† Obama Is Just About Every U.S. President All Rolled Into One!: But mostly, he's Jimmy Carter. Stagflation - that hellish combo of high unemployment (AKA "stagnation") and inflation - could make a comeback, depending on how fast the economy recovers. The Washington Times reports:

 

A report from the Labor Department on Thursday showed consumer prices rose by 0.4 percent in each of the past two months - or a 4 percent annual rate over the last quarter f fed by the biggest gains in food prices in two years and surging energy prices. …

 

"The surge in commodity prices is starting to feed through to the consumer," said Harm Bandholz, an economist at Unicredit Markets. He predicted that prices will keep accelerating in coming months and nearly double the inflation rate to 2.75 percent by the middle of the year on the rising tide of commodity inflation. …

 

The so-called core rate of inflation, which excludes food and energy prices and includes things such as rent that usually rise slowly, accelerated from an all-time low annual rate of 0.6 percent in October to 1 percent in January.

 

That swift move was startling to Mr. Bandholz, who called it "remarkable" even though "the level of the core rate is still very low."

 

"Moreover, the increase was broad-based," he said, including increases in prices for nearly everything but cars and trucks. …

 

Higher energy prices also are looming, since the average price of $3.15 a gallon for gas last month already has been surpassed this month with prices averaging $3.19 so far, said Sam Bullard, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities.

 

But he said the economy and wage gains are still too weak for inflation to take root.

 

"Given the significant amount of slack in the U.S. economy, inflation is not likely to become a problem in 2011," he said.

 

† TSA (Thieving Security Agent): This latest incident involves Kennedy Airport TSA agents Davon Webb, 30, and Couman Perad, 36, who were arrested for (allegedly) stealing $160,000 in cash from checked bags, reports New York Post:

 

Perad and Webb would screen bags looking for loot, then swipe the cash once the luggage was opened in a private screening room, sources said.

 

The men will be charged with grand larceny, possession of stolen property and official misconduct.

 

In a statement, TSA said it has "a zero-tolerance policy on theft in the workplace" and called the incidents "a disgrace."

 

† Breasts Are Not Udders: The New York Times observes that “[p]erhaps it was inevitable” that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) opposed Michelle Obama’s plan to promote breast-feeding, particularly amongst black women, to reduce childhood obesity. Why the paper’s uncharacteristic use of the weasel word “perhaps” in reference to how Bachman and Palin - both of whom breastfed their children, BTW - felt about the subject? Perhaps because The Times was surprised by “how many of the reactions crossed the usual political boundaries”:

 

On blogs and in interviews, some liberal Democrats found themselves agreeing with Representative Bachmann, a Tea Party celebrity from Minnesota, when she criticized the first lady for a campaign to promote breast-feeding. Some conservatives, meanwhile, stood up for Mrs. Obama for promoting what they said was a healthier choice. …

 

While few if any of those who offered comments were against breast-feeding, many noted that some women were unable to breast-feed for medical reasons. Others said that many women without offices or flexible work hours were not offered the time or a place to use breast pumps. …

 

A new mother who called herself a progressive Brooklynite - and would not be identified for fear of scorn from her Democratic friends and other mothers - said that while she hated “just about everything to do with Bachmann’s politics, she is not completely wrong here.” [Emphasis, The Stiletto.]

 

“I support what the first lady is trying to do, but I also think there’s already enough pressure on working moms,” she said. “Yes, breast is best, but there are plenty of mothers who love and care for their children, but simply can’t pump - for time, work or physical reasons.”

 

At the same time, people who said they did not like the Obamas applauded the first lady for her efforts. “I am a conservative,” said a writer to an Arkansas Times blog. “I am also a breast-feeding advocate. This is just stupid.” …

 

For her part, The Stiletto was surprised that The Times – however gingerly – admits that much of the evidence that “breast is best” is shaky: “[S]ome studies have found it hard to make a strong connection between obesity and bottle feeding, or breast-feeding and a higher I.Q. or a lower incidence of allergies.” That’s because such a connection cannot stand up to the rigors of a double-blind prospective study (assuming one could be designed in which neither the women nor the researchers could tell whether their babies were being fed their breast milk or formula) that tracks babies from birth to 21 years old to determine whether they are slimmer, smarter and have fewer allergies or digestive problems. As The Stiletto has previously noted, breast-feeding, like global warming, has become a secular religion. You’re either a believer, or you’re not.

