The Easter Message for Obama’s Ears

President Obama and his family walked across Lafayette Square to attend Easter Sunday service at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC.




The presider was the Reverend Luis Leon, who also gave the closing benediction at President Obama’s second inauguration. 

Mr. Obama & Rev. Luis Leon at DC's's St. John's Episcopal Church 

Unlike at the ceremony on the Mall, where Leon’s stated goal was to bring people together, Leon chose to preach politically partisan on the holiest day of the Christian calendar.  Leon preached from the pulpit:

The captains of the religious right are always calling us back, back back. For blacks to be back in the back of the bus, for women to be back in the kitchen, for gays to be in the closet and for immigrants  to be on their side of the border...What you and I understand is that when Jesus says you can’t hang onto me, he says you know it’s not about the past, it’s not about the before, it’s not about the way things were but about the way things can be in the now.

Really? Please cite some contemporary examples of captains of the religious right calling blacks to be at the back of the bus. Leon did not do so during his Easter sermon.

As Luis Leon was not able to flee Cuba until 1961 when he was 12 years old, maybe he had already been indoctrinated in the Church of the Poisoned Mind.  But it was Republicans who were intrinsic to passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which the illustrious intellectual Senator J. William Fulbright (D-AR) filibustered for 57 days along with former KKK grand kleagle Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Vice President Albert Gore Jr.’s father Senator Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN) also opposed.  

In fact, Republican President Eisenhower proposed a substantial Civil Rights Bill in 1957, but the reality was that the voting rights bill  it was opposed by then Senate Majority Leader (and future President) Lyndon Baines Johnson (D-TX) and then Senator (and future President) John F. Kennedy (D-MA). After the longest filibuster in Senate history of 24 hours and 18 minutes  by then Democrat (future Republican) Senator Strom Thurmond (D-SC), the bill which passed was so watered down to effectively kill it.  In comparison, Senator Rand Paul's (R-KY) recent blockbuster filibuster only lasted just over 13 hours. 

Oh, but the clerical bully pulpit alluded to the “religious right”.  OK, since Rev. Leon is playing the prophet, then it should be easy to name the wrong-doers.

C.L. Bryant made a documentary Runaway Slave (2012) in which he urges blacks to run away from manipulation by governmental, clerical and media sources that shackle them as victims on the political plantation.




The Right Reverend Leon’s unspecific indictment of the “enemy” during  the Feast of the Resurrection would probably be considered as leading people astray and perhaps even prostituting an entire people for the sake of power by the Runaway Slave documentarians.

It would be nice if the story was simply a photo op of a lovely First Family dressed in their Easter best clothes.  Or a cynic could chuckle that Mr. Obama walked the one block to church instead of taking a 20 car motorcade six  blocks to the Jefferson Hotel for a dinner party with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John McCain (R-AZ) et ali. as he did a few weeks ago.

But President Obama has a tumultuous history with his professed Christian faith.  Obama attended Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side of Chicago, but pretended that he never heard (or perhaps paid attention to) the provocative and divisive  black liberation theology spouted by the now emeritus pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright.  

During the 2008 transition, Mr. Obama made a big deal about church shopping in the District of Calamity.  Even though the President took the holy Eucharist at St. John’s Episcopal, he has not made any choice for a local church after four and a half years. Then again, unauthorized Obama biographer Edward Klein quoted Reverend Wright in "The Amateur" (2012) that church was not their [the Obamas'] thing"  but that the Trinity United pastor acknowledged that church was an integral part of politics because Mr. Obama "needed that base.".

So Mr. Obama chose Reverend Leon for both the Easter Service as well as the Inauguration.  That is telling.  Leon was the backup benediction giver after Mr. Obama's initial choice of Reverend Louie Giglio was forced to withdraw after it came to light that in the mid-1990s Giglio advocated ex-gay therapy and cautioned against acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle.   


Reverend Leon represents President Obama's new public orientation, as Obama   came out in favor of same sex marriages only last May. Leon's uniting rhetoric in the inaugural benediction suggested that: 

"With the blessing of your blessing we will see that we are created in your image, whether brown, black or white, male or female, first generation or immigrant American, or daughter of the American Revolution, gay or straight, rich or poor." 

 With blessings like that, no wonder the second inauguration public ceremonies were panned as being the most divisive in our nation's history.  But to be fair to Leon, the Episcopal Church has been blessing same-sex civil unions since 2006 and now Washington National Cathedral will be performing same-sex marriages, which are legal in the District of Columbia. Therefore Episcopalians no longer connect scriptural prohibitions against sodomy and same sex relations as sinful. This might explain why many bible believing Anglo-Catholic churches are swimming the Tiber and joining the Catholic Church's Anglican Ordinariate, like St. Luke's in Bladensburg, MD or aligning with traditional Anglican bishops in Africa, like The Falls Church Anglican in Virginia.

So when President Obama is not on vacation or flying to Florida to have  Sunday golf matches with Tiger Woods and he chooses to hear a controversial, confrontational Easter Sunday sermon, it is significant.

The Easter message can be understood with its  parallel to the Jewish Passover. The children of Israel were freed from their slavery in Egypt by Yahweh’s power and they were put on the path to the Promised Land.  Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the Cross conquered the ultimate wages of spiritual slavery to sin–death.  

It might be worth considering if Rev. Leon’s sermon  was truly uplifting or perpetuating continued political bonds dressed up in Easter finery or spurious scriptural sanction.  The answer may be found in Runaway Slave.   Alas, the message might not be a revelation as much as a lamentation.

Huckster Exposed?

On Monday, the Mike Huckabee Show premiered on about 40 stations nationwide, syndicated by Cumulus Media (the current owners of ABC Radio).  The show is slotted to compete head to head with the Rush Limbaugh show from Noon to Three p.m.. To distinguish himself from the King of Talk Radio, former Governor Huckabee’s (R-AR) slogan is “Less Confrontation, More Conversation”, which is meant to appeal to the mushy middle of news-talk listeners.

