The CA Bill That Would Shut Down Every Small Restaurant

April 13, 2013 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, California, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Progressives, Regulation, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The State of California has one of the worst proposals of any legislature in the country this year with a new bill that would force every restaurant and food service business in the state to commission an expensive “risk assessment” test for every menu item, a test that could cost thousands of dollars for every food item sold. This outrageous and cost prohibitive testing would certainly cause all but the biggest chain restaurants to go out of business almost instantly.

In another exercise in nanny-statism, California’s State Senate Democrats want this “risk assessment” conducted to determine whether food being sold “contributes significantly to a significant public health epidemic.”

The bill, Senate Bill 747, is an addition to the current health and safety codes and is currently set for a hearing on April 17. It was written and introduced by Sen. Mark DeSauliner (D, Concord).

The introduction of the bill clearly says that the law would require the food service companies to pay the state for the testing in order to fill state coffers and notes that without the assessment, the state would have the right to shut an offending restaurant down.
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Obama’s ‘Poverty Plagued’ America

April 12, 2013 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Constitution, Crony Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Entitlements, Ethics, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, Liberty, Policy, President, Progressives, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Welfare | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

In a stinging indictment of President Obama’s tenure in the White House, at The Daily Beast Stuart Stevens slams President Obama for the devastating “new normal” that his failed economic polices have brought to the country. Stevens also blames the Old Media complex for ignoring the pain inflicted on America by those same failed policies.

Stevens begins his April 9 piece relating the sort of economic facts that the rest of the media conveniently ignore. He points out that even as the administration claims that unemployment is only around 8 percent, so many people have dropped out of the work force that the unemployment stat is but a hollow representation of the true unemployment rate.

He also points out that 16 million Americans have been added to Obama’s food stamp rolls since 2008, “a 46 percent increase and greater than the population of Ohio,” Stevens says. “More than 50 million Americans now live in poverty. That’s one in six Americans, and one in five American children.”

This, Stevens says sharply, is the worst since LBJ was president and it was so bad then that the Texan launched a “war on poverty” to try and cure it.
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Lawyers: Obama-Supported Fisker Motors Layoff Violated Law

April 12, 2013 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Crony Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Energy, Environment, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Green Energy, Jobs, Liberals, President, Progressives, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Despite millions if federal loans, last week luxury hybrid car maker Fisker Automotive fired 80% of its employees at its California-based company. But now those employees hired the same law firm that sued “green energy” company Solyndra to charge that Fisker violated state and federal laws with the layoffs.

On April 5, Breitbart reported that Fisker Automotive, Inc. laid off up to 80% of its employees due to a cascade of major errors and bad business decisions even though President Obama pumped millions in federal tax dollars via loan guarantees into the company starting in 2011.

Fisker’s employees were already on a two week furlough when upon coming back to work were told they would be laid off. Employees reported they had received no severance package but did receive pay for vacation time earned.
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CNBC Copies Fox Business Network With Houston, TX Coverage

April 11, 2013 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, CNBC, Economy/Finances, Fox Business Network, Fox News, Jobs, Journalism, Media, Media Bias, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, when I said that CNBC’s business coverage was “playing catch up” with Fox Business Network, I didn’t know how close to the truth I had it as this month, CNBC copied FBN’s coverage from last fall of the amazing growth that Houston, Texas has seen over the last few years.

Back on September 20 of last year I noted that Fox Business Network’s Melissa Francis hosted a tour of the growing Texas economy in a series of reports FBN titled “Open for Business in Houston.”

At that time, Francis told the Houston Business Journal how amazing the business climate was down in Texas.
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(VIDEO) Obama’s Budget: The Very Definition of Insanity

April 10, 2013 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Entitlements, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Policy, President, Progressives, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

Fisker Motors Meltdown, Fires 80% of Staff

April 9, 2013 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Crony Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Electric, Energy, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Green Energy, Jobs, Liberals, President, Progressives, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Fisker Automotive, Inc., the much-celebrated maker of luxury electric cars, has announced that it is firing 80% of its employees after failing to finalize an investment deal.

