On Tuesday, the EU, the ECB, and the IMF – collectively known as the Troika – agreed to a €130 billion bailout package for Greece; this is the second bailout the Hellenic Republic gets after a €110 billion package approved in May 2010 .  Markets essentially yawned.  The bailout comes with conditions of further austerity, expectations that a “voluntary” debt restructuring (PSI) goes through, and promises that debt-to-GDP levels will be brought down to the arbitrarily sustainable figure of 120%.

Only six days before, on February 15, the same authorities that agreed to give the bankrupt Hellenic Republic another bailout warned that their own conditions wouldn’t be met, begging the question as to what the actual value of this “can-kicking” experiment is.  In a “strictly confidential” memo titled Greece: Preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis, Troika researchers note that debt-to-GDP levels will remain well above the 120% mark, that “additional debt relief from the official or private sectors” will probably be needed, and that “prolonged financial support […] by the official sector may be necessary.”

In other words, the EU just announced to the world a Greek bailout deal that it already knows Greece can’t keep.

No wonder Der Spiegel was ripping this thing before the ink was dry. Among the many things the German newspaper noted: $30 billion of the $130B “Greek” bailout went straight to the banks holding Greek bonds (in the hope that it would make it easier to swallow a 50%+ partial default). Meanwhile, the Guardian (UK) reports that the next three months of Greek obilgations will be covered by a special escrow account beyond Athens’ control . . .

. . . and suddenly, my refusal to believe in coincidence (inherited from my Antimasonic four-great-grandfather) combines with my overly geekish knowledge of international politics to remind myself, “hey, that would be just long enough to keep Greece off the front pages during France’s presidential election campaign.”

Hmmm…..

Cross-posted to Virginia Virtucon

They’d have to admit that Planned Parenthood rapes women.

It’s clear on its website that explains what happens in the office during an abortion, and the word ULTRASOUND is there in plain English.

In fact, the National Abortion Federation includes ultrasounds as part of its Clinical Policy Guidelines, to “inform clinical decision-making and enhance the safety and efficacy of abortion care.”

Call Planned Parenthood in Virginia like Alana Goodman did, and you get this message:

“Patients who have a surgical abortion generally come in for two appointments. At the first visit we do a health assessment, perform all the necessary lab work, and do an ultrasound. This visit generally takes about an hour. At the second visit, the procedure takes place. This visit takes about an hour as well. For out of town patients for whom it would be difficult to make two trips to our office, we’re able to schedule both the initial appointment and the procedure on the same day.

Medical abortions generally require three visits. At the first visit, we do a health assessment, perform all the necessary lab work, and do an ultrasound. This visit takes about an hour. At the second visit, the physician gives the first pill and directions for taking two more pills at home. The third visit is required during which you will have an exam and another ultrasound.”

That’s a whole lot of ultrasounds in Planned Parenthood’s own procedures.

So what we’re really talking about is sharing these ultrasounds with women. Shouldn’t we wonder why the big hue and cry from the left over ultrasounds that are already being performed? Isn’t it really about the left blocking women from seeing their own ultrasounds?

Will liberals in the General Assembly take the floor today and say “Planned Parenthood rapes women”???

They actually should apologize to REAL rape victims for the insult.
They can also admit it’s not really about Planned Parenthood.

It’s about Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Although the Roe decision discovered abortion had been constitutionally protected all along to the great surprise of the people who wrote and ratified the document, Planned Parenthood v. Casey is the pre-eminent decision here that rewrote a lot of Roe.

(Yeah, remember the flap between Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood when Planned Parenthood claimed abortion was only 3% of their services? Well, abortion is so insignificant to them that the pre-eminent Supreme Court abortion case in the world is Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit.)

Planned Parenthood v. Casey invented an “undue burden” test for abortion regulation. What does “undue” mean? Whatever 5 justices of the Supreme Court say it means on any particular day. How do nine Justices decide on whether a regulation creates a burden that is undue? Substantial? Adequate?