Huckabee took his first phone call fifty minutes into the show from “Mike in San-Francisco”.  The caller chimed in:

Well Governor, let me start by saying it's great to have a different opinion and a different person on the radio and I'm very, very happy that you're doing this radio show. One of the reasons why I want to listen to your program every day is because you ran for office and you've been a politician, you have a different perspective I think.

What a wonderful way to start off your show. Unfortunately, the background behind this sterling first call may expose the Huck-ster.

The first thing impeaching the bone fides of this call is that the host had not given out the call-in line for first fifty minutes of the show.  Huckabee gave the toll free number and immediately “Mike from San Francisco” was cued up and ready to flatter.  That was a miracle!  It was kind of fishy that a spontaneous caller could parrot the talking points for the show in the first hour of broadcasting, but perhaps “Mike” was a groupie

However, Jeffrey Lord from the American Spectator was able to discern that the caller was Mike McVay, the Senior Vice President of Cumulus Media (the syndicator of the Mike Huckabee Show). McVay never identified himself or his affiliation with the show.  It is remarkable that Huckabee could have a radio colloquy with “Mike” for a couple of minutes and not recognize the voice, with whom the Governor presumably had hours of conversations in the run up to the premiere. Huckabee is no newbie to radio, so it is unlikely that nerves overcame his manners or morality.


Politically, Huckabee is not my cup of tea but I have no animus against him.  Huckabee can be charming on his Fox News Saturday Night cable show, picking the guitar while fiddling with politics. In fact, I believe that Huckabee’s first candidate forum with questions from state Attorney-Generals was probably the best of the score of GOP debates.



It seems quixotic to challenge Rush Limbaugh head-to-head, as challengers like Bill O’Reilly, Al Franken, former Governor Mario Cuomo (D-NY) et ali have been felled in the same field.  My media gut check is that Cumulus is vying to create a moderate success on the cheap.  Cumulus may offer enticing terms (like less expensive syndication fees and more local commercial slots).  Moreover, it is likely that Cumulus may leverage their  their Owned and Operated stations (like DC’s WMAL and New York’s WABC when contracts expire) migrating from Premiere Radio to their own Cumulus network.  Considering how the Obama Administration and the campaign continues to demonize Limbaugh, as seen with the Fluck Flap, Cumulus can champion any stations switching as a groundswell against Rush.  Furthermore, Limbaugh is looking to upgrade his affilates to FM carrier (as was recently seen when Rush left Philadelphia’s powerhouse WPHT-AM for WKDN-FM), which opens up AM signals for Cumulus to syndicate and gives them dubious bragging rights that they replaced Rush.

Maybe only media junkies will notice or remember this disingenuous commencement of the Mike Huckabee show.  Fifteen hours of broadcasting a week is a long time over the airways.  Loyal listeners will quickly figure out who is the real Mike Huckabee.  Good luck in the future.

h/t: American Spectator

ESPN Self Censors The "Rise Up and Register" Campaign

NASCAR race car driver Blake Koch wanted to promote a campaign to educate fans on the importance of participating in U.S. elections.  Koch teamed up with the  “Rise Up and Register” campaign, but it seems that ESPN did rejected the ad supposedly due to the religious and partisan overtones.

See the cancelled ad for yourself:



Their mission statement notes “ Rise Up and Register firmly believes that increased electoral participation will yield tremendous benefit to our great nation at a time when our problems seem to mount daily.”

It is curious that ABC/Disney was so concerned about controversial overtones of the ad, as there were neither allusions to religion or Republicans.  The worst one could say about it is that it depicted an American flag.  Perhaps it would have been permitted if it showed the Obama Stars and Stripes.

Some believe that ESPN expunged the advertisement because of Blake Koch’s strongly expressed personal religious views.  Koch opined: “I didn’t think that my faith in Christ would have an impact on whether or not a sponsor could air a commercial or not.”  Maybe uber partisan progressives in programming thought that he might be related to the Koch Brothers.

The Lamestream Media has never had a problem pimping the “Rock the Vote” campaign, which was more than registering young people but RtV had the stated mission:

We use music, popular culture, new technologies and grassroots organizing to motivate and mobilize young people in our country to participate in every election, with the goal of seizing the power of the youth vote to create political and social change.

Viacom (the owner of MTV and CBS) has maintained a close relationship with Rock the Vote in its 22 year history, even though critics surmise that the RtV efforts are more than useless.  It is surprising that ABC/Disney would not want to burnish their civic image by encouraging American citizens to exercise their franchise, which many have died to defend.

One wonders what was the real rationale for not allowing Rise Up and Register’s advertisement of Koch’s car 41 campaign to be aired.  Are networks purporting to be prissy about allowing advertisements of controversial commercials?  Well, cigarette advertising is back on NASCAR on a limited basis.  And alcohol ads are allowed, albeit that Coors is an official NASCAR sponsor.  So does ESPN’s rejection of Rise Up and Register reflect the self-censorship for the values of Mad Men?  Could it be that the Mouse House spiked “Rise Up and Register” campaign ads as a back handed in kind contribution to the Oval Office incumbent, who would not benefit from motivated “bitter clingers to their God and their guns” which reflect NASCAR fans?

Politics and Super Bowl Commercials

Since its inception in 1967, the Super Bowl has become a key cultural event in America’s civic religion.  But it is not just football fans who gather to watch “The Big Game”.  This year 111 million viewers tuned into the championship game but 114 million people watched  the Half Time spectacular starring Madonna and her cohort M.I.A., who literally gave the finger to the audience. In a similar vein, there are some people who look forward to Super Bowl Sunday for the commercials.

