President Obama has now expanded his résumé to include economics instruction, reports the Washington Post:
Obama delivered a searing indictment of Republican economic theory, setting the stage for the coming presidential campaign. Summoning the image of a populist Theodore Roosevelt— in the same town (Osawatomie) where Roosevelt delivered a famous speech on economic fairness in 1910 — Obama deployed the language of right and wrong, fairness and unfairness, in a lengthy address that aides said he largely wrote himself.
The theory of “trickle down economics,” which holds that greater wealth at the top generates jobs and income for the masses below, drew some of Obama’s harshest criticism.
“It’s a simple theory — one that speaks to our rugged individualism and healthy skepticism of too much government. It fits well on a bumper sticker. Here’s the problem: It doesn’t work,” Obama said of supply-side economics, drawing extended applause. “It’s never worked.”
The Post does not report Obama’s explanation for the 92-month economic expansion from 1982 to 1990, third longest in U.S. history, spurred by the 1981 and 1986 tax cuts. Obama did not explain how the tax cuts spurred dramatic increases in tax revenues. Of course, had he done that, he probably would have thrown in a jibe about the deficits of the 1980s. Had he done that, though, he would have had to admit how much larger the deficit as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product is under his presidency than under Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
Nor did Obama explain his support for extending the George W. Bush tax cuts to the end of 2012, and his continued support for payroll tax cuts. If “it’s never worked,” then why did Obama support extending those supply-side tax cuts?
This paragraph is amusing:
Although the unemployment rate has been a constant shadow hanging over Obama’s presidency, the mechanics of job growth had only a small part in the speech, which dwelled as much on the need for infrastructure investments, better education and a tax code that Obama said “must reflect our values.”
That would refer back to the 2009 stimulus, featuring infrastructure investments and more money for education, which resulted in deficits of record size regardless of how you measure them, but failed to reduce unemployment to Obama’s promised 8 percent. (Recent improvement in the unemployment rate is the result of more than 300,000 people stopping looking for work. Admitting that would be as embarrassing as admitting that the unemployment rate during the Obama presidency is much higher than it was under the Reagan presidency.) That takes some nerve to double-down on the stimulus that was tremendously unpopular with independent voters, who the experts claim will decide the 2012 election, and who polls say are not impressed with Obama’s work to this point.
It is unlikely that, regardless of who their presidential nominee is, Republicans won’t be highly motivated to head to the polls in November 2012. But Obama’s big rhetorical middle finger to approximately one-third of the country who identify themselves as Republicans will certainly help.
Three items fit into the category of the headline today.
First, Alan Reynolds of the Cato Institute, in the Wall Street Journal, on reports of how income inequality grew between 1979 and 2007:
A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office (CB0) says, “The share of income received by the top 1% grew from about 8% in 1979 to over 17% in 2007.”
This news caused quite a stir, feeding the left’s obsession with inequality. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, for example, said this “jaw-dropping report” shows “why the Occupy Wall Street protests have struck such a nerve.” The New York Times opined that the study is “likely to have a major impact on the debate in Congress over the fairness of federal tax and spending policies.”
But here’s a question: Why did the report stop at 2007? The CBO didn’t say, although its report briefly acknowledged—in a footnote—that “high income taxpayers had especially large declines in adjusted gross income between 2007 and 2009.”
No kidding. Once these two years are brought into the picture, the share of after-tax income of the top 1% by my estimate fell to 11.3% in 2009 from the 17.3% that the CBO reported for 2007.
The larger truth is that recessions always destroy wealth and small business incomes at the top. Perhaps those who obsess over income shares should welcome stock market crashes and deep recessions because such calamities invariably reduce “inequality.” Of course, the same recessions also increase poverty and unemployment.
The latest cyclical destruction of top incomes has been unusually deep and persistent, because fully 43.7% of top earners’ incomes in 2007 were from capital gains, dividends and interest, with another 17.1% from small business. Since 2007, capital gains on stocks and real estate have often turned to losses, dividends on financial stocks were slashed, interest income nearly disappeared, and many small businesses remain unprofitable.