 

† First, They Came For The Writers: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan derided Frank Ricciardone, the new U.S. ambassador to Turkey, as "amateurish" after the diplomat observed that, “On the one hand there exists a stated policy of support for a free press. On the other hand, journalists are put under detention. [The U.S. is] trying to make sense of this,” in an interview with reporters at a reception he threw at his residence, reports The Wall Street Journal:

 

Senior Turkish officials reacted swiftly. The deputy leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, said Wednesday that ambassadors "cannot interfere in domestic issues. They have limits." …

 

Mr. Ricciardone - whose nomination was long held up in the Senate due to fears among some Republicans that he would be too friendly toward the AKP - stressed at a lunch in Istanbul on Thursday that he wasn't making a judgment on any case, but merely seeking to understand "as a foreigner."

 

Speaking to AKP municipal chiefs Friday, Mr. Erdogan dismissed Mr. Ricciardone's statements as an error by someone who didn't know Turkey well. "This is called amateurish ambassadorship," Mr. Erdogan said.

 

Mr. Ricciardone speaks Turkish and has served two previous tours in Turkey as a diplomat. He was also ambassador in Egypt and taught in Iran before the 1979 revolution. …

 

The latest criticism from Mr. Ricciardone appears to have been triggered by the Monday detention of Soner Yalcin, a prominent columnist for Hurriyet, the Dogan group's flagship newspaper, and owner of OdaTV, a website sharply critical of the government.

 

Mr. Yalcin and two colleagues were formally arrested late Thursday on suspicion of being members of an alleged terrorist organization, "obtaining and publishing secret documents regarding security of the state" and "inciting hatred and enmity among the public," according to Anadolu Ajansi, Turkey's state newswire.

 

Interior Minister Besir Atalay also made the ludicrous claim that “Turkey is a country where there is more press freedom than the U.S.”

 

† Updates To Previous Posts (fifth item, When A Patient’s Rights Stop Where A Healthcare Provider’s Rights Begin): The Health and Human Services Department rescinded in large part a federal regulation put into effect by the Bush 43 administration that permitted healthcare workers to opt out of performing medical services violating their personal or religious beliefs - notably, providing the emergency contraceptive Plan B, which some believe is tantamount to a chemical abortion. The only portion of the regulation preserved by the Obama administration is “long-standing federal protections for workers who object to performing abortions or sterilizations,” reports The Washington Post:

 

Soon after President Obama assumed office, administration officials said they agreed and would rescind the regulation. But it remained unclear whether officials planned to simply invalidate the rule or whether they would replace it with some kind of compromise. The announcement triggered a flood of comments, which officials have spent months reviewing before announcing the final decision.

 

In a statement, the Health and Human Services Department said:

 

"The administration strongly supports provider conscience laws that protect and support the rights of health care providers, and also recognizes and supports the rights of patients. Strong conscience laws make it clear that health care providers cannot be compelled to perform or assist in an abortion. Many of these strong conscience laws have been in existence for more than 30 years. The rule being issued today builds on these laws by providing a clear enforcement process." …

 

"The final conscience protection rule being issued today by HHS reaffirms the department's commitment to longstanding federal conscience statutes by maintaining and building upon provisions of the Bush administration rule that established an enforcement process for federal conscience laws, while rescinding the definitions and terms of the previous rule that caused confusion and could be taken as overly broad."

 

† Updates To Previous Posts (penultimate item, There’s Many A Slip ‘Twixt The Cup And Lip): It's not just companies getting waivers to opt out of certain ObamaCare provisions. Financially shaky states are applying - and getting - waivers, too, reports The New York Times:

 

The Obama administration … granted broad waivers to four states allowing health insurance companies to continue offering less generous benefits than they would otherwise be required to provide this year under the new federal health care law.

 

The states are Florida, New Jersey, Ohio and Tennessee, the administration told Congress.

 

Lawmakers said that many other states, insurers and employers needed similar exemptions from some of the law’s requirements and would seek waivers if they knew of the option.

 

Steven B. Larsen, a top federal insurance regulator, said the waivers would allow many consumers to keep the coverage they had, a goal often espoused by President Obama. [Emphasis, The Stiletto.]