The Super Bowl attracts the largest television audience in the year, so the broadcasting network  command top dollar for commercials run during the game.  This year, a thirty second spot could cost $3.5 million.  So advertisers will use their moment in the spotlight to put their best foot forward with catchy new material.  In fact CBS (not this year’s Super Bowl broadcaster) ran a prime time show celebrating the best and worst of Super Bowl ads as well as hyping the spots that would premiere during the same.  This year, some advertisers leaked their ads online beforehand to spread the excitement.  USA Today convened  panels  in suburban Washington and Phoenix Arizona to measure how much viewers liked the commercials.  Most of the winners featured dogs.

Aside from a super smart canine who used Doritos to facilitate getting rid of felines or the ilk, there were some spots that were overtly political. The Center for Union Facts plunked down good money to show their “Repair Shop” ad. This ad should have been partcularly poignant in host city Indianapolis as Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN) signed legislation that made Indiana the 34th right to work state in the nation, much to the consternation of union activists.

Another unusual Super Bowl spot featured New York City Mayor  Michael Bloomberg (I-NYC) and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (D-Boston) sitting together on a couch to urge “keeping guns out of criminals hands”.  Basically, it was two of the biggest proponents of the nanny state advocating more restrictions on the Second Amendment.  Some progressives are concerned that the “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” might push President Obama’s re-election campaign to focus on gun control.  In the face of the “Fast and Furious” DOJ gunrunning scandal and Democrats past history about pushing federal gun control, Daily Beast writer Adam Winkler worries that advocating this issue might cost the Obama campaign votes.

A regionally run Super Bowl ad that has generated a storm of controversy is an ad by former nine term Congressman  Peter Hoekstra (R-MI 2nd) in his opening salvo to unseat Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).  Hoekstra sought to sell the story  that China is a continuing threat to American job creation.  But most of the buzz from the ad involves mouthpiece for the anti-incumbent message.  The negative ad against “ Michigan Sen. Debbie ‘Spend-it-now” is a young Asian women riding a bicycle across fields of rice paddies.

Voices in the media, as well as some dissenters from the Republican party, have criticized the alleged racist depictions in the ad.  Hoekstra is not chagrined by criticism about the commercial.  Hoekstra invested $150,000 in the ad and his fund-raising has exponentially increased while gaining national attention.  The backbiting from Republicans may represent jealousy and intra-party squabbles.  Moreover, FNN commentator Lou Dobbs thought that “People that are concerned about a racial implication of some sort are missing the point entirely... This is about the results and consequences of public policy choices [and] “I think that Hoekstra is doing a terrific job at defining that.”   But the supercharged cries of racism seems to track the tact which the Democrat establishment is taking to its opponents, as epitomized by the recent kerfluffle with Governor Jan Brewer (R-AZ).

Voices in the media, as well as some dissenters from the Republican party, have criticized the alleged racist depictions in the ad.  Hoekstra is not chagrined by criticism about the commercial.  Hoekstra invested $150,000 in the ad and his fund-raising has exponentially increased while gaining national attention.  The backbiting from Republicans may represent jealousy and intra-party squabbles.  Moreover, FNN commentator Lou Dobbs thought that “People that are concerned about a racial implication of some sort are missing the point entirely... This is about the results and consequences of public policy choices [and] “I think that Hoekstra is doing a terrific job at defining that.”   But the supercharged cries of racism seems to track the tact which the Democrat establishment is taking to its opponents, as epitomized by the recent kerfluffle with Governor Jan Brewer (R-AZ).

Not all political ads during the Super Bowl were overtly partisan.  Chrysler sponsored a two minute advertisement narrated by  conservative icon Clint Eastwood suggesting that “It’s Half Time in America”.  The spot seemed more like a Public Service Announcement than a car commercial since only five seconds of the 120 second ad featured auto-making, and no branding was present until the end credits.

In case one argues that Chrysler was applying a high concept ad that soft sells its brand, consider the application of copyrights.  This ad disappeared for several hours from the internet on Monday by a copyright claim from NFL Properties.  It is strange that the NFL was claiming copyright on an advertiser's product.  It is only hypothesis, but since all but the final credits mentioned Chrysler that the end could be chopped off and played as a PSA during NFL games during the fall, which both offers an uplifting public spirited message as well as pleasing the powers that be.

Fiat Chrysler has extra incentive to ingratiate itself to the Obama Administration.  The bridge loan to Chrysler of $4 billion made in late 2008 was written off by the Obama Administration.  Fiat was given the option to make an “Incremental Call Option” to buy 16% more of Chrysler at a reduced price by paying back the US Treasury $3.5 billion. But Chrysler had difficulty obtaining such private loans.  So Obama Energy Secretary indicated that he would grant a $3.5 billion fuel efficiency loan to Chrysler which was actuated by the Fully Integrated Robotic Engine that is a key component in the 2011 Fiat 500.  No wonder why Fiat was trying to make the modern rendition of the topolino sexy, as it facilitated a $3.5 billion loan for a company that only had a $5 billion market share, and now the Italian automaker owns 51% of Chrysler.  In this light, it is understandable why Chrysler produced this “Half Time in America Spot” to celebrate how Obama crony capitalism saved the “American” auto industry and to be a centerpiece President Obama’s  re-election campaign.

Even though American consumers seemingly have a sophistication towards Super Bowl commercials that celebrates innovation and entertainment, the political soft sell Chrysler used in “Half Time in America” calls to mind celebrity huckster P.T. Barnum’s maxim “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

The Row Over Removing Pink Ribbon from Planned Parenthood

The Susan G. Komen Foundation, the nation’s largest breast cancer organization,  has decided to withdraw its $690,000 in charity to Planned Parenthood.  The Komen Foundation claims that it made the move not for political reasons but to follow its governing policy not to give to groups that are under investigation.

As Chairman of the House Commerce and  Energy Oversight Subcommittee, Representative Cliff Stearns (R-FL 6th) has begun a first-ever audit of Planned Parenthood to investigate its use of federal funding and its compliance with federal restrictions about funding abortions.  This Congressional oversight action comes in the wake of ugly investigative reports from pro-life policy watchdogs.

