The Patriot Post Chronicle 12-7-2011

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Chronicle 12-7-2011
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

The Foundation

"Remember, that Time is Money." --Benjamin Franklin

Editorial Exegesis

"On Monday, the Postal Service said it will shut almost half its mail processing centers and largely eliminate next-day delivery for first-class mail. That's on top of a 1-cent postage stamp hike that goes into effect next month. It's all part of an effort to cut $20 billion in annual costs, staunch the flood of red ink and avoid bankruptcy. Still, it's hard to see how charging more for worse service is a credible plan for success. Even if it were, the postal service has been down this road many times in the past. ... On the one hand, it's weighed down by unions that control 85% of its workforce, impeding reasonable efficiency improvements. Example: In just the first six months of this year, the Postal Service spent $4.3 million paying postal workers to do literally nothing, thanks to labor agreements that require the service to keep workers on the payroll even when mail volume is low or machinery breaks down. At the same time, lawmakers often scuttle cost-saving plans that might affect their districts. After congressmen screamed, for example, the USPS cut the list of post offices it planned to close from 3,200 to a mere 162. The postmaster general had it right this week when he said that the USPS is in dire straits because 'we are expected to operate like a business but don't have the flexibility to do so.' But the solution isn't to mindlessly cut costs or trot out more piecemeal reforms like the one working through the Senate, which will only prolong the agony. Instead, we should follow the lead of many other countries and privatize the Postal Service. A Cato Institute report finds the consistent result abroad has been improved productivity and lower costs, without a decline in quality. Selling anything less than privatization as the solution to the Postal Service's problems would constitute mail fraud." --Investor's Business Daily1

Pearl Harbor

On the fateful "Day of Infamy," 70 years ago today, 353 Japanese planes attacked a military target at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing 2,390 American servicemen and civilians and wounding 1,282. The attack sank or damaged eight battleships, three cruisers, three destroyers and one minelayer and destroyed 188 aircraft. It took four years and the full military-industrial capability of the United States to defeat Japan.

Read more and share your thoughts here2.

Upright

"Only in a world of low expectations could an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent be considered good news. ... In November, the ranks of the unemployed fell by 594,000 but not because everyone landed a new job. ... As many as 300,000 simply left the workforce, and not all did so voluntarily. A good portion of the 120,000 new jobs reported last month appear to be driven by the needs of the holiday season. ... A bump in seasonal employment is certainly better than no jobs at all, but what's needed is a solid improvement in long-term employment. ... For now, under Mr. Obama's watch, there's more interest in seeing the federal government prosper and grow. So long as that remains the case, millions of Americans will continue looking for jobs and won't find them." --The Washington Times

"How's this for a waste of taxpayer money? According to Energy & Environment News, the Department of Energy is paying $230,000 for a website to promote career paths in the green energy sector -- and it has, ironically, prohibited the listing of actual jobs in the industry. ... Maybe the Obama Administration is operating under 'The Field of Dreams' theory -- if they build a website, the jobs will come. A better strategy would be to get the federal government out of the way and let the free market thrive instead of spending taxpayer money on quarter-million-dollar PR projects." --Heritage Foundation's Mike Brownfield

"The Fed signals that it intends to hitch our national wagon to Europe just as Europe is going over the edge, and the Dow jumps 4 percent. Maybe I'm missing something. All that Bernanke & Co. did ... was to lower the dollar-financing cost for banks in Europe, where inter-bank lending is locking up -- for good reason. But Europe's problem is not its banks and their access to dollars. Europe's banks are in trouble because European government bonds are in trouble, and European government bonds are in trouble because European governments are in trouble. European governments are in trouble because they spend too much money. ... The question is: What is the Fed thinking? Is it looking out for the United States, or is it looking out for the banks?" --National Review's Kevin D. Williamson

"For the last three years, the Obama administration, the Feds, and a host of the usual suspects in Congress have told Americans that what is now known to be a $7.7 trillion bank bailout program 'saved' the world's financial institutions from 'systemic failure.' Really? Then why are we right back in the same soup -- or worse? And where is Congress, who ought to be making it crystal clear that the United States Federal Reserve has no business bailing out an EU that steadfastly refuses to put its own house in order? You won't see too much about any of this in the news. But you can bet your life this is the essence of what the 2012 election is all about." --columnist Arnold Ahlert

The Demo-gogues

You know what this means: "We still have a health care system that has to get more efficient and that has to improve its quality. And so we're going to have to implement the Affordable Care Act in 2014, and that means I've got to win in 2012." --Barack Obama

Tax cutter in chief? "I know you hear a lot of folks on cable TV claiming that I am this 'big tax and spend liberal.' Next time you hear that, you just remind the people who are saying it that since I've taken office I've cut your taxes. ... We have cut taxes for small businesses, not once, not twice, but 17 times." --Barack Obama

Certainly not with his "help": "This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class and all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. At stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home and secure their retirement." --Barack Obama

Finding religion: "It's important for us to keep in mind the central message of this season, and keep Christ's words not only in our thoughts, but also in our deeds." --Barack Obama

Victory isn't in their vocabulary: "We're not claiming victory [in Iraq]. What we're claiming here is we've done the job the administration said it would do." --Joe Biden

Projection: "[Republicans have] a collection of candidates who are desperate to do anything, say anything to woo their electorate, their voters to support them, rather than stick to principles and embrace the notion that when you're running for office or when you're serving in office, you have to stand up for the courage of your convictions and be measured on those convictions, not stick your finger in the wind and choose a conviction on any given day that works for you politically." --DNC head Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)