The Beverly Hillbillies episode with Scruggs and Flatt: Jed Throws A Wingding

The Beverly Hillbillies: Jed Throws A Wingding

Uploaded by on Feb 23, 2012

The Beverly Hillbillies is one of the funniest and most inspired TV comedies of all time! The show was ranked #1 and attracted as many as 60 million viewers per week! The Clampett Clan includes Buddy Ebsen (Jed), Irene Ryan (“Granny”), Max Baer Jr. (Jethro), Donna Douglas (Elly May). Also stars Raymond Bailey (Milburn Drysdale), and Nancy Kulp (Jane Hathaway).

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The theme song “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” was written by producer and writer Paul Henning and originally performed by bluegrass artists Flatt and Scruggs. The song was sung by Jerry Scoggins (backed by Flatt and Scruggs) over the opening and end credits of each episode. It was #44 on the music charts in 1962 and a #1 country hit. Flatt and Scruggs also had another Billboard country top ten hit with the comic “Pearl, Pearl, Pearl,” an ode to the feminine charms of Miss Pearl Bodine who was featured in the episode “Jed Throws a Wingding,” the first of several Flatt and Scruggs appearances on the show.

The six main cast members participated on a 1963 Columbia Records soundtrack album which featured original song numbers in character. Additionally, Ebsen, Ryan and Douglas each made a few solo recordings following the show’s success, including Ryan’s 1966 novelty single, “Granny’s Miniskirt”.

The series generally featured no country music beyond the bluegrass banjo theme song, although country star Roy Clark and the team of Flatt and Scruggs occasionally played on the program. Pop singer Pat Boone appeared on one episode as himself, with the premise that he hailed from the same area of the country as the Clampetts (Boone is, in fact, a native of Jacksonville, Florida although he spent most of his childhood in Tennessee).

The 1989 film UHF featured a “Weird Al” Yankovic parody music video, “Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*”, combining “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” and Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing”.

Because of the show’s high ratings, CBS asked creator Paul Henning to pen two more folksy comedies, spawning a mini-genre of rural sitcoms during the 1960s. Petticoat Junction featured an extended family, including three pretty young women of marrying age, running a small hotel in the isolated rural town of Hooterville. Green Acres flipped the Clampetts’ fish-out-of-water concept by depicting two city sophisticates moving to Hooterville, which was populated by oddball country bumpkins.

Certain actors appeared on more than one of these series: * Bea Benaderet, who had played Jethro’s mother during the first season of The Beverly Hillbillies, was the mother of the family on Petticoat Junction. * Linda Kaye Henning, who provided the voiceover for the Beverly Hillbillies character Jethrine, portrayed Benaderet’s daughter Betty Jo Bradley on Petticoat Junction (the only female who remained all seven seasons). * Edgar Buchanan, who starred in all 222 episodes of Petticoat Junction and guest-starred in 17 episodes of Green Acres, also guested in three episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, always as the character Uncle Joe Carson. * Charles Lane played Homer Bedloe, vice president of the C. & F. W. Railroad, on both shows. He also played an apartment landlord to Jane Hathaway (“Foster Phinney”) during the 1970–71 season. * Sam Drucker, played by Frank Cady, of both Petticoat Junction and Green Acres, also appeared in several episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies. * Several animal actors trained by Frank Inn, including Higgins the dog, also moved between series as needed.

Despite the actor cross-overs and the character Uncle Joe Carson’s multiple appearances (which made it clear that the three shows were set in the same fictional universe), the two Hooterville series retained identities that were distinct from The Beverly Hillbillies.

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Uploaded by Nekrophyliac on May 16, 2006 the best instrumental bluegrass song ever done!! ________ FLAT & SCRUGGS Uploaded by wininternetnetwork on Dec 2, 2007 Flat & Scruggs Shortbread From CNN: Bluegrass great Earl Scruggs dead at 88 By the CNN Wire Staff updated 11:43 AM EDT, Thu March 29, 2012 (CNN) — Earl Scruggs, […]

The Beverly Hillbillies episode with Scruggs and Flatt: Jed Throws A Wingding

The Beverly Hillbillies: Jed Throws A Wingding Uploaded by AllegroMediaMovies on Feb 23, 2012 The Beverly Hillbillies is one of the funniest and most inspired TV comedies of all time! The show was ranked #1 and attracted as many as 60 million viewers per week! The Clampett Clan includes Buddy Ebsen (Jed), Irene Ryan (“Granny”), […]

“Music Monday” Countdown of Coldplay’s best albums (part 3)

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Otis Redding and Memphis “Music Monday”

(Sittin On) The Dock Of The Bay Uploaded by taylorgdaniel on Jun 9, 2010 Downtown Memphis, July 9, 2010, solo by Taylor G. Daniel of Germantown. This song was actually sung just a few miles away from where Redding originally recorded it in downtown Memphis at Stax Records. ______________________ Over the years Otis Redding’s influence […]

Katharine McPhee’s hit song co-wrote by Little Rock native David Hodges

The “American Idol” contestant-turned-actress is getting positive reviews for her role in “Smash.” The singer plays an actress who is competing for the part of Marilyn Monroe in a Broadway show. The Hollywood Reporter calls it “‘Glee’ for grownups” and Entertainment Weekly calls McPhee “mediocre” but “very likable.” Great song: Uploaded by KatharineMcPheeVEVO on Nov […]

 

March 29, 2012 – 7:05 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Lincoln quotes on slavery

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Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis)

Spielberg’s film follows 56-year-old Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, from January of 1865 until his death in April. The portrait on the left was taken in 1864.

