Sheep

by CarterFliptMe

Obama voters, the citizens of the United States, are sheep being led to slaughter.

Sheep by Pink Floyd

Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away;
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air.
You better watch out,
There may be dogs about
I've looked over Jordan, and I have seen
Things are not what they seem.
What do you get for pretending the danger's not real.
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel.
What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes.
Now things are really what they seem.
No, this is no bad dream.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me down to lie
Through pastures green He leadeth me the silent waters by.
With bright knives He releaseth my soul.
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places.
He converteth me to lamb cutlets,
For lo, He hath great power, and great hunger.
When cometh the day we lowly ones,
Through quiet reflection, and great dedication
Master the art of karate,
Lo, we shall rise up,
And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water.
Bleating and babbling I fell on his neck with a scream.
Wave upon wave of demented avengers
March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream.
Have you heard the news?
The dogs are dead!
You better stay home
And do as you're told.
Get out of the road if you want to grow old

Bain, Romney Attacks - Anticapitalist Claptrap

by CarterFliptMe

In a podcast from Friday, January 13, 2012, Mark Belling of News Talk 1130 WISN called BS on Newt Gingrich and others for anti-capitalist attacks on Mitt Romney and his work at Bain Capital.  Belling cites the brilliant article in The Wall Street Journal, How Private Equity Works by Jonathan Macey, in which Macey calls the general assertions that Bain Capital was 'looting' companies and engaging in 'vulture capitalism' as ".. anticapitalist claptrap."

Newt Gingrich's political action committee is sponsoring a film called "When Mitt Romney Came to Town" that accuses Mr. Romney and his former company, Bain Capital, of taking over companies, looting them, and then tossing their workers out on the street. Jon Huntsman's attacks on his rival include the description of private equity as a business that "breaks down businesses [and] destroys jobs, as opposed to creating jobs and opportunity, leveraging up, spinning off, [and] enriching shareholders."

This is anticapitalist claptrap. Private-equity firms make significant investments in companies, mainly U.S. companies. Most of their investments are in companies that underperform industry peers. Frequently these firms are on the brink of failure.

Because private-equity firms are, by definition, equity investors, they make money only if they improve the performance of their companies. Private equity is last in line to be paid in case of insolvency. Private-equity firms don't make a profit unless their companies can meet their obligations to workers and other creditors.

The companies in which private-equity investors are able to turn a profit generally grow, rather than shrink. This is because the preferred "exit strategy" by which private-equity firms profit is to take the private companies in which they invest and enable them to go public and sell shares that will help the company grow even stronger. As for turnaround success stories, Continental Airlines, Orbitz and Snapple have all benefitted at some time from private-equity investment.

Here's the podcast.

Rush Limbaugh - How Socialism Almost Killed the Pilgrims

by CarterFliptMe

Rush Limbaugh describes how the first settlers in the New World tried to live a collectivist society, where their harvests and work were shared equally among the settlers.  Soon, each individual setter learned that he or she could work less while still receiving the benefit of others' work.  When each individual lessened their output, the collective 'pie' got smaller and smaller, until the pilgrims were near starvation.   The following winter, each pilgrim was allowed to keep the fruits of their own labor, and, of course, they flourished.  Each pilgrim realized that with hard work, they could improve their lot in life, and build on their success.    Listen to Rush tell this annual Thanksgiving tale, he does it much better than I...

from Mediaite