Holy Crap: Pictures of a 3rd-Grader's Social Studies Text Book

Wondering whether elementary school students are truly indoctrinated in the left wing agenda? Well, wonder no more. They are; and it's worse -- far worse -- than you can possibly imagine.

Consider, if you will, McGraw-Hill's Our Democratic Heritage, a textbook designed for third-graders and published in 2010. If you'd assume that it was intended to teach kids about America's founding and its institutions of government, you'd assume wrong.

The book is a veritable cornucopia of left wing spin.

There is but one sentence devoted to the Bill of Rights. It reads, "These rights [of citizens] are listed in the part of the U.S. Constitution called the Bill of Rights".

• Two pages cover the Declaration of Independence
• Two pages describe the Constitution, all of which are devoted to the three branches of government and separation of powers
• No pages are devoted to James Madison and the authors of the Constitution; there is no mention of federalism
• Six pages are spent describing the background of Paul Revere
• Ten pages are devoted to the history of democracy in ancient Greece.
• George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are mentioned only in passing, almost as if they are immaterial scenery on the road to diversity and social Utopia.

In the section entitled "America's Freedom Fighters":

• Eight pages are spent covering the life of Frederick Douglass
• Five pages on Susan B. Anthony
• Six pages on Mary McLeod Bethune,
• Zero pages are devoted to the life of Abraham Lincoln

In fact, the entire Civil War is described only as a backdrop to the lives of Frederick Douglas and Mary McLeod Bethune.

In the section entitled "The Fight for Freedom Continues":

• Seven pages are spent on praise for FDR (including 2 pages on Pearl Harbor)
• Six pages on Eleanor Roosevelt
• Six pages are devoted to Thurgood Marshall
• Six pages are spent on LBJ's life and the wondrous effects of "Great Society"
• Six pages are spent on Cesar Chavez and the lionization of the labor movement

There is no list of American Presidents.

There is no mention of the two-party system, nor the fact that there exists a group called "The Republican Party".

And there is no mention of a Republican President other than Abraham Lincoln, who merits but a picture and a single sentence. In fact, you would not know from reading this book that there ever was a Republican President.

A total of four paragraphs are spent describing World War II. There is no mention of President Harry S. Truman or of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan to mercifully end World War II.

There is, of course, no mention of Ronald Reagan.

One of the goals we Constitutional conservatives must have is to regain control of our public school systems, which appear to be -- if this book is any indication -- completely out of control.

Cutting brake lines on a train, destroying private property, brutalizing other union members: all in a day's work for the labor movement

LaborNotes, one of the official mouthpieces of the union-environmental-Democrat complex, offers an unusual spin on the labor violence in Washington state.

Longshore Workers Dump Scab Grain to Protect Jobs

The confrontation between West Coast longshore workers and an anti-union exporter exploded as pickets massed on railroad tracks by the hundreds yesterday to block grain shipments.

Police used clubs and pepper spray on protesters in Longview, Washington, as they made 19 arrests.

Early this morning a terminal there was invaded and hoppers holding about 10,000 tons of grain were opened onto railroad tracks... Ports in Washington shut down completely Thursday as hundreds of longshore workers rushed to Longview, in the state’s southwestern corner...

...EGT Development, a consortium of three companies, wants to operate its new $200 million grain terminal in Longview using non-ILWU labor, despite a contract with the port requiring it to do so. When the ILWU protested, the company signed up with an Operating Engineers local... Every other major grain terminal on the West Coast is operated by ILWU labor, and the union asserts that EGT’s goal is to go non-union altogether, ending generations of good jobs.

In a series of protests since July, ILWU members and supporters sat down on train tracks and occupied the new terminal, resulting in 100 arrests. As picketing continued, no trains had attempted to bring in grain shipments since July. But last week a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order at the request of the National Labor Relations Board, which said ILWU pickets had harassed EGT workers.

...Union officers eventually urged the blockaders to let the train through. But while it sat overnight inside the terminal gates, the word went out. Workers in Seattle left their jobs before the shift ended. Proctor reported that members of Local 19 gathered at 2 a.m. to head the two-and-a-half hours to Longview.

...before dawn, 500 people broke down terminal gates, prevented security guards from interfering, and cut the train’s brake lines...

...Ports in Tacoma and Seattle are closed today, though the international said no job action has been called. One worker said work would resume at 3 a.m. Friday—unless it doesn’t.

It's worth noting:

• This is (yet another) union vs. another union conflict - the Longshore Workers are "protesting the hiring at a grain terminal by the employer, EGT, of a contractor employing workers belonging to a different union, the Operating Engineers."

• Even the far left NLRB has sided against the ILWU - "On August 31, the NLRB issued a complaint accusing the union of taking "violent and aggressive" actions, destroying EGT's property and harassing its employees. In response to an NLRB request, federal Judge Ronald B. Leighton issued a temporary restraining order, which the union has ignored."

