How Many Jobs??

Okay. I've been convinced that we need the unstimulus package, and we need it right now. There's not a moment to lose. I didn't think that, of course, until I heard Speaker Pelosi inform the nation that we're currently losing jobs at a rate of 500 million a month. That's a lot of jobs, as you can probably surmise, especially since our total population is only about 300 million. In the last month alone we've evidently lost 200 million more jobs than we have people. That means that every worker has lost two jobs, and currently every person in the U.S. is unemployed. Or something like that.

Now I see why people are worried that the Democrat stimulus is much too stingy. That package, according to President Obama, will create only three million jobs. Even if those three million were all created in one month we'd still suffer a net loss of 470 million jobs, according to Speaker Pelosi.

Questions are being raised at Hot Air about whether Ms Pelosi's numbers include people in all 57 states or just some of the states:

Don't think too much about what I'm about to say if you're near a loaded weapon or an open window:

These people are running our economy.

RLC

Flight 1549

For those who haven't had quite enough of the story of the US Airways flight which was downed by a flock of geese and made an emergency landing on the Hudson river here's an interesting summary of that amazing event written by Rick Newman.

Unlike a lot of the coverage I've seen and read about the skill of the pilot who landed the plane, Newman spreads the credit around to the entire crew. The pilot deserves a lot of praise but so do the first officer and the three flight attendents, and Newman tells us why.

RLC

Free Pass

Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer have followed Bill Richardson's example and withdrawn their names as appointees to high positions in the Obama administration because they did not pay their taxes. Timothy Geithner did not pay his taxes eithre but refused to withdraw and was confirmed as Secreatry of the Treasury. As such he will head the IRS and make sure that you pay your taxes. Al Franken did not pay his taxes but may nevertheless be elected (sort of) to the Senate, and Charley Rangel still serves as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee that writes tax law, even though he didn't pay his taxes either.

Yes, yes. Republicans can be corrupt, too, but here's the point. If these were Republican congressmen or appointees of a Republican president, would there not be serious questions raised, not only about the appointees, but also about that president's competence or his integrity? When is the media going to start to wonder out loud about the connection between these very flawed nominees and the man who is selecting them? Or do the President and his appointees, as well as the tax evading pols, get a pass because they're all liberal Democrats?

Up till now the media has been critical of the appointments, to be sure, and they've even criticized the vetting process which failed to catch the troublesome behavior, but they've been reluctant to take the final step, a step they would've eagerly taken were the President George Bush.

If the media and others are going to overlook the implications of so many ethically challenged selections, if they're going to ignore the fact that the people who will be crafting and voting on legislation that determines how much we have to pay in taxes have themselves dodged paying their own taxes, then how seriously can we take them when they claim to criticize Republicans on the basis of principles and standards that only seem to apply to Republicans?

RLC

Gaza in Microcosm

People sometimes wonder what is the difference between Hamas and Fatah, the two organizations contending for control of the Palestinian people. As far as I can tell the difference is that Hamas wants to kill Israelis now and Fatah wants to hold off until they have a better chance at actually succeeding. This video, taken at a pro-Palestinian rally in Minnesota last month, illustrates why the Palestinian people suffer so. They're cursed with leaders like the people you see here:

May God help the Palestinian people. Their leaders sure won't.

RLC