But hey, the top 1 percent had a smaller share of AGI between 2007 and 2009, so that’s a good thing, right? We’ve been better off because the evil rich had a smaller share, right?
The good news is that there is one Wisconsin Democrat who admits that Recallarama might not be the best thing, even if, as James Wigderson passes on, she’s concerned about what will happen to the Democratic Party:
… I am torn about whether this recall race is in the best interest of democracy, and about the precedent this recall could set.
I fear that crucial money and resources will go to this effort at the expense of the incredibly important Assembly and U.S. Senate races in the state. If Democrats re-take the Assembly, there will be a strong base of duly elected officials fighting for Democratic priorities, which will effectively take the Walker machine offline until the next election cycle. Tammy Baldwin is a strong Democrat, but she will need lots of money and soldiers to win; she is not a slam-dunk with statewide voters.
The recall will also draw out in force Republican voters who might not otherwise be motivated until November. In addition, Democratic party and interest money will have to spread across hundreds individual fronts nationwide in the coming year, not to mention the presidential election. Then there’s voter fatigue, and I assert that it is very real, especially since the state Senate recall elections.
Then there’s the question that no one seems to be asking: If we run record numbers of recall races against the currently elected legislature and governor, are we setting a precedent for permanent chaos? In state elections, Wisconsin is not truly Blue; the electorate is almost evenly split along party lines, with a particularly wild cadre of independents. No one side has a clear mandate from the people, at least not at the polls. Going forward, what’s to stop the Republicans from launching recall efforts of their own, countered by more counter-recalls? And if that happens, how long until the last vestiges of democratic process are swept away? …
Left to run its course, is there not a very good chance that the newly disenfranchised, including some Republicans, will rise up and naturally elect a new governing body that will serve the needs of the majority of the people? And if we don’t believe this, then maybe it’s time to ditch the whole idea that democracy is real.
Consider that Democratic supporters will be asked to donate money and time in the coming year for the Walker recall, plus any recalls of Republican state senators (those in odd-numbered Senate districts), plus the (legitimate) 2012 Assembly and Senate races, plus the Tammy Baldwin for U.S. Senate campaign, plus the campaigns against new U.S. Reps. Reid Ribble (R–Sherwood) and Sean Duffy (R–Ashland), plus the campaign for Baldwin’s House replacement … and, by the way, the Barack Obama reelection campaign. All that comes after a year in which more than $40 million was raised to drop the Republican state Senate margin from 19–14 to 17–16.
Those are the financial realities. Wigderson passes on a political reality:
It’s a real problem when one political party considers an election result to be illegitimate merely because it wasn’t the result that the party desired. Asking for a “do-over” over a policy difference undermines the idea of a elected representative government. Opening up the election process to continued “do-overs” will eventually make representative government untenable. When that happens, Willow asks the right question, “…how long until the last vestiges of democratic process are swept away?”
Finally, let’s say that Recallarama part deux is successful, Walker loses, and the public-sector unions get their precious collective bargaining and all their contribution-free bennies back. Should that happen, Big Government reports on Ohio cities’ laying off firefighters, school district support staff and security personnel, eliminating preschool and high school athletics, and closing fire stations. Ohio voters deserve all of this since they voted to overturn a state law similar to Wisconsin’s new public employee collective bargaining rules. Should Walker lose his recall election, Wisconsin will thoroughly deserve the same fate.