 

Under the law and rules issued by the administration, health plans this year must generally provide at least $750,000 in coverage for essential benefits like hospital care, doctors’ services and prescription drugs. In states granted the waivers, many health plans with much lower annual limits on coverage may continue to operate. …

 

To qualify for a waiver, a state, an employer or an insurer must show that compliance with the federal requirement would cause “a significant increase in premiums or a decrease in access to benefits.”

 

Meanwhile, AK Gov. Sean Parnell (R) is giving himself a waiver, reports The Associated Press, refusing “to implement a law that he views as blatantly unconstitutional”:

 

At least half of all states, including Alaska, have sued the government over the health care plan pushed by President Obama. …

 

[I]n Mr. Parnell's view, the decision by a federal judge in Florida striking down the law as unconstitutional "is the law of the land, as it pertains to Alaska."

 

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion asking  U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson to clarify the scope of his order and to clarify that his declaratory judgment “does not relieve the parties of their rights and obligations under the Affordable Care Act while the declaratory judgment is the subject of appellate review.”

 

For their part, House Repubs fired the first of many salvos aimed at defunding ObamaCare by attaching several amendments to the continuing resolution that will fund government operations from March through September. These amendments prohibit any funds be used by the Internal Revenue Service to enforce the individual mandate to buy health insurance; block the Labor and Health and Human Services Departments from expenditures to implement the healthcare law during the balance of fiscal year 2011; and forbid the government from paying the salaries of any federal employee involved in implementing the law. These provisions are not expected to survive when the spending bill gets to the Democrat-controlled Senate.

 

† Updates To Previous Posts (seventh item, Every Bubble Bursts Eventually): President Barack Hussein Obama keeps insisting that he will close Gitmo … eventually. Testifying before Congress, CIA Director Leon Panetta suggested that “eventually” would be far enough into the future to allow the U.S. to detain Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri at the off-shore military prison, should they ever be captured. But as is often the case with the Obama administration’s “one-two cha-cha-cha,” a CIA spokesperson walked back Panetta’s remarks. The Washington Post reports:

 

"We would probably move them quickly into military jurisdiction at Bagram and then eventually move them probably to Guantanamo," said Panetta, referring to the detention center at Bagram Air Base outside Kabul, in testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

 

Panetta's statement was some indication that the administration is contemplating the future use of the military detention center in Cuba even though it says it is still committed to closing the facility.  …

 

Congress has barred the administration from moving any Guantanamo detainee into the United States for any purpose. And Panetta's statement would appear to rule out a federal trial, at least under current law, because it would require sending the two men directly to the United States from Bagram with no stop in Cuba.

 

Some former officials said Panetta's statement amounted to an admission that the Obama administration, as much as its predecessor, needs Guantanamo or an equivalent facility to house any high-value detainees it captures in the future. …

 

A spokesman for the CIA said later that Panetta's remarks were not conclusive and that what might happen to bin Laden "would have to be informed by the circumstances of his capture" and discussions among policymakers.

 

"The director fully supports the president's commitment to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay because, as our military commanders have made clear, it's in our national security interest to do so," said agency spokesman George Little.

 

† Updates To Previous Posts (fourth item, Employers Hiring Forged Documented Aliens Are Lawbreakers In Other Ways, Too): The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will expand its work-site enforcement program to audit as many as 1,000 employers of all sizes nationwide to ferret out those who knowingly hire illegal workers in order to target the root cause of illegal immigration, reports The Washington Times:

 

"[N]no one industry is being targeted nor is any one industry immune from scrutiny," ICE said. ICE declined to name the businesses to be inspected. …

 

Nearly 3,600 U.S. companies have been audited since the program began, with more than $50 million in fines having been collected.

 

ICE has the responsibility of enforcing the law and engaging in effective work-site enforcement to reduce the demand for illegal employment and protect employment opportunities for the nation's lawful work force.

 

The agency maintains a work-site-enforcement strategy that addresses employers who knowingly hire illegal workers as well as the workers themselves.

 

The new audit targets are expected to be made public in the next several days.

 

One high-profile employer who got snagged in the audits is Chipotle, which has “forced Chipotle to fire hundreds of allegedly illegal workers in the state of Minnesota, perhaps more than half its staff there,” reports Reuters, and with ICE planning to audit the chain restaurant’s outlets in Washington D.C. and VA, there will likely be dozens of more firings to come:

 

Dependence on illegal labor is the elephant in the room for the U.S. restaurant business. And experts say the Chipotle ICE investigations are a wake-up call for an industry that is one of America's biggest employers and generates over $300 billion in annual sales, according to research firm IBISWorld Inc.