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Lincoln quotes on slavery:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTES ABOUT SLAVERY (Including Sources) <!img src=”quotables.gif” width=”364″ height=”80″ alt=”Abraham Lincoln Quotes About Slavery”>

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.” Lincoln’s ‘House-Divided’ Speech in Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858.

“Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VIII, “Speech to One Hundred Fortieth Indiana Regiment” (March 17, 1865), p. 361.

“What I do say is, that no man is good enough to govern another man, without that other’s consent. I say this is the leading principle – the sheet anchor of American republicanism.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Speech at Peoria, Illinois” (October 16, 1854), p. 266.

“We think slavery a great moral wrong, and while we do not claim the right to touch it where it exists, we wish to treat it as a wrong in the territories, where our votes will reach it.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume IV, “Speech at New Haven, Connecticut” (March 6, 1860), p. 16.

“In 1841 you and I had together a tedious low-water trip, on a Steam Boat from Louisville to St. Louis. You may remember, as I well do, that from Louisville to the mouth of the Ohio there were, on board, ten or a dozen slaves, shackled together with irons. That sight was a continual torment to me; and I see something like it every time I touch the Ohio, or any other slave-border.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Letter to Joshua F. Speed” (August 24, 1855), p. 320.

“I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, “Letter to Albert G. Hodges” (April 4, 1864), p. 281.

“I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.

“In the first place, I insist that our fathers did not make this nation half slave and half free, or part slave and part free. I insist that they found the institution of slavery existing here. They did not make it so, but they left it so because they knew of no way to get rid of it at that time.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, “Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Quincy” (October 13, 1858), p. 276.

“I think slavery is wrong, morally, and politically. I desire that it should be no further spread in these United States, and I should not object if it should gradually terminate in the whole Union.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, “Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio” (September 17, 1859), p. 440.

“In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free – honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just – a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.” Lincoln’s Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.

“I do not wish to be misunderstood upon this subject of slavery in this country. I suppose it may long exist, and perhaps the best way for it to come to an end peaceably is for it to exist for a length of time. But I say that the spread and strengthening and perpetuation of it is an entirely different proposition. There we should in every way resist it as a wrong, treating it as a wrong, with the fixed idea that it must and will come to an end.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, “Speech at Chicago, Illinois” (March 1, 1859), p. 370.

“Now, I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country who contemplate slavery as a moral, social and political evil, having due regard for its actual existence amongst us and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any satisfactory way, and to all the constitutional obligations which have been thrown about it; but, nevertheless, desire a policy that looks to the prevention of it as a wrong, and looks hopefully to the time when as a wrong it may come to an end.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, “Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Galesburg” (October 7, 1858), p. 226.

“I think that one of the causes of these repeated failures is that our best and greatest men have greatly underestimated the size of this question (slavery). They have constantly brought forward small cures for great sores—plasters too small to cover the wound. That is one reason that all settlements have proved so temporary—so evanescent.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, “Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio” (September 17, 1859), p. 15.

“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, “Letter To Henry L. Pierce and Others” (April 6, 1858), p. 376.

“You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. For this, neither has any just occasion to be angry with the other. ” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume IV, “Letter to John A. Gilmer” (December 15, 1860), p. 152.

“You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume IV, “Letter to Alexander H. Stephens” (December 22, 1860), p. 160.

“I did say, at Chicago, in my speech there, that I do wish to see the spread of slavery arrested and to see it placed where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Speech at Springfield, Illinois” (July 17, 1858), p. 514.

“Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man’s nature – opposition to it, is his love of justice. These principles are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions must ceaselessly follow.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Speech at Peoria, Illinois” (October 16, 1854), p. 271.

“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, (August 1, 1858?), p. 532.

“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume V, “Letter to Horace Greeley” (August 22, 1862), p. 388.

“I have always hated slavery, I think as much as any abolitionist.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Speech at Chicago, Illinois” (July 10, 1858), p. 492.

“Do the people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican administration would, directly, or indirectly, interfere with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves? If they do, I wish to assure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume IV, “Letter to Alexander H. Stephens” (December 22, 1860), p. 160.

