by Clifford F. Thies

Evening of Downgradin'
(apologies to Barry MacGuire)

Yeah, my blood's so mad feels like coagulatin'
I'm sitting here just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth, we’re a bankrupt nation
Our economy suffers from too much regulation
And entrepreneurs fear being served with litigation
Because of quantitative easing, we’re gonna get inflation
The gubmit is crazy with all its legislation

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve
of downgradin’.

It's official. The government of the USSA has been downgraded. No longer AAA, it's now AA+. Who knows what's next. The S&P cited rising debt, political risk and negative outlook, in announcing the downgrade.

Standardandpoors.com

On the same day, President Barack Whom? Obama called for more deficit spending including extending unemployment benefits once again. Oh, and he said it's a good thing that the unemployment rate fell from 9.2 to 9.1 percent this past month, being incapable of understanding that the drop was because another 200,000 Americans stopped looking for a job because they don't think they find one.

In the meanwhile, over in Italy, Prime Minister Berlusconi has restored a degree of calm to the European markets by calling for a balanced budget by 2013. The USSA, according to the Great One, will instead continue with trillion dollar deficits for as far into the future as they project the budget.

Editor's note - Dr. Thies is a distinguished professor of economics at Shenandoah Univ. in Virginia, (with an occasional "whacky college professor" streak.)

BREAKING NEWS!!!

From Eric Dondero:

Michele Bachmann speaking at an event in West Des Moines called for the resignation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, in reaction to news that Standard & Poors had downgraded the U.S. credit rating.

"President Obama has destroyed the credit rating of the United States," said Bachmann, campaigning for president ahead of next week's Ames Straw Poll.

"I call on the President to seek the immediate resignation of Treasury Secretary timothy Geithner."

Michele Bachmann, is the leading candidate in Iowa, which will hold the first contest in the Republican presidential primary campaign.

REPORTING FROM THE SCENE: Libertarian Republican's contributing editor Robert Stacy McCain of TheOtherMcCain.com.

Please note, Stacy will have a full report up at his site within the hour, and later on, a video of the event, including the comments of Bachmann above.

Photo credit - Minnesota Public Radio MPR News and theOneStopThoughtShop.com

CORRECTION! LR SECOND TO POST - I was just informed that Bryan Preston at The Tatler over at Pajama's Media beat us to the punch on this story by mere minutes. See Bryan's piece. He has further details. At PJ Media.

From Eric Dondero:

New ad produced for Iowa Straw Poll, regarded as the very first legitimate test for the presidential primary season.

Emphasizes:

"I voted against the debt limit"

MicheleBachmann.com

LR very first in Nation on the Story!

From Eric Dondero:

Bachmann rivals are putting out a hit piece on her tax record days before the all-important Iowa Straw Poll begins. Our source indicates that the piece is "about to be circulated," to conservative bloggers nationally, straw poll participants, and among Iowa media.

I was emailed the piece late last night. It is very well-sourced, and professionally put together; most certainly the work of political operatives.

The piece hits her in a number of areas, including a pardon she pushed, for a convicted drug dealer/money launderer in 2007, on her supposed hypocrisy on earmarks, and on various "pet projects" she voted for while a State Senator in Minnesota.

The one most damaging hit, from a libertarian perspective, was the highlighting of her vote in favor of a tax increase on cigarettes.

On Taxes

Michele Bachmann broke pledge in the State Senate to not to raise taxes by voting for a cigarette tax.

Michele Bachmann, while as a State Senator, broke her pledge in 2005 to not raise taxes by voting for a 75-cent cigarette tax increase. The increase was included in a omnibus spending bill for health and human services in the North Star State.

Source: Taxpayers League of Minnesota Vote: SJ 613

Certainly, many will speculate this came from one camp or another. But we here at LR have no evidence whatsoever as to the origin of the piece. And LR's source does not wish to give us any details as to where it originated from. We only know it came from Iowa.

IMPORTANT! We are huge Michele Bachmann fans here at LR. Yes, her vote on the cigarette tax is troubling for libertarians. An explanation to the libertarian wing by the Bachmann campaign would be deeply appreciated. But the rest, is pretty much par for the course hardball GOP primary politics. We take it with a grain of salt.

From Eric Dondero:

Yesterday, as the news was breaking about the Dow plummeting over 400 points, the new daily averages for Gallup and Rasmussen were released. Gallup had Obama at -10 (41% approval, 51% dissaproval), and Rasmussen -9 (45%, 54%).

That brought Obama down to the very lowest culmultative Approval rating ever posted at RCP, right at 44.0%. The previous low was 44.2% back in December of 2010.

Though, his Disapproval rating is not the highest it's ever been. Now at 50.2%; the previous high was 50.6%.

