Uncle Earl
The Last Goodbye

Stanley Clarke
Tutu

Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are ‘running out of money’

Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are ‘running out of money’
New Republic: At best, high gas prices have an indirect effect: They make voters think inflation is worse than it actually is.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Wal-Mart’s core shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said Wednesday.

“We’re seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure,” Duke said at an event in New York. “There’s no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact.”

New Republic: HERE

Not only that, he makes sure he always has yuan in his wallet

This is the result of the message of hope.

Make no mistake.

Congress says will halt US aid if PA merges with Hamas

From Will at The Other News:

(Ynet).US House members enrages by PA's newfound desire to reconcile with Hamas, say it will render Ramallah ineligible for Washington aid funds.WASHINGTON – Senior congressmen said Thursday that if the Palestinian Authority follows through on its intention to reconcile with Hamas, the move may jeopardize the United States' aid to the Palestinians, and perhaps even bring it to a halt. 

The United States Foreign Assistance Act names stipulations for such aid, which the Palestinian Authority – if it forms a government with Hamas – will fail to meet. The US considers Hamas a terror organization, and naturally, will halt any funds which may fund their way to it.House Foreign Affairs Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen released a statement saying that, "The reported agreement between Fatah and Hamas means that a Foreign Terrorist Organization which has called for the destruction of Israel will be part of the Palestinian Authority government. US taxpayer funds should not and must not be used to support those who threaten US security, our interests, and our vital ally, Israel.

 “According to existing US law, such a hybrid government cannot be a recipient of US taxpayer funds because the law stipulates that the PA government must recognize the Jewish state of Israel’s right to exist, among other things. “By entering into this partnership with Hamas, Abu Mazen’s Palestinian leadership has shown again that it is not a partner for peace. If reports are correct, the PA would then be standing with those who want only death and destruction for Israel," Ros-Lehtinen's statement said.Congresswoman Nita Lowey Nita Lowey, the highest ranking Democrat on the House foreign aid subcommittee, issued her own statement, warning that "Unless Hamas accepts the Quartet Principles, which include renouncing violence and recognizing Israel, the formation of a unity government with Fatah will be a deathblow to the peace process…

"A unity government with Hamas would put US assistance and support at risk, based on restrictions I authored as Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.” 

Sounds like the Obama regime is still cosy with them?

Read the full story here.

Obama regime Thuggery: Replace Your CEO or Else 

From Will at The Other News:

(WallStreetJournal).A government attempt to oust a longtime drug-company chief executive over his company’s marketing violations is raising alarms in that industry and beyond about a potential expansion of federal involvement in the business world. 

The Department of Health and Human Services this month notified Howard Solomon of Forest Laboratories Inc. that it intends to exclude him from doing business with the federal government. This, in turn, could prevent Forest from selling its drugs to Medicare, Medicaid and the Veterans Administration. 

 If the government implements its ban, Forest would have to dump Mr. Solomon, now 83 years old, in order to protect its corporate revenue. No drug company, large or small, can afford to lose out on sales to the federal government, a major customer.{snip}

The “action against the CEO of Forest Labs is a game changer,” said Richard Westling, a corporate defense attorney in Nashville who has represented executives in different industries against the government.According to Mr. Westling, “It would be a mistake to see this as solely a health-care industry issue. The use of sanctions such as exclusion and debarment to punish individuals where the government is unable to prove a direct legal or regulatory violation could have wide-ranging impact.” An exclusion penalty could be more costly than a Justice Department prosecution.He said that the Defense Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, for example, have debarment powers similar to the HHS exclusion authority.Hmmmm.....Show me your donations or else?In Obama land being wealthy is a crime.Sounds like NAZI Germany they went first after wealthy Jews.Read the full story here.

This Week On The Gathering Storm: Midnight Rider!

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, hosted by WC and Always On Watch. The show broadcasts live every Friday beginning at noon, Pacific Time, for 30 minutes.

The call-in number is 646-915-9870.

Callers welcome!

Our scheduled guest this week is Midnight Rider.

Listen to the April 29, 2011 edition of The Gathering Storm Radio Show, live or later, by CLICKING HERE.

