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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Miscellany: 12/02/15

Quote of the Day
Always say less than necessary.
Robert Greene

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Species Sustainability Despite of, Not Because of Federal Government Policy



Political Correctness and Politics



Political Potpourri

A new Quinnipiac national GOP poll (I think the first poll in a week) shows Trump at 27, up by 10 over Rubio and 11 over Carson and Cruz. I want to see a few more polls, but I think it's clear that Carson, while still in contention, is now battling for second and third. This is yet another in a lengthening series of polls where Rubio gets second, and more importantly, Trump continues to finish the worst among the top 4 against Clinton or Sanders (I've seen some variation in certain state polls; in a number of red states, he beats Clinton, but a yellow dog would beat Clinton.) It also looks like Cruz has highly polar numbers like Trump.

I like Rubio's position right now. Trump has been stuck in a 19-33 range for months now, even as 3 governors have left the race. Rubio has seen his support almost double over the past few weeks. The biggest risk is that Trump is perceived as inevitable. But if Trump is at 27, that means he hasn't closed the sale on 3/4ths of the voters, despite a massive recognition and funding advantage. His debate performances have been weak and have not impressed non-supporters. If you recall the 2012 campaign Romney had a hard time closing the deal as the non-Romney votes flowed to Gingrich and then Santorum. This is another poll where the Outsiders made a sub-50 showing. We haven't seen anti-Trump ads hit from Trump's closest challengers. If and when the Donald goes negative in response, I think it raises his negatives.

Bush continues to hang at about 5, despite the fact I've seen more Bush ads than others. What he's doing is not working; personally I would like to see him take on the anti-immigrants; he's highly literate on the topic. He has sort of targeted Trump by saying talk is cheap, but he could talk in terms of cutting taxes while Trump was still a Democrat or balancing state budgets while Donald was driving businesses into the ground. But despite of all the rumors of Bush going after Rubio, I think Bush, unless things turn around soon, understands Rubio is not responsible for Jeb's place in the polls, and I think the most likely scenario is Bush endorses Rubio if he doesn't finish in the money in Iowa or NH. Christie got a break with a large NH endorsement and was able to fight back against Trump's NJ Muslim celebration allegation. If I were Christie, I would make a big deal out of corruption and fraud in the federal government, talk about devolving funds and authority to the states, etc.

We have another debate coming up soon, and several candidates need to make a move sooner than later. I don't see Santorum, Graham, Pataki, and/or Huckabee are going anywhere, haven't even debated at the big people's table. Although I support Paul, I don't think he's doing what he needs to do to expand his support; he's not going to be able to outmaneuver Trump on immigration and trade or the neo-cons on ISIS. I think he's also thinking of his Senate reelection race next fall. I have written a couple of posts on how I would approach his campaign. Carson has had a bad month, and he ticked me off by seeming to associate the Colorado Springs atrocity with pro-life views; I think he has been caught in a number of gaffes; he may be skating on thin ice and seeing his support collapse.

On the other side, Clinton is dominating the race; O'Malley rarely busts out of the lower single digits, and Sanders appeal is mostly regional.