There have been hysterical claims that the Komen financial withdrawal will endanger womens’ lives.  But after this Komen decision was publicized, Planned Parenthood boasts that it received $650,000 in donations in just 24 hours.  So there effectively will be no loss in funding to Planned Parenthood.  But the dirty little secret is that Planned Parenthood never offered any mammographies anyways.

When Congress was considering an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN 6th) to cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, the organization’s CEO, took to the Joy Behar Show to decry draconian cuts in womens’ health services, including mammographies.




Live Action conducted a survey of 30 Planned Parenthood clinics in 27 states.  None of these clinics provided mammographies.  In fact, when one Arizona Planned Parenthood clinic was pressed to give a mammography referral to another Planned Parenthood clinic, she was told:  "Well, it would be at a different agency altogether because we don’t provide those services whatsoever.”  In response, Planned Parenthood declared:  Every Planned Parenthood, without exception, tells her she will have to go elsewhere for a mammogram, and many clinics admit that no Planned Parenthood clinics provide this breast cancer screening procedure.”

Planned Parenthood loves to give the impression that 97% of their business is for preventive women’s health care.  But that depends upon how one counts the services. Mark Twain observed that “There are lies, damn lies and statistics”  Using some bureaucratic legerdemain, Planned Parenthood can bundle some services whereas other more innocuous services are expanded to make the figures work.   For example Planned Parenthood could claim that 3% of their services were abortion related if they performed three abortions and gave away 97 condoms.

Looking at it another way, Planned Parenthood’s books shows that their clinics generates 38.4% of their income from abortion services.  The bottom line shows that Planned Parenthood is predominantly driven by providing profitable abortion services.

Planned Parenthood receives $317 million in federal funding for FY2010 which is double the amount in 1998.  Governmental funding account for 1/3rd of Planned Parenthood’s  budget.   Supposedly, there is no federal funding of abortions due to the Hyde Amendment.  Planned Parenthood proponents insist that there is a wall of separation between the women’s health and reproductive services and its abortion affiliates and that the funds are segregated.  But according to Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic,  the reality is that all of the funds get thrown into one kitty and are completely fungible.

For years the Hyde Amendment has precluded Planned Parenthood from receiving HHS funding for abortion services.  But thanks to the feckless stand of  former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI 1st) over abortion in Obamacare, even this gossamer restriction will become ineffective.  Consider how the Obama Administration aborted of religious liberty, which will force almost all qualifying health plans by employers to include no cost contraceptive services, including abortifacients (IUDs and the “morning after” pill) as well as sterilizations.  Curious minds want to know who will profit from administering these “family planning” aspects of Obamacare?  After all, Planned Parenthood only has a 28% share of the abortion industry today. But think about the reimbursements from the qualifying health plan administrators.  After all, health care isn’t free, unless you are the recipient of no cost contraceptive services.

Planned Parenthood is now running a targeted media campaign in eight select media markets (all in battleground states)  to thank President Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and to urge them to: “[K]eep protecting the birth control that women count on."




This is the second time which Planned Parenthood has experienced a spike in private contributions after threats of public defunding. After the Pence Amendment passed the House of Representatives in February 2011 by a 240-187 margin, Planned Parenthood bragged that online contributions went up by 500%.  So why did the Democrats threaten to close down the government if Planned Parenthood’s Title X Federal funding was  cut?  After all, Democrats only received $1 million in campaign contributions from Planned Parenthood. In the end, Senate Democrats followed the lead of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to refuse to pass a real budget with the Pence Amendment, which partially explains why Senate Democrats have not lived up the the duties of their office and passed a budget resolution in over 1,000 days.

The  Komen Foundation rescinding their pink ribbon cover to Planned Parenthood may draw undesired attention to unflattering allegations about the organization, like commingling funds, doctoring services reports (e.g. claiming that post abortion check ups are family planning visits), ignoring parental notification statues, not reporting abortions from statutory rapes and providing safe havens to child sex trafficking.  Some states have already been rescinding their funding to Planned Parenthood.  No wonder why Planned Parenthood can not wait for Obamacare to arrive.

Obamacare Elderly Rationing--It's Not Brain Surgery

Recently, while at a social gathering with people from various walks of life, the topic of Obamacare came up.  One of the interlocutors was a liberally oriented health care worker at Walter Reed Army hospital.  She seemed anxious to quell concerns about government run health care by pretending to listen to objections to Obamacare and then ambushing her policy foes with the shining case of the Hawaiian State Health Care Mandate.

The Hawaiian paradigm is an interesting example, except that private insurers can still compete and the state government offers generous but not necessarily strictly mandated policy coverage.  Arguments against Obamacare often get stuck on the question of the constitutionality of the federal government mandating citizens engaging in commerce.  Obamacare is said to be modeled on Romneycare in Massachusetts but the health mandate can properly be a state power.

Another objection to Obamacare is a decline in quality care because of rationing.  Former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) called the perilous cost benefit analysis for the elderly as “Death Panels” which earned her a great deal of derision from the liberal intelligentsia.  The Walter Reed therapist attacked the characterization of “Death Panels” but noted that spiraling costs had to be contained for the last 18 months of life.

It was a pleasure to chat with a well informed ideological opponent about health care, so I enquired if medical research had dictated the change in mammography guidelines for women under 50.  She stammered and said that she had not read anything in medical journals but that was not her area of practice.  I recalled that an HHS preventative care government panel recommended against mammographies for women between 40 and 49 because it lead to false alarms and unnecessary biopsies. I noted that  HHS also downplayed the importance of self exams for women and recommended women get breast exams every other year. These changes seemed suspect since breast cancer is the 2nd highest cancer killer among women, thus I asked someone in the health field how the science changed. I suggested that the government panel of doctors and scientists might be anticipating rationing regime. Of course, the change in government guidelines gives the go ahead for private insurers to stop coverage for unnecessary treatment. She scoffed that I dared think that health policies might be driven by politics and quickly ended the healthy dialogue.