Today cargo operations resumed in Seattle and Tacoma after the one-day work stoppage. Perhaps the union's critical mistake of attacking police officers, which resulted in the requisite tear-gas and baton reprisals, convinced them to return to work.

Good news: President spending your tax dollars wisely transporting anti-taxpayer union bosses to Detroit on Air Force One

Reuters' Caren Bohan (via Weasel Zippers) alerts us to another judicious use of taxpayer dollars: employing Air Force One to fly a bunch of overfed union bosses to a Labor Day rally in Detroit. These are the same lugs who feed at the troth of the taxpayer and then declare all-out-war on us "sons-of-bitches".

If I didn't know better, I'd think the unions were actually calling the shots at the White House.

Illinois Unions Vow to Sue Basic Arithmetic

@IowaHawk alerts us to stunning news from Illinois, where a "state entirely controlled by Democrats is somehow having financial difficulties":

A decision made by Gov. Pat Quinn may leave thousands of state workers without a job by the end of the week.

The cuts are coming in the face of a budget deficit that doesn't leave enough money to pay the workers, the governor says. Quinn also plans to close a prison, juvenile detention center and homes for the mentally ill.

If no cuts are made, several agencies will run out of money by spring, Quinn says...

The state's largest government employee union, AFSCME, promises to sue if the layoffs are made, much like they did over blocked pay raises...

Why don't the unions just sue the laws of physics? Or basic arithmetic principles?

Because even if the unions somehow forced the state government to raise taxes to 90%, it still wouldn't be enough to pay for all of their bloated public sector salaries, benefits, pensions and retiree health care programs.

Which is why, I suppose, Mark Levin says that "liberalism is the philosophy of the stupid."

Another Coincidence

Lifted from Cliffs of Insanity*:

I'm sure that the timing of all this is just coincidence. 

• The big flashmobs in Britain this summer
• The flashrobs
• The flashriots in Wisconsin and "urban" rallies elsewhere
• It's Over in the Eurozone.  You know, when a 9.0 earthquake hits, a tsunami often follows. 
• Zero private sector jobs added last month
• Pres__ent Obama waiting to give his "jobs" speech (as if another layer of Simoniz can help the turd to shine better)
• And Jimmy Hoffa offering up his "Army", ready to march and "take these son of bitches out." 

Updated:

• Project Gunwalker 
• And now Project Gangwalker - walking guns to criminal gangs inside the US. 

Why . . . it's like it's all building up to something. 

I'm reminded of the words from The Road Warrior:

When it's all said and done, The Road Warrior may look like a happy, sunny memory compared to what we're about to go through.

Their leaders talked and talked and talked but nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled the cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear.

*Hopefully any lawsuit by Cliffs of Insanity will be preempted by global Armageddon.


Hat tip: D&S.

Hoffa Declares All-Out 'War' on GOP: 'Take These Son Of Bitches Out'

Self-proclaimed Marxist Dick Trumka Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., president of the AFL-CIO Teamsters, had some uncivil, inflammatory words for Republicans today in the lead up to President Barack Obama's remarks in Detroit.

Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa had some profane, combative words for Republicans while warming up the crowd for President Obama in Detroit, Michigan on Monday.

"We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They've got a war, they got a war with us and there's only going to be one winner. It's going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We're going to win that war," Jimmy Hoffa Jr. said to a heavily union crowd.

"President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," Hoffa added... Obama addressed the crowd shortly after Hoffa.

I believe that the Democrat Party, now controlled by the hard left, sixties retreads and funded by one-world-government Statists like George Soros, are actively preparing to foment civil unrest in the run-up to the 2012 elections.

In recent days, the execrable columnist Leonard Pitts, the ethically challenged Rep. Maxine Waters, the nonsensical Rep. Frederica Wilson, the rhyming adulterer "Reverend" Jesse Jackson and a host of other far left kooks have echoed the same "Big Lie" as if reading off some invisible teleprompter.

Their outrageous "Big Lie"? That a disconnected, decentralized group of millions of law-abiding citizens -- people of every race, religion, creed and color... people who believe in Constitutional, limited, financially responsible government... people who gather peacefully in cities and towns across the United States! -- are somehow malevolent because of the mere fact that they dare to speak up.

Even more violent rhetoric was echoed by a left-wing Islamist race-baiter named Andre Carson:

REP. ANDRE CARSON, (D), INDIANA: Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see us as second-class citizens. (audience members reply, "Yes!") Some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party would love to see you and me- I'm sorry, Tamron- hanging on a tree. (audience members reply, "Yes!") Some of them right now in Congress are comfortable with where we were 50 and 60 years ago.

