Larry Kudlow Has a Fit as Obama the “Declinist” Opens His Mouth in Japan; Says Obama is “Not His President”

~~By  InsightAnalytical-GRL

Well, Larry Kudlow over at CNBC is already having fits about Obama’s first statement since his arrival in Asia. You can see Kudlow flip out in this video.

On the Friday night  Kudlow Report (11/13/2009),  Larry bellowed that Obama was “not his President.”

I had to laugh.  I’ve never called Obama “President” either, in real life or on this blog.  Which just continues my tradition, since I never attached the word “President” to George W. Bush, either.  However, arch-conservative Kudlow apparently thought Bush was peachy keen at the time having no problem refrerring to Bush as President.

Kudlow ranted about how Obama does not do “optimism” and, in fact, preaches “declinism.”  And he cheerleaded about U.S. exceptionalism and our huge economy then railed about how Obama doesn’t understand how oversimplified it is to say that “the American consumer won’t bail out” the world economy.

Here’s the article from the Wall Street Journal that flipped out Kudlow:

Obama Carries a Message to Asia

Trade-Talk Revival a Goal, but World Economy Can’t Rely Solely on U.S. Consumers

(snip)

Mr. Obama’s emphasis on pursuing new pacts comes as he makes his way through an export-dependent region that has grown nervous about his trade policy, and skeptical about his willingness to use political capital at home to support free trade. He has yet to achieve tangible advances on the trade front, nor did he offer specific proposals Saturday beyond a promise to complete the next global round of free talks — dubbed Doha — “in a timely fashion.” So far, his most dramatic moves on trade have involved slapping tariffs on Chinese tire imports and, just last week, steel pipes. In his speech, he said his administration will “pursue pragmatic cooperation with China on issues of mutual concern.”

The speech in the vast Suntory Hall here Saturday morning had a somewhat different tone than many of Mr. Obama’s foreign-policy addresses. He has spent much of his first year in office working toward burnishing what he has called his nation’s diminished stature in the globe. While he also talked of multilateral cooperation and human rights, he came to Asia to deliver the message that the rapidly growing export-driven economies can no longer count on the U.S. consumer to keep them afloat.

Doesn’t this sound sort of arrogant?  I have to wonder what “consumer” Obama’s talking about.  They seem to be half-dead here. I’m sure the Chinese know that, too. They are not dumb, Barack.

Panel member Zachary Karabell of  Rivertwice Research, who has written a book on something related to all this, played both sides of the fence…he sort of believes that we’re not the biggie we used to be (which is the sort of thing that pushes Kudlow’s buttons) but he says there’s a moment at hand now where we have to continue to make sure that we remain a hub of innovation.  He made sure he agreed with Kudlow that a “dual hub” situation is occurring–U.S. & China–which is OK with both of the because they see this as being “very beneficial.”  But Kudlow is totally pissed about how we’re wrecking other economies because of the weak dollar, which is creating an inflationary bubble in Asia region. Basically,  he says Obama is ignoring all this because he’s too preoccupied with “bashing” the American consumer.

Andrew Busch of BMO Capital Markets said he thinks the Administration’s strategy, which he doesn’t like, is to go “hat in hand” to China to try convince China to help us by letting the yuan appreciate…That is where the INSISTING part I discussed in my previous post is supposed to come in, I guess.

Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal editorial board sees this weak dollar situation is what set up the Bush Administration to go down as a failure in terms of economic policy and that’s what we’ve got now.  How encouraging!

Ah, but Kudlow and Karabell think that American companies like Nike and Walmart making stuff in China and selling it here is great (but I’m asking, what about American jobs HERE, Larry!).

Kudlow made some dreamy comments about “stabilization” and “currency cooperation” and “coordination” with Asia. And then, Karabell dropped the bomb about an Asian ‘unified currency bloc to facilitate strength.”   And he said that if we want China to continue to “hitch” themselves to us more, we’re not supposed to freak out if China wants to buy businesses HERE and not have a “knee-jerk xenophobic response.”  Kudlow even decided there should be FUSION.  Later, he also espoused an Asian currency zone a la the Euro.  Kudlow also opined that Karabell should get a Nobel Prize for his book.