The manufacturer of the rechargeable Karma auto informed 160 workers of the layoffs coming to the Anaheim, California-based company. Fisker was said to have employed 200 before this week’s announcement.

This is only the latest blow to the “green” auto company. Only last month the company’s name-sake, Henrik Fisker, resigned over “unspecified” disagreements with other executives and the company stopped production of its cars after its lithium-ion battery supplier declared bankruptcy.

The battery company, A123 Systems Inc., declared bankruptcy in October of last year despite the millions in in tax dollars pumped into the company by President Obama.

According to Bloomberg, Fisker has retained the services of Kirkland & Ellis LLP to explore a restructuring of the company.
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VIDEO: The False Claim that Women Only Earn 77 Cents To a Man’s Dollar

April 9, 2013 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, Communism, Congress, Conservatives, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Education, Ethics, GOP, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Jobs, Liberals, Policy, President, Progressives, Republicans, Senate, Socialism, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

The truth is women make pretty much the same as men when “apples” are compared to “apples”…

the Independent Women’s Forum, in a continued effort to set the record straight about the real reason for the statistical difference between men and women’s earnings , releases an informative, stop-frame animation web video — Straight Talk About the Wage Gap. The video explains how women’s choices ultimately determine how much they earn and how government intervention in the workplace can backfire on women.

http://www.iwf.org/

Cleveland, OH Paper to Scale Back to 3 Days Per Week Home Delivery

April 8, 2013 | Filed Under Business, Jobs, Journalism, Media, Media Bias, Newspapers, Ohio, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper, has announced that while it will continue to print editions every day, it will cut home delivery from a seven-day-a-week schedule to but three for subscribers.

No exact date for implementation of the new delivery schedule was announced, but the change will come later this summer.

The delivery schedule change is part of a larger reorganization and coincides with the creation of a new company, the Northeast Ohio Media Group, which will oversee the print edition as well as its growing online content.
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Foreign Policy Mag Maligns Ted Cruz as ‘Most Hated Man in the Senate’

April 6, 2013 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Conservatives, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, GOP, Government, Liberals, Progressives, Republicans, Senate, Taxes, Ted Cruz, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Foreign Policy magazine has made the stark pronouncement about Texas Senator Ted Cruz. According to FP’s Erica Grieder, Cruz is “the most hated man in the U.S. Senate.”

In a March 29 piece, Grieder made this extreme pronouncement based on the new Senator’s outspoken positions on many issues as well as on how irksome he is to old guard Senators who imagine that first year colleagues should be seen and not heard.

Grieder starts her piece with several gratuitous insults. Right off she says that Cruz is “the human equivalent of one of those flower-squirters that clowns wear on their lapels.” She then calls his initiatives and ideas “non-sequiturs” and says they are “self-defeating.” This was all just the first paragraph.

Next we learn that Cruz has “irritated” Democrats like Dianne Feinstein and been a “headache for GOP leaders.” This all because he stands up strongly for his principles and the positions that got him elected.

Does this really make him “hated,” though? He may elicit distaste in these old guard Senators and in those Senators that stand squarely against his principles, but “hated”? That is quite a subjective assessment.
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New York Investigating Anti-Fracking Lobbying by Yoko One, Mark Ruffalo, Robert De Niro

April 3, 2013 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Electric, Energy, Entertainment, Ethics, Fracking, Government, Government, Corruption, Hollywood, Liberals, Movies, Music, Natural Gas, New York, Oil, Progressives, TV, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

A formal complaint has been filed with a New York lobbying board to investigate whether Yoko Ono, Robert De Niro and nearly 200 other celebrities have violated state laws with their Artists Against Fracking activist group.

