Monday, November 5, 2012

Big Government: "All Jacket, No Bombers"

FEMA can't even provide food water and shelter to hurricane Sandy victims...

Small government conservatives do not hate government. We hate bloated, wasteful, oppressive government. No government at all would mean anarchy, and no conservative I know wants that.

We want a small, efficient government that works.

But, as Mark Steyn points out, so much government now is expensive window-dressing.  The president looked good in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy:
He had himself photographed in the White House Situation Room, nodding thoughtfully to bureaucrats[...] and Tweeted it to his 3.2 million followers. He appeared in New Jersey wearing a bomber jacket rather than a suit to demonstrate that when the going gets tough the tough get out a monogrammed Air Force One bomber jacket.

So you can have Big Government bigger (or, anyway, more expensive) than any government's ever been, and the lights still go out in 17 states – because your president spent 6 trillion bucks, and all the country got was a lousy Air Force One bomber jacket for him to wear while posing for a Twitpic answering the phone with his concerned expression.
He notes that the hurricane only struck a few counties on the eastern seaboard, but it's winds wreaked havoc with an antiquated electric grid across a swath of states:
Everyone else had slightly windier-than-usual wind – and yet they were out of power for days. In a county entirely untouched by Sandy, my office manager had no electricity for a week. Not because of an "emergency" but because of a decrepit and vulnerable above-the-ground electrical distribution system that ought to be a national embarrassment to any developed society.

Imagine if Obama's 2009 stimulus had been spent burying every electric pole on the Eastern Seaboard. Instead, just that one Obama bill spent a little shy of a trillion dollars, and no one can point to a single thing it built.
Steyn goes after New York Nanny Michael Bloomberg as well...
This is a man who spends his days micromanaging the amount of soda New Yorkers are allowed to have in their beverage containers rather than, say, the amount of ocean New Yorkers are allowed to have in their subway system.
Imagine if this preening buffoon had expended as much executive energy on flood protection for the electrical grid and transit system as he does on approved quantities of carbonated beverages.
Finally, Steyn asks, what good is all that military power?
When something goes screwy at a ramshackle consulate halfway round the globe, very few governments have the technological capacity to watch it unfold in real time. Even fewer have deployable military assets only a couple of hours away. What is the point of unmanned drones, of military bases around the planet, of elite Special Forces trained to the peak of perfection if the president and the vast bloated federal bureaucracy cannot rouse themselves to action?
Shouldn't we demand accountability from our government?

All quotes from Biggest Government Can't Keep the Lights On

57 comments:

Ducky's here said...

Imagine if Obama's 2009 stimulus had been spent burying every electric pole on the Eastern Seaboard.

-----------

Silverfiddle, would be wailing like a wounded bull.

Ducky's here said...

For his next trick, Idiot Boy Steyn will explain how burying power lines protects you when a major substation explodes as happened in New York.

About 300,000 lost power in Massachusetts and had it restored within two days.

Silverfiddle said...

Since you leftists love pointing at other countries and crying how we must emulate them, go investigate how many bury their power lines. Of course it won't keep a power station from exploding, canardo, but it does protect the lines.

We do it here in my town.

Any comment on Obama's FEMA screwing the pooch?

Anonymous said...

Immune wife and I have been livieing in a hotel since day one of Sandy.
I am paying $250 a day here. My normal rent in my apartment that was destroyed is $3000 a month.
FEMA is going to give me $1200 for. 2 months and nothing for food etc.

I'm sending this via. Cellphone
Good luck to everyone.
Don't. Forget to change your clocks and our President

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

I went to Long Island last weekend. You would not BELIEVE the gas lines. It was worse than '73.

Saw at least 5 convoys of utility repair vehicles heading for the area up I-95. Even with the influx, it'll be weeks before the power is back on.

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the bad typing, my normal rent is $3,000.

I'm typing under bad conditions here.

Anonymous said...

FG, that's where I am now.

Anonymous said...