The number one British album today in 1963 will be at number one for 21 weeks — “Meet the Beatles”:
The number one single here today in 1963 certainly was not a traditional pop song:
Today in 1967, Otis Redding recorded a song before heading on a concert tour that included Madison:
The number one British album today in 1968 was the Beatles’ “White Album”:
The number one British single today in 1974 was originally a country song:
See the comment from 1963 about the number one single today in 1974:
The number one song today in 1985:
The number one British song today in 1991:
The number one album today in 1991 was U2’s “Achtung Baby”:
The number one single today in 2003:
Only one birthday of note today: Tom Waits, whose voice was described as “like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car” makes him better known as writing for others:
WISN radio’s Common Sense Central passes on this billboard in northern Wisconsin:
Whoever purchased that billboard must read this blog. Since Walker was preceded by $2.1 billion tax increases and $2.9 billion deficits, along with government unions strangling taxpayers, that must be what Recall Worker supporters support.
Tom Goehler passes on this list of “60 Things NOT To Do If You Hate The Free Market,” which include:
1. Do not buy a desktop or laptop computer (Microsoft or Apple)
2. Do not hang out at the mall.
3. Do not watch or buy a television, which is developed and produced by a private company as well as basic cable being sustained via advertising.
4. Do not shop online
5. Do not use air conditioning
6. Do not buy food from a grocery store or supermarket …
8. Do not invest on the stock market
9. Do not go to the movies.
10. Do not buy U/L inspected products.
11. Do not buy any form of private insurance (be it health, fire, personal property, etc.)
12. Do not download any music or buy any CDs
13. Do not listen to any private radio stations
14. Do not buy an ATV, motorcycle, or motor vehicle
15. Do not use any rest rooms in any store or mall
16. Do not apply to any private College or University
17. Do not take online courses
18. Do not buy or rent any home built or inspected by a private company …
20. Do not buy gasoline for your motor vehicle
21. Do not use the services of FedEx or UPS
22. Do not buy apps for your iPhone
23. Better yet, do not use or buy any type of Cell Phone or Tracphone.
24. Do not use any drugs developed by any major brand name Corporation …
29. Do not work for a private employer
30. Do not use a private newspaper to advertise or coordinate a trade
31. Do not read any books written and published by private authors and publishers
32. Do not wear or buy clothes that have been produced by a private brand name company
33. Do not listen to weather reports by The Weather Channel or a news station …
35. Do not apply for a job with benefits or a salary above the legislated minimum ($7.25/ hour).
36. Do not purchase heating oil or wood to keep warm in winter
37. Do not use self-help books or operation manuals for products
38. Do not mow your lawn with a lawnmower
39. Do not play any sports that use footballs, soccer balls, basketballs, or any protective equipment
40. Do not use a refrigerator to freeze food or keep it cool.
41. Do not use an oven or a grill to boil, grill, bake, or deep fry food. …
45. Do not buy or use glasses, contacts, or any form of corrective lenses …
47. Do not wear braces or retainers to correct orthodontic problems. …
54. Do not use a bicycle
55. Do not buy any form of solar panels or “green energy” developed by a corporation. …
59. Do not earn any of your wealth by producing a good or service that individuals value
60. Do not bitch and moan about the unintended consequences of government intervention in the health care, financial, drug, energy, or transportation industries.
The fact is, we earn the lifestyle we expect. Without the mechanisms of the market and the division of labor, our lifestyles would be totally different and much harder. America would be a third world country. The less we are free to prosper, the less we get in return. Americans are very free today. We are ranked 6th out of 141 countries in economic freedom. Iran and Zimbabwe are 107th and 141st. The Statists are lying when they say that the free market does not work and that we need more State control of our lives.
On that day, a free festival in Altamont, Calif., featured the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby Stills Nash & Young.
The festival, attended by 300,000, also featured one concertgoer being stabbed to death by a member of the Hell’s Angels hired for security, plus a drowning and two men dying in a hit-and-run crash.
The number one album today in 1975 was Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy after All These Years”:
The number one British single today in 1986:
Birthdays start with Dave Brubeck:
Mike Smith, lead singer of the Dave Clark Five …
… was born one year before one-hit-wonder Jonathan King:
Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw called Sunday “a good day of football.”
