LEAVWORLD: GRAFFITI POLITTI

Last week, controversial US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner repeated Pres. Obama's campaign assertion that China is manipulating it's currency (which it is, but that's not the point). On Wednesday, China's Premier Wen Jiabao fired back, and Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin piled on, for good measure, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Here are some excerpts from the WSJ's coverage: ( link ) Speaking on the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, they both urged more international cooperation to escape the downturn. They also talked up the abilities of their own economies to ride out the recession. Mr. Wen said he was "confident" China would hit its 8% growth target for this year even though that was "a tall order." ( See text PDF ) The Russian and Chinese leaders also called for cooperation with U.S. President Barack Obama, but it was a chilly reception for the new administration that reflected...

Watch the reporting of the House vote on the "stimulus" package, in the coming days. There will be much talk of Republican "partisanship," and how they're being "divisive" by their opposition. Little mention will be made of the eleven Democrats who sided with the GOP, making the opposition "bi-partisan." I hope the Senate, and Pres. Obama are paying attention, because there will be a signifigant backlash if this "package" doesn't undergo some serious revision before being forced on the country. The president's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, has close ties to Speaker Pelosi. He's expressed a desire to exploit a "crisis," or at least not "waste" one. Emmanuel's former colleagues in the House are using the cover of "stimulus" to shovel taxpayer dollars into a variety of wasteful, and often failing government programs. "Stimulating the economy" has become the "lipstick on the ...

From The Tax Foundation : The House of Representatives yesterday voted 289-139 to pass a 156% increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes (taking it from 39 cents per pack to $1.00, not counting state taxes which average over $1 a pack). The estimated $33 billion tax hike (over 4-1/2 years) would be earmarked to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP). The bill is almost identical to a previous version that was vetoed in the summer of 2007, and it will soon go to the Senate. Now, we all know that paying taxes is patriotic, and we all want to fund children's health care. This one is a no-brainer! START SMOKING, AMERICA! "The children are depending on you." If you still don't want to smoke, maybe you can buy cigs to give to poor people at election time, then bus them to the polls. The Tax Foundation has a non-sarcastic criticism of this bill, which is worth a read. ( link )

I have to give some credit to the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 2007, they fired Ward Churchill, and now they want to create a Visiting Chair in Conservative Thought and Policy. Unfortunately, their motives are so transparent that they're being criticized by liberals and conservatives alike. Here are excerpts from the two places I saw this story today: Brett Baier's Special Report: the Political Grapevine The University of Colorado - which has a very liberal reputation - is still looking for a conservative professor to counterbalance the campus' leftist slant. A local TV station reports the university has raised only $575,000 of the $9 million needed to fund a "visiting chair in conservative thought and policy." The effort is taking hits from both sides. One Republican on the regents board says the professor would be a token. The president of the school's College Democrats, Jesse Jensen, says, "The entire concept... politicizes academics in a way ...