Before watching the video see if you can answer the following questions:

1. Bush or Obama? This president spent a record-breaking $3 trillion in a single year.
2. Bush or Obama? This president bailed out hundreds of large banks and corporations.
3. Bush or Obama? This president spent billions of taxpayer dollars on “stimulus” spending during a recession.
4. Bush or Obama? This President increased spending by many times the rate of inflation across most non-defense categories – such as education, Medicare, Medicaid, income security and regional development.
5. Bush or Obama? This president passed an expensive healthcare bill.

The answers are here and supporting documentation are here.

That’s right the answer to all five questions is both… I’ve made this point before, but it’s worth repeating:

Every presidential administration and every Congress since Ronald Reagan left office has grown government.

When Richard Nixon left office the Federal Register, where the government publishes all current and proposed regulations, contained just over 29,000 pages. It ballooned to roughly 58,000 pages under Ford, and to nearly 73,000  pages under Carter. Under Ronald Reagan it shrank to roughly 55,000 pages, since then it has grown steadily to over 79,000 pages at the end George W. Bush’s term.

Yes, I know, counting the number of pages in the Federal Register is crude way measuring the size or intrusivenss of government, but it helps illustrate the the problem… Neither party has been particularly faithful to our Founders Fathers idea of limited, fiscally responsible government.

Our last national generic ballot poll found the Republicans ahead 45-42 despite the fact that Congressional Republicans had a 24/61 approval rating. Even among respondents who said they were going to vote Republican the Congressional GOP could muster only a 44/35 approval.

John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are going to claim a mandate when their party does well at the polls this fall but they don’t even have much of one with the people who are going to vote Republican this fall, much less with the population at large. If they keep on doing what they’re doing the GOP may well take control of the House this fall and then lose it right back in 2012.

To be honest I’m not at all surprised by PPP’s findings, first American’s aren’t terribly happy with of Congress in general. Second grassroots conservatives still haven’t forgiven the Congressional Republicans for their big spending, big government bender during the Bush years.  And third I suspect if you asked American’s what they really think of Congress they’d say both parties pretty much suck… The current generation of Congressional Democrats only seem to care about expanding the size and intrusiveness of government while spending us into bankruptcy. While Congressional Republicans only seem to care about… To be blunt I don’t know the hell Congressional Republicans care about these days.

Yeah, sure, they’re paying lip service about returning to commonsense conservative principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense and vibrant free markets, but given their big spending, big government bender during the Bush years they don’t have much credibility there…

Anyway, despite their credibility problems Republicans appear to be headed for significant gains November’s mid-term elections… The question will they hold true to commonsense conservative principles or will they go another big spending, big government bender?

LAS VEGAS – Paris Hilton was arrested on the Las Vegas Strip late Friday after a police motorcycle officer smelled marijuana smoke wafting from a black Cadillac Escalade driven by her boyfriend, then found a small amount of cocaine in her purse.

A crowd quickly gathered when Hilton and Las Vegas nightclub mogul Cy Waits were stopped about 11:30 p.m. PDT Friday in the vehicle near the Wynn Las Vegas resort, police said.

Heh, my guess, she’ll be in rehab by the end of the week.

Positive gross domestic product readings and other mildly hopeful signs are masking an ugly truth: The US economy is in a 1930s-style Depression, Gluskin Sheff economist David Rosenberg said Tuesday.

Writing in his daily briefing to investors, Rosenberg said the Great Depression also had its high points, with a series of positive GDP reports and sharp stock market gains.

But then as now, those signs of recovery were unsustainable and only provided a false sense of stability, said Rosenberg.

Rosenberg calls current economic conditions “a depression, and not just some garden-variety recession,” and notes that any good news both during the initial 1929-33 recession and the one that began in 2008 triggered “euphoric response.”

“Such is human nature and nobody can be blamed for trying to be optimistic; however, in the money management business, we have a fiduciary responsibility to be as realistic as possible about the outlook for the economy and the market at all times,” he said.