Bradshaw’s statement more accurately could be understated “a good weekend of football” for Wisconsin football fans, who in 24 hours saw (1) the Badgers clinch their second consecutive Rose Bowl berth with a nail-biting 42–39 Big Ten championship win over Michigan State, and (2) the Packers go to 12–0 and clinch the NFC North title with a nail-biting 38–35 win over the New York Giants.
A year ago in my previous blog I wrote that 2010–11 might be the best year in the history of football in the state of Wisconsin. (The opposite would be 1988, when the BADgers were 1–10 and the pACKers were 4–12. WTMJ announcer Jim Irwin wasn’t employed to announce Badger and Packer games; he was sentenced to do the games.) A Rose Bowl loss and Super Bowl win (similar to 1962–63, when the Packers won their second Glory Days NFL title and lost the Rose Bowl) might just be topped this year, given how the Rose Bowl and NFL playoffs go. It could even be argued that this was the greatest weekend in the history of football in the state, given what was accomplished between 7:17 p.m. Saturday and 6:45 p.m. Sunday.
Saturday night’s game started pretty well, and then came the second quarter, which angered a certain Twitterer so much that he wrote that he hoped that Missedagain State lost to Oregon 1,000–0 in the Rose Bowl, concluding with the command to “FIRE BIELEMA!” In my defense, I imagine similar sentiments were being expressed, along with what Mr. Spock termed “colorful metaphors” in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” after the trainwreck that was the second quarter. Truth be told, Wisconsin was lucky to be down just eight points at the half.
Beyond the only measure that should count, his record, Badgers coach Bret Bielema doesn’t always inspire confidence among Badger fans. Perhaps it’s his less than stylish sideline appearance. (Maybe Bielema should emulate coaches of old and wear a suit and tie on the sidelines.) Perhaps it’s the appearance of a less-than-grade-A intellect and/or outsized confidence that reminds some of arrogance. It more likely has to do with the throw-things-at-the-wall losses to Michigan State and Ohio State earlier this season, and previous-season losses that appeared to be the result of being outcoached instead of being outplayed. (See the outsized-confidence comment.)
It could be argued that no other Badger quarterback in the program’s history could have won Saturday’s game. In just one season, quarterback Russell Wilson could legitimately be described as the best quarterback to have ever taken snaps for the Badgers. He demonstrated that against a really good defense in the Big Ten championship game, which featured …
The Wisconsin State Journal’s Tom Mulhern passes on some impressive Badger player quotes:
“Perseverance builds character,” UW junior cornerback Marcus Cromartie said. “We’ve definitely got a lot of character on this team, as you can see in this game. We just never gave up. We left the locker room (at halftime) saying we weren’t going to lose this game.” …
“Coach said it at halftime, ‘There’s something about Michigan State, we can’t seem to play a second quarter against them,’ ” [offensive guard Travis] Frederick said. “We weathered the storm and were able to come out and pick it up in the second half.”
A couple seniors said some words at halftime, including defensive tackle Patrick Butrym.
“In difficult times like that, you speak to your leaders and say, ‘OK, now it’s time to be a leader,’ ” Butrym said. “When you face adversity, especially like we did in the first half, we did not play well at all. The way we played was so disappointing.
“We were like, ‘Look, we’re eight points down, we’re down by a touchdown, we get stops, we’ll be fine.’ I had a lot of faith. Never doubted us.”
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Gary D’Amato suggests a name change for the game that matches the champions of the Big Ten’s Leaders and Legends divisions:
Let’s just call it the inaugural Heart Attack Bowl.
Its early momentum gone, its superlative duo of quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Montee Ball throttled by Michigan State for 2½ quarters, the University of Wisconsin somehow rallied for a stunning 42-39 victory Saturday night.
Book those tickets for Pasadena, Badgers fans.
Bucky is headed to the Rose Bowl.