Celebrities are well known for dabbling in social activism whether what they have to say makes sense or not and the recent cause célèbre is the anti-fracking movement. Along with Yoko Ono, actors Mark Ruffalo and Robert De Niro, and ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, the movement has drawn the support of some 200 celebrities all donating time and money to stop efforts toward American energy independence.

The group has sponsored rallies and concerts and on it’s website the celebrity group urges visitors to “Tell Governor Cuomo Don’t Frack New York!”

Pushing the issue on a national TV audience, Ono and son Sean even appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to sing a somewhat ridiculous anti-fracking song at the end of January.
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On Easter, Google Doodle Celebrates Union Leader Cesar Chavez

March 31, 2013 | Filed Under Business, Christianity, Computers, Democrats/Leftists, Easter, Ethics, Google, Government, Corruption, Holiday, Inernet, Liberals, PCism, Progressives, Society/Culture, Technology, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Western Civilization | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

This year, March 31 is Easter Day, the day that American Christians celebrate Jesus Christ having risen from the tomb to join his Father in Heaven. But instead of hosting a doodle celebrating that sacred holiday, this March 31, Google is celebrating the birth of famed union activist Cesar Chavez.

Cesar Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 and is most well known for organizing south western farm workers into unions in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. In 1962, Chavez co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with fellow activist Dolores Huerta. By 1972, the NFWA had merged with another union to become the United Farm Workers union (UFW).

Under Chavez, the UFW constantly used violence, threats, and strong arm tactics to coerce workers into joining the union and the FBI often investigated Chavez for ties to the Communist Party.

So on this March 31, Google has chosen to celebrate the life of a union activist instead of the Risen Christ with its “doodle.”

A Google “doodle” is a cartoon graphic celebrating a day of historical interest. The doodle is placed on the search engine’s main landing page just above the search field. Doodles are often whimsical and animated.

Google’s most recent doodles include Bangladesh Independence Day, Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro’s 167th Birthday (Portugal), Persian New Year, St. Patrick’s Day, Hungary National Day, Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky’s 150th Birthday, and Women’s Day.
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All Other Problems Solved, Chicago Democrats’ New Law Worried About Dogs Behind the Wheel

March 30, 2013 | Filed Under Animals, Budget, Business, Chicago, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Government, Ill. County, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Jobs, John Cullerton, Liberals, Michael Madigan, Pat Quinn, Progressives, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Having apparently solved all of the other debilitating problems Illinois is facing, Chicago Democrats have now turned their considered attention to making sure dog owners don’t let their puppies get behind the wheel of an automobile.

This important bill (HB1581) amends the Illinois vehicle code to ban drivers from putting their pooch on their laps as they drive. Presumably the Democrats understand it is the humans that are doing the driving, not the dogs–but we may need to launch a second legislative campaign to clarify that.

As Chicago-based Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, Rep. Bully Burke, says, “Because I travel, I can’t help but observe the number of people with dogs on their laps.” And so, ol’ Billy is out to correct this egregious public safety issue. He’s all about solving the puppy-distracted driver issue.

This is a vital issue, to be sure.

Why? Well, it’s obvious that Illinois Democrats have solved every other nagging issue in the Land of Lincoln, right?
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VIDEO: Basketball’s Magic Johnson: ‘Obamacare is Working’

March 28, 2013 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, MSNBC, Nanny State, President, Progressives, Sports, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Former NBA great Earvin “Magic” Johnson has seen Obamacare and has pronounced it good. According to Johnson, “a lot” of CEOs at hospitals have told him that Obamacare “is working.”

Johnson was invited on MSNBC to talk about the sport’s March Madness tournaments, but as the interview ended, he had an off topic and unsolicited assessment of Obamacare.