With so few of the Justices on the Court from that decision, I think the silly “undue burden” test is going right where Roe‘s “trimester test” went – out the window.

And the lawsuits in other states give me the impression that these ultrasound issues are headed right to the Supreme Court of Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas, and Kennedy (who sided with the majority in Casey but dissented in the strikedown of partial birth abortion bans).

Not only is Casey on shaky ground, these ultrasound cases may just be enough for the Court to say “Out, damned spot” and wash their hands of the whole abortion business.

With Kennedy, Ginsburg and Breyer among the oldest Justices on the Court, who is President in 2013 becomes very interesting.

One thing is sure.

It will be tough for Planned Parenthood to sue over requiring ultrasounds that they already perform.

Said McDonnell:

I am extremely concerned by recent reports that oil and gasoline prices continue to rise and gas could reach an average of $4.25 a gallon by April. Even more than that, I am concerned that the Obama Administration’s ongoing lack of a comprehensive energy policy leaves us vulnerable to continued future energy price spikes and uncertainty in this critical area. When the cost of gas and oil go up, all our citizens and businesses are impacted and any economic recovery becomes far more difficult to sustain.

The Governor added:

The Obama Administration rejected the Keystone Pipeline addition, which would have resulted in thousands of high paying new American jobs; solidified our strategic relationship with our most important trade partner, Canada; and brought vast new, secure supplies of oil into the country, while reducing the potential environmental risks of shipping these resources across the Pacific. At the same time, the Administration continues to leave valuable and much needed offshore domestic oil and gas deposits off limits to responsible exploration and production, including right here in Virginia. Unleashing these resources would lower the cost of energy for everyone, and create good jobs in the process.

McDonnell also pointed to pending legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, the “American Energy Initiative” (HR 3408), which aims to “expand access to American energy resources.” (A search of THOMAS, however, turns up no bill called the “American Energy Initiative.” HR 3408 is titled the “PIONEERS Act,” short for “Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy, and Resource Security Act.” It was passed on February 16 by a vote of 237-187 in the House of Representatives.)

McDonnell’s statement brought to mind (my mind, at least) an interview I conducted last year with Alan Pisarski, a transportation expert and author of the “Commuting in America” series for the National Academy of Sciences.

Pisarski contended then that rising gasoline prices do not have a significant effect on Americans’ behavior. Here’s an excerpt of our conversation:

While four dollars a gallon “sounds scary,” Pisarski explained, that “is actually about the same as we were paying in 1980 — even less if you take into [account] things like wealth and fuel efficiency.”

Even if gas prices move higher than that, “the benefits that people gain from the automobile are not really going to change,” he said. People will make minor accommodations to account for the higher prices, “but the fundamental change in the society will be trivial.”

As an example, Pisarski pointed out that the “last time we almost doubled the price of gasoline, in 2009, we had a three-and-a-half percent decline in travel.”

Pisarski also noted some interesting statistics regarding Virginia’s idiosyncratic commuting patterns that may be relevant to the Commonwealth’s own energy and transportation policies.

Two legislators — one a conservative Republican — speaking Tuesday on the condition of anonymity said one idea officials have discussed is making the ultrasound legislation optional rather than mandatory.

Other options are to pass the bills by or park them in committee. Either of those moves could effectively shelve the legislation for the year.

And not to be left out of the fun, my friend Paul Goldman is circulating one of his famous columns via email, in which he writes that his sources are telling him that Gov. McDonnell may be having second thoughts, too:

Governor McDonnell is going to delay the implementation of the ultrasound mandate bill circling like the albatross in Moby Dick. The public doesn’t want it, he doesn’t need it, and there is a iron law of politics: you don’t get selected the VEEP on a winning ticket when Saturday Night Live skits are part of the package put together by a Presidential nominee’s team vetting potential running mates.

I asked McDonnell’s office for comment on these possibilities and got this response from Tucker Martin:

“My only comment is if the General Assembly passes the bill the Governor will review it, in its final form, at that time.”

In other words, “no comment.”

As the saying goes, this is “developing…”