“I believe the declara[tion] that ‘all men are created equal’ is the great fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest; that negro slavery is violative of that principle; but that, by our frame of government, that principle has not been made one of legal obligation; that by our frame of government, the States which have slavery are to retain it, or surrender it at their own pleasure; and that all others—individuals, free-states and national government—are constitutionally bound to leave them alone about it. I believe our government was thus framed because of the necessity springing from the actual presence of slavery, when it was framed. That such necessity does not exist in the teritories[sic], where slavery is not present.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, “Letter to James N. Brown” (October 18, 1858), p. 327.

“I hold it to be a paramount duty of us in the free states, due to the Union of the states, and perhaps to liberty itself (paradox though it may seem) to let the slavery of the other states alone; while, on the other hand, I hold it to be equally clear, that we should never knowingly lend ourselves directly or indirectly, to prevent that slavery from dying a natural death—to find new places for it to live in, when it can no longer exist in the old.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume I, “Letter to Williamson Durley” (October 3, 1845), p. 348.

“So plain that no one, high or low, ever does mistake it, except in a plainly selfish way; for although volume upon volume is written to prove slavery a very good thing, we never hear of the man who wishes to take the good of it, by being a slave himself.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Fragment on Slavery” (April 1, 1854?), p. 222.

“This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, “Letter To Henry L. Pierce and Others” (April 6, 1859), p. 376.

“I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Speech at Peoria, Illinois” (October 16, 1854), p. 255.

“If we cannot give freedom to every creature, let us do nothing that will impose slavery upon any other creature.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Speech at Chicago, Illinois” (July 10, 1858), p. 501.

“Free labor has the inspiration of hope; pure slavery has no hope.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, “Fragment on Free Labor” (September 17, 1859?), p. 462.

I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that ‘while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the Acts of Congress.’ If the people should, by whatever mode or means, make it an Executive duty to re-enslave such persons, another, and not I, must be their instrument to perform it. Lincoln’s Fourth Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1864.

“We were proclaiming ourselves political hypocrites before the world, by thus fostering Human Slavery and proclaiming ourselves, at the same time, the sole friends of Human Freedom.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Speech at Springfield, Illinois” (October 4, 1854), p. 242.

“Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery it could not continue.” Lincoln’s Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.

“I have always thought that all men should be free; but if any should be slaves it should be first those who desire it for themselves, and secondly those who desire it for others.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VIII, “Speech to One Hundred Fortieth Indiana Regiment” (March 17, 1865), p. 361.

NOTE: All page references to The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln refer to the 1953 edition published by the Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Several good single volume sources of authentic Lincoln quotes are: (1) Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln compiled and edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher and Virginia Fehrenbacher. (2) A Treasury of Lincoln Quotations edited by Fred Kerner. (3) Of the People, By the People, For the People and other Quotations from Abraham Lincoln edited by Gabor S. Boritt. (4) Abe Lincoln Laughing: Humorous Anecdotes from Original Sources by and about Abraham Lincoln edited by P.M. Zall.

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13 September 2012 Photo by David James, SMPSP – © 2012 – DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC. All Rights Reserved. Titles: Lincoln Names: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Robert Lincoln Characters: Robert Todd Lincoln I have written a lot about Abraham Lincoln in the past as you can tell from the “related posts” noted below. Most of my […]

March 29, 2012 – 6:17 am Categories: Founding Fathers | Post a comment

Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

Dear Senator Pryor,

Why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? As you know that federal deficit is at all time high (1.6 trillion deficit with revenues of 2.2 trillion and spending at 3.8 trillion).

On my blog www.HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com I took you at your word and sent you over 100 emails with specific spending cut ideas. However, I did not see any of them in the recent debt deal that Congress adopted. Now I am trying another approach. Every week from now on I will send you an email explaining different reasons why we need the Balanced Budget Amendment. It will appear on my blog on “Thirsty Thursday” because the government is always thirsty for more money to spend.

New CBO Numbers Re-Confirm that Balancing the Budget Is Simple with Modest Fiscal Restraint

Posted by Daniel J. Mitchell

Many of the politicians in Washington, including President Obama during his State of the Union address, piously tell us that there is no way to balance the budget without tax increases. Trying to get rid of red ink without higher taxes, they tell us, would require “savage” and “draconian” budget cuts.

I would like to slash the budget and free up resources for private-sector growth, so that sounds good to me. But what’s the truth?

The Congressional Budget Office has just released its 10-year projections for the budget, so I crunched the numbers to determine what it would take to balance the budget without tax hikes. Much to nobody’s surprise, the politicians are not telling the truth.

The chart below shows that revenues are expected to grow (because of factors such as inflation, more population, and economic expansion) by more than 7 percent each year. Balancing the budget is simple so long as politicians increase spending at a slower rate. If they freeze the budget, we almost balance the budget by 2017. If federal spending is capped so it grows 1 percent each year, the budget is balanced in 2019. And if the crowd in Washington can limit spending growth to about 2 percent each year, red ink almost disappears in just 10 years.