“Obamacare is working,” Johnson suddenly said. “I talk to a lot of CEOs of hospitals–it is working. And I’m glad Governor Scott down in Florida accepted Obamacare because it will work”

This is an interesting assessment seeing as how the President’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010–dubbed Obamacare–doesn’t really kick in fully until 2014. In fact, the current phase of the law, the Health Insurance Marketplace which was supposed to be ready by now, is being put off because of poor planning, confusion, and other problems among the various states.
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(VIDEO) Victims of Government: Steve’s Story

March 26, 2013 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, EPA, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Nanny State, President, Progressives, Regulation, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

Reuters Regurgitates Democrat Talking Points on Budget Plan

March 14, 2013 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Journalism, Liberals, Media Bias, Paul Ryan, President, Progressives, Reuters, Senate, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Washington, Wisconsin | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

On March 12, Representative Paul Ryan (R, WI) released the GOP’s budget proposal sparking an afternoon of analysis and criticism. By Tuesday evening Reuters was contrasting Ryan’s budget with one sponsored by Senator Patty Murray (D, WA). But there is one problem with Reuters’ analysis. The Democrats didn’t actually release any budget for Reuters to analyze by the time the news service had published its story. So, Reuters is simply regurgitating Murray’s talking points.

In the Reuters report, the pair of budgets are deemed difficult to pass because they appear “crafted to appeal to their respective party bases.”

Reuters claims that the problem with Ryan’s budget is that it is likely aimed at getting Rep. Ryan the 2016 GOP Presidential nomination as opposed to being a serious attempt to solve Washington’s budget problems.

SHOCKING PHOTO: Obamacare and a Seven-Foot Tall Stack of New Regulations

March 11, 2013 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Health, Liberals, Nanny State, Obamacare, President, Progressives, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 8 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The office of Senator Mitch McConnell, the GOP minority leader in the Senate, has sent out a shocking photo.

This is over 20,000 pages and measures 7′ 2.5″. These are all the Obamacare regulations published in the Federal Register up through last week. Then last Friday they added another 828 pages.

Unbelievable.

And hidden in this giant stack of intrusive new regulations that seem to grow every month is a major job loss problem.

Douglas Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, said in February of 2011 that Obamacare could cost 800,000 jobs and the Federal Reserve has stated that Obamacare is the reason for “planned layoffs.”
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Smith & Wesson Reports Soaring Earnings

March 7, 2013 | Filed Under 2nd Amendment, Anti-Americanism, Business, Capitalism, Constitution, Guns, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Famed American gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson has reported that earnings tripled in its most recent quarter. The company also said it looks forward to continued high sales into the next several quarters.

S&W reported this week that it earned $17.5 million in the quarter that ended on January 31. This is up from $5.4 million during the same quarter in 2012.

The company was projecting an earning of 23 cents per share but realized 26 cents as sales jumped 39 percent to $136.2 million.

The stock has gained 21 percent this year, but had fallen 2 percent in recent trading despite the growth in sales.

Industry analysts expected total earnings to be some $561 million and the company is projecting between $575 and $580 million.

S&W also noted that it has been at manufacturing capacity for the last year.
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Bloomberg Businessweek Apologizes for ‘Racist’ Magazine Cover

March 5, 2013 | Filed Under Banks, Bloomberg, Budget, Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Hispanics, Journalism, Liberals, Magazines, Media, Media Bias, New York City, Progressives, Race, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s media group has apologized for its February 21 cover of Bloomberg Businessweek over complaints that it used racist imagery to illustrate the feature story on the housing market.

With a title of “The Great American Housing Rebound: Flips. No-look bids. 300 percent returns. What could possibly go wrong?,” the cover illustration featured Latino and African American American caricatures awash in a sea of government money.

The image was criticized as racist by several organizations and media outlets.

Ryan Chittum of the Columbia Journalism Review praised Bloomberg Businessweek for being “edgier than its predecessor,” but went on to say that the February cover was over the line.