Karabell and Busch both think that China WILL  revalue the yuan by 5% with other countries in the region to follow.  Busch pointed out that China could face World Trade Organization actions for protectionism if they don’t.   As for Obama, during the presidential campaign Obama promised to “crack down on China” but during the primaries there was chatter: “But his commitment to that point of view was thrown into doubt during the primaries when a Canadian official said an Obama adviser had privately characterized his tough stance on the North American Free Trade Agreement as political posturing.” (As an example, see: U.S. to Impose Tariff on Tires From China, Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2009.  Detractors figure that “the tariff won’t result in more jobs. Tires will simply come in from other low-cost countries, they say, and U.S. manufacturers, keep making their cheaper tires in China.”) Of course, this is classic Obama…all that “get-tough” talk and “insisting” while we have to go “hat in hand” to China…more blowing smoke.

I have no idea what a 5% revaluation really means in the long run but I doubt it will miraculously revive our exports and restore many American jobs that have left the country.

All I know is that Kudlow finished the segment by again repeating that he likes his Presidents to be “optimists” and not “declinists” and that he was furious about Obama’s first utterances in Asia.  It’s worth checking out the video because I can’t due full justice to everthing that was discussed.

But what’s all this about “FUSION”? Well, it’s that “free-trade” stuff again. Kudlow seems to talk about U.S. economic leadership but embraces all this business leading to globalization.

Kudlow and  Obama both can give you whiplash…

But at least I hear Michelle and the girls are having a good time…

A Nation of Nincompoops

~~By Kenosha Marge

According to what I’ve been reading the world is watching America closely. It approves of us getting rid of Bush and approves of our new President but they are still watching our actions with a jaundiced eye. Seems they don’t trust us.

Many countries believe that the United States is to blame for the financial mess the world finds itself in. That’s the risk when you proclaim your country to be the greatest country in the history of the world and are the world’s only Super Power. People then expect you to do Super Power type things. Like fix the mess the world is in. Come on Super Power, use your Super Powers. And do it quickly. (Scanning the sky for a high-flying Super Someone in colorful garb with chiseled features, if a male, and enormous boobs if a woman.)

We have plenty of Confidence in this country, but we are a little short of good men/women to place our Confidence in.  ~Will Rogers

Some of our allies have audaciously declined to join us in our bailout binge and those that agree with our actions have governments as clueless as our malignant pols. Their governments like our government are throwing obscene amounts of money that they don’t have at the problems and hoping they can bribe said problems to just go away. It doesn’t seem to occur to many, if any, that spending more money than you had precipitated the problems.

Spending money is the Democratic mantra while cutting taxes is all the Republicans seem to know. Both mindsets are nothing new for either party. They are monotonously repetitious in their same/old, same/old rhetoric. And as usual they are far more concerned with scoring points against each other than they are in serving their constituency and their country. “Ask not what you can do for your country because it might not get you votes or money” seems to be the thinking. If thinking is involved, I personally and speaking only for myself, would require proof.

Meanwhile the President’s primary concern seems to be in being a Television Superstar. Which is probably fine and dandy with those that voted for him because they too don’t seem to be any more interested in all that boring work stuff than he does.

The only thing new from the spendthrifts now running things is the amount they seem willing to spend. Broke and dependent on the money they/we can borrow from others our government has embarked on a spending spree of monumental proportions.

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

The Democratic Party has been waiting in the wings for years to get it’s moment center stage and now that its come they are tap dancing like nobody’s business. And I do mean nobody’s business. Cause nobody running a business could afford the things they plan without money. Get that? Without money. As in we have none. Nevertheless our malignant free-spending politicians are going to give all the people all the things they want. And we have no money.

Like the parents in this country that gave their children every silly bit of stuff that the children wanted whether their budget could afford it or not. Slap down that plastic and get it NOW. Because those kiddies will be flawed for life if they have to do with out one teensy bit of plastic stuff. When the stuff overflows your house then you can always rent a storage locker to store you excess stuff. That does really seem just a tad silly doesn’t it? Verging on ludicrous and imbecilic?

Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don’t have for something they don’t need. ~ Will Rogers

Houses sit empty and the pathetic plastic outside stuff that people charged so that their children could have the same stuff as all the other children are often left behind. A primary-colored reminder that there comes a time when all those bills for the stuff you charged are due. Citizens are learning, sadly and painfully that bills do come due. The Nincompoops we nincompoops elected, not yet. If not now when?

We all know, or most of us do, that the road to our recovery needs to be paved with fiscal responsibility and personal responsibility. Somewhere deep inside we all know that. But large numbers of us refuse to face that fact and no politician is ever going to tell the voters that they are part of the problem. Just as no politician is ever going to tell the voters that if they want all these programs then taxes will have to increase. No politician will tell voters the truth and so though they have every intention of raising taxes, because they know they must, they hide them in big bills and speak of taxing only the rich because after all they aren’t a large voting block and poor people can really get into hating on the greedy rich. Wonder if that has anything to do with fund-raising being down?

Whatever befalls us as a people or as a nation it is always someone’s fault, not ours. Bankers are evil because they let us borrow more money than we could afford to pay back. People actually say something that mired in nincompoopery and expect us to regard them as adults.

Politicians always reek of nincompoopery. If they were once honest, straightforward people with character and integrity that day is in past. So far in their rear-view mirror for some that it isn’t even a distant memory.

Politics, n:  [Poly “many” + tics “blood-sucking parasites”]  ~Larry Hardiman

We the people are now angry. We are talking tea parties, the Boston kind not Darjeeling, and tar and feathers and pitchforks. Congress, having no integrity or character of their own tried to jump on the People’s Tea Party and Pitchfork Band Wagon and succeed only in making bigger fools of themselves than usual. Which ain’t easy.

The House of Representatives and you in particular Speaker Pelosi passed a bill. that would tax some people 90% if you decided they had been naughty. Some citizens can be forgiven for being too ill-informed or dimwitted to know that such a plan is unconstitutional but the House of Representatives shouldn’t be. Nincompoops is really far to mild a name for those that swear to uphold a document that they evidently don’t understand. Not surprising in a bunch that doesn’t read the bills they pass either.

So merrily we roll along down a steep road headed for a precipice lead by a bunch of nincompoops. Partisan nincompoops are either end of the politican spectrum still have faith in their government. Nincompoops lead by nincompoops elected by nincompoops.

Still there are things to enjoy. I read that the President went off to the G20 in Great Britain aboard a Boeing equipped with it’s own private gym. Gotta keep those FLOTUS biceps in shape.

POTUS took an entourage of 500 people and his own chef and his own armored vehicle nicknamed the “Beast” as well as Marine One helicopter. This is for someone that tells us that we must make sacrifices and be patient. Meanwhile our tax dollars finance a Royal Court that Louis the XVI and Michelle Antoinette would have envied. Evidently if POTUS and FLOTUS are going to eat cake their own chef will prepare it.

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.  ~Ernest Benn

***

Hat tip to Dandy Tiger on the Traveling Royal Court info.

Iowa Gone Wild With Nazi Reference at Public Hearing (Listen to the Audio) as New Yorkers in CD-20 Test Obama’s Popularity

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

It’s not just about “Tea Parties” anymore…

Things are starting to get wild…in IOWA, of all places. But, actually, it’s pretty ironic. After all, this is where Obama began playing games with the Democratic primary system, by delivering people to the caucuses across the Iowa-Illinois state line.

So, here we see some people in Iowa starting to getting unruly at public hearings.  From the DesMoines Register:

BREAKING NEWS: Hundreds of Iowans thrown out of public hearing

By JASON CLAYWORTH • jclayworth@dmreg.com • March 31, 2009

More than 500 people who are upset with a plan to change Iowa’s tax laws were cleared from a hearing tonight at the Iowa House after they interrupted multiple times.