These numbers, incidentally, assume that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are made permanent (they are now scheduled to expire in two years). They also assume that the AMT is adjusted for inflation, so the chart shows that we can balance the budget without any increase in the tax burden.

I did these calculations last year, and found the same results. And I also examined how we balanced the budget in the 1990s and found that spending restraint was the key. The combination of a GOP Congress and Bill Clinton in the White House led to a four-year period of government spending growing by an average of just 2.9 percent each year.

We also have international evidence showing that spending restraint – not higher taxes – is the key to balancing the budget. New Zealand got rid of a big budget deficit in the 1990s with a five-year spending freeze. Canada also got rid of red ink that decade with a five-year period where spending grew by an average of only 1 percent per year. And Ireland slashed its deficit in the late 1980s by 10 percentage points of GDP with a four-year spending freeze.

No wonder international bureaucracies such as the International Monetary fund and European Central Bank are producing research showing that spending discipline is the right approach

Daniel J. Mitchell • January 27, 2011 @ 12:00 pm
Filed under: Government and Politics; Health Care; Tax and Budget Policy

March 29, 2012 – 6:15 am Categories: spending out of control | Post a comment

Obamacare proponents say the Supreme Court should let it become law because the people want it!!!!

Randy Barnett Discusses ObamaCare at the Supreme Court

Uploaded by on Mar 26, 2012

http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=9074

Cato Institute Senior Fellow and Georgetown University law professor Randy E. Barnett discusses the arguments to be presented to the Supreme Court beginning March 26.

I know that many people feel strongly that we live in a democracy and because the people want Obamacare then they should be able to get it. However, that is not exactly true that we live in a pure democracy.

My daily email containing the editorials and opinion columns from the Washington Post included an item written by E.J. Dionne entitled “Supreme Court activists: Conservative justices forget we’re a democracy.”

Surely this was a mistake.

I suspect he does understand, at least with regard to the first question. For instance, I’d bet a lot of money that he was correctly in favor of the Court’s decision to protect flag burning as a form of political speech, notwithstanding public opinion and congressional approval.

But he seems to join with other leftists in treating the interstate commerce clause as some sort of blank check for federal intervention into every aspect of our lives. And it shows up in various ways in his column.

…conservative justices are prepared to act as an alternative legislature…discussing whether parts of the law could stand if other parts fell… Sotomayor asked what was wrong with leaving as much discretion as possible “in the hands of the people who should be fixing this, not us.” It was nice to be reminded that we’re a democracy, not a judicial dictatorship. …This is what conservative justices will do if they strike down or cripple the health-care law. …a court that…sees no limits on its power, no need to defer to those elected to make our laws.

At the risk of being blunt, the conservative justices are doing exactly what they should be doing. They’re deciding if a law enacted by Congress is consistent with the powers granted to Congress by the Constitution.

America has a democratic form of government, but we are not a democracy. At least not in the sense that 51 percent of the people have the unlimited right to rape and pillage 49 percent of the people.

I have no idea of the Supreme Court will make the right decision, but I am overwhelmingly confident that the Founding Fathers didn’t envision mandated health insurance as a function of the federal government.

But maybe I’m just too old fashioned, because when I peruse the enumerated powers, I don’t see any authority for a Department of Energy either. Or a Department of Agriculture. Or a Department of Commerce. Or Department of Housing and Urban Development. Or Department of Education. Or a Department of Transportation. Or…well, you get the idea.

March 29, 2012 – 6:11 am Categories: Cato Institute, Healthcare | Post a comment

Tagged |

An open letter to President Obama (Part 50, A response to your budget)

On Bloomberg, Sessions Discusses Astounding Gimmicks In President’s Budget

Uploaded by on Feb 13, 2012

___

President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here.

You claim your budget reduces debt $4 trillion over the next 10 years? Let’s look at some facts from the Cato Institute:

Obama’s Busted Budget

by Michael D. Tanner

Michael Tanner is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and author of Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution.

Added to cato.org on February 15, 2012

This article appeared on National Review (Online) on February 15, 2012

In a town where bipartisan budget chicanery has been raised to an art form, President Obama’s latest budget proposal should be hailed as the da Vinci of fiscal obfuscation.

The president claims that his budget proposal reduces debt by $4 trillion over the next 10 years, combining $2.4 trillion in spending cuts with $1.6 trillion in tax hikes. Almost none of that is true.

Let’s start with the idea that the president’s budget would reduce the debt. That is true only using Washington math, under which a smaller increase is actually a decrease. In reality, the president’s budget adds $6.7 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years, bringing it to nearly $25.5 trillion by 2022. That would be more than 100 percent of our GDP.

The president’s budget is dishonest and irresponsible.

