2M Hill lost roughly a net of 700 positions – despite the hiring that came about after their hefty $2 billion reward.
Troubling waters for Hanford workers have yet to recede.
Just a few weeks ago, nearly 1,700 non-union workers at the Hanford site had their pensions cut, with benefits accrued being frozen for 2014, and the multiplier used to calculate pension benefits being reduced from 1.6 percent to 1.2 percent.
Union workers from the aforementioned HAMTC were spared such cuts – or were they?
At the end of November, labor negotiations between the HAMTC and CH2M Hill got testy, with the company proposing significant wage and benefit cuts for their workers.
Dave Molnaa, President of the HAMTC called the proposal “an insult to workers”, explaining that “the proposal will mean less money for workers and more money kept by the corporation”.
Why would a company that received nearly $2 billion in government funding need to eliminate jobs, eliminate pensions, reduce wages, and find ways to ‘keep more money’?
A Wall Street Journal report explains it best, perhaps. In discussing the CH2M Hill/Hanford cleanup projects, Tennille Tracy writes:
“… projects that employ people quickly are often considered ‘low-hanging fruit’ and can fail to set the stage for long-term economic growth.”
A microcosm of the entire stimulus experiment itself.
For sure enough, when the low-hanging fruit began to go bad for companies like CH2M Hill, when the stimulus funding ran out for projects at the Hanford site, all of those jobs—and then some—were eliminated.
We keep hearing about companies that received millions in stimulus funding, but only created a certain amount of jobs at an exorbitant amount. Yet CH2M Hill continues to fly under the radar, receiving billions in funding to actually lose hundreds of jobs.
Such waste. $2 billion in taxpayer money provided for temporary hiring, temporary funding, and a temporary patch on the economy – and you’ve probably never heard about it.
Cross-posted at FreedomWorks
Sad State of Affairs: 16% of Kids in NY are Neither Working Nor Going to School
And yet the youth vote nationwide helped propel the man whose economic policies have extended such trying times to another four years in office.
Via the Associated Press:
Sixteen percent of teens and young adults in New York are neither in school nor the workforce, part of a national problem that could lead to “dire consequences” for the younger generation’s financial stability, according to a new report.
The latest Kids Count report released Monday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation said high school dropouts are having a harder time landing traditional entry-level jobs in retail and fast-food restaurants due to competition from older candidates with more experience. Front-line service providers add that the recent recession has added to the problem.
“You’re competing with people that are in the workforce now that have diplomas,” said Jeff Nixon, youth services manager for the Buffalo Employment and Training Center. “You’ve got people with college degrees that are competing for some of these lower-wage jobs. And obviously for an employer, if they have a choice between somebody with a college degree and a kid that’s a dropout, that’s a no-brainer.”
Nationally, there are 6.5 million youth 16 to 24 years old who are neither in the workforce nor in school — about 17 percent of that age group, according to the report. New York accounts for 406,000 of those young people, according to the foundation.
Overzealous Obama Fan Gets Campaign E-mails, Responds With Gay Love Letters, ‘My Sweet and Darling Barack’
Honestly, this could have actually been any member of the mainstream media that fell for this.
It was as if the first gay President was speaking to him. Dylan Hansen-Fliedner received the same campaign e-mails that millions of others had during the election season. You know the ones. Form letters asking for your minor $3 or $5 donation, and signed with the President’s name.
But Dylan seems to be the only one who took things just a tad too far.
Via Politico (h/t Weasel Zippers):
… But one student at the University of Pennsylvania was inspired in another way. He wrote back. Love letters.
When Dylan Hansen-Fliedner received an email signed by “Barack” asking for help with the great challenges that lay ahead, the 20-year-old sought to reassure the president of his support: “writing this letter makes me run out of words..i love you so much that i dont know how to express it anymore..”
In response to a missive signed by first lady Michelle Obama, he wrote: “Dear Michelle, You existing makes me want to crawl under a rock. Your beauty undoes everything else—the sun dims and my childhood memories become less idyllic.”
And when Vice President Joe Biden – or “Joe” — emailed after his debate with Paul Ryan, Hansen-Fliedner wrote back: “I felt your pale eyes were telling something to me beyond words. My brain says it is just a delusion where you meant to convey nothing. My heart says there is definitely something in your heart which is not letting go of me.”
Here’s one exchange:
October 17, 2012
Dylan –
This is the last time we’ll do this.
Tonight is the campaign’s final FEC deadline.
I’m asking you to chip in before midnight.
Right now, this race is very close — the outcome will come down to what we do with the next 20 days.
If we win, it’ll be because each of us stepped up to do our part at moments like this.
Donate $5 or more today, and stand with me for the final weeks of my last campaign:
Thank you,
Barack
October 17, 2012
My sweet and Darling Barack
Today a feel very happy because I notice at each and every instant the importance you represent to me and the strength you transmit, so that I can face whichever obstacle without fear or insecurity, moved only by an infinite will to make you as happy as I feel this minute.
You are gorgeous and adorable, capable of making me realize how good it is to feel alive, how good it is that your presence makes me grow and transform into a better person, capable of turning dreams into reality and make the result of those dreams, now shared by us both, and eternalizing then into an ambience of harmony, care and love.
My life without you would lack meaning, lack sense. Without you I would be nothing but a wandering errant, searching for my path that could lead me to happiness’s door. But with you around, by my side, close to me, I’m certain of having made the right, safer and yet romantic choice. I feel that all this love and care, that I share here with you, goes both ways and it fills my heart with peace and joy. Gazing endlessly into your deep yet sweet eyes, I realize the tender and pure light that pours from your heart and soul.
I shall never let this feeling that joins us perish. Never, by any chance, let us dript away from love’s true path, built on complicity and affection.
I love you and forever will!
Love,
Dylan
The sad part here is that Sir Creeps A Lot is likely not alone in his admiration.
Chris Matthews and Andrew Sullivan couldn’t be reached for comment.
Mental Recession 