One can come to no other conclusion that the Democrat Party is actively encouraging violence.

We certainly don't hear much about civility and Gabbi Giffords from legacy media these days.

Because, in truth, the only people promoting intimidation, violence and thuggish behavior are the radical Leftist goons controlling the Democrat Party.

This behavior is disturbing and sickening. And legacy media better stand up and call it out, before it's too late.


Update: Moments after Trumka Hoffa declared "war" on Republicans and vowed to the "take the sons-of-bitches out", President Obama stated how "proud" he was of the AFL-CIO Teamsters chief.

Update II: Correction made, thanks to TAB: this was Hoffa, not Trumka. All these labor leaders look alike to me.

Happy Labor Day!

by Ken



Howie already offered a Labor Day message, and I have nothing to add that isn't likely to be bleedingly obvious to DWT readers: that there hasn't been any time since the American labor movement took hold when workers -- and I mean all kinds of workers, union and non-union -- were less respected by their bosses.



As with so much of the apparently succeeding assault on the social fabric built up since the New Deal, I think what makes it possible for demagogues and power-grabbing morons to hornswoggle eager-to-be-deceived Americans is that the benefits are so entrenched that people with microscopic attention spans have no idea how much of the good in their lives is built on organized labor, government regulation, all kinds of government spending, and on and on. It's a willed stupidity that works wonders for the oligarchs and their faithful stooges, whose reward is to suck up most of what little trickle-down trickles down from the greed-besotted elites. It's not such a good deal for the rest of the populace.



People so stupid as to be fooled into believing that labor unions are their enemy and management is their friend will learn how wrong they are. Meanwhile, once again Andy Borowitz is wait out ahead of the official nooze media.

Labor Day Officially Moved to China

First U.S. Holiday to Be Outsourced





BEIJING (The Borowitz Report) -- Labor Day, one of America’s most beloved and longest-celebrated holidays, has been officially moved to China, U.S. officials confirmed today.



The Labor Day celebrations are expected to kick off Monday afternoon in Beijing with a barbeque attended by over seven million people and presided over by former NBA star Yao Ming.



The transfer of Labor Day to China represents the first time in American history that an entire holiday has been outsourced, experts said.





“It may be just as well,” said the University of Minnesota’s Davis Logsdon, who has lectured extensively on Labor Day traditions. “It’s been getting harder and harder for Americans to remember what labor is.”





Tracy Klugian, 37 said he was sorry to see his annual Labor Day barbeque relocated from his home in Medina, Ohio to Beijing, but is taking the loss in stride.

“I used to really look forward to Labor Day,” he said. “But to be honest, getting a day off isn’t as special as it used to be.”





While Mr. Klugian said it was “a little strange” for Labor Day barbecues to occur in China with no participation by Americans, he added, “Maybe someday we’ll be able to make illegal fireworks for them.”





Meanwhile, U.S. officials said it was looking "more and more likely" that Thanksgiving would be relocated this year to India.





“At the very least, Americans will still be able to celebrate Thanksgiving by phone,” one official said. “But they should listen closely because some menu options have changed."

#

Another Reason We Love Michele Bachmann: She Speaks the Truth About the EPA, the Department of Education, the NLRB and the Border

Campaigning earlier this week in South Carolina, Michele Bachmann exhibited her patented ability to speak the unvarnished truth:

...Bachmann had harsh words for the EPA, which she called the “job-killing agency of America.”



“I intend to bring back true change, true hope, by repealing the tax code and dramatically cutting spending and I’m going to start with the Environmental Protection Agency,” she said, eliciting cheers from her tea party audience. “I am so happy you agree, because I intend to turn out the lights and lock the doors.”



She spoke similarly of the Department of Education, which she said then-President Jimmy Carter created as a “payoff to a union”:

So this is what I would do. I would pass a mother of all repeal bills for education, get rid of all of the unfunded mandates that the federal government puts on our local schools — making it very difficult for schools to be effective. … I would have a very busy day, a very busy day. ‘Cause I first have to make a trip to the EPA and after that, I have to go to the Department of Education because I also have to shut the lights off and lock the doors over there, as well.

The Department of Education doesn't educate anyone. It exists solely to funnel money to the AFT, the NEA and other teachers' unions, which inevitably hand much of that cash back to Democrats. It ceaselessly battles school choice. And its officials publicly admit they could care less about educating children: they're in it for the power and money.



The EPA doesn't do anything for the environment. In fact, its odious legacy began in 1972 when it contributed directly to the needless deaths of tens of millions in the third world through an unlawful and unconscionable ban of DDT. Today it exists only as an unelected cadre of Soviet-style bureaucrats who shutter businesses for reasons both specious and ridiculous.



Both of these agencies need to be nuked from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.