“The cover stands out for its cast of black and Hispanic caricatures with exaggerated features reminiscent of early 20th century race cartoons,” Chittum wrote. “Also, because there are only people of color in it, grabbing greedily for cash. It’s hard to imagine how this one made it through the editorial process.”
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Greens Fret Over Obama Admin Keystone Report

March 4, 2013 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Business, Canada, Capitalism, Climate Change, Democrats/Leftists, Energy, Environment, EPA, Ethics, Global Warming, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Keystone Pipeline, Oil, President, Progressives, State Department, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The State Department has released its much-anticipated report on the environmental impact of the Keystone Pipeline and, to the alarm of the green lobby, it seems to leave President Obama with little reason to continue delaying construction.

The 2,000-page report makes no final recommendation on whether or not to approve construction of the energy project, but does definitively say that the pipeline would have “no significant impacts to most resources along the proposed Project route.”

This runs contrary to the fears of environmental groups that have said the pipeline would be “essentially game over for the climate.”
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Rep. Maxine Waters Inflates Sequester to ’170 Million’ Jobs Lost

March 2, 2013 | Filed Under Budget, Business, California, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Jobs, Maxine Waters, President, Progressives, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D, CA) had a dire prediction for America due to sequestration claiming that 170 million jobs would be lost as a result of the policy. But according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are only about 140 million jobs in the whole country.

During a press conference on February 28, Waters told reporters of a visit by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who told members of congress that sequestration is not the optimal way to cut the federal budget.

Talking of Bernanke’s comments, Waters claimed that “if sequestration takes place, that’s going to be a great setback. We don’t need to be having something like sequestration that’s going to cause these jobs losses, over 170 million jobs that could be lost.”

However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table A-9, Selected Employment Indicators, in January of 2013 there were 141,614 million jobs in the current American economy.

Using Waters’ math, the US would lose about 30 million more jobs than it had to start with.
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New York Times Complains ‘Austerity’ is Already Here ‘Killing’ Gov’t Jobs

March 1, 2013 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, New York City, President, Progressives, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Despite that no real cuts to government spending have yet occurred as a result of sequestration and that government spending is actually increasing, The New York Times is fearful that “austerity” has already come and it is “killing” government jobs.

Binyamin Appelbaum, opens his February 26 piece claiming that the federal government is already “cutting back at a pace exceeded in the last half-century only by the military demobilizations after the Vietnam War and the cold war.”

In keeping with his past support for growing government in times of economic downturn, Appelbaum went on to claim that government spending can “expand the nation’s economy, just as private sector transactions do.”

Even as Appelbaum characterized these policies as “austere,” several paragraphs down he did offer a counter point to the theme.

“Total government spending continues to increase, but those broader figures include benefit programs like Social Security. Government purchases and investments expand the nation’s economy, just as private sector transactions do, while benefit programs move money from one group of people to another without directly expanding economic activity,” he wrote. (My bold)

Even with sequestration, federal spending is on track to increase by $5.9 trillion by 2023.

Appelbaum repeatedly uses the word “austerity” to describe the cost-cutting measures being considered–or merely threatened–in Washington. The definition of austerity is “enforced or extreme economy.” But proposed cuts to growth in federal spending amounts to as little as 2.3 percent. These are hardly draconian or “extreme” cuts.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, RightPundits.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDaily.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.

For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.

After Millions in Tax Breaks for Hollywood, DreamWorks’ Jeffery Katzenberg Kills 350 Jobs

February 28, 2013 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Entertainment, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Hollywood, Jobs, Liberals, Movies, Progressives, Stimulus, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Despite some $430 million in tax breaks for Hollywood in last year’s “fiscal cliff” deal, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has announced that he is cutting 350 people by the end of the year.

After the disappointing box office for DreamWorks’ latest film, The Rise of the Guardians, Katzenberg said that the $165 million loss made him “go back and rethink everything.”