House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, cleared the crowd at about 8:30 p.m. The decision brought about loud protests as the crowd was escorted from the chambers by Iowa State Patrol officers.

“This is the most atrocious thing I’ve seen in the history of the 15 years I’ve been a lobbyist. Pat Murphy has acted like a jack-booted Nazi,” said Ed Failor Jr., president of Iowans for Tax Relief, a conservative taxpayers’ rights group from Muscatine with 50,000 members…

MORE

Note the word “Nazi” in print…with “jack boots,” no less. And here is the short audio clip of Failor’s comment.  And the state troopers…

And, oh dear, Iowa’s governor, Democrat Chet Culver, was simply aghast, too:

Gov. Chet Culver said today that he was disturbed by reports that unruly audience members threw objects from the House gallery during Tuesday night’s public hearing.

“I was very disturbed to hear that some things were thrown from the gallery. That’s completely unacceptable, completely out of bounds. I hope the next time we have a public hearing that people will be respectful and civil. That has to be a part of the process,” Culver said.

Were Murphy and Culver this upset when Obama freaks intimidate voters during the primary caucuses?  When they abused caucus rules?

I don’t condone riots, but if we’re facing chaos according to the Obama plan, it might as well start in Iowa. (And don’t forget, we’ve already seen fisticuffs outside a closing car dealership recently.)

Last night on Lou Dobbs I saw a sign up in Hoboken, New Jersey by a realtor which suggested people could lower their property taxes by LEAVING! Problem is, there’s no where to go in New Jersey that doesn’t have high property taxes.  We left New Jersey ten years ago this coming September to escape what was obvious–in the future, we couldn’t afford to live in Jersey on retirement incomes.  Well, the future is now, and we’re really happy to be out Jersey.

As for New York, Rush Limbaugh, who makes millions, can rant about the taxes in NYC, but what about the “little people” elsewhere in the state?  Apparently, Obama’s “coattails” are beginning to fray there, too.  The election for the seat that Kirsten Gillibrand vacated to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate is now too close to call. (Gillibrand won this district with 61%  of the vote just 5 months ago…and Obama beat McCain here, too.) Sure, it’s a rural, traditionally Republican district, but Pelosi and the  Obama people put a lot of effort into this race–and Obama endorsed candidate Scott Murphy publicly:

That makes the election an intriguing test of Democrats’ claim to hold the middle ground and also of Republicans’ ability to recover from their electoral drubbing in 2008.

Justin Phillips, a professor of political science at Columbia University, said that victory in New York would be a springboard for next year’s nationwide Congressional polls.

“This becomes a tool for fundraising and candidate recruitment. They say, look: ‘You can run in 2010 as a Republican and you can win.'”

Tedisco hopes that the Obama stimulus package — hamstrung by the storm over executive bonuses at the government-rescued AIG insurance company — will tarnish his opponent.

As of this writing, recounts, lawsuits, etc. are probably coming down the pike; the winner probably may not be known for a couple of weeks.

So, while Obama and his lovely wife Michelle (who got touchy-feeling with the Queen, ignoring simple  manners, let alone formal protocol) zip around London, things may be shifting here at home.

You know what’s sad?  The country has been ready for many Democratic ideas for awhile now, but Obama’s reckless spending plans and the slow revelation of what’s in all those bills being passed are beginning to add up.  His 3-Card Monte game may be getting stale. The Republican Party is offering the same old tax cut mantra but the country just may lurch toward this simplistic message again and sooner than we may think.  And decent Democrats could suffer and where would we wind up?  Perhaps, with the Democratic Party destroyed, as many of us warned last year.  Either way, it seems, it’s the little guy that’s going to get screwed.

Or suffering from a severe case of whiplash…

The Past Week: March 15-21, 2009 (Home Gardens on Alert?; “Practical” Democrats Group; Federal Education Stimulus $$ Going to Rich Schools; Soldiers Pledge to Refuse Illegal Orders; New Marxist President of El Salvador Compares His Message of Change to Obama’s)

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

We really enjoy doing the “Saturday Sanity” post which gives us an excuse to talk about gardening and to post some pictures. But now we have to worry about whether we can even HAVE gardens!!