 

Chipotle - a Denver-based company whose motto is "Food With Integrity" - is one of the most well-known names caught in the immigration enforcement shift that began two years ago. …

 

"When you get a big name like Chipotle, it stands out and sends a message," said Jacqueline Longnecker, president of Reno-based Employment Verification Resources Inc. …

 

Longnecker and other experts said restaurant owners are attracted to illegal laborers because they work hard, are loyal and will go the extra mile to hold down a job. …

 

The Pew Hispanic Center - whose demographic and labor market work is highly regarded - estimated in a 2009 report that 12 percent of the workforce in food preparation and serving in 2008 was undocumented.

 

Maryland-based Calvert Investments, which manages mutual funds that invest in socially and environmentally responsible companies, had given Chipotle good marks for good social, environmental and corporate governance, but was surprised at the large numbers of illegals working in their restaurants. Senior sustainability research analyst Ellen Kennedy “urges” Chipotle “to put better systems in place so that the likelihood of this occurring again is slim.”

For his part, Chipotle’s co-Chief Executive Monty Moran told analysts on a fourth-quarter earnings call that the company is “navigating” its way through the audit process “so that we can avoid this sort of disruption in the future.”

 

† Updates To Previous Posts (fifth item, Today’s Letter Is “I.” As In Ingrate.): The Washington Post reports that “[e]very Friday, Afghan clerics wade into the politics of their war-torn country, delivering half-hour sermons that blend Islamic teaching with often-harsh criticism of the U.S. presence”:

 

Under the weathered blue dome of Kabul's largest mosque, a distinguished preacher, Enayatullah Balegh, pledged support for "any plan that can defeat" foreign military forces in Afghanistan, denouncing what he called "the political power of these children of Jews."

 

Across town, a firebrand imam named Habibullah was even more blunt.

 

"Let these jackals leave this country," the preacher, who uses only one name, declared of foreign troops. "Let these brothers of monkeys, gorillas and pigs leave this country. The people of Afghanistan should determine their own fate." …

 

In a country where many lack newspapers, television or Internet access, the mosque lectures represent a powerful forum for influencing opinion. …

 

In Afghanistan's mosques, American troops are derided as crusaders and occupiers. Officials with the U.S.-backed government are accused of corruption and deceit. Even in Kabul, the most modern city in an impoverished country, imams regularly denounce American troops and label as stooges their Afghan partners.

 

Despite “a senior U.S. military official” admitting to The WaPo that “dozens of mosques in key Afghan districts are used as ‘command-and-control nodes’ for the Taliban, places where fighters can take refuge and stash weapons,” our tax dollars are being used to fund “mosque refurbishment projects and … building an electronic database of mosques.”

 

The Stiletto wonders just what it will take for our military and political leaders to conclude that we have lost the war for the hearts and minds of the Afghans and concentrate instead on winning the war – that is to say, killing as many Taliban, al-Qaeda, insurgents and collaborators as quickly as possible. How many more years of expending American blood and treasure will it take before it becomes clear that the nation-building cannot precede the enemy-destroying?

 

† Updates To Previous Posts (third item, The Keystone Kops Are Enforcing U.S. Immigration Laws): With DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano strenuously - and thus far, unsuccessfully - trying to make the case that the U.S. border with Mexico is safer than ever, a new General Accountability Office report offers her a much-needed reality check:

 

CBP reported spending about $3 billion on Border Patrol's southwest border efforts in fiscal year 2010, apprehending over 445,000 illegal entries. …

 

Border Patrol reported achieving varying levels of operational control for 873 of the nearly 2,000 southwest border miles at the end of fiscal year 2010, increasing an average of 126 miles each year from fiscal years 2005 through 2010. Border Patrol sector officials assessed the miles under operational control using factors such as the numbers of illegal entries and apprehensions and relative risk. CBP attributed the increase to additional infrastructure, technology, and personnel. Yuma sector officials reported achieving operational control for all of its 126 border miles; however, the other eight southwest border sectors reported achieving operational control of 11 to 86 percent of their border miles. …

 

GAO's preliminary analysis of the 873 border miles under operational control in 2010 showed that about 129 miles (15 percent) were classified as "controlled" and the remaining 85 percent were classified as "managed." Border Patrol stated that operational control does not require its agents to be able to detect and apprehend all illegal entries.