“So it makes you go back and rethink everything, not just the fact that it didn’t work–certainly we spent a lot of time reflecting on that–but more importantly saying, ‘Let’s look at everything and say, ‘What could we be doing better, smarter, more effectively to really position the company in the best possible way gong forward?’ And that’s what we’ve done, and that’s what restructuring is all about,” Katzenberg told the Hollywood Reporter.
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Hurray for Washington!

February 27, 2013 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Entertainment, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Hollywood, Jobs, Liberals, Michelle Obama, Movies, President, Progressives, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Mary Theroux

But it’s OK. The Obamas make us feel good about ourselves, and, after all, that’s what Hollywood, er, Washington, is all about.

The culmination of last night’s Oscars broadcast with a Live! feed from the White House with Mrs. Obama (hangin’ with her military BFs) marks the official recognition of the Presidency as theater: like the old Western sets, no substance required.

From the very beginning, President Obama was elected based on his strong delivery of stirring words, “Hope and change,” with no serious vetting of his record or policies. Having been awarded the presidency, as the Oscars follow the Golden Globes, Mr. Obama was next awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, solely for his well-scripted promises for peace…

Read the rest at The Independent Institute.

Firearms Manufacturers Refusing to Sell to States That Pass Strict Gun Laws

February 27, 2013 | Filed Under 2nd Amendment, Business, Capitalism, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Free Trade, Government, Corruption, Gun Control, Guns, Jobs, Liberals, Media, Progressives, Regulation, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

A number of firearms manufacturers and companies that sell firearms related products have joined a growing list of companies refusing to do business with states, counties, and other government agencies that pass new laws restricting citizens’ Second Amendment rights.

A list of some 34 of these companies has been posted at a website called The Police Loophole. The site informs visitors that the companies have publicly announced that they “will not sell items to states, counties, cities, and municipalities that restrict their citizens rights to own” the products they sell.

“There are some states, counties, cities, and municipalities in our great nation that fail to allow their citizens to fully exercise their right to keep and bear arms with restrictions such as magazine capacity or types of firearms that are widely available to citizens of other states, counties, cities, and municipalities. However, these government entities do not place these restrictions upon their own employees, such as police officers.”

The “police loophole” phrase is a take off on the so-called “gun show loophole” that gun control advocates use in order to push their anti-gun policies. One good “closed” loophole deserves another, as far as these website operators are concerned.
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Fox Business Network’s Claman to Interview Acting Tres. Sec. Neal Wolin Tuesday

February 25, 2013 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Democrats/Leftists, Fox Business Network, Government, Corruption, Journalism, Liberals, President, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

What: FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Liz Claman will have an exclusive interview with Acting Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin on Tuesday, February 26th from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in Chicago, IL. Appearing on FBN’s After the Bell (4PM/ET), Wolin will discuss cyber security and employment in the United States.

Wolin received the Alexander Hamilton Award in 2011–the highest honor given to a Treasury official.

Many in Washington thought that Wolin was former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s pick to replace him at Treasury, but it wasn’t long before rumors swirled early in January that Wolin was also headed for the exit door (many feel he wasn’t happy upon realizing he wouldn’t get Geithner’s job). Wolin was asked to stay on as the department’s temporary chief while the President endeavors to get his pick of Jacob Lew confirmed in the Senate.

Wolin may have had a roadblock to confirmation, though, in that he was a key architect of the disastrous Dodd-Frank bill, a law very unpopular with Republicans, to say the least.

Wolin was president and chief operating officer of the property and casualty insurance companies of the Hartford Financial Services Group. Previously he served under Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.

Tune in on Tuesday, February 26, 2013; 4:00 PM/ET – 5:00 PM/ET
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Could CNBC Be Depriving Viewers of Vital Information?

February 23, 2013 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Cable, Capitalism, CNBC, Ethics, Fox Business Network, NBC, TV, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

There was once a day when particular media outlets were so dominant that they could essentially make the rules on who they permitted to appear with them whether in print, on the radio, or on TV. Those days are long gone, of course. So, why does CNBC still think it has the power to demand that guests appear solely on its network? And, in so doing is CNBC depriving its viewers of the vital financial information that they need to plan their business days?