They might play the Big Ten Football Championship Game for another 100 years and not get a game like this one. It was an instant classic, a back-and-forth affair that validated the very idea of a playoff between the winners of the Leaders (UW) and Legends (MSU) divisions.
UW’s dream season was interrupted by a two-game nightmare that included consecutive losses at Michigan State and Ohio State, both by a matter of inches on the field and by only a few seconds on the game clock.
Rather than doing nothing, however, the Badgers rallied to earn themselves a rare do-over in college football. By battling back from their deflating double loss in a season that otherwise consisted of double-digit victories, they not only gave themselves an opportunity to make history, they gave themselves a second chance to make a point about their upwardly mobile program. …
A victory in its rematch with Michigan State at Lucas Oil Stadium would allow UW to make history in the Big Ten’s first title game. More than that, it would go a long way toward proving that it has become an elite program nationally and that its first loss to the Spartans was a fluke decided by a Hail Mary pass and the loss to Ohio State happened because UW couldn’t get the first loss out of its system, not because it couldn’t match up with those teams. …
Although UW made more mistakes Saturday, it was plain to see that Michigan State, with its top-flight passing game, highly ranked defense and speed to burn, was responsible for most of them. These were two very good teams throwing knockout punches at one other.
Every time the Spartans closed one avenue for the Badgers, however, they managed to open up another one. The dynamic duo of Wilson and tailback Montee Ball took turns carrying the offense, the defense made some late stops when it had to and punter Brad Nortman did just enough acting to draw a late flag on Michigan State that ended the suspense.
As if that wasn’t enough suspense, there was Sunday’s game, in which the Giants scored first, then the Packers got the lead but couldn’t hold it against a team desperate to win to stay in the playoff race. One would not think that scoring the game-tying touchdown with 58 seconds left was giving your opponent too much time. And yet, bang, bang, bang, game-winning field goal, and the second-longest winning streak in the history of the NFL, 18 games extending to the Packers’ win over the Giants a season ago.
This is the point where you could point out that the Packers still continue to hemorrhage yards and points as has been the case most of the season. You could also point out that quarterback Aaron Rodgers was harassed all day, which made him less than usually accurate. And the drama at the end wouldn’t have had to happen had kicker Mason Crosby made a field goal he should have been able to make at the end of the first half.
Keep a couple things in mind, however. Of these 18 wins, only seven have been at Lambeau Field. Ten have been on the road, including the Thanksgiving win over Detroit and Sunday’s win, plus the neutral site Super Bowl XLV win. The Packers are also playing teams that are fighting for their playoff lives — the Lions on Thanksgiving , the Giants Sunday, Oakland next Sunday and, to end the season, Da Bears and the Lions again. And as a sportswriter observed after Super Bowl XXXI, if you win the Super Bowl one year, you play in 16 Super Bowls the next year. The Packers are getting every opponent’s best effort and best game plans because they’re the defending NFL champion. And they keep winning.
The Packers have had to sweat a bit at other times this season, but never like this. Green Bay had won four previous games by margins between six and eight points, but this was a singular challenge in that the Packers were tied in the final minute, with the ball in their hands and the chance to execute their two-minute offense. And they ran it to perfection. (There’s that word again).
“Two-minute drive is something we practice every week, and really, it was the drive that we needed,” McCarthy said. “It’s something that I think Aaron Rodgers does an excellent job of. He did a great job running the drill and managing the clock, the receivers made even better route adjustments, good protection, just a classic two-minute drive.”
All in just 58 seconds, as if to say Green Bay only needs about half the time required by a mere mortal football team in that dire situation.
This can’t be a good development for the rest of the NFL, seeing the Packers check off the category of pressurized game-winning two-minute drive from its to-do list this season. Green Bay needs more confidence like it needs more snow in January, but the Packers just took a significant step with this victory, and it had everything to do with what for Rodgers was a signature game-ending drive. …
“That’s what you want,” [coach Mike] McCarthy said of the two-minute opportunity. “That’s what you train for. That’s what you’re looking for. You are going to have to complete two-minute drives to win championships. Trust me, I would have taken the win a little easier, but that’s a great investment in your football team to get a win like that.”