And those spending cuts? The president actually counts $681 billion in cuts that were agreed to last year as part of the deal to raise the debt ceiling. Shouldn’t there be some sort of statute of limitations for how long you can claim credit for cuts that you have already made? And it should probably be shorter for cuts that you fought against every step of the way. The president also counts as a cut the $741 billion we will save from not occupying Iraq over the next 10 years, and from not being in Afghanistan a decade from now. Considering that we were never going to spend that money in the first place, that seems like slightly dishonest accounting. After all, think of all the savings we can claim by not invading Syria. And, finally, $595 billion of the claimed budget cuts is actually interest savings resulting from not having to borrow for the other phony cuts.

On the other hand, the president’s budget does include plenty of new spending. For example, there is $476 billion in new spending over 10 years for transportation projects, including the president’s favorite boondoggle, “high-speed rail.” There are also the usual bailouts for profligate state governments and teachers’ unions, including $30 billion to build more schools and $30 billion to hire teachers. Another stimulus anyone?

Overall, the president would increase federal spending from $3.8 trillion in 2013 to $5.82 trillion in 2022. That might not be as big an increase there might otherwise be, but in no way can it be called a cut.

The president isn’t even honest about his tax proposals. In the speech announcing his budget plan, President Obama devoted several paragraphs to a renewed push for the so-called Buffett rule, a new 30 percent minimum tax on the rich, based on the misleading claim that Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. There is only one small problem: The president’s budget does not actually include any revenue from the Buffett rule. In fact, the budget provides no clue as to when or how such a tax might be implemented. The Buffett Rule isn’t even listed in the document’s summary of revenues and outlays. A cynic might believe that the Buffett Rule has more to do with campaign rhetoric than an actual budget plan.

Instead, what the budget does contain is a renewed call for tax increases on people and small businesses making as little as $200,000 per year. In addition, there’s the usual panoply of tax hikes on energy products, businesses, investment, and pretty much anything else the president can think of. The budget also helpfully points out that 2013 is the year in which most of the new taxes under Obamacare will take effect. Overall, the president would increase tax revenue to 20.1 percent of GDP. That’s a huge increase from the current 15.4 percent, and higher than the post–World War II average of 18.0 percent. Tax increases of that magnitude cannot help but slow economic growth and job creation.

But even if the president were to get every penny of the tax hikes he wants, his budget would never balance. The closest he would ever come would be in 2018, when the deficit would be only $575 billion. After that, deficits begin rising again, reaching $704 billion by 2022.

Fortunately for the president, he stops counting after 2022, about the time that the costs of entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security really begin to kick in, and his proposed budget does almost nothing to reform these troubled programs. One only has to look at the upward trajectory of both spending and taxes at the end of the budget window to see that president’s budget leaves us on the road to future bankruptcy.

Appearing last Sunday on Meet the Press, the president’s chief of staff — and former budget director — Jack Lew, declared that “The time for austerity is not now.” Judging by the president’s budget proposal, it’s not ever.

_____________

I don’t see any reductions in the debt but I do see a lot more tax and spend in your budget. Don’t you think we need to balance the budget now before we end up like Greece?

Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your committment as a father and a husband.Sincerely,Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com

March 28, 2012 – 3:55 pm Categories: Cato Institute, President Obama, spending out of control, Taxes | Post a comment

2012 Press Conferences with Pitino and Calipari

John Calipari Pre-Louisville Press Conference

Uploaded by on Mar 27, 2012

Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari talks about the upcoming game with Louisville in the Final 4.

______

Related posts:

Calipari’s been to 4 final fours and his record is 1-3 so far

> Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari celebrated with the team after the University of Kentucky defeated Baylor University in the NCAA South Regional final played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., Sunday, March 25, 2012. This is second half action. UK won 82-70. Charles Bertram | Staff HERALD-LEADER Buy Photo Calipari is going […]

SEC gets one in final four: Kentucky

We came close to get two in but only Kentucky got in. Calipari’s wife and son can be seen in this picture below:     > Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari hugged his son, Bradley, and his wife Ellen after the University of Kentucky defeated Baylor University in the NCAA South Regional final played […]

Are you ready for Calipari versus Pitino?

Here we go for the battle of the best two teams in Kentucky and possibly this game on March 31st will determine our national champion. USA Today reported in October 2011: Louisville’s Rick Pitino responds to John Calipari’s Kentucky taunt Rick Pitino isn’t going to take John Calipari’s taunts lying down. Louisville coach Rick Pitino […]

Hogs, Vols, Bulldogs and other SEC teams miss NCAA Tournament

Earlier I wrote the article Who gets in NCAA Tournament from SEC, Calipari and Martin say 5, I say 4, and everybody seemed to be saying the SEC would get in 5 or 6 and I even heard Rick Schaffer say it could be 7 if the SEC was lucky. Unfortunately, the SEC did not do […]

What the new SEC football schedule might look like in 2013

I have been wondering what the result will be in the SEC football rotation in upcoming schedules after 2012. Basketball is working great and the old SEC football schedule rotation worked great but what are they going to do with the 14 schools now? I think it will work best if they go to the […]