Bachmann also describes the outrageous growth of the virus-like fourth branch of government:

Bachmann, who criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the recovery from the Great Recession and vowed to shrink the size of the federal government, said just electing another Republican won't help - she's the Republican who will make the difference... "You can put a Republican in there to manage big government, but you're not going to have America as the prosperous big dog in the world again if you do that."



She vowed to go to Washington to cut federal spending and get the nation's economic house in order... "We're going to be turning a lot of lights off and locking a lot of doors in Washington, D.C.," the Minnesota Republican said.



..."The president has failed on unemployment," Bachmann said. "After the president passed the stimulus we saw millions of jobs in the private sector go away."



At the same time, she said, "hundreds of thousands" of government jobs were added. Those federal jobs, she said, have average wages and benefits of $123,000 while the average for private sector jobs is $61,000.

Oh, and did I mention the out-of-control Labor Department, whose National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is doing its best to destroy America's right-to-work culture?

Halfway through the meeting, Gov. Nikki Haley made an unexpected appearance and asked Bachmann about the National Labor Relations Board, which has filed a complaint against Boeing...



...The aircraft maker recently opened a $750 million plant in North Charleston, South Carolina's largest industrial investment.



The NLRB alleges the plant was built in South Carolina, a right to work state, to avoid unionized labor in Washington state...



...Bachmann also said she would only appoint pro-growth members to the NLRB.



Asked about immigration, Bachmann said the nation needs to secure the nation's southern border... "I would build the barrier or fence. Every mile, every yard, every inch of that southern border needs to be covered," she said.

Everything Michele Bachmann says makes sense.



We need a true conservative in office if we are to begin unwinding the catastrophic damage to the Constitution that the last 80 years of Democrat-Statist policies have wrought.





Related: You can support Michele Bachmann here.

Great News: The Obama NLRB Refuses to Comply With House Subpoena

What does it mean when the Executive branch of government -- in this case, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) -- refuses to comply with a lawful subpoena?



Helpful Hint: Can you say "Constitutional Crisis"?

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) [said] on Friday that the National Labor Relations Board had refused to comply with a subpoena the committee issued on Sunday. The subpoena asked for documents related to the NLRB’s action against Boeing, and requested they be sent by today at noon.



“The National Labor Relations Board and Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon have thus far failed to comply with a lawful subpoena,” Issa said in a statement Friday afternoon. “This refusal by NLRB to abide by the law further heightens concerns that this is a rogue agency acting improperly. The integrity of NLRB and its leadership is clearly in question...”

The public has a right to know the truth about why a government agency would choose to take action to benefit organized labor that threatens thousands of non-union jobs in South Carolina while setting a precedent impacting manufacturers across the country.



It is imperative that Congress get complete facts about NLRB’s decision-making process in this matter. Its continued refusal to fully cooperate will not deter this Committee as it moves forward in efforts to determine what occurred and to hold NLRB officials to account.

Needless to say, this incident can be added to President Obama's Complete List of Historic Firsts.



And a word of warning for the Marxist Left: lawlessness begets lawlessness.




Hat tip: TrendingRight.

Attention UAW Members: If You Want to Keep Your Jobs, Perhaps You Should Look at the Republican Candidates in the Next Election

Dear UAW members:

Did you know that President Obama is dedicated to wiping your industry out?

Oh, I'm not kidding.

The Obama Administration tomorrow will announce new auto efficiency regulations that will create stricter miles per gallon (mpg) standards for cars and light-duty trucks for the model years 2017–2025. The target would be an average of 54.5 mpg by 2025 standard, slightly down from the initial proposal of 56.2 mpg. White House press secretary Jay Carney said the new regulations will “result in significant cost savings for consumers at the pump, dramatically reduce oil consumption, cut pollution and create jobs.” As nice as all that sounds, this is bad news for the American consumer...


...The government acknowledges that increased fuel efficiency standards will increase the upfront cost of a vehicle... Higher prices reduce demand and force people to hold onto their older vehicles longer. Reduced demand means fewer cars produced, which means automakers have to shed jobs. The Michigan-based consulting firm Defour Group projected that a 56 mpg standard would destroy 220,000 jobs.

Think the average family will be able to absorb the hike in car prices? Think again.

The Center for Automotive Research which warned that overly stringent standards could add $10,000 to the cost of a new car...


... [and] a 2002 National Academy of Sciences study concluded that CAFE’s downsizing effect contributed to between 1,300 and 2,600 deaths in a single representative year, and to 10 times that many serious injuries.

If you're a member of the United Auto Workers, please be aware that your richly paid bosses have sold you out.

They've caved to President Obama's radical environmental, flat-earth, no-growth, eco-Marxists who have but a single goal: eradicate the automobile.

