This has been a very instructive week.  We have less than 15 weeks to go to learn if America is going to live or die.  With each of them, it will become progressively more obvious that Z2 - a Zero 2^nd term - will mean the Death of America.  That certainly is true of this week.

On the other hand, each passing week now will alsoprovide evidence that the Left's stranglehold on our culture is coming to an end.  We discussed this yesterday (7/26) in Democrat Megadeath, but there are other indications. We could call them "Blooms of Insanity." 

So let's talk about mayflies.  They remind me of Democrats these days, because they "bloom" - explode in growth swarms, then die out.  This phenomenon of efflorescence is common to many types of insects, and now it's happening to liberal intellectuals, journalists, activists, and politicians.

That's why we should look at all these LibDem spasms of outrage, intolerance, and rabid fascism as "blooms of insanity."  Another way of looking at the Dems is that the 20^th Century is finally ending, the Fin de Siècle at last.

Most people intuitively understand that job creation requires capital investment, but many in the Obama administration and in Congress seem to have missed this basic fact of economic life.

As the late Jack Kemp used to say, "How many truck drivers would you have if nobody had money to buy trucks?" There are numerous studies that try to measure the cost of the average job, but a figure of $225,000 on average is in the ballpark.

There has been much discussion in the press about all of the new job-killing environmental regulations coming out of the administration, such as the restrictions on coal plants and oil and gas drilling. The press has been less focused on the job killing that stems from all of the new financial regulations, which may end up eliminating tens of millions of jobs.

An exaggeration you may say, but think about the following:

President Bush scored a triple whammy with his meeting with Ariel Sharon, announcing that the Palestinians can forget about the so-called Right of Return and seizing all of the so-called West Bank.

We might as well start right out enjoying ourselves with the funniest headline in world news this week.  From New Zealand, we learn that Traffic Signs Are Being Destroyed by Prostitutes.

Seems the working ladies use the signs for street pole dancing to advertise, and some of them are "big, strong women."  Since the passage of the Prostitution Reform Act in 2003, all forms of hookerism - from brothels to street solicitation - are legal in Kiwiland.  There's even a hooker's union: the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective (NZPC) with its own website: nzpc.org.

More enjoyable news.  Secretary of State Pantsuit went to Egypt on Sunday (7/15) to talk with the Moslem crazies who now run the country.  Egyptians greeted her warmly - by throwing tomatoes and shoes (the latter being a gesture of utter contempt) at her motorcade in Alexandra.  Even more insulting was the crowd taunting her with shouts "Monica! Monica!" 

And the week's best news - that would be Mitt Romney going lex talionis.

Fed's Sole mission should be maintaining value of currency

All of the Republican presidential candidates have called for getting rid of Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, but only Rep. Ron Paul has advocated abolishing the Fed. Mr. Paul wants to return to a gold standard. There are pros and cons of going back to gold, but, short of that, there are a number of constructive things that can be done.

One reason Fed policy is so confused and conflicted is that the Fed has been given multiple targets and tasks, some of which, at times, conflict with one another. The Fed is supposed to maintain not only price stability but also full employment. In addition, it is supposed to make sure the banking system is sound. The Dodd-Frank bill gave it the additional task of consumer financial protection.

To understand the problem...

There was an arresting line in a recent AP article speculating on Kerry’s VP choices: that he would need to pick a running mate with less charisma than him. That’s a very tall order.

Of those who are running for president, who has the best and worst tax plans? The worst plan is easy: President Obama's.

By way of disclosure, I was part of the small team that developed and helped market President George H. W. Bush's economic platform back in 1988. The first President Bush won, in part, because he had a clear, understandable plan - ‘Read my lips: No new taxes' - and a ‘flexible freeze' to control spending.

Unfortunately for him and the country, he abandoned the ‘flexible freeze' soon after taking office and the tax pledge two years later. His reversal played a big part in his subsequent defeat in 1992.

Mr. Obama seems not to have learned from the mistakes of the first President Bush. He has repeatedly pledged not to increase taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year and to do everything possible to increase jobs. Yet, in fact, he has already signed 21 tax increases into law.

It's easy to have a tax plan better than this.  So let's look at those of all four GOP candidates.

She’s pretending to be John Kerry’s biggest supporter, but no one is rooting for George Bush to win in November more than Hillary. She got behind the best straw candidate Bush could most easily demolish, Dizzy Howard Dean. When he imploded, she looked around and asked, “Who’s the next worst?” A no-brainer: obviously, an egomaniacal gigolo with more negatives than an Algebra student who fantasizes he could be another “JFK.”