Arkansas ladybacks win first game ever in Knoxville

After getting beat at home by Florida by 30 points (the worst ever loss at Bud Walton) and then getting beat by Alabama at Bud Walton, it appears we have nothing to cheer about at Arkansas. However, hold the presses. The Arkansas ladybacks beat Tennessee for the first time ever in basketball last night. The […]

Who gets in NCAA Tournament from SEC, Calipari and Martin say 5, I say 4

Photo by Adam Brimer, copyright © 2012 Tennessee forward Jordan McRae (52), forward Jarnell Stokes (5) and guard Cameron Tatum (23) go up for a rebound during the first half against Arkansas at Thompson-Boling Arena Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. Tennessee won 77-58 over Arkansas. (ADAM BRIMER/NEWS SENTINEL) ______________________ I just don’t see 5 SEC schools […]

John Calipari’s tribute to mentor Gene Bartow

Photo by Wayne Crosslin Memphis State coach Gene Bartow comforts Larry Finch at the awards ceremony after the Tigers lost the NCAA final to UCLA in St. Louis in March 1973. Bartow died Tuesday after a long fight with cancer. _______________________ In 1972 I was 11 and I shot the basketball with a side arm […]

Sad for Hog and Tiger fans but Jarnell Stokes signs with Vols

Photo by Justin A. Shaw, Special to the News Sentinel Jarnell’s mother Shunta Stokes said his college decision was “solely up to him. I support his decision wholeheartedly, he’s the one that has to attend the school, not me. His dad and I are behind him 100%.” Yesterday when I got in the car at […]

 

 

March 28, 2012 – 7:25 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Videos from Cato Institute on Obamacare

Cato’s Michael F. Cannon Discusses ObamaCare’s Individual Mandate

Uploaded by on Mar 26, 2012

http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=9074

The individual mandate to purchase health insurance is the linchpin of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It is among the issues to be handled by the Supreme Court beginning March 26, 2012.

Michael F. Cannon is the director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute.

____________________

Tim Sandefur Discusses ObamaCare’s Medicaid Expansion

Uploaded by on Mar 26, 2012

http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=9074

Tim Sandefur of the Pacific Legal Foundation explains some of the implications of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.

___________________

Randy Barnett Discusses ObamaCare at the Supreme Court

Uploaded by on Mar 26, 2012

http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=9074

Cato Institute Senior Fellow and Georgetown University law professor Randy E. Barnett discusses the arguments to be presented to the Supreme Court beginning March 26.

__________

Milton Friedman – Socialized Medicine at Mayo Clinic in 1978

March 28, 2012 – 7:24 am Categories: Cato Institute, Healthcare | Post a comment

People have been counting UL Cardinals out all along, Pressure on Calipari to win

 

Over and over in the 2012 NCAA Tournament the Louisville Cardinals have been counted out.  Now John Clay has counted them out again. (Wally Hall of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is picking Kentucky.)

The tables are now turned. Calipari’s program has the advantage in tradition, fan base and, in this case, talent. To whom much is given, much is expected.
A younger Calipari might have psyched himself out this week. The thought of playing his program’s in-state archrival, the thought of coaching against his “friendly acquaintance” for a spot in the championship game might have thrown him off his game.
Now, Calipari is 53. He’s older and wiser. He’s a better coach. Three years here, he’s done an incredible job.
He’s recruited fabulous players. He’s captured SEC titles and is now in his second Final Four in as many years, his fourth as a head coach.
He’s done everything the Big Blue Nation hoped he would do.
Except win the title.
If he doesn’t win this year, it doesn’t mean he’s not a terrific coach. It doesn’t mean he won’t get another shot. It doesn’t mean he won’t win one or two or three championships down the road.
But this is the one shot for this fabulous team. These 12 players won’t be together as a team again. Winning the championship, said freshman point guard Marquis Teague on Tuesday, has been what this team has thought about “since the first day.”
For Kentucky fans, the thought of Louisville, and Rick Pitino, keeping the Cats from the title is too much to bear.
In the minds of the most passionate, and irrational, it would be enough to ruin what has been a tremendous season.
Calipari can say whatever he wants about that — “A win or a loss doesn’t matter if the school is 12 miles from you or 1,000 miles from you,” Cal said Tuesday — and much of what he says may actually be true.
But this too is true: John Calipari has worked all his life to be in the position he will be in this weekend.
Now all he has to do is win.
John Clay: (859) 231-3226. Email: jclay@herald-leader.com. Twitter: @johnclayiv. Blog: johnclay.bloginky.com
Copyright 2012 Herald-Leader.

Calipari’s been to 4 final fours and his record is 1-3 so far

> Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari celebrated with the team after the University of Kentucky defeated Baylor University in the NCAA South Regional final played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., Sunday, March 25, 2012. This is second half action. UK won 82-70. Charles Bertram | Staff HERALD-LEADER Buy Photo Calipari is going […]

SEC gets one in final four: Kentucky

We came close to get two in but only Kentucky got in. Calipari’s wife and son can be seen in this picture below:     > Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari hugged his son, Bradley, and his wife Ellen after the University of Kentucky defeated Baylor University in the NCAA South Regional final played […]

Are you ready for Calipari versus Pitino?