Now a brain surgeon who called into the Mark Levin Show revealed that Obamacare has language that if someone are over 70 years old and on government supported health care and required neurosurgery, they would only qualify for “comfort care” and not neurosurgery. Hospitals would not have difficult cases decided by ethics panels but actually administrators with their eye on the bottom line. Basically, this translates to rationing by death panels.

This issue of dictating comfort care for bleeding on the brain for those over 70 strikes close to home. A loved one had two episodes in a week of bleeding on the brain where he had to be rushed to a hospital. But between access to outstanding teaching hospitals and presumably Medicare supplement, he is living a vibrant and engaged life. It would be tragic to have a government bean counter arbitrarily overrule good medical practice in saving lives to just sling out comfort care.

Granted, costs for the last years of life can be costly and a government which is spending our grandchildren’s inheritance needs to find better ways of containing costs.  Nearly two decades ago, P.J. O’Rourke quipped “If you think that health care is too expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”   I would hate for the cost to be arbitrary rationing which dictates comfort care for those deemed superannuated. The next thing you know, government guidelines will prescribe a Life Carousel for renewal ala Logan’s Run.

It Isn't Easy Believing Green

Considering the blind faith and fanaticism of believers of anthropogenic Climate Change theory, it could be considered a religion.  But based on the scandals, corruption and need to hold revivals, it seems proto-Manmade Climate Change are Losing Their Religion so to speak.

The Obama Administration has made touting Green Energy as a cornerstone of their stimulus national budgetary “investments”.  Additionally, to symbolize the Administration’s commitment to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, President Obama personally went to Copenhagen in 2009 to endorse the concept of higher energy prices to try to mitigate manmade CO2 emissions. But Obama’s eight-minute speech in Copenhagen did not convince Congress to effectively cede U.S. sovereignty for a specious theory. And opinion polls indicate that American concerns about climate change have fallen from 62% in 2007 to 48% in 2011.

Even though Green Jihadists will dismiss climate change “deniers” as being anti-science,  bitter xenophobes who cling to their guns and their bibles, there is good reason to be skeptical about the authenticity of Climate Change models.  Anthropogenic Climate Change proponents cling to data coming from East Anglia University which showed a hockey stick model which bolstered their beliefs. But just before the Copenhagen 2009 “synod”, leaked e-mails revealed that the East Anglia “scientists” manipulated their data, had personal doubts about the conclusion and sought to suppress contradictory evidence.  Oh H-E-double Hockey Sticks!

President Obama keeps pointing to Spain’s “The Sun Moves Us” initiative as a model for a green economy.   There are a couple of problems with emulated this solar Castle in Spain.  Firstly, the government subsidy spread funding to shoddy solar panels which did not last long. The Spanish government subsidy was so lavish that much of the funding went to solar panel manufacturers in China. The Zapatera government created a boom and bust solar economy that resulted in solar ghost towns, like Sesena Nuevo 30 miles south of Madrid.  And talk about the green jobs in Spain–the official unemployment rate is a mere 21%.  No wonder why thousands of young Spaniards gathered at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid as well as other cities in May.  This could explain why Spain’s governing Socialist sustained heavy losses in the spring elections.

When President Obama was trying to sell his American Recovery Act in 2009, he alluded to dire consequences unless America committed funds to a bevy of “shovel ready” projects to create a clean energy economy.  But experience has taught Americans that the $787 Million in stimulus was actually Porkulus which financed shady crony capitalism, especially for FOBs (Friends of Barack).  For instance, the legislation earmarked $4.3 Billion for “fossil energy research and development” with a $2 Billion for “near zero emission clean coal powerplant(s)”.  Well, oddly enough, only the FutureGen coal gasification plant in Mattoon, Illinois could possibly qualify for that $2 Billion line item.   Supporting the incertion of the FutureGen line item included ex-Governor Rod Blogojevich (D-IL), former House Majority Leader Rep. Dick Gephart (D-MO 3rd), a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and former House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA 1st).  That is a lot of lobbying muscle for a surgical strike stimulus line item for a technology which many environmentalists and renewable fuel advocates claim is an impossibility.

If that is not enough to demonstrate how Obama Administration clean energy stimulus spending is a piggy bank for political friends and home state boondoggles, consider the case of Solyndra.  In 2010, President Obama trekked out to Fremont, California to visit the Solyndra solar manufacturing plant which had received over a half billion dollars of 2009 stimulus funding.  Last month, Solyndra filed for bankruptcy.  The owner of Solyndra is Obama fundraiser George Kaiser, who has only visited the White House 16 times since Obama took office.  Synchronicity?  More like crony capitalism.

Former Vice President Al Gore, Jr. has made a fortune hawking the myth of Manmade Climate Change.  His Powerpoint presentation was converted into a documentary film An Inconvenient Truth (2006) grossed nearly $50 Million worldwide. An Inconvenient Truth won Gore an Oscar (2007), a Grammy (2009) and a shared Nobel Peace Prize (2007) It is safe to say that Gore embodied the spirit of the liberal intelligencia. Schools made watching the film mandatory for students, even though an English court found nine substantial errors in the film.

Gore had been called to testify before Congressional Committees as an expert witness on energy and environmental issues, even though Gore stood to substantially profit from the proposed policy changes.  Gore defiantly declared that he was putting his money where his mouth was when he responded “"Do you think there is something wrong with being active in business in this country? I am proud of it. I am proud of it.” Gore’s $75 Million investment in Silver Spring Network could reap dividends from its share of a $3.4 Billion grant from the Department of Energy for smart grid technology and make Al Gore the first Carbon Billionaire.