President Barack Obama's Complete List of Historic Firsts [Updated]

Yes, he's historic, alright.

• First President to Preside Over a Cut to the Credit Rating of the United States Government

• First President to Violate the War Powers Act

• First President to Orchestrate the Sale of Murder Weapons to Mexican Drug Cartels

• First President to be Held in Contempt of Court for Illegally Obstructing Oil Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico

• First President to Defy a Federal Judge's Court Order to Cease Implementing the 'Health Care Reform' Law

• First President to Require All Americans to Purchase a Product From a Third Party

• First President to Spend a Trillion Dollars on 'Shovel-Ready' Jobs -- and Later Admit There Was No Such Thing as Shovel-Ready Jobs

• First President to Abrogate Bankruptcy Law to Turn Over Control of Companies to His Union Supporters

• First President to Bypass Congress and Implement the DREAM Act Through Executive Fiat

• First President to "Order a Secret Amnesty Program that Stopped the Deportations of Illegal Immigrants Across the U.S., Including Those With Criminal Convictions"

• First President to Demand a Company Hand Over $20 Billion to One of His Political Appointees

• First President to Terminate America's Ability to Put a Man into Space.

• First President to Encourage Racial Discrimination and Intimidation at Polling Places

• First President to Have a Law Signed By an 'Auto-pen' Without Being "Present"

• First President to Arbitrarily Declare an Existing Law Unconstitutional and Refuse to Enforce It

• First President to Threaten Insurance Companies if they Publicly Speak out on the Reasons for their Rate Increases

• First President to Tell a Major Manufacturing Company In Which State They Are Allowed to Locate a Factory

• First President to File Lawsuits Against the States He Swore an Oath to Protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN, etc.)

• First President to Withdraw an Existing Coal Permit That Had Been Properly Issued Years Ago

• First President to Fire an Inspector General of Americorps for Catching One of His Friends in a Corruption Case

• First President to Propose an Executive Order Demanding Companies Disclose Their Political Contributions to Bid on Government Contracts

• First President to Golf 73 Separate Times in His First Two-and-a-Half Years in Office

But remember: he will not rest until all Americans have jobs, affordable homes, green-energy vehicles, and the environment is repaired, etc., etc., etc.


Linked by: Don Surber and Parkway Rest Stop. Thanks!

Good news: Union honcho indicted for ripping off $750K from members

Consider this Exhibit 9,036 that union bosses are in it for themselves.

A federal indictment returned Wednesday alleges that the president of a Cincinnati employees union stole $757,009 since 2005.

Diana Frey, president of the Cincinnati Organized and Dedicated Employees union since its 2005 inception, is accused of directing CODE checks, ATM withdrawals, wire transfers and credit card purchase to various bank accounts... The 800-employee union alerted its 800 members to a pending investigation late yesterday in an announcement that revealed Frey “has not been available to the the members or to the board for some time.”

In a statement, Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney said the situation is unfortunate and Frey is "in the process of formally severing her employment with the city." [Ed: Gee, you think it's time?]

Of course, like many union bosses, Frey's behavior seems oh so out of character:

This would not be Frey’s first brush with the law.

In 1983, Frey was convicted of theft by deception for stealing between $300 and $5,000, according to Cincinnati police and Hamilton County court records. In that case, she received a suspended one-year prison term, being sentenced instead to five years’ probation, a $500 fine and restitution. It was unclear Tuesday whether anyone at the city or union knew of the previous convictions - some under her maiden or previous married name - before she was elected union president in 2003.

When Frey, then administrative assistant to councilman Tom Luken, applied for another city job in May 1994, she checked “no” on her application in response to a question asking: “Have you ever been convicted of a local, state or federal offense?”

Now, if this alleged theft ticks off union members, I wonder what they'll do when they find out they're never going to receive the pensions they've been promised?


Hat tip: Chopper Pilot.

Can you guess what's different about Andrew Cuomo? [R.B.]

R.B. writes:

Andrew Cuomo took on the public employee unions -- and forced concessions from them -- in order to balance the New York State budget with spending cuts and without tax increases. Chris Christie (New Jersey), Scott Walker (Wisconsin), and John Kasich (Ohio) did pretty much the same thing in their states

But only Cuomo emerged from his battles with the unions lauded by media for his actions. Can you guess what made Cuomo different from the others?

Party Affiliation Determined Coverage of State-Union Battles

Jonathan S. Tobin 07.19.2011 - 12:59 PM

During the last several months, the governors of three states have gone toe-to-toe with powerful state unions in order to undo the harm done by their predecessors’ capitulations to state workers on wages and benefits. In Wisconsin and New Jersey, Republicans Scott Walker and Chris Christie were subjected to unprecedented abuse by the unions and their supporters. Yet in New York, Andrew Cuomo not only overcame union resistance, he managed to do so without much negative press, let alone the deluge of insults and demonization his colleagues suffered...