Here we go for the battle of the best two teams in Kentucky and possibly this game on March 31st will determine our national champion. USA Today reported in October 2011: Louisville’s Rick Pitino responds to John Calipari’s Kentucky taunt Rick Pitino isn’t going to take John Calipari’s taunts lying down. Louisville coach Rick Pitino […]

Hogs, Vols, Bulldogs and other SEC teams miss NCAA Tournament

Earlier I wrote the article Who gets in NCAA Tournament from SEC, Calipari and Martin say 5, I say 4, and everybody seemed to be saying the SEC would get in 5 or 6 and I even heard Rick Schaffer say it could be 7 if the SEC was lucky. Unfortunately, the SEC did not do […]

What the new SEC football schedule might look like in 2013

I have been wondering what the result will be in the SEC football rotation in upcoming schedules after 2012. Basketball is working great and the old SEC football schedule rotation worked great but what are they going to do with the 14 schools now? I think it will work best if they go to the […]

Arkansas ladybacks win first game ever in Knoxville

After getting beat at home by Florida by 30 points (the worst ever loss at Bud Walton) and then getting beat by Alabama at Bud Walton, it appears we have nothing to cheer about at Arkansas. However, hold the presses. The Arkansas ladybacks beat Tennessee for the first time ever in basketball last night. The […]

Who gets in NCAA Tournament from SEC, Calipari and Martin say 5, I say 4

Photo by Adam Brimer, copyright © 2012 Tennessee forward Jordan McRae (52), forward Jarnell Stokes (5) and guard Cameron Tatum (23) go up for a rebound during the first half against Arkansas at Thompson-Boling Arena Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. Tennessee won 77-58 over Arkansas. (ADAM BRIMER/NEWS SENTINEL) ______________________ I just don’t see 5 SEC schools […]

John Calipari’s tribute to mentor Gene Bartow

Photo by Wayne Crosslin Memphis State coach Gene Bartow comforts Larry Finch at the awards ceremony after the Tigers lost the NCAA final to UCLA in St. Louis in March 1973. Bartow died Tuesday after a long fight with cancer. _______________________ In 1972 I was 11 and I shot the basketball with a side arm […]

Sad for Hog and Tiger fans but Jarnell Stokes signs with Vols

Photo by Justin A. Shaw, Special to the News Sentinel Jarnell’s mother Shunta Stokes said his college decision was “solely up to him. I support his decision wholeheartedly, he’s the one that has to attend the school, not me. His dad and I are behind him 100%.” Yesterday when I got in the car at […]

 

March 28, 2012 – 5:55 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Woody Allen does it again “Woody Wednesday”

Annie Hall (1977) 
Annie Hall (1977)

Diane Keaton starred in the director’s New York-set film, which won both him and the actress Oscars. “Annie Hall was a wonderful experience for me,” Keaton said in her acceptance speech. “I would just like to say thanks to Woody and thank you.” 

Woody Allen does it again.

Oscars 2012: Woody Allen wins for original screenplay

February 26, 2012 |  7:30 pm

Woody Allen

“Midnight in Paris” writer-director Woody Allen won the Oscar for original screenplay at the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday night.

The Paris-set film stars Owen Wilson as a successful Hollywood screenwriter who roams the streets of the French city encountering literary and artistic megaliths of the past in his present. Allen directed the love letter to Paris, which also stars Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Adrien Brody, Tom Hiddleston and Kathy Bates.

Allen’s original screenplay won the Golden Globe and Writers Guild of America award and earned a nod at the BAFTA Film Awards. At the Oscars, Allen was nominated for director and the film was nominated  for best picture and art direction.

Oscars: Red Carpet | Quotes | Key Scenes | Ballot | Cheat Sheet | Winners

The director previously won Oscars for “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Annie Hall.”

“Midnight in Paris” bested “The Artist” writer-director Michel Hazanavicius, “Bridesmaids” writers Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig, “Margin Call” writer-director J.C. Chandor and “A Separation” writer-director Asghar Farhadi.

The Academy Awards are taking place in Hollywood and are being televised live on ABC. They are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose membership was recently examined in depth by the Los Angeles Times.

For more Oscars breaking news and analysis, check back on 24 Frames.

Related posts:

According to Woody Allen Life is meaningless (Woody Wednesday Part 2)

Woody Allen, the film writer, director, and actor, has consistently populated his scripts with characters who exchange dialogue concerning meaning and purpose. In Hannah and Her Sisters a character named Mickey says, “Do you realize what a thread were all hanging by? Can you understand how meaningless everything is? Everything. I gotta get some answers.”{7} […]

“Woody Wednesday” Part 1 starts today, Complete listing of all posts on the historical people mentioned in “Midnight in Paris”

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“Midnight in Paris” movie review plus review of 5 Woody Allen classics (video clips from Annie Hall)

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March 28, 2012 – 4:20 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Spending cut suggestions sent to Senator Mark Pryor electronically every Monday and displayed here on the www.thedailyhatch.org

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:

I have faithfully sent spending cut suggestions to Senator Mark Pryor every Monday for almost a year now and at the same time I have posted all of them on www.thedailyhatch.org every monday after they have been sent electronically.