CNBC is the most watched financial-centered cable news network, certainly. Though its younger competitor, Fox Business Network, has been making amazing inroads into CNBCs viewer base, the older network is still on top of the heap… for now.

But will that hold if CNBC’s booking practices stay as they are now? One might wonder.
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Time Warner Looking to Sell Off Time Magazine Group

February 19, 2013 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, Progressives, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Time Warner is looking for a way to throw in the towel on its magazine holdings by selling them off to Iowa-based Mederith Corp. and possibly ending its reign as the nation’s largest magazine publisher.

Reports from those close to negotiations say that Time Warner would retain its newsweekly, Time magazine, as well as Sports Illustrated and Forbes. But Time Warner would hand over titles such as People, InStyle, and Real Simple among others.

Sources claim that the proposal would see Time Warner and Meredith spin off their magazine holdings into a new, separate company. This plan, it is said, would afford Time Warner some new tax benefits.
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Democrats Want Background Checks… Except When They Don’t

February 18, 2013 | Filed Under 2nd Amendment, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Business, Capitalism, Constitution, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Freedom, Government, Government, Corruption, Gun Control, Guns, Immigration/Immigrants, Jobs, Journalism, Labor Law, Law, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, President, Progressives, Unemployment, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

One of the main discussions in this ginned up, fact-free anti-gun debate coming from the Democrats and their fellow extreme leftists is that they want “universal background checks” for gun purchases. So, “background checks” are a good idea to left-wingers… but in all cases? As it happens, NO is the answer to that. Democrats don’t want universal background checks in all cases.

Jams Bovard shows us this fact quite clearly in his recent Wall Street Journal piece headlined, “Perform Criminal Background Checks at Your Peril.”

Now, Bovard isn’t talking about the gun debate with his piece. In fact, he never mentions guns even one time. Bovard, you see, is talking about background checks as a condition for employment.

As it happens, Democrats and the Obama administration are attempting to eliminate background checks for prospective employees claiming it is a “civil rights” issue.
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NYT Hails Obama’s ‘Signal’ That Era of ‘Single-Minded Deficit-Cutting Should End’

February 15, 2013 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, Nanny State, President, Progressives, Taxes, The New York Times, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

The paltry spending cuts coming out of Congress are no where near enough to balance Washington’s budget, but in his analysis of the President’s State of the Union speech, New York Times writer Mark Landler happily went to pains to note that Obama signaled the end of “the era of single-minded deficit-cutting.”

One has to wonder what “single-minded deficit-cutting” the Times writer and the President are seeing?

Employing a lot of emotionally tinged rhetoric to favor Obama’s speech, Landler included several subtle tricks to push Obama’s ideas as “tangible” and “helping.” Landler also repeatedly poked Republicans as “still smarting” from the past election and claimed that picking Sen. Marco Rubio for the GOP reply was “implicitly acknowledging” that they had been “damaged.”
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Chris Matthews On Obama’s SOTU: ‘There’s Nothing Lefty in Here!’

February 15, 2013 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, MSNBC, Nanny State, President, Progressives, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

President Obama’s State of the Union speech was yet another opportunity to demand a new laundry list of big government programs and massive spending, but MSNBC’s Chris Matthews seemed to have some trouble seeing anything “liberal” in it.

As he analyzed the speech during his February 13 broadcast, Matthews told Chuck Todd that he truly couldn’t see any leftiness. “There’s nothing lefty in here. What’s the left-wing part? Objectively, was there a left wing piece to this speech last night? I mean, truly left? I didn’t see it,” he said.

Still, even in his denial a bit of truth broke through Matthews’ partisanship. “I mean, basically, he was moving the ball maybe one foot to the left of the midfield,” Matthews admitted.
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