gdp's Comments

Commentary Magazine : A Truly Wicked Blow: Jimmy Carter Hammers Obama for Ineptness

Fri, 1 Nov 2013 14:40:55 +0000

Big 0's accomplishments? There is one gigantic one -- making us like Argentina. At the beginning of the twentieth century Argentina was a First World country, the Left and the Peronistas reduced it to a Third-world country. The Big 0 (with his mendicants: the Democrat Party and the venal media) are taking us down the same primrose path. (continued)

Commentary Magazine : Dems: Maybe We Should Let People Keep Their Insurance

Thu, 31 Oct 2013 22:11:50 +0000

If the Republicans had any brains (and some do) they would run with some of the following slogans: Obama lied, my health plan died Americans can buy any car they want, so long as it's a Rolls-Royce TheHealthcare.gov site has never crashed Do I have a health plan for you buddy .... If you like your health plan, you can keep it (if I, Emperor 0 approve it)

Commentary Magazine : The Mendacious Mr. Obama

Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:48:51 +0000

Three thoughts Mr. Wehner: 1) You write: "Mr. Obama, then, has a deeply defective public character. He simply makes things up as he goes along." I don't think that is unique to the Big 0, I think it is a general characteristic of all Leftists. They think they are entitled not only to their opinions, but to their facts as well. 2) Mr. Hoyer claimed that the Big 0 wasn't dissembling (lying), he just wasn't accurate. When the Big 0 said you can keep you health insurance, he just left out an ity bity caveat: If we approve of it. That is nothing less than Orwellian. 3) The Big 0 specifically and Democrats in general can get away with this mendacity because of the venality of the mass media. Only when the mass media go backrupt will a real media emerge, but by then it might be too late.

Commentary Magazine : Make ObamaCare’s Failure the Story

Tue, 29 Oct 2013 03:16:24 +0000

No.

Commentary Magazine : Make ObamaCare’s Failure the Story

Tue, 29 Oct 2013 03:15:52 +0000

KenV86 - If Mt. Vesuvius erupted it would be the Republican's fault. Paul Krugman is not your best source of news (indeed the NYT is not your best of source of news). In any event, the Democrats passed this legislation without Republican votes (and don't blame the Republicans for not voting for the bill - that's like asking the Jews design the best anti-Jewish discrimination laws you can create). The Administration wrote the regulations, they designed the program and they designed the website. There were no Republican involved. The Democrats own this monstrosity lock, stock and barrel.

Commentary Magazine : Make ObamaCare’s Failure the Story

Mon, 28 Oct 2013 22:09:40 +0000

Obama lied, my health insurance company died.

Commentary Magazine : The GOP Chooses Surrender Over Suicide

Wed, 16 Oct 2013 03:18:33 +0000

Actually, the Redskins should keep the name; just substitute a red potato for the Indian logo. I'm sure, though, that some stuffy Leftists will say the name is offensive to red potatoes.

Commentary Magazine : The GOP Chooses Surrender Over Suicide

Wed, 16 Oct 2013 03:17:15 +0000

Mr. Tobin: So far, suicide seems to be winning.

Commentary Magazine : Another Dem "No" Could Be a Big Mistake

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 21:01:42 +0000

Mr. Tobin: The Big 0 is tone deaf when it comes to comprising. I suppose as a community organizer he gave the orders and everyone healed. I suspect he will not compromise. And BTW as I pointed out yesterday, the generic congressional balloting poll has been very good to the Republicans. So saying they are being battered does not exactly comport with how voters say they're going to vote.

Commentary Magazine : Obama Blunders Again on Egypt

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 01:44:19 +0000

As always, the Big 0 is an adversary to our allies and ally to our adversaries. As for the headline, it should have stopped at the second word, making Obama the adjective and blunders the noun.

Commentary Magazine : Is Obama Winning the Shutdown?