Mr. Rosenberg’s argument it compelling, I’m not sure agree with him, but like I said I’m a pessimist on the economy. I’ve thought all along this so called recovery was more akin to a dead cat bounce than an actual meaningful sustained recovery… And that’s what the data seems to indicate. All the indicators I’m looking at, employment, housing, durable goods, and consumer confidence are pointing to anything but a recovery. Are we actually in a depression? I don’t know, but I think it’s safe to say this isn’t a garden variety recession.

Related

• Yes Folks, Hindenburg Omen Tripped Again – Wall Street Journal
• Asian markets continue retreat from risk – Financial Times
• U.S. deficit forecast masks true scope of problem – James Pethokoukis, Reuters
• Youth Unemployment Hits Record High – CNBC
• July New-home sales drop to record low 276,000 yearly rate – Market Watch
• Second Quarter GDP Growth Revised Downward – Wall Street Journal
• What Biden didn’t mention on stimulus – Associated Press
• The Most Fiscally Irresponsible Government in U.S. History – Mort Zuckerman, U.S. News
• Bad statistics for summer employment for youth – McClatchy

"Betty Jane" a World War II era North American TP-15C Mustang.

The Wings of Freedom tour a living history display of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, and North American P-51 Mustang… The backbone of American air power in World War II is coming to Connecticut.

Sixty years after their use over the skies of enemy territory, they embark on a new mission over the skies of America to honor our veterans of World War II, promote education of our future generations about the role of the aircraft and the flight crews of World War II, and to preserve these treasures of American aviation history where they belong: the sky.

The aircraft will be available for ground tours and flight experiences at Igor I Sikorsky Memorial Airport from September 7th to September 10th, and at Waterbury-Oxford Airport between September 10th and September 13, 2010.

Visit The Collings Foundation web site for exact times and locations or to book a flight.

From the Washington Times:

The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 7,000 ICE agents and employees, voted 259-0 for a resolution saying there was “growing dissatisfaction and concern” over the leadership of Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads ICE, and Phyllis Coven, assistant director for the agency’s office of detention policy and planning.

The resolution said ICE leadership had “abandoned the agency’s core mission of enforcing U.S. immigration laws and providing for public safety,” instead directing its attention “to campaigning for programs and policies related to amnesty and the creation of a special detention system for foreign nationals that exceeds the care and services provided to most U.S. citizens similarly incarcerated.

“It is the desire of our union … to publicly separate ourselves from the actions of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven and publicly state that ICE officers and employees do not support Morton or Coven or their misguided and reckless initiatives, which could ultimately put many in America at risk,” the union said.

In a strongly worded statement, the union and its affiliated local councils said the integrity of the agency “as well as the public safety” would be “better provided for in the absence of Director Morton and Assistant Director Coven.”

Interestingly Mr. Morton told the Washington Post in an interview a few weeks ago that calls for his resignation were ‘just part of the territory,’:

“You develop a thick skin in a job like this,” said Morton, who admits to reading many of the brickbats that come his way but says they don’t consume him. “I’d imagine that for some other senior leaders in government, the day when someone calls for their resignation would be the day they’d remember throughout their career. That’s just part of the territory here.”

That may be true Mr. Morton, but if you’ve lost the confidence of the men and women who work you I don’t see how you do your job effectively.

Related

• Border troops to be delayed further – KMSB-TV, Fox 11 Arizona
• Lack of resources curtails ICE tracking of illegals – Washington Times
• Arizona sheriffs call ICE chief’s visit a ‘stunt’ – Washington Times
• GAO: Border Security Technology Program ‘Has Not Produced Expected Results’ – CNSNews.com
• Perry invites Obama to tour the border with him – Houston Chronicle
• What We’re Doing to Secure the Border -  Alan D. Bersin and John Morton, Wall Street Journal
• Head of ICE receives unanimous no-confidence vote from own agents…accused of de facto amnesty – Dave Gibson, Examiner.com

Mr. Gardiner does offer valid criticism of the political class and the media in this country though, so on balance I think it’s worth posting:

What the great French historian Alexis de Tocqueville would make of today’s Obama administration were he alive today is anyone’s guess. But I would wager that the author of L’Ancien Régime and Democracy in America would be less than impressed with the extravagance and arrogance on display among the White House elites that rule America as though they had been handed some divine right to govern with impunity.