...Lacking the same political leverage their colleagues in Wisconsin and New Jersey possessed, the New York unions were forced to meekly bow to Cuomo’s dictates and accept drastic changes in compensation and benefits. Instead of being branded as a polarizing figure as was the case with Walker and Christie, Cuomo gets to play the state’s fiscal hero.

...as much as he deserves the praise for taking on a tough situation, the main lesson of this story is to show just how biased is the coverage of the not dissimilar confrontations elsewhere. As much as the collective bargaining issue helped generate sympathy for Wisconsin unions which refused to accept responsibility for the state’s parlous financial health, Walker’s goals were very similar to those of Cuomo. It should also be noted that like Cuomo, Christie didn’t touch the collective bargaining issue. Yet, he was branded a “Nazi” by rabble-rousing union thugs just like Walker, a slur never aimed once at the governor of New York.

The moral of the story is that unions and their cheering section in the liberal mainstream media can call a fiscally responsible Republican any name in the book and make it stick. But Democrats with the same intent get to play by different rules of engagement that can allow them to get tough with unions without being smeared...

This theme aligns perfectly with the spectacular new book Left Turn, which quantitatively measures the liberal lens through which Americans are forced to view events.

Worst. President. Ever.

For all of the drones out there suffering from Bush Tourette's Syndrome*, I present -- courtesy the Office of Management and Budget -- the only chart you need.

It turns out that the unemployment situation is so dire -- despite trillions in wealth redistribution -- that even the far left Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has launched an organized attack on President Obama.

Black unemployment today continued to hover at a near record high of 16.2 percent, according to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Labor... The rate is near the highest rate recorded for blacks during President Obama's tenure... The black unemployment rate for June was 16.2 percent, the same as the May rate. The May rate was up from April's 16.1 percent, which was the largest increase since November's 16 percent.

On Thursday, members of the Congressional Black Caucus assailed Obama for his handling of the rising black unemployment rate.

"Can you imagine a situation where any other group of workers, if 34 percent of white women were out there looking for work and couldn't find it?" asked Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, the Democratic chairman of the caucus. "You would see congressional hearings and community gatherings. There would be rallies and protest marches. There is no way that this would be allowed to stand."

Not to mention what would have happened had there been a Republican President in office. Jesse, Al and a cadre of other crackpots -- possibly consisting of NYT reporters -- would be marching on Washington demanding something or other.


* You know: "It was Bush's fault! Bush! Bush! Bush did it! And Cheney! And Bush! And Lee Harvey Oswald! And Bush!"

Update: The Disappearing Black Middle Class


Hat tip: Gateway Pundit. Linked by: Ace o' Spades. Thanks!

Unexpectedly: Unemployment rises to 9.2% and U.S. adds only 18,000 jobs in June -- on predictions of 125,000

Feeling stimulated yet?

U.S. employers added 18,000 workers in June, less than forecast and the fewest in nine months, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly climbed, indicating a struggling labor market.

The increase in payrolls followed a 25,000 gain that was less than half the rise initially estimated, Labor Department data showed today in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey called for a June gain of 105,000. The unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent, the highest level this year. Hiring by companies, which excludes government agencies, was the weakest since May 2010.

...The jobless rate rose even as the participation rate declined to 64.1 percent, the lowest since March 1984. The household survey showed a 445,000 decrease in employment and a 173,000 increase in unemployment.

Average hourly earnings fell 1 cent to $22.99, today’s report showed. The average work week for all workers dropped to 34.3 hours, from 34.4 hours the prior month...

The so-called underemployment rate -- which includes part- time workers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want work but have given up looking -- increased to 16.2 percent from 15.8 percent.

Tyler Durden puts it in simple terms -- hopefully sufficiently simple for the liberal drones who might be reading along: "Absolute disaster. ...There is no sugarcoating this report. Absolutely abysmal." and:

This chart needs no commentary. At 64.1%, the Labor Force Paritipcation rate just dropped to a fresh 25 year low: the civilian labor force declined by 272K from 153,693 to 153,421. And tangentially, the employment to population ratio also slumped to a multi decade low of 58.2%.

Gee, this "jobs reports" is pretty much of an epic fail all the way around.

Can we get our trillion dollars back?

Ruh Roh: GM's unsold inventory right back to where it was in late 2008

More awesome economic news courtesy of the central planners in Washington: GM's dealer channel is now stuffed with so much unsold inventory that we're right back to where we were in the dark, pre-rescue days of late 2008.

Perhaps Jeff Immelt will add to General Electric's Volt order and rescue the remainder of GM's product line.