A huge hat tip to Deadenders again, this time for this bizarre, but in these times, totally believable story:

Your Home Garden May Cost You Your Home

Read the details on HR 785 being pushed by Rep. Rose DeLauro (D-CT) who receives about 200K in PAC money from the agricultural industry  has ties to Monsanto through her husband. Deadenders comments:  “This bill creates a new government entity to police the production of all food in our county, not just the big farms but even your home garden. The language of the bill is as vague a campaign speech by Obama and once signed into law could be interpreted anyway the powers that be would like.”

We better enjoy them our gardens while we can!!  Do you think Michelle Obama’s White House garden will be confiscated??

***

So Evan Bayh has formed his group of “moderate Democrats” that are supposed to be “practical” and full of  “common sense.” If there’s one name that sticks out in all this, it’s the presence of Claire McCaskill of Missouri.  Claire was a very strong supporter of Obama but lately has joined Russ Feingold as one of only two Democratic senators to oppose earmarks.  Claire must be getting an earful from the folks back home in the “Show Me” state…or she’s a mole.

***

Well, surprise, surprise!  All that federal money pouring into education is somehow getting distributed in ways that aren’t getting the cash to the places that need it the most. Apparently, old federal formulas are still in use and CHANGE hasn’t really happened:

Some Rich Districts Get Richer as Aid Is Rushed to Schools

RANDOLPH, Utah — Dale Lamborn, the superintendent of a somewhat threadbare rural school district, feels the pain of Utah’s economic crisis every day as he tinkers with his shrinking budget, struggling to avoid laying off teachers or cutting classes like welding or calculus.

Just across the border in Wyoming, a state awash in oil and gas money, James Bailey runs a wealthier district. It has a new elementary school and gives every child an Apple laptop.

But under the Obama administration’s education stimulus package, Mr. Lamborn, who needs every penny he can get, will receive hundreds of dollars less per student than will Dr. Bailey, who says he does not need the extra money.

“For us, this is just a windfall,” Dr. Bailey said.

MORE

This story reminds me of the story we reported last week about money going to Albuquerque and the new busses being bought with it being out of state and out of the country.  Seems the stimulus money is wandering around without any real direction at all…Get a compass, quick!

****

A hat tip to Logistics Monster for this story:

The Tip of the Iceberg/Soldiers pledge to refuse disarmament demands

An invitation to soldiers and peace officers across the United States to pledge to refuse illegal orders – including “state of emergency” orders that could include disarming or detaining American citizens – has struck a chord, collecting more than 100,000 website visitors in a little over a week and hundreds of e-mails daily.

MORE

But will they defend my garden?  Well, read through the long list of things the group of mosty active soldiers will NOT do…

***

Meanwhile in El Salvador..last Sunday’s Presidential election was won by an ex-journalist with Marxist ties who is vowing closer ties to the Obama adminstration…

Ex-Guerrillas Win El Salvador Election

From the AP story:

Behind Mauricio Funes is a party of former Marxist guerrillas that fought to overthrow U.S.-backed governments in the 1980s and whose rise to power has raised fears of a communist regime in the war-scarred Central American country.

Funes, who gave up journalism less than two years ago to become the presidential candidate of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, sought to quell those concerns after his historic victory Sunday.

SNIP

Funes, who was a TV reporter during the war, has stayed away from the firebrand anti-U.S. rhetoric that characterizes Ortega and Venezuela’s leftist President Hugo Chavez. Instead, he has compared his message of change to Obama’s.

Funes, who takes office June 1, promised in his victory speech that strengthening ties with the United States would be a priority. The Obama administration congratulated him Monday.

SNIP

The overture was a marked departure from the administration of former President George W. Bush, which suggested during the 2004 election that it could not trust an FMLN government.

SNIP
The overture was a marked departure from the administration of former President George W. Bush, which suggested during the 2004 election that it could not trust an FMLN government.