It is the kind of impunity that has been highlighted on the world stage this week by Michelle Obama’s hugely costly trip to Spain, which has prompted a New York Post columnist Andrea Tantaros to dub the First Lady a contemporary Marie Antoinette. As The Telegraph reports, while the Obamas are covering their own vacation expenses such as accommodation, the trip may cost US taxpayers as much as $375,000 in terms of secret service security and flight costs on Air Force Two.

The timing of this lavish European vacation could not have come at a worse moment, when unemployment in America stands at 10 percent, and large numbers of Americans are fighting to survive financially in the wake of the global economic downturn. It sends a message of indifference, even contempt, for the millions of Americans who are struggling just to feed their families on a daily basis and pay the mortgage, while the size of the national debt balloons to Greek-style proportions.

Read the rest…

Sorry I asked, I really was only trying to be polite.

I think that there are very few constitutional limits that would prevent the federal government from rules that could affect your private life. Now, the basis for that would be, how does it affect other people. In other words… The federal government, yes, can do most anything in this country.

His answer is rather chilling, but it seems to reflect the broader attitude of many in Congress… Screw the Constitution we can do whatever we want and you rubes had better get used to it.

Every member of Congress swears an oath to defend the Constitution of United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic:

“I, [State your Name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

Frankly, I don’t see how Rep. Stark can bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution when he so clearly has no respect for it or the limits it places on the powers of the Federal Government. Ronald Reagan said it best, The federal government has taken too much tax money from the people, too much authority from the states, and too much liberty with the Constitution.

I should note that while the woman questioning Rep. Stark argues very effectively against health care reform on 13th Amendment grounds, as Ed Morrissey notes, Fifth Amendment protections against the confiscation of private property and the Article I, Section 8 mandate that Congress protect ownership ones “exclusive right to their Writings and Discoveries” for those in the sciences and arts also apply.

Update (Wednesday, August 4, 2010): Michelle Malkin has more on Pete Stark’s remarks at last weekend’s town hall… Rep. Stark apparently didn’t know what the Government’s E-Verify program is and mockingly told his constituents that denying jobs to illegal aliens could be “unconstitutional.”

Wow, Pete Stark is another great example of why we need Congressional Term limits. Never mind his convoluted views on the Constitution, he’s openly contemptuous of the people he was elected to represent. Rep. Stark seems to have forgotten that he is an elected representative who serves at the will of the people, it’s time for the people of California’s 13th congressional district to send into retirement.

Related

• Judge lets Virginia healthcare challenge proceed – Reuters
• ObamaCare and the Constitution—An Update – Betsy McCaughey, The Wall Street Journal

A public trial into ethics charges against New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel began today. Lawmakers cast the proceedings as a necessary exercise to regain the public’s trust in Congress.

The 20-term representative is charged with 13 “very serious” allegations, said Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, the ranking Republican in the House Ethics Committee. The charges are related to allegations Rangel inappropriately solicited donations for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York, left errors and omissions on his financial dicslosure forms, failed to report and pay taxes on rental income for a beach villa, and inappropriately allowed his campaign committees to use a rent subsized apartment.

Rangel attempted to reach a settlement with the committee to avoid a humiliating public trial, but no deal was reached. The start of trial now marks the culmination of a two-year investigation into the charges against him.

The charges against Rep. Rangel include using his office to solicit of contributions to the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York; the  acceptance of four rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem; errors and omissions on his financial disclosure forms; and his failure to report and pay taxes on rental income from a beach villa he owns in the Dominican Republic.

If convicted Rep. Rangel could face a range of penalties ranging from censure to expulsion from the House or Representatives.

Bottom line, Charlie Rangel is the poster child for Congressional term limits. If he had any shame he’d resign and save himself and and his party the embarrassment of a trial.

You can read to full Statement of Alleged Violations and supporting documents related to Statement of Alleged Violations on the Ethics Committee’s web site.