...point blank evidence that the second leg of the economic recovery is now completely debunked, after GM, whose June car sales were up 10.2%, broadly missing expectations of an 18% pick up, but far more importantly, and as we have been pointing out for a year now, the bulk of GM production does not ultimately lead to any sales, but merely more and more channel stuffing in the form of month end dealer inventory which in June just hit 605,000...

[There is no] actual demand which to the chagrin of the Koolaid drinkers is a critical component in determining clearing prices, and which is simply non-existent despite the government's eagerness to provide subprime loans to everyone (or no one as the case may be) who wishes to buy a GM vehicle... Expect the broader media and Wall Street economists (and Joe LaVorgna) to completely ignore this data point as it roundly negates everything the propaganda machine has been spouting for months.

The pain for dealers is real as this report from Bloomberg (the news service, not the idiot mayor) explains.

General Motors Co. (GM) stocked Jim Ellis Chevrolet in Atlanta with plenty of Silverado full-size pickups in early 2011, part of a wager on a strong economic recovery. The strategy is backfiring.

“We thought that this year would bring back the kind of economic activity that would translate into us selling more trucks,” Mark Frost, the dealership’s general manager, said in a phone interview. “It’s not happening.”

Supply of Silverado has ballooned to 6 1/2 months worth at the dealership, a figure Frost, 52, calls “a little scary.” The Detroit-based automaker, 33 percent owned by the U.S. after its 2009 bankruptcy, has 280,000 Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups on dealers’ lots around the country. If sales continue at June’s rate, that would be enough to last until November.

After GM’s truck inventory swelled to 122 days worth of average sales, the company said 100 to 110 will be normal going forward for such a large and complex line of vehicles, compared with 60 to 70 days for most models. Peter Nesvold, a Jefferies & Co. analyst, isn’t convinced. Ford Motor Co. (F), which makes similar trucks, is running at 79 days, and Nesvold says GM averaged 78 days on hand at year end from 2002 to 2010.

“It’s unbelievable that after this huge taxpayer bailout and the bankruptcy that we’re right back to where we were,” Nesvold, who has a “hold” rating on the stock, said in a telephone interview. “There’s no credibility.” In a research note he asked: “Is GM falling into old, bad habits?”

You mean that abrogating bankruptcy law, screwing over secured creditors and rewarding Democrats' union supporters with billions in equity, tax breaks and subsidies didn't really fix GM?

Gee, that was hard to predict.

From my vantage point, President Obama may be the biggest crony capitalist ever.


Linked by: Hot Air, Protein Wisdom and Labor Union Report. Thanks!

Typical: Democrat official celebrates violence against Republicans

The party of tolerance, free speech and the democratic process is at it again: advocating violence against political opponents, Third Reich-style.*

And now... a special message about the importance of civility in politics, brought to you by the same people who continually claim the Tea Party is a bunch of violent extremists. Via Legal Insurrection:

This Tweet is from Graeme Zielinski, the Communications Director for the Wisconsin State Democratic Party. Would you be surprised to learn he used to be a “reporter” for The Washington Post...?

Uhm, in truth? No.

This is yet another example demonstrating how far the modern Democrat Party has fallen. Harry Truman and JFK would no longer recognize their party, hijacked by the likes of George Soros and other monied, hard-left forces of internationalism.

Their hatred of the Constitution is palpable. Violence and suppression of free speech are on their menu if it will help them retain power. Elections don't matter, laws don't matter, our history and traditions don't matter.

Which is why we must obliterate them -- politically -- in 2012, leaving them no more a force than are the Whigs. We have no choice if we are to save this Republic.


Hat tip: Instapundit. Linked by: Memeorandum. Thanks!

Kewl: Top 100 Illinois Teachers' Union Retirees to Receive Nearly $1 Billion in Lifetime Benefits

While the California teachers' unions are effectively destroying one school system after another, an alert commenter pointed me to some even more shocking news from Illinois. Their pension system for educators is -- if you can believe it -- even farther off the reservation.

Using actuarial calculations from the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS), Champion News reports that the total estimated pension liability for the top 100 retirees will equal...

Make sure you're sitting down.

Seriously.

$887,925,790.00
You read this right. The top 100 retirees, by themselves, will cost Illinois taxpayers nearly one billion dollars.

I can think of only one possible, rational reaction.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #1: We must do something. He's serious this
time.

Beleaguered Taxpayers: -He's right.
-You're right. We got to do something.
-Absolutely.
-Know what we gotta do?

Beleaguered Taxpayer #2: Toga party.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #1: We're tens of billions in debt! We can't afford to have a toga party.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #2: You guys up for a toga party?

Beleaguered Taxpayer #3: -Toga! Toga!

Beleaguered Taxpayer #2: -They like the idea.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #1: Please don't do this.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #3: I've got news for you, pal. The SEIU is going to screw us, no matter what we do.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #2: So we might as well have a good time.