Facebook Corner

(Cato Institute). "Canada may soon impose billions of dollars in tariffs on a broad range of American products. The move is a retaliation authorized by the World Trade Organization against protectionist country-of-origin labeling regulations the U.S. government uses to disadvantage Canadian cattle ranchers. Unless Congress repeals its odious law very soon, both Americans and Canadians will suffer needlessly."
Sigh! Why should I expect anything differently than a bunch of xenophobe protectionists spamming a thread aimed at a clearly protectionist meat law, as morally contemptible as anti-GMO labeling laws! As a consumer, I don't care where the animal was raised so long the animal was healthy and processed safe for human consumption. I don't mind voluntary labeling, e.g., "grass-fed" or "free range",so long as it's not fraudulent. But it's long past due that America abandons its morally corrupt farming subsidies, quotas, etc. We need to repeal this corrupt labeling law, which has ZERO relevance to the nutrition/safety of food.
Label country of origin for all products and encourage a "buy american" philosophy. Let the chips fall where they may.
You corrupt protectionist special-interest xenophobic bastard! Get the hell out of a free market group.
Free trade must also by necessity call for a level playing field. No more laws restricting who can label a product as GMO/non-GMO, etc. It also means that GMO crop makers should pay damages to non-GMO crop makers when they cause cross contamination by allowing their product in the wild. They should certainly never have the right to stop the sale of a crop claiming 'patent', etc., when they contaminated someone else s fields.
Whereas you started your opinion on good footing on the madness of anti-competitive GMO labeling laws, the last part of your opinion seems to accept anti-GMO propaganda over the economic impact of cross-pollination, which by the way goes two ways, and nonexistent claims on GMO patents for negligible impact.
"Let us face it, free trade means trade without interference from governmental or quasi-governmental agencies. The World Trade Organization is a quasi-governmental agency, and hence, it is not accurate to describe it as a vehicle of free trade. Let us call a spade a spade: the World Trade Organization is nothing other than a vehicle for managed trade whereby the politically connected get the benefits of exercising their position as a preferred group; preferred, that is, by the Washington and international political and bureaucratic establishments." - Ron Paul 
This is pseudo-libertarian bullshit. What is being described is a voluntary agreement for arbitration of protectionist measures discriminating against foreigner goods--which is a violation of free trade/market. It only authorizes retaliatory action under due process.

(Cato Institute). “While it’s true there’ll always be a risk that a Syrian terrorist might get through the system, the current opposition is all out of proportion to the possible harm...Despite the fears trumpeted by some officials, the U.S. government can easily screen out the refugee system’s real security threats. The reaction now is overblown.”
Big surprise! The fear-mongering xenophobes are out in full force for a Nowrasteh piece. Never mind e.g., that numerous first and second-generation Vietnamese youth grew up to be valedictorians and/or highly successful professionals and businessmen, not secret commies. It is much easier as a foreigner to get a tourist visa than to get in as a refugee, and as Nowrasteh points out, less than handful of nearly a million over the past 15 years were involved in terror-related incidents--and those were foreign-based and unsuccessful. You are more likely to get murdered by a natural-born American than an immigrant.
"A 2008 report by the Public Policy Institute of California found that immigrants are underrepresented in the prison system. “The incarceration rate for foreign-born adults is 297 per 100,000 in the population, compared [with] 813 per 100,000 for U.S.-born adults,” the study concludes. “The foreign-born, who make up roughly 35% of California’s adult population, constitute 17% of the state prison population.”
"In a 2005 paper, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported that more recently arrived immigrants are even less crime-prone than their predecessors. In 1980 the incarceration rate of foreign nationals was about one percentage point below natives. A decade later that had fallen to a little more than a percentage point, and by 2000 it was almost three percentage points lower."
"A new report from the Immigration Policy Center notes that while the illegal immigrant population in the U.S. more than tripled between 1990 and 2013 to more than 11.2 million, “FBI data indicate that the violent crime rate declined 48%—which included falling rates of aggravated assault, robbery, rape, and murder. Likewise, the property crime rate fell 41%, including declining rates of motor vehicle theft, larceny/robbery, and burglary.”
The Cato Institute, an organization that correctly believes and preaches the inability of government to do anything correctly and efficiently is now saying the government will correctly and efficiently run a screening process and keep us safe. 
Epic retard comment. the commentator IGNORES the fact this is NOT a new procedure and has led to almost no attacks--you are far more likely to get killed by a homegrown common murderer. RETARDS!

Choose Life: Toddler Jealous of Her Mommy's Attention to Older Siblings



Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Ken Catalino via Townhall
Musical Interlude: Christmas Hits

Pat Benatar, "Christmas in America"

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