He's also trending dangerously close to the psychologically important, below 40% level on approvals in Gallup.

"That the government that governs least, governs best"

From Eric Dondero:

The ink's not even dry on the newly-created congressional district maps for South Carolina. Due to the 2010 census, the staunchly conservative state gains one seat in the House of Representatives.

The new 7th District includes the upper coast known as the Pee Dee.

State Representative Thad Viers of Myrtle Beach, a longtime Nikki Haley supporter and diehard Tea Partyer has announced for the seat.

"I would have proudly stood with South Carolina's conservative congressional delegation in opposing an increase in the national debt ceiling. We have to stop Washington's reckless spending spree if we're ever going to get our economy back on track."

(Source: CarolinaLive.com)

Viers is a graduate of The Citadel, and interned in D.C. at the Heritage Foundation. From his campaign website:

Thad firmly believes as Thomas Jefferson did, that “the government that governs least governs best.”

by Clifford F. Thies

Plaxico Burroughs, a member of the great 2007-2008 New York Giants football team, who was sent to prison for accidentally shooting himself in the leg in a New York City nightclub, is back on the street and, this fall, will be back on the field, this time in the uniform of the New York Jets.

Playing hurt, he made one after another remarkable catch late in the season and during the playoffs during the Giants Superbowl season. After one after another game, in post-game interviews, he would simply thank God that he didn't let his teammates down. In an odd way, his injury - which kept him from practicing with the team during the week - may have been instrumental in the team's success, since it freed up time for David Tyree during practice sessions. Then, facing the heavily-favored New England Patriots, Eli Manning hooked up with Tyree in the miraculous "helmet catch" to keep the team's last offensive series alive and then hooked up with Burroughs for the winning touchdown.

Here's the "helmet catch" by Tyree (YouTube)

Here's the game winning touchdown pass from Manning to Burroughs (YouTube):

We know what Plaxico did was really stupid but we thought it was wrong for him to get hard time for a gun violation, when he didn't have any prior convictions. But, let's face it, sometimes you've just got to man up in this world. We wish Plaxico every success with his new team.

See previous LR article 2009 - "Plaxico 2 year sentence excessive" Photo credit - Daily News archives

Don't talk about "marginal tax rates"

Obama quoted in a video conference from Chicago to supporters, via The Hill "Obama to supporters: Don't get 'bogged down' on war, taxes":

"if somebody asks about taxes, nobody is really interested in hearing what precise marginal tax rate change would you like to see in the tax code," Obama said. "What they want to know is that our campaign stands for a fair, just approach to the tax code that says everybody has to chip in, and that it’s not right if a hedge fund manager is being taxed at a lower rate than his or her secretary."

Photo h/t - SuzieQ. wordpress

Enforcement of collectivism has always depended on government power

Excerpted, Washington Times column, Dr. Milton Wolf, "Liberals’ unmaking of Barack Obama - President enters predictable free-fall from godlike to Carteresque" Aug. 2:

The conflict between liberal collectivist ideology and its application was easily predictable by anyone who has studied big-government economic failures throughout history, from the collectivist all-stars including Mao’s China, Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s Soviet Union to today’s honorable mentions such as Castro’s Cuba or Chavez’s Venezuela. Enforcement of collectivism has always depended on government power, from Stalin’s iron-fisted gulags to Mr. Obama’s mere heavy-handed plan for punitive fines for failure to purchase your government-imposed health insurance. The degree of autocracy may vary, but still the collectivist road to economic ruin is universal.

Editor's note - Dr. Wolf gained notoreity for being an early and vociferous opponent of ObamaCare. Ironically, he is the president's first cousin. He describes himself as a "free market champion." His blog is wolffiles.blogspot.com

OVERNIGHT BREAKING NEWS...

From Eric Dondero:

CTV (Canadian TV) reports that a popular synagogue in Toronto has been vandalized.

A synagogue in the city's northeast end was the target of anti-Semitic graffiti.

Staff members of Beth Tikvah Synagogue on Thursday found the words "Islam will rule" and a swastika spray-painted on the exterior of their building.

According to a press release published by the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy, police have been contacted and measures were taken to increase the security at the synagogue.

Ironically, the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CCIJA) issued a press release two days ago, extending Ramadan greetings to Toronto's Muslim community.

As the holy month of Ramadan begins, CIJA extends its best wishes to the Muslim community for a blessed month (Ramadan Mubarak).

“Ramadan is a time of deep prayer and introspection,” said CIJA Chair Steven Cummings. “We hope that this season will bring us closer to a time of peace, in Canada and throughout the world.”

Editor's note - Photo of a Swastika spray-painted on Paris building 2010.