Americans should be outraged that the left Stream Media will not permit any bad news about benghazi of Sandy to harm obama's chances of reelection. This is what passes for good journalism today.

Always On Watch said...

Actually, I, for one, wouldn't have been squawking if the stimulus fund had gone to work on our nation's infrastructure IF the monies hadn't blatantly favored the states or regions that so devoutly supported him in 2008.

Obama promised to be the President of ALL Americans. Well, he has not delivered on that promise.

I want to point out something else....To my knowledge, Obama isn't touting his health care reform in his stump speeches. Why is that? Wasn't that reform supposed to be his signature achievement of his first term?

Now, back to the topic of Silverfiddle's blog post.

I note that the Marines have finally arrived to certain NYC boroughs. WHY DIDN'T THE MARINES ARRIVE THERE DAYS AGO?

What has transpired in NYC over the past week or so is an abomination. And, yes, quite the picture of an ObamaNation.

Always On Watch said...

Conservatives On Fire brings up an important point!

The mainstream media have done their best to ignore Benghazi-gate.

The mainstream media have done their best to ignore the Obama's ineffective response to the NYC suffering with regard to Hurricane Sandy.

What the hell?

We all know that the mainstream media would not be "reporting" in this manner if a GOP President were in the Oval Office and so close to a re-election date.

Always On Watch said...

Blogger Beakerkin has shared his personal perspective on what's going on in NYC. According to his recent comment in the comments thread:

I am exasperated that the key Federal building I work in is closed for lack of heat. Are the folks trying to make the Feds look absurd.

That building should have multiple backups.


The federal government can't even get its own buildings up and running? Sheesh.

Finntann said...

@Imagine if Obama's 2009 stimulus had been spent burying every electric pole on the Eastern Seaboard. Silverfiddle, would be wailing like a wounded bull.

@I, for one, wouldn't have been squawking if the stimulus fund had gone to work on our nation's infrastructure.

That's because unlike Ducky, we understand the difference between "welfare" and "general welfare".

Always On Watch said...

You can't make THIS STUFF up:

The Department of Interior (DOI) is requiring private oil companies to hire marine mammal and sea turtle monitors if the companies are granted a lease to drill offshore. A marine mammal observer’s job is to watch for whales, dolphins, and similar sea creatures and to advise on minimizing the underwater noise created by offshore drilling, which can affect the sea mammals.

Look. I'm an animal lover, and that love includes wildlife.

But there are priorities that first need to be tended to. Our infrastructure is one of those priorities.

BTW, in many respects, Hurricane Sandy was a freak storm. There was, IMO, no way to be fully prepared for such an eventuality. But once such a terrible eventuality has occurred, then it is the governments' responsibility to step in with disaster help. Furthermore, it is NOT the governments' responsibility to keep out non-union but qualified electrical workers.

Always On Watch said...

I used plural possessives in my above comment deliberately. It is not only the federal government failing in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

skudrunner said...

FEMA is like any other federal monstrosity, to big and too bloated to get out of their own way.

His wonderfulness was to busy spending 60 billion to buy a union and put an automaker in bankruptcy, paying back contributors with millions to their solar power scams and selling Chrysler off to a foreign auto maker.

Ask the people in Joplin, Alabama, Kansas and Iowa how they got back on their feet. You won't hear them praise the FEMA for their efficient management of a disaster but you will hear them thank all the volunteers and neighbors who pitched in.

Fredd said...

Just one more day (plus an interminable and disastrous lame duck session) to go, Silver.

We will be able to put to rest this "all hat, no cattle" regime.

Love that title, Silver. 'All Jacket, No Bombers.' As Burt Lahr would have lamented, 'ain't it the truth, ain't it the truth...'

Silverfiddle said...

The line "All Jacket, No bomber' is Mark Steyn's, not mine.

I'm not that witty.

Ducky's here said...