But, but…Funes is echoing Obama’s “message of change…”  Which makes Funes as completely trustworthy as Obama is…

***
Finally, be sure to check out two important stories:

House Passes HR 1388 Under Cover of AIG Diversion –The Linchpin in the Obama Plan to “BUY” Voters …Read What It Says and PLEASE SIGN PETITION TO SENATE NOW!!

The petition will be taking signatures through Monday.

Also:

Take a look at they story about Attorney Orly Taitz and her contacts with Chief Justice John Roberts and Antonin Scalia on the subject of Obama’s citizenship status that was included in the recent Scanner

The Scanner–Politics March 18, 2009: (Taitz-Supreme Court; Sharia Law in Minnesota re: Home Mortgages; Stimulus Money Wanders from the States; Privatizing Vets’ Healthcare)

***

THE PAST WEEK

*By American Lassie

**By Grail Guardian

***By Kenosha Marge

Saturday Sanity: The Antidote to the Madness (March 21, 2009) (Flowers, Fruit and a Miniature Spider Web)

House Passes HR 1388 Under Cover of AIG Diversion –The Linchpin in the Obama Plan to “BUY” Voters …Read What It Says and PLEASE SIGN PETITION TO SENATE NOW!!

*Get in the Mood…It’s SPRING!!

Have You RSVP’d For the DFA Birthday Party Yet?

The Scanner–Politics March 18, 2009: (Taitz-Supreme Court; Sharia Law in Minnesota re: Home Mortgages; Stimulus Money Wanders from the States; Privatizing Vets’ Healthcare)

**The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the North American Union: A Layman’s Overview of the Coming New World Order

ALERT: PLEASE SUPPORT ACTION TO OPPOSE CARD-CHECK NOW! W.A.M ALERT

***Left and Right and Silly

The Past Week: March 8-14, 2009 (Alaska Rivalry? Palin/Murkowski; Franken vs.Colemen=Bush vs. Gore?; China Gearing Up for It’s Own Second Stimulus Package; Sen. Gregg’s Parting Shot)

The Past Week: February 22-28, 2009 (Laura Bush Lives On; Budget Director Peter Orszag/Robert E. Rubin, Iceland Bankrupters; China Taking Advantage of U.S. Weakness As It Looks to Buy Foreign Oil Companies?; U.S. Deaths Spike in Afghanistan; Baracus Caesar Obamacus Meets Barackistanis)

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

R.I.P. my camera, which died just after I finished taking yesterday’s pictures.  I’ve got to get a new one ASAP!!  I discovered today that a couple of my lantana plants are starting to send up shoots–which means, spring is really springing!!

***

While driving around a couple of days ago I heard a public service announcement for either the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs or The Big Brother program, I forget which one. Anyway, guess who was delivering the PSA?  Laura Bush!  Which got me thinking…I’m wondering when we start hearing from Michelle Obama?  I wonder what causes she will lend her services to??  Or is she too busy visiting all the governmental agencies so she can deliver hubby’s message of hope and change?

***

Truth is Gold had a really excellent post up on Friday called  Lest We Pay the Price Too Dear…Learn From History!

An excerpt, with permission:

I cross post today an urgent message, gleaned from three very well informed journalists who know their history well. Urgency dictates that I introduce them and furnish you with the links from which to read their messages in entirety.

The first, by Eric Margolis, reminds us of Afghanistan’s solid history of making mincemeat out of its invaders, from Alexander the Great in 327–325 BC, to the Soviets in 1989, disasters all.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis138.html

In the second, Kevin Barrett reveals in OpEdNews’s “Obama: Political Messiah, or Just Another Third World Dictator?” the facts behind the most recent resident of our White House and cites Webster Tarpley’s work in detail, Tarpley being among the foremost political and historical researchers of our time. Further research has substantiated the fact that indeed, Tarpley’s work is almost faultless in terms of his list of players and the historical context in which they exist.
The third of this terrifying trilogy is Christopher Bollyn’s work on Obama’s new budget director Peter R. Orszag.