General Electric has not been shy about embracing the green mantra.  When G.E. owned NBC Universal in 2007, it devoted 75 hours of free broadcasting on NBC, CNBC, Bravo, Sundance, Universal HD and Telemundo for Gore’s “Live Earth: Concerts for a Climate in Crisis”. G.E’s lobbying filings in 2009 seemed like it was proselytizing the Gospel of Gore.  But their were business incentives for their embracing green policies–the green from government grants, tax incentives and the management of prospective new environmental markets.

Naturally, G.E. could get green from Uncle Sam for starting wind power projects or solar energy spots.  But the big money concern was profiting from Carbon Credits.  G.E. lobbied heavily for a Cap and Trade System rather than a straight tax system, so that the credits would be exchanged via G.E.’s new Greenhouse Gas Services unit.  Who else had a hand in crafting from the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)?  Are you surprised to learn that it was community organizer Barack Hussain Obama?  Even more interesting is the fact that one of the major investors was Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management.  It's too bad that Cap-and-Tax did not pass the Senate in 2009 and the CCX subsequently folded.

Now that belief in the myth of manmade Climate Change is in the doldrums, Al Gore wants to hold a revival to rail against climate deniers.  On Wednesday and Thursday, Gore will hold “24 Hours of Reality”, which will broadcast an Al Gore presentation every hour for each time zone to convince the public about climate change. It might be more beneficial if Gore spent his energies concentrating on releasing his chakra.

Typically, the left is contemptuous of authentic expressions of Judeo-Christianity as being knuckle draggers for not worshiping their scientifically driven progressive policies.  But the Sun King and the Pretender to the Throne ought well to be turning green with nausea for a simple glance in the mirror would reveal that the Environmental and Energy Emperor is not wearing any clothes.  Such an epiphany should make us all sick.

H/T: Tim Carney, Washington Examiner

Spreading Sunlight on the Central Florida SunRail

In February 2011, newly elected Governor Rick Scott (R-FL) derailed the planned $2.4 billion Orlando to Tampa high speed rail project.  This rejection of the Porkulus Project agitated the Obama Administration and mass transit maniacs.  Yet after contemplating the situation for four months, Gov. Scott gave the green light to the $1.2 billion Central Florida SunRail project. This decision embittered Tea Party supporters. Why did he warm up to SunRail?

Part of the problem with the Orlando to Tampa train is that it was a top down decision coming from Washington to spend part of $847 billion Porkulous on projects that promoted the agenda of the self described most train-friendly administration in history, namely the Obama/Biden Administration. The fact that it would be under the auspices of Amtrak did not help as House Transportation Chair John Mica (R-FL 7th) likened Amtrak to the “Soviet styled train system” and probably was just as financial inefficient.

The fact that the Orlando-Tampa route would only have been 84 miles long with five stations along the way did not help as it could not reach “Supertrain” speeds yet it would require laying the special new tract.  Compared to a car trip, the proposed HSR section would not have markedly cut travel time nor would it have been cost efficient. Florida would have been responsible for potentailly $3 billion in cost overruns and the state would be on the hook for ongoing operation subsidies when it did not meet the criteria for successful HSR lines. In addition, residents of Tampa and impoverished agrarian Polk County would have needed to raise their sales tax by 1%.

Four months later, Gov. Scott approved the SunRail project.  Why?  The genesis of the SunRail was local.  Unlike the “Supertrain”,  the SunRail was conceived of locally in 1993 as a 61 mile commuter rail connection between five central Florida counties.  The Florida Legislature held a Special Session for the SunRail project in 2009 which stipulated that state would be responsible for 25% of the costs. State lawmakers in Tallahassee approved SunRail by votes of 84-25 in the House and 27-10 in the Senate.  Four of the five Counties (aside from Osceola) involved have already given near unanimous approval to the project and their associated costs.

Source: WOFL

Funding may have been another way to grease the rails.  Under the Federal Transit Administration’s “New Start” program, SunRail received 50% of the estimated $1.2 billion in funding from Uncle Sam.  The central Florida counties involved are responsible for another 25%. Even though the FTA ranks SunRail near the bottom of priorities, the influence of a Congressional Cardinal like Rep. Mica ensures action for his pet project.  Localities have also benefited from the Mica touch.  Chairman Mica’s hometown of wealthy Winter Park will have a new $1.8 million SunRail/Amtrak station thanks to the largess of federal taxpayers.

Source: Jacksonville Business Journal

A third facilitating factor was logistical.  SunRail is a commuter rail project, not a High Speed Rail extravaganza that required laying new track. So once Tallahassee blessed SunRail, it could buy the tracks from freight train carrier CSX for $432 million (including $150 million for track acquisition and $198 million for S-line improvements).  CSX embraced the SunRail change, as the commuter rail project will prompt a shift of the terminal out of Orlando to a $100 million new terminal in more rural Winter Haven, thereby improving its freight operations in central and southern Florida.

Anti corporate critics charge this CSX deal as being crony capitalism, as CSX is the largest corporate contributor to Rep. Mica.  In a similar track, liberal watch hawks note that other major Mica campaign contributors are central Florida real estate executives, who stand to benefit from building housing and commercial developments around the commuter rail stations.  This may be more than serendipity, but how many liberal good governance types are aghast that Joe Biden seems to treat Amtrak as a placement service for friends and family ala Freddie Mac?  And have these progressive politicos shined a spotlight on the connections that GE has with diesel locomotives and how they stand to profit from green ventures?  Not surprisingly, not many if any.

While it is refreshing that SunRail is not irrationally exuberant about rider-ship predictions, initially predicting 2,100 daily riders for the Phase I Deland to Sand Lake Road section, that seems shockingly low.  This lowball prediction is despite fares have been speculated to be $2.50 one way with a $1 per additional county traveled.  Area employers like Disney and Sea World have promised commuter connections to their workplaces.  While there is no stop at Orlando International Airport per se, nearby stations will have a bus connection.