I have suggested cutting out the complete Dept of Education on several occasions.

Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself:

GUIDELINE #4: Terminate failed, outdated, and irrelevant programs.
President Ronald Reagan once pointed out that “a government bureau is the closest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on earth.” A large portion of the current federal bureaucracy was created during the 1900s, 1930s, and 1960s in attempts to solve the unique problems of those eras.
Instead of replacing the outdated programs of the past, however, each period of government activism has built new programs on top of them. Ford Motor Company would not waste money today by building outdated Model T’s alongside their current Mustangs and Explorers. However, in 2004, the federal government still refuses to close down old agencies such as the Rural Utilities Service (designed to bring phones to rural America) and the U.S. Geological Survey (created to explore and detail the nation’s geography).
Government must be made light and flexible, adaptable to the new challenges the country will face in the 21st century. Weeding out the failed and outdated bureaucracies of the past will free resources to modernize the government.
Status Quo Bias. Lawmakers often acknowledge that certain programs show no positive effects. Regrettably, they also refuse to terminate even the most irrelevant programs. The most obvious reason for this timidity is an aversion to fighting the special interests that refuse to let their pet programs end without a bloody fight.
A less obvious reason is that eliminating government programs seems reckless and bold to legislators who have never known a federal government without them. Although thousands of programs have come and gone in the nation’s 228-year history, virtually all current programs were created before most lawmakers came to Washington. For legislators who are charged with budgeting and implementing the same familiar programs year after year, a sense of permanency sets in, and termination seems unfathomable.7 No one even remembers when a non-government entity addressed the problems.
The Department of Energy, for example, has existed for just one-tenth of the country’s history, yet closing it down seems ridiculous to those who cannot remember the federal government before 1977 and for whom appropriating and overseeing the department has been an annual ritual for years. Lawmakers need a long-term perspective to assure them the sky does not fall when a program is terminated. For example, the Bureau of Mines and the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration, both closed in 1996, are barely remembered today.8
Instead of just assuming that whoever created the programs decades ago must have been filling some important need that probably exists today, lawmakers should focus on the future by asking themselves the following question: If this program did not exist, would I vote to create it? Because the answer for scores of programs would likely be “no,” Congress should:
  • Close down failed or outdated agencies, programs, and facilities, including:
  1. The U.S. Geological Survey9 (2004 spending: $841 million, discretionary);10
  2. The Maritime Administration ($633 million, discretionary);
  3. The International Trade Commission ($61 million, discretionary);
  4. The Economic Development Administration ($417 million, discretionary);
  5. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program ($1,892 million, discretionary);
  6. The Technology Opportunities Program ($12 million, discretionary);
  7. Obsolete military bases;
  8. The Appalachian Regional Commission ($94 million, discretionary);
  9. Obsolete Veterans Affairs facilities;
  10. The Rural Utilities Service (-$1,493 million,11 mandatory); and
  11. Repeal Public Law 480′s non-emergency international food programs ($127 million, discretionary)

This is how bad it is getting:

  • Discretionary spending is the portion of the annual budget that Congress actually determines.
  • Since 2000, discretionary outlays surged 79 percent faster than inflation, to $1,408 billion. The “stimulus” is responsible for $111 billion of 2010 discretionary spending.
  • Between 1990 and 2000, $80 billion annually in new domestic spending was more than fully offset by a $100 billion cut in annual defense and homeland security spending, leaving (inflation-adjusted) discretionary spending slightly lower.
  • Since 2000, all types of discretionary spending have grown rapidly.
  • Overall, since 1990, domestic discretionary spending has risen 104 percent faster than inflation and defense/security discretionary spending has risen 51 percent.

Check out some of the links below:

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 139)

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below: Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. On May 11, 2011,  I emailed to […]

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 138)

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below: Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. On May 11, 2011,  I emailed to […]

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 137)

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below: Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. On May 11, 2011,  I emailed to […]

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 136)

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below: Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. On May 11, 2011,  I emailed to […]

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 135)

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below: Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. On May 11, 2011,  I emailed to […]

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 134)

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below: Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. On May 11, 2011,  I emailed to […]

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 133)

  Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below: Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. On May 11, 2011,  I emailed […]

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 132)

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below: Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. On May 11, 2011,  I emailed to […]

Senator Pryor asks for Spending Cut Suggestions! Here are a few!(Part 131)

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below: Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. On May 11, 2011,  I emailed to […]

March 27, 2012 – 7:42 pm Categories: spending out of control | Post a comment