Wed, 9 Oct 2013 22:57:02 +0000

First off the dictionary definition of ad hominem: 1. directed against a person rather than against his arguments 2. based on or appealing to emotion rather than reason (Here's the link: <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ad+hominem?s=t)" target="_blank"> ;http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ad+hominem... When you call someone as dense as depleted uranium you are directing the attack against the individual not the argument. anadessma's agrument is perfectly fine, but it didn't need that line. And for the purpose of argument, let's say it is not ad hominem. It is still a disagreeable attack that serves no purpose, and there is no compelling reason here to be disagreeable. Also, read the comments between me and poupon marks in the column about furloughed government workers. You'll understand my discomfort with ad hominem remarks.

Commentary Magazine : Is Obama Winning the Shutdown?

Wed, 9 Oct 2013 21:19:15 +0000

anadessma - You wrote: "Alas, you are as dense as depleted uranium." Please, no ad hominems. You may disagree with g_jochnowitz but there is no reason to be disagreeable by insulting him. From my little to do with Poupon Marks on a simple matter of measurement and methodology, you ought to understand that ad hominems do not advance the course of civil discourse.

Commentary Magazine : Is Obama Winning the Shutdown?

Wed, 9 Oct 2013 21:13:29 +0000

Mr. Tobin: You may be a little bit too pessimistic. Apparently, the Democrats' lead in the generic Congressional polling has vanished (Breitbart citing Rasmussen - see the link I supplied at Peter Wehner's previous post). Also, a very informal, anecdotal poll at the University Colorado (reported on Power Line) shows at least some of the student there blaming the Democrats and Obama far more than the Republicans (again see link at Peter Wehner's post). That the Democrat's lead has vanished may be much more suggestive than the blame game going in the poll you cite.

Commentary Magazine : The Obama Backfire

Wed, 9 Oct 2013 21:07:12 +0000

See also this video on PowerLIne (at the University of Colorado no less) http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/10/col...

Commentary Magazine : The Obama Backfire

Wed, 9 Oct 2013 20:59:46 +0000

More important than the President's standing is Congressional standing (2014 being before 2016). According to Breitbart, Rasmussen is reporting that the Democratic edge has vanished in the generic Congressional balloting poll. See, http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/10/0... So who's paying the higher price?

Commentary Magazine : The Obama Backfire

Wed, 9 Oct 2013 17:47:46 +0000

Hank_M - It is not the MSM (mainstream media) - It's the mass media, and there is nothing mainstream about it.

Commentary Magazine : The Obama Backfire

Wed, 9 Oct 2013 17:46:54 +0000

Not to rain on anybody's parade but the rolling Rasmussen poll tells a different story: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/po...

Commentary Magazine : Destabilizing the Last Stable Area in the Middle East

Wed, 9 Oct 2013 13:43:31 +0000

I am at loss as to why Israel continues this charade. After the experience of the Gaza withdrawal, I would think that Israel would refuse to deal with the PA. There can be no peace so long as the Arabs are fed a daily dose of hate about Jews. Also, Israel should institute a death penalty for terrorists with blood on their hands (they want to get their seventy virgins anyway). That way, there would be no terrorists to be traded away for no purpose.

Commentary Magazine : Why Pay Furloughed Workers?

Tue, 8 Oct 2013 21:54:14 +0000

This speaks for itself.

Commentary Magazine : Why Pay Furloughed Workers?

Tue, 8 Oct 2013 21:45:28 +0000

dhlii - I grant you the difficulty of making such comparisons, especially since government employees typically do not sell a product. The way that wage/compensation comparisons have been made is to try hold constant as many factors as possible. A shortcut way of doing that is to estimate a linear regressions of the form: log(compensation) = a b * education c * (demographic variables) d * length of time on job e * time in workplace f * occupation g * government employee etc. (Note - there are supposed pluses in front of b through g, but they keep disappearing every time I save this) where a is constant and b through g (and beyond) are coefficients. The idea would be to see if g is significantly different from zero to determine whether and to what extent government workers are overpaid. Included in compensation would be the value of pensions and perks. You get the idea. It's not perfect and it ypically explains at best 60% of the variance (the R-square is usally in the fifties) so there is a lot of unexplained variance. But it is far better than using averages or other measures that do not try to sort out employee characteristics.