Beleaguered Taxpayers: Toga! Toga! Toga!

(Chanting louder and louder)

(All chanting)

Want Jobs and Higher Salaries? Move to a Right-to-Work State

Do you prefer slavery or freedom? I ask that question because the modern-day version of slavery in this country is being forced to join a union -- and pay union dues -- against your will. And, as it turns out, in "union/slave states" there are provably fewer jobs and lower wages.

The business world is abuzz over the National Labor Relations Board's complaint vs. Boeing's new South Carolina production line. For NLRB critics, the case boils down to one thing: "right-to-work" laws.

Right-to-work states have generally lower unemployment, higher job growth, lower taxes and better business climates. They have growing populations and have been attracting businesses from other states.

In most states, once a workplace is unionized, employees are required to join the union or they can't work there. But 22 states, including South Carolina, have passed laws that give employees the right not to join. Hence the term "right-to-work."

Unions dislike these laws for the obvious reason: It reduces their membership.

Critics like the Chamber of Commerce say a union-friendly NLRB is simply punishing Boeing for choosing a right-to-work state, a charge the agency has rejected.

But if the complaint stands, it could stop firms in heavily unionized states from expanding or moving to right-to-work states. [And these states seem] to be a good deal for the workers, too. The U.S. unemployment rate is 9.1%. In right-to-work states the average is 7.9% — 8.6% adjusted for population.

Between 1977-08, employment grew 100% in right-to-work states vs. the national average of 71% and 56.5% in non-right-to-work states. That's according to a January study that Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder did for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

In this period, real per capita income in the right-to-work states grew 62.3% vs. the national average of 54.7% and 52.8% for non-right-to-work states... Between 2000-09, about 5 million people moved to right-to-work states from other states. The population of 25- to 34-year-olds in right-to-work states has grown 16%, according to an American Legislative Exchange Council study, indicating that they "attract the most productive members of society."

Union members: it's time to throw off your shackles. The Democrat-Union Boss alliance -- and their oppressive regulations from the EPA, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, and dozens of other useless bureaucracies -- are funding your destruction.

Fight back.

Daily Beast shocked that Jerry Brown is leading California to fiscal disaster; blames state's collapse on ...(wait for it)... Republicans

The Daily Beast (I read it so you don't have to) appears to be the magazine equivalent of Michael Moore. It is so unhinged and so laced with nutwhackery that it reads more like a National Lampoon spoof of liberal dementia than an ostensibly serious periodical.

Case in point: some kook named Joe Mathews, if that is his real name, offers the following salient observations about the failed blue state of California. Now, recall, California is dominated at every level of government by Democrats, public sector unions and the illegal alien lobby. But I repeat myself.

Jerry Brown's argument for his return to the California governorship was that as a 73-year-old politician, too old to worry about his political future, he would throw caution to wind, force partisans of left and right to negotiate, and tame this state’s famously out-of-control budget.

But his first six months in office have looked nothing like this. Brown’s experience has been no match for the difficult task that confronts Democrats in Washington and around the country: how to, at a time of austerity, protect programs and secure more taxes in the face of opposition from anti-tax Republicans. Brown has made concession after concession—cutting billions, agreeing to negotiate new legal limits on spending and pensions—without securing any agreement for additional revenues, even temporary taxes that would be subject to a vote of the people. In the process, he has alienated his own party.

Brown’s story so far shows that low-key negotiation and concession does not get you much from Republicans in this era... Brown [is required] to get votes from Republicans, even though Democrats control the governorship, both houses of the legislature, and every other statewide office...

[Some] voices... suggest Brown is gutless. Republicans, ungrateful despite Brown’s concessions, say they couldn’t reach a deal with Brown because the governor did not have the courage to embrace new limits on spending and pensions that the GOP wants in the agreement—but that powerful public employee unions oppose...

Here's a little cheat sheet for Mathews:

Brown is owned by the public sector unions and the racial separatist front groups like La Raza.

But it is the public sector unions -- not the Republicans -- who are bankrupting the state; and clearly Brown is too timid and too partisan to confront them.

It is sanctuary cities and open borders policies -- not the Republicans -- that are swelling school and prison populations while driving up health care and welfare costs.

It is a bizarre green agenda (that even denies water to farmers) -- not the Republicans -- that is destroying one of the most fertile, bountiful areas on Earth.

Sure, numb-skull, California could raise taxes on the productive sector of society; and that will simply drive more taxpaying citizens and businesses out of the state -- just as it did in another blue state success story called "New York".

But unless California can honestly confront the fiscal time-bomb represented by public sector union benefits, illegal aliens and the eco-Marxists, the state is flat-out doomed.

Oh, and Mathews: why doesn't Texas have this same problem, schmuck?