The other thing that comes to mind is how different football has become today. Without looking, I am confident that Lombardi’s Packers never won a game in which they gave up 35 points. There also have been few games (and I suspect whichever games fit in this category have been recent) where Wisconsin gave up 39 points and still won. (And with Oregon in the Rose Bowl, I suggest you bet the over, however high it is.) Defense is still being played, but somewhere the prevailing attitude seems to have shifted from “defense wins championships” to “defense that doesn’t involve blitzing and turnovers is boring to watch.” Either that, or the definition of successful defense now is giving up one fewer point than you score, regardless of whether you score seven or 70.
Photos from the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers on Facebook.
What we are witnessing today as 2011 turns the page, is a slow, agonizing death of the once proud party of the people. In decades past, the Democratic Party was the party of the working man. It was the party that fought to even the playing field with unscrupulous and an all-too greedy American industry. Over time, real progress was made and working folks were paid a decent wage and afforded a lifestyle that many today would envy. I was fortunate enough to grow up in the America of the 1950s and 1960s that molded me into what I am today. In 1968, I was proud to cast my first ballot for Hubert Horatio Humphrey. Things have changed a bit these past 45 years.
Today the Party of the working man has become the Party of the non-working class. The Democrats have devolved to become the Party of moochers, leeches, and victims. And this Party of hope and change has morphed into a Frankenstein that would turn FDR in his grave. The Democratic Party is an abomination that is slowly strangling the greatest country in the world: The United States of America. …
Democrats don’t have a lot of faith in the everyday humble guy. Democrats think they know what’s best for us and are continually sticking their bureaucratic noses into our everyday business. That’s why the Party of the Donkey is slowly succumbing to an ugly demise. I can’t say I will miss the Democratic Party after it passes away, next year.
Indeed, we are a divided country. There are those like me who believe passionately, “ I know what’s best for my family and me.” I loathe this over-government bureaucracy which, as it swells larger and larger, becomes less and less efficient. Is there anyone in the room who thinks the Federal government can or will handle the health care needs of this country of 307 million, without adding a single new medical doctor? Of course not. The party cannot even dole out a $529 million dollar loan to a fraudulent “green” company, without losing track of YOUR precious taxpayers’ funds. The Democratic Party has been hijacked by the grifters, con men, and hustlers who should be behind bars rather than behind the Justice Department, the EPA, the National Labor Relations Board, or countless other useless, worthless agencies which serve no purpose and have long overstayed their usefulness.
Ken Gardner has a more succinct version of the same point:
The bases of the two political parties have changed. The Dem base is the bottom 20% income class and people with college credentials — the types we are seeing at OWS rallies. The GOP base is essentially people of all economic classes who do productive private sector work. For the GOP, this means it should focus on policies that help or reward these people — a combination of lower taxes, lower borrowing and spending, fewer regulations — in sum, getting government the hell out of their way.
That brought up this interesting comment:
See, I’m thinking the eggheads are right…we have jobs that HAVE to get done, and some of those jobs do require a degree, or at least an education you can acquire only through institutionalized advanced-education (not hands on experience) means. …
In this process of earning advanced degrees, there is a fraction … numerator is, coursework that is functionally useless, denominator is total coursework. It seems this fraction has started out as something like 10-15 percent back in the 1960’s or so, and now is more like 80%. We’ve got all these precious snowflakes graduating who can tell you all about how we’ve oppressed Indians and gay people but can’t even begin to describe how to build a bridge. And … our bridges are falling apart now.
I find it unlikely that the Democratic Party is actually dying. (And the discussion of the proper role of in-your-major coursework to outside-your-major coursework cannot be resolved in this blog.) But there is little question that the Democratic Party is increasingly abandoning those who do not “do productive private sector work” in favor of those who get paychecks or other largesse from government (including politically connected businesses). The connections national Democrats made with business in the 1990s are almost completely gone.