The prospective low rider-ship has Tea Party activist steaming, as they are worried about a repeat of Tri-Rail, the commuter rail between Miami and West Palm Beach.  The 70 mile South Florida commuter rail has not come close to turning a profit since it opened in 1987. Even though it averages 13,000 passengers a day, Tri-Rail loses between $13-15 million a year.  Wags have speculated that for the amount of subsidy that state and local governments put into Tri-Rail, they could lease Nissan Altimas at $199 a month for all its current passengers.  With significantly less rider-ship, what prevents this from being another white elephant that binds Florida’s taxpayers.

Tea Party critics are concerned that after the FTA “New Start” funds are expended, there is no guarantee of future Federal funding.  But the state of Florida is obligated to cover any unanticipated cost overruns, and rail projects typically cost 40% more than the starting price.  The Federal matching funds only cover the first 32 miles of the project, which only includes 1 stop in Volusia County and no stops in Oceola County.  Localities are required to contribute even if Federal funding is delayed.  If there are problems after Phase I, Volusia and Oceola might reneg, which would require the state to cover, but by then Gov. Scott will most likely already have left Tallahassee.

The Federal funding agreement forces two changes to the SunRail plan which makes it more costly and less green.  Firstly, the fine print requires SunRail to operate between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. on weekends during Phase I.  This is stupid for a commuter rail system to operate on a WEEKEND, but maybe resort workers might not have typical work schedules.  The funding agreement does not authorize Self Propelled Units (Diesel Multiple Units), which Rep. Mica championed (and had campaign contributors in US RailCar) .  Instead, SunRail must commit to using old style polluting Diesel Locomotives.  There is no such thing as a free lunch.

The SunRail plan commits the state to purchase CSX’s rail lines.  Cost conscious critics question why the lines were not leased instead.  Was this a touchy liability issue or perhaps some crony capitalism?  Another suspect cost of SunRail is FDOT picking up $23 million cost for CSX to move from the Orlando Taft Freight Yard to Winter Haven.  CSX has promised to reinvest all of the $432 million from the sale to their Florida operations–surely some costs could have been lifted from Florida taxpayers. After all, Sunshine State Citizens are likely to pay 70% of the costs of the project.

Doing a cost benefit analysis on SunRail is complex.  The localities through their elected representatives supported SunRail, and it was approved by the Florida legislative and executive branches.  So as the axiom goes, they made their bed so now they can sleep in it.  Most likely, the Commuter side of SunRail will not be fiscally self supporting.  With such low rider-ship, it is dubious that commuter congestion on the I-4 will be significantly alleviated.  But the rerouting of rail freight through Winter Haven may make commercial transportation more efficient.  Moreover, it may lessen the danger caravans of eighteen wheeler trucks barreling down US 17/92 and the I-4 competing with resort workers and clueless tourists driving around Metro Orlando.

While Floridians may be concerned about the costs of SunRail, it pales in comparison to the extra $330 that the Washington Metropolitan Airport Authority wants to assess on participating governments to bury the Dulles Airport metro station, so that it does not interfere with the aesthetics of the Eero-Saarinen designed terminal.

Gov. Scott has vowed that if SunRail proves to be a big boondoggle, it will kill the future of trains in Florida. Unless they are convinced otherwise by a slick monorail shyster.

DOTty about High Speed Rail

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) rejected $2.4 Billion in Porkulus spending “High Speed” rail line in Central Florida.  There was not strong support from Central Florida citizens for this High Speed Rail project.  Voters in in Tampa and Polk County (FL) rejected a 1 cent sales tax increase dedicated to the “Supertrain”. Moreover, Gov. Scott reasoned that the Orlando metropolitan area (2 million) and the Tampa Metropolitan area (2.7 million) was too small to sustain the high speed rail system.  In addition, it is unlikely that the five scheduled stops in the 84 mile route would allow the train to ever reach “high speed” status.

Gov. Scott claimed that he was trying to protect Florida taxpayers from an estimated $3 Billion in cost overruns. The SunRail deal was structured so that Florida was responsible for half of the high speed rail costs and 20% of commuter rail costs.   Gov. Scott suggested “Rather than investing in a high-risk rail project we should be focusing on improving our ports, rail and highway infrastructure.”

Obama Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood snarkily reacted that since there was an overwhelming demand for the stimulus funds earmarked for high speed rail and states like California ought to send a thank you to Florida for rejecting the funds.  LaHood denied that Florida taxpayers would be on the hook for cost overruns or stillborn project planning costs. This assertion is a stark contrast to the New Jersey paradigm, where the Obama Administration levied a charge back of $350 million to the Garden State when Gov. Chris Cristie (R-NJ) refused to write a blank check for the train to Macy’s.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-FL 7th) has been conflicted about rail expenditures.  Rep. Mica inveighed that “Amtrak's Soviet-style train system is not the way to provide modern and efficient passenger rail service." Mica also derided the Obama Administration’s push to spend an additional $53 Billion in passenger rail projects under the auspices of the Federal Rail Authority and Amtrak as “This is like giving Bernie Madoff another chance at handling your investment portfolio.”   But Mica was also disappointed that the SunRail point was scuttled by Gov. Scott, perhaps because a pet project of a Congressional Cardinal was being sacrificed.

Building upon the fact that Orlando attracts 63 million visitors a year, Rep. Mica renewed a call to complete 21 miles of the proposed SunRail route that would connect Orlando’s main airport with the Orlando Convention Center and Disney World. Based on the massive influx of tourists, this cautious first step on the Central Florida HSR route has a chance of not being a modal money pit.

However it is unlikely that the Obama Administration DOT Secretary LaHood will approve the project on its merits because it is not a high speed rail connecting two cities.  The real reason maybe somewhat murkier.  The Obama Administration was poised to point to SunRail during the President’s re-election effort as a validation of the $836 Billion in Stimulus Spending on shovel ready projects, as well as to burnish the 21st Century Infrastructure improvements and as a sop to green voters who want to force Americans out of their evil polluting automobiles. That argument is less auspicious when it is effectively a commuter rail for tourists.