What is the point of unmanned drones, of military bases around the planet, of elite Special Forces trained to the peak of perfection if the president and the vast bloated federal bureaucracy cannot rouse themselves to action?

------
Hmm, four people die in what was probably a CIA screwup (redundant?) an Mark is mewling and bawling like a little nanny state pussy. MORE GOVERNMENT !!!
Maybe the little whining puke has a plan that assures nothing bad ever happens to the flagship of exceptionalism.

Now on the other hand tens of thousands of people have had their homes wiped out, just leveled and this piece of human garbage starts mobilizing the barking seals (repubs) with some asinine comment about burying the entire power grid.

Of course the chorus chimes in about FEMA because it's a SNAFU that after a storm of that magnitude it's a week and everything isn't rebuilt.

Is Steyn saying that Bloomberg should have taxed New Yorkers to build Dutch style ocean barriers? Is that crap for brains saying that Bloomberg might have stopped the subways from flooding.
Interesting, the government is blamed and then this ass nugget turns around and talks about the nanny state.

Just stunningly dumb but he's a paid entertainer running the seal act. The real dopes are the seals.

FreeThinke said...

Your graphic today, though exceedingly vulgar, is a HOOT.

Disdain and contempt expressed with wit and humor have greater impact than dull ache we get from straightforward complaint and denigration.

Cheerio!

~ FT

Silverfiddle said...

Ducky is especially dyspeptic today...

Big Gov let you down?

What's stunning is your clownish diversions.

Steyn points out big government failures. Bigger is not the answer, Ducky. Better.

And it's you guys on the statist left who are the barking seals, slapping your flippers together when Uncle Sam throws you a fish, and refusing to hold government accountable.

FreeThinke said...

The Happy Warrior, Steyn
Never ceases to be
In this land of the still-free
Absolutely divine.


~ FreeThinke

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

All hat, no cattle.

Mustang said...

All feathers, no duck.

Jersey McJones said...

Steyn is such a sleazy idiot.

If Progressives actually had our way, and we did have a massive grid upgrade, you cons would be screaming bloody murder about it.

Phonies.

if it wasn't for Progressivism their wouldn't even be a grid in the first place, and America would look like the German Holy Roman Empire of your.

JMJ

skudrunner said...

JMJ

Astute observation and just what I was thinking. Republicans are for going back to wood stoves and candles. Obama is really rallying his base by saying if Romney wins he will take us back to the 50's.

You may have to get a job to provide for your family, no free phones and government help only goes to the needy. Saying things like this is a sure way to energize his base.

Stogie said...

skudrunner and JMJ: Nonsense.

Government has legitimate functions, such as building and maintaining infrastructure, regulating interstate commerce, providing for the common defense, etc; no one is questioning that. We do question the right of the federal government to interfere where it has no legal standing to do so. Legislating health care, abortion, gay marriage and wealth redistribution schemes would be areas that belong to the states, not the feds.

As for skudrunner, going back to wood stoves and candles would by very much a Democrat goal, considering their intense opposition to the use of fossil fuels and nuclear energy. In fact, the Democrats are the most anti-energy body in the civilized world.

skudrunner said...

Stogie, government does a lousy job of performing those legitimate functions.

Government is run for the benefit of politicians. Politicians from either side have two goals in their miserable lives.

1. How to spend our money
2. How to get more of our money to spend

Trekkie4Ever said...

From what I heard this morning, the MSM criticized Romney asking people to send food and water, and pretty much laughed at him.

And oh gosh, forgot who said it, but some organization said to just send money to the Red Cross, but all they were providing was cookies and juice, yeah, people need real food.

Obama did a quick photo op and then skedaddled out of the area. What does he care that people in NYC are literally hungry and desperately need water. People defecting in the hallways because they can't make it down stairs, etc.

None of this is being reported because of the election tomorrow. The MSM has to protect their beloved leader. It's disgusting.

Bunkerville said...

It has been reported by fox that more are out of power than Katrina, plus darn cold for many. Over a million still out. But who would know?