UPCOMING SHOWS

When economic facts marshall themselves into a self fulfilling cycle ..panic questions start, especially in a leadership VACUUM

Today:

Dollar Loses More Ground

More people applied for unemployment benefits

Economic Growth Slow as Inflation Measure Spikes Up

Bernanke: Fed Sees Slower Growth, Uptick in Inflation

Stocks Fall, Dollar Weakens as U.S. GDP Growth Slows; Gold Reaches Record

Australia to be port of call for Chinese navy

but don’t worry, because back home

Marines get trained on accepting gay recruits

Americans too dumb to assess real inflation: The latest delusional denial dodge in the progressive self-armementarium

So I’m reading what used to be the centrist SLIGHTLY left leaning New Republic (I mean, they did go Truman over the Wallace split in 1948, but had an internal revolt over George -the hated- Bush) and chuckling over this INCREDIBLE DELUSIONAL paragraph, inthis article:

High gas prices are unquestionably a pain for many Americans.(xlation for real people … you know when we have to cancel 250 mile trips to family or make sure we accomplish three things in town instead of one). Thanks to our highway-centric infrastructure (xlation for real people,..you know because we don’t have all that high speed rail which will cause lions to lie down with lambs) , most people can’t really avoid driving (xlation for real people … you know, it’s not your fault, you were duped by those people who came after Carter, and then 9/11, and Iraq), even when gas prices spike; right now, for instance, they’re hovering near $4 per gallon. But it’s less clear that voters will end up taking it out on Obama (xlation for real people …I have to believe this or that creep Krauthammer will be right). The old c.w. was that high gas prices chipped away at a president’s poll numbers. George W. Bush’s approval ratings seemed to fluctuate in perfect concert with pump prices. More recently, though, political scientists have peeled these numbers apart and found that the correlation is mostly a statistical mirage. At best, high gas prices have an indirect effect: They make voters think inflation is worse than it actually is.

That last line and the article is the kicker. It purports to be an academic explanation of why Americans CANNOT actually decide for themselves what inflation really is because we cannot know the weighted averages and numbers that go into measurement of this stat beyond our instinctual, tribal grunting capabilities, and therefore when we begin to dislike a president because of our limited, challenged abilities, this dislike is ACTUALLY a statisctical mirage.

It’s FABULOUS. FABULOUS. When we decide food prices, and gas prices, and other necessities are rising, the progressives DISMISS IT because, really, WE HAVE A SINGLE EYEBROW COVERING OUR FOREHEADS.

It’s a statistical MIRAGE.

As will this presidency be, in 2012.

Insh’allah, heh?

Related articles

• Don’t Be The Fall Guy | Speculating On Inflation, Deficit, Jobs, Krugman & Esquire(unfinishedscript.wordpress.com)
• The shoe that flew past Bush must of hit Obama! (smacktalkradio.wordpress.com)
• The Fed Must End QE2 on April 27th (investmentpostcards.com)
• What’s really driving inflation (money.cnn.com)
• The President Turns Left | Dick Morris (jamespatrick1.wordpress.com)
• Bernacke: Don’t Worry, I Got This, Everything’s Going According To Plan (PS, Inflation Will Be Higher And Growth Will Be Lower, and, Sidenote, Unemployment Will Remain as High as 9%) (minx.cc)
• Obama’s Ratings Take a Hit with Hike in Gas Prices (abcnews.go.com)
• Dana Milbank: I Think The Problem Is That Obama’s Just Too Darned Smart To Be Politically Effective(minx.cc)

Where dems fear no repubs, and cannot beat them with the issue: THEY STRIP PUBLIC UNIONS OF RIGHTS...to save the budget

Boston Globe:

House votes to restrict unions

Measure would curb bargaining on health care

House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last night to strip police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over health care, saying the change would save millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns.

The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states. But unlike those efforts, the push in Massachusetts was led by Democrats who have traditionally stood with labor to oppose any reduction in workers’ rights.

Unions fought hard to stop the bill, launching a radio ad that assailed the plan and warning legislators that if they voted for the measure, they could lose their union backing in the next election. After the vote, labor leaders accused House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and other Democrats of turning their backs on public employees.

READ IT ALL

This society simply promised too much when largess seemed possible, and whether this was done cynically for political support, contributions, or votes, or good intentions, SIMPLY DOESN’T MATTER. Like the society which borrowed against rising land values, and met crisis when that could not continue, or banks that hedged with the same and had no margin to cover the drop’s consequences, public institutions now find that without the benefit of a continual rise, insufficiently measured pension, health and other promises simply are not possible to keep without ensuring that other such promises cannot be extorted by public unions.

It STINKS, but that is HOW IT IS, and HOW IT HAS TO BE.

This story, however, highlights the cynical manipulations of democrats in other states to pummel republicans over this precise issue. We will end up with a public that doesn’t care, and a nation that falls.

Related articles

• In Wisconsin, the line between Unions/Dems and Repubs is drawn in the sand(thehalshow.wordpress.com)
• Rightwing, Fascist, Tea Partiers Vote To Restrict Public Union Bargaining Rights In….Massachusetts House?? (minx.cc)
• House leadership scrambling for votes to strip some bargaining rights (boston.com)
• Rightwing nutjobs looking to kill public employee union bargaining rights in…Massachusetts?(crushliberalism.com)
• Latest state to curtail PEU bargaining rights is … Massachusetts? (hotair.com)
• Firefighters union says “enough” to the spineless Dems. Me too. (preaprez.wordpress.com)