It is probable that financial and power considerations also make Rep. Mica’s modest proposal less palatable to the Feds.  The State (or municipality) only needs to pick up 20% of commuter rail costs.  A commuter rail between MCO and Disney would be under the auspices of the City of Orlando and Orange County (FL), thus bypassing the authority of the Federal Rail Administration or Amtrak, which is a government sponsored enterprise that has long been a financial featherbed for connected Democrat politicos. No wonder why Between-the-Beltway elites are dotty about trains.

Florida is the fourth most populous state and does not receive anywhere near its fair share of federal transportation expenditures compared to its gas tax contributions to Washington.  It is unseemly to have unwanted federal public policy projects from outside of the state foisted on its citizenry who will bare the brunt of the boondoggle.

But local pet projects of politicians also can be undesirable.  In 1987, the Detroit People Mover was completed at the behest of longtime Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young (D-Detroit) for a mere $187 million.  The 2.9 mile route does nothing to alleviate congestion or commuting.  It does attract 2.7 million in ridership, mainly because the $0.50 fares does not include the $3 per ride that the government absorbs.  It was a vanity project to take advantage of Federal transportation dollars.

If the U.S DOT diverts Florida’s transportation earmark from Florida to California, it will have the appearance of rewarding political friends and punishing foes to push an idealistic ambition.  Considering the estimated cost of $45 Billion for the Golden State High Rail project and the possibility that cost overruns will skyrocket the cost to $60 Billion, they can use all of the earmarks that they can get.

H/T: Orlando Sentinel
H/T: Rick Geller

Railroading Cronyism and Corruption

The proposal by the Obama Administration to spend an additional $53 billion over the next six years on passenger rail improvements has already been scrutinized on the rail fundings dubious merits.  But during the photo op at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Statement to announce the initiative, Vice President Joe Biden half joked “I’m like the omnibudman for Amtrak”.  Biden’s half witticism was not far from the truth.

When Biden first ran for President in 1987, he staged a Biden Express Whistle Stop campaign, which Biden plagiarized from Harry Truman’s famous 1948 Presidential campaign.  During the 2008 general election campaign, Biden had a press availability on an Amtrak train to highlight the 7,900 round trips over thirty years that he made commuting between Wilmington, Delaware and Washington, DC for his tenure in the United States Senate.  At that time, Biden promised that the Obama administration would be the most  ``train-friendly administration in history.” Based on the $10.5 billion already allocated and the $53 billion proposed, that was a promise made and promise kept.

The commuting costs for riding on the Amtrak Acela would be beyond the pocketbook of most consumers, but there is some question as to whether Biden’s ticket to ride was at a special rate. Others in the pajamahadeen have uncovered other deep discounts for federal officials taking “joy rides” on Amtrak. I doubt that the Lamestream Media will investigate this. But after all, it is a government business and Amtrak ought to threat its owners well.

Alas, Amtrak’s issues are not just limited to just federal free loaders.  Michelle Malkin has been tenacious at uncovering cronyism working on the railroad, and noting how that threatens both out pocketbooks and our national security.  In 2009 , an independent audit from the Wilkie Farr and Gallagher law firm concluded in a damning 94 page report that the independence and the effectiveness Amtrak’s Inspector General’s office had been “substantially impaired”.

This independent audit of Amtrak was triggered after the sudden “retirement” of veteran Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold in June, 2009. Weiderhold was the whisteblower who publicized the Amtrak Law Departments intrusions on the IG’s investigation of $1.3 billion in rail stimulus funds and how the Amtrak GC spent $5 million in federal stimulus money to hamstring his probes.  This helps Senator Grassley (R-IA), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA 49th), Rep. Bill Schuster (R-PA 9th)  and Rep. John Mica's (R-FL 7th) skepticism about lavishing such expenditures on the federal passenger rail system as it is currently organized.

Coincidentally, the head of Amtrak’s General Counsel is Eleanor Acheson, a close friend of Vice President Biden.  Acheson hired Jonathan Meyers, a former Biden Senate aide, as her Deputy General Counsel, which she just considers a “happy coincidence” And Vice President Biden’s son Hunter is on the Amtrak Board of Directors.  Quasi-governmental  institutions are officially prohibited from lobbying Congress, yet Hunter Biden is recognized as “an effective advocate from the government railroad system” by Politico. Curiouser and curiouser.

This serendipitous coincidence of cronyism is not confinded to Amtrak management.  General Electric was a top Obama campaign supporter which also owned MSNBC and devoted lots of positive media to green technology stands to greatly benefit from the expansive railroad initiatives. GE Transportation is the leading manufacturer of diesel-locomotive engines.  And former G.E. C.E.O. Jeffery Immelt has recently been named to head the new White House Jobs Counsel.  The White House promotes their lavish spending on railroads as keeping America on track for economic opportunity and job creation.  Isn’t that convenient?

This record of Amtrak mismanagement was not confined to the Obama Administration’s tenure. The George W. Bush Administration attempted to zero out Amtrak funding due to mismanagement in 2005 but that privatization plan was sidetracked. As a Senator, Joe Biden was  was the Amtrak designated Champion of the Rails who lobbied to keep funding for a perennial money losing government funded Amtrak operations.  In fact, Biden co-sponsored re-authorization of Amtrack in 2008 when President George W. Bush doubled Amtrak funding to $13 billon over 5 years.   The Obama administration wants to quadruple that amount in a self proclaimed era of economic austerity.

Aside from being a sop to Unions and continuing to grow government to be a Leviathan, Amtrak is an example of another government sponsored enterprise which allows Democrat politicians to featherbed for their cronies as well as to ensure cheap commuting costs for our elected and appointed elites.  Think of it as Fanny Mae with choo-choo trains.

H/T Michelle Malkin