Jersey McJones said...

Stogie, if you really believed anything you say, you'd be a progressive.

skudrunner, government is manageable with an educated populace. Oh, and yeah, you have to pay for that and vote and participate and such. Oh! What a bother!

Leticia? Politicking such subjects at the time of an election? Please say it isn't so!

JMJ

Anonymous said...

Amen Liticia, don't expect any of these Libs to understand that.

Ducky's here said...

From what I heard this morning, the MSM criticized Romney asking people to send food and water, and pretty much laughed at him.

-----
From what you heard? Where did you hear it, you liar?

Ducky's here said...

@mustang --- All feathers, no duck.

-----
That the best you got?

I've always wondered what it feels like to be so indoctrinated that a fool like Steyn can work you like a freaking puppet.

Ducky's here said...

@Jersey --- Steyn is such a sleazy idiot.

-------
Amen.

Silverfiddle said...

It's amusing watching children throwing rocks at a statue and believing they are accomplishing something.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

I have several friends with heavy equipment, bucket lifts, and crews of hard workers ready to get up there to the northeast and help out wherever they can.

They were told to stay home, not come, because none of them are unionized.

Begrudgingly, I say let these afflicted people eat their union cards, and when they decide they want help from people who will actually improve the situation there, we'll be waiting. With invoices.

Finntann said...

@Oh, and yeah, you have to pay for that.

Really? I think we've had a breakthrough here!!!

viburnum said...

@Oh, and yeah, you have to pay for that.

And at this point, so will your children, and grand-children, and great-grand-children, et cetera, ad infinitum.

Got my lights back on about 9 hours shy of a week!!! :-)

Ducky's here said...

@Beamish --- I have several friends with heavy equipment, bucket lifts, and crews of hard workers ready to get up there to the northeast and help out wherever they can.

They were told to stay home, not come, because none of them are unionized.

-------

That's been thoroughly debunked.

You are such a stinking liar, gay boy.

Finntann said...

Really? Even SNOPES which declares the story false says that Decatur Utilities received a 31 page document from ECA which implied a requirement of workers to agree to union affiliation while working in NY and NJ.

So, technically the story is false, they weren't turned away, they never got there.

Also, I was a member of the IBEW (223) in ages past and this is the union that announced a unanimous vote and had six people stand up and call them out on it.

Cheers!

Ducky's here said...

Implied? Implied?

They were routed to another job.

The Alabama news outlet that first reported the story retracted completely.

Of course The Blaze, where beamish gets his news, didn't.

Implied? Please stop.

Kid said...

The guy in the picture looks like a big "O". I submit this should become the new symbol for obama should he carry the election.

Finntann said...

"Implied", not my word, and since I don't have access to the 31 page document cited it will have to do.

Having worked in an IBEW closed shop, I can say this... I wouldn't put it past IBEW members telling non-union workers they can't work, "unofficially" (wink wink) of course.

What's more baffling is why you find the story so incredulous and implausible. Mind you, I am not saying it is the IBEW or JCP&L official position, but I wouldn't put it past some schmuck answering the phone.

Liberalmann said...

Funny how wingnuts just hate to give Obama any credit for getting Osama because he didn't personally shoot him and now expect him to deliver Pizzas to everyone in NYC.

Finntann said...

Oooh look....SHINY!

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

You are such a stinking liar, gay boy.

I can only report that which I am familiar with. I have friends who were told they could not pitch in if they were not unionized. It's pretty much the same as when I myself was turned away in Joplin when it came time to clean up after that tornado last year.

And gay? You must have me mixed up with someone who has a Romney / Ryan sign in their yard on purpose.

Les Carpenter said...

"Shouldn't we demand accountability from our government?"

Yup, we sure as hell should. The million dollar question is... why we ever quit and have been just flapping our gums for the better part of a 100 years?