Meanwhile, Democrats’ BFFs, the unions, are offended over an assertion of Wisconsin Club for Growth:
From my email inbox comes this gem from the Wisconsin Club For Growth:
“Government unions exist chiefly to enable those who seldom produce anything of value to the real economy to take freely from those who produce value every day.”
Apparently the folks at the Wisconsin Club For Growth aren’t big fans of the services provided to society (and the contributions made to the real economy) by firefighters, police officers, probation & parole agents, corrections officers, trash collectors, nurses, and teachers, just to name some of the government employees represented by government unions.
The last time I checked, the protection against widespread fires breaking out – fires that would no doubt negatively impact the economy – certainly seems to provide something of value to the real economy.
While I’m at it, what about police protection? Does police protection provide something of value to the real economy? To borrow a phrase from Sarah Palin, “You betcha!” After all, without police protection businesses would no doubt fall prey to robberies, burglaries, etc., which would obviously negatively impact their ability (and willingness) to do business and grow the economy.
For Solidarity Wisconsin (a name that is a tremendous insult to those who put their lives on the line to defeat Communism in Poland) to assert what will “negatively affect their ability (and willingness) to do business and grow the economy” is amusing given that Solidarity Wisconsin apparently is confused over what grows “the real economy.” (Hint: It ain’t government.) If police and fire agencies didn’t exist, someone would create a police or fire business, charging customers for service. There already are private sanitation companies and private schools, and there are few government-owned hospitals in Wisconsin. Other than national defense and a few other areas, it is a failure of imagination or ideology sealed in concrete to assume that everything government does can be done only by government, and specifically “government employees represented by government unions.”
Even if that wasn’t the case, it is indisputable that those who do “productive private-sector work” are paying for all of the government services we get, whether or not we want them. (And since our taxes pay government employees’ salaries, and “government unions” are funded by employees’ union dues, our taxes are paying for the “government unions” too.) The more “productive private-sector work” there is, the more money there is for employees and for government.
Solidarity Wisconsin is also being deliberately obtuse when they equate “government employees” with “government unions.” The former perform public services, though those public services do cost money. The latter deserve to die.
The number one album today in 1960 was Elvis Presley’s “G.I. Blues” …
… which is probably unrelated to what Beatles Paul McCartney and Pete Best did in West Germany that day: They were arrested for pinning a condom to a brick wall and igniting it. Their sentence was deportation.
The number one single today in 1964:
The number one single today in 1965 wasn’t a single:
The number one British single today in 1981:
The number one British single today in 2004 was a remake of the original:
The number one British album today in 2004 was U2’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”:
So who shares a birthday with our youngest son? “Little Richard” Penniman:
Eduardo Delgado of ? and the Mysterians:
Jim Messina of Buffalo Springfield and Loggins and Messina:
Jack Russell of Great White …
… was born the same day as Les Nemes of Haircut 100:
Two deaths of note today: Doug Hopkins, cofounder of the Gin Blossoms, in 1993 …
Imagine being a fly on the wall at Sun Studios in Memphis today in 1956, and listening to the Million Dollar Jam Session with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.
The number one single today in 1965:
The number one British album today in 1971 was Led Zeppelin’s ” “, alternatively known as “Four Symbols” or “IV” …
… while here it was T Rex’s “Electric Warrior”:
The number one British album today in 1982 was “The John Lennon Collection”:
Today in 1988, Roy Orbison played his final concert, in Cleveland.
Birthdays begin with Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon:
Chris Hillman of the aforementioned Byrds:
Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys:
Gary Rossington played guitar for Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Rossington–Collins Band:
One death of note, today in 1993: Frank Zappa, who was survived by his wife Adelaide and their four children, Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuuhkha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pegeen.
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 