SNIP

Orszag, for example, could start by explaining exactly what happened to the Icelandic economy. Orszag was, after all, the founder and president of the economic consultancy firm which advised the Central Bank of Iceland – before it went bankrupt. How did Icelandic banks become so indebted? Ask Peter Orszag.

MORE

Read the whole post.  Read about his links to Robert E. Rubin, Clinton’s Secretary of the Treasury and recently resigned head of Citigroup.  It isn’t looking good…

By the way, the Central Bank of Iceland just hired an interim governor, an economist from Norway. One of the former governors of the CBI who was asked to resign has been offered a job at….the Norwegian Central Bank. And, a possible snag?

“Law professor Sigurdur Líndal told Fréttabladid that he doubts a foreign citizen can be hired to the position, explaining that the constitution states that no one can become a public official in Iceland without holding the Icelandic citizenship.”

Central Bank of Iceland

There’s that “citizenship thing” again…

***

Here’s some more news that will cheer you up…not.  Let’s catch up with some of China’s latest moves.  How will this play out?

First, China is on the prowl, looking to buy foreign oil companies.  From The Telegraph:

CHINA PREPARES TO BUY UP FOREIGN OIL COMPANIES

China is preparing to open a new phase in its race for the world’s resources by using its huge currency reserves to buy foreign oil and gas companies.

SNIPA conference of officials from the National Energy Administration has agreed to consider establishing a special fund for China’s state-owned companies to buy oil and gas firms overseas. The beneficiaries would be the Beijing’s three giant energy companies – Petrochina, Sinopec and CNOOC.

SNIP

The possibility of a Chinese state subsidy for overseas acquisitions may ring alarm bells in Western economies. Four years ago, CNOOC tried to buy an American oil company, Unocal, and succeeded in outbidding its main US rival. But the Chinese firm eventually withdrew its offer amid opposition from American Congressmen. They opposed the idea of a private US firm falling into the lap of a state-owned company, bankrolled by the Chinese Communist Party.

This time, China may calculate that Western governments are in a weaker position to object. They are, after all, spending billions on taking over their own companies, notably the banking sector.

MORE

More background on China’s increasingly bold investments abroad.

***

And what’s this? SPIKING DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN??

***

While visiting RBO, I happened to see this ANNOUNCEMENT about America’s new name, Barackistan.

New! Congratulations to Cinie of Cinie’s World who has found the perfect title for the leader of Barackistan — “Just Barely President, Baracus Hubris Maximus (hail Ceasar!)”. Psst! Baracus Ceasar Obamacus is good, too.

Thanks to Insight Analytical‘s Grail Guardian, America will be referred to as Barackistan and all you little former free-thinking, openly-voting Americans as Barackistanis.

RBO couldn’t think of any more fitting name for the White House/West Wing/Congress than Barackistan HQ.

Any questions?

***

Signing off from Free America…where we’re still “thinking freely”…

THE PAST WEEK

*By Kenosha Marge

Saturday Sanity: The Antidote to the Madness–the Garden Waking Up! (Pic Heavy)

Obama Energy Plan Includes Nano-Generators That Bite

Canadian Banks On the Move Buying U.S. Banks While Bailout Recipient AIG Sells Canadian Life Insurance Business to Bank of Montreal (”Picking over the Carcasses”)

A Giant White Rabbit in Britain Reminds Us How “Logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead”…

The SCANNER–International/Political Edition, 2/24/09 (Which Deficit is Obama “Halving”?; Canada Rubs U.S. Nose into Its Stable Banking System; GM/Chrysler Beg for Bailout Help in Canada, Too; Half of Foreign Criminals in Canada Are Fleeing to the U.S. [???])

*Maudlin Mawkishness in the Age of the Gush

The Past Week: February 15-21, 2009 (”Efficiency” Experts Michelle and “3-Card Monte” Barack Obama…Michelle’s Legacy at U of Chicago Hospital Under Fire by ER Physicians; Hubby Plans to Halve the Deficit via “Efficiency” (Among Other Things…); Spring Garden Prep!