I'm guessing the next 100 years will be at least the same. Maybe Worse.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

For anyone even mildly interested in Reverend Beamish, Church of Fred Phelps, I refer you to the thread I linked to earlier, where facts and reason are presented that rebut his every cockamamie theory.

Please feel free to continue expounding upon your crackpot theories, Reverend Beamish, at your blog. Grownups are having serious discussion here.


No, they're not. Even if we intuitively understand that "grown ups" don't necessarily include a historically illiterate butthurt ignoramus such as yourself, "New comments have been disabled for this post by a blog administrator." You shut down comments because you're tired of scraping your ass out of your mouth.

Now, if you'd like to unlock that thread and take another ass whoopin' bringing your vapid Catholic mythology to a history fight, we can seriously discuss the absurd premise of a pagan-to-his-death Emperor like Constantine giving the hookup to Arianist heretics like Eusebius being a "gift to Christianity."

But you'd have to be able to withstand getting your misconceptions slapped away, pack up your feeble namecalling, and bring a better game than you have ever demonstrated that you could.

Of course, you won't. Your blog, your rules, your hoops to shove up your ass. Just thought I'd pass this note here, just in case your conscience needed the verification that you're a pipsqueak.

FreeThinke said...

What was it Reagan said about liberals? Something like:

I would respect liberals more, if only they didn't know so many things that aren't true.

Something like that, only he said it better, of course,

But YES! Vigorously positive assertions of wrong-headed thinking are the hallmarks of "liberalism."

They, of course, would say the same of conservatives.

That RORSCHACH thing again.

~ FreeThinke

FreeThinke said...

"I'm guessing the next 100 years will be at least the same. Maybe Worse."

You are unduly optimistic, Les, in your assumption that the USA would even BE here a hundred years from now.

The geographical LOCATION will continue to exist, until earth, herself, implodes or explodes into countless octillions of disparate particles and rejoins the Cosmos as dust, but the spiritual foundation of what-once-was The United States of America -- already eroded beyond repair by leftist thinking wickedly manipulated by The Oligarchs to work to THEIR peculiar advantage -- will very likely perish from the earth before the end of Obama's second term. The Ship of State is now set on a determined course towards the rocks.

If the people fail to vote Ogodno out of the White House today, that dire prediction will become a virtual certainty.

Choosing the available alternative -- however unsatisfactory you may imagine that to be -- might at least give us a CHANCE to survive and prosper once again. Choosing a false, unrealistic, idealistic-but-non-existent alternative only works to give aid and comfort to The Enemy.

Like it or not, we ARE engaged in a Race War not of our choosing, but foisted on us by The Forces of Darkness [no pun intended; it's a spiritual thing].

~ FreeThinke

Silverfiddle said...

Never argue with a crazy man.

And it looks like you're the butt-hurt one, Fred.

Silverfiddle said...

The link is there for anyone to go see for themselves who the nutball was.

Now, keep it on topic Scooter, or you're hitting the trashcan.

FreeThinke said...

How about "headed for Trashkanistan," Silver?

It has such a nice ring to it, don't you think?

TRASHKANISTAN!

If I were The Emperor, it would soon become vastly overpopulated.

~ FT

Trekkie4Ever said...

Jersey, yup, sure am. :)

Darth Bacon, thank you and I hope you and your wife are doing okay.

Ducky, I heard it on the radio on my way to work, and it was AFR, and they don't distort the truth like you or your beloved liberal buddies.

Silverfiddle said...

Hey Ducky, The Alabama crew was turned away. You need to expand your list of information sources. You are keeping yourself ignorant.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/government/2012/11/02/union-red-tape-in-nj-causes-alabama-recovery-crew-to-head-home/

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Seems to me that if you wanted your topics discussed, you'd keep the comment threads open, as opposed to curling up all fetal position in defeat when, well, you're defeated.

But hey, it's your blog, pipsqueak.

Silverfiddle said...

Yes it is, Scooter, and don't forget it.

That thread was open for months. You're the one who ran away crying.