Barney Frank lies about his role in the financial crisis

Barney Frank made a statement to The Atlantic maintaining his innocence - but a paper trail proves him a liar.

Why the Left is Losing the Argument over the Financial Crisis

The Left loses every argument it ever makes - because the facts never support them.

‘End this war’ is not a strategy

‘End this war’ is not a strategy

Paul Ryan’s Medicare reform plan: an antidote to financial Armageddon

Paul Ryan is one of the few adults in the room and he shows it again with a Medicare reform plan.

Science and the Chattering Classes

The Chattering Classes pretend they know science when in fact they're like Sgt. Schultz - they know nothing.

Obama’s revisionist history on ‘60 Minutes’

Obama lives on revisionist history, and did it again on CBS News.

Lies, Damned Lies, and ‘Fact Checking’

Lies, Damned Lies, and ‘Fact Checking’

Washington Post Debunks Nuclear Spending Hyperbole

Contrary to hoary myth, nuclear weapons spending isn't that big.

Obama’s Economic Quackery

Obama has been an economic doctor of unprecedented incompetence and dishonesty.

Obama Belittles The Real World Again

Obama's Small-Town Midwesterners speech - There He Goes Again.

Don't Read Too Much Into the Ohio Referenda

The Ohio Referenda foolishly voting down collective bargaining law has caused a stir, but it may not matter.

Defense Spending, the Super Committee, and the Price of Greatness

Debunking more myths about Defense with this new "Super Committee" on the economy.

The Pervasive Corruption of Public Employee Unions

What good do they do?

The IAEA Exposes Iran’s Shell Game

When predator states play the game of hiding their nuclear-biological-chemical weapons programs.

They Can Do It

Winning in Afghanistan has always been there to be had - Washington, though, acts like it doesn't want it.

Public School Teacher Salaries $120 Billion Over Market Value

Why cities are better off spending money on NFL stadiums than public school hackeramas.

Pillar of the Intelligence Community

A foreign policy adviser for Mitt Romney comes under attack from Mother Jones.

Retreating With Our Heads Held High

Obama's sabotage of victory in Iraq

'Obama By the Numbers'

The raw numbers showing the fiscal recklessness of The Man On The Way Up.

Solyndracracy

A major corporation subsidized by Omaba to promote mythical energy collapses.

Correcting the Rewritten Record

The Washington Post publishes an inaccurate account of Middle Eastern nuclear weapons programs.

Not Free to Choose: The Reality Behind Clean Energy Standards

Unable to win the debate on facts, the ecofasist ideology inherent in leftism resorts to crooked sleight-of-hand.

Demythologizing Past Presidents

Straying Far from Reality is the work of Chris Matthews and Howard Fineman.

Failing Up

The Obama regime rewarded a failed banker.

The Domino Effect of Obama's Regulations

Regulation kills business small and large.

Obama Misleads on Support for 'Balanced' Deficit Agreement

When he opens his mouth, he makes things worse.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Obama as case study.

GOP Should Rally to Armed Forces’ Defense

GOP Should Rally to Armed Forces’ Defense: "Palana is absolutely correct that defense remains on the chopping block as a result of the debt-ceiling compromise. The first wave of cuts will include $350 billion taken from the Department of Defense and other security agencies during the next ten years: less than President Obama and most Democrats wanted but still a significant hit. Really [...]/p"

This is part one of the biggest flaw in the debt deal.

New York Times Concedes Obama Failed

Conservatives Should Read the New York Times Editorial Page Today because while the debt ceiling deal is flawed is nonetheless is an important step and a defeat for Obama.

‘The Big Win’?

That the debt ceiling deal is flawed is obvious. But it's not necessarily the end of the fight - the terms of the debate have been changed with tax increases no longer viable.

Five Things We Learned from the Debt Debate

The Five Things We Learned from the Debt Debate

1 - Obama is not a leader
2 - The Democrats are spending addicts
3 - Nancy Pelosi is genuinely insane
4 - The Tea Party never opposed Boehner - the Mainstream Media gets it wrong again
5 - The new 12-member commission to determine future cuts will need to keep fighting the spend-addict Democrats

The Biggest Budget Issue: Entitlement Nation

CARPE DIEM: Our Biggest Budget Issue is Increased Spending on Payments to Individuals, i.e. "Entitlement Nation"

‘Secret Deal’ Between Iran and Al Qaeda

The US Treasury gives some detrail on Iran's alliance with Al Qaeda.

The Compassion Trap

Government by Democrats falls for it every time - and it fails every time.

Want More Jobs? Remove Barriers to Job Creation

For The Democrats from the "Well, DUH!" files - Want More Jobs? Remove Barriers to Job Creation

Government Housing Policy: The Sine Qua Non of the Financial Crisis

A reminder of how government created the housing crisis.

Solving the Long-Term Jobs Problem

A look at an alternative to stimulus.

Obama Gets Schooled Again

The Tantrum In Chief is a new nickname for The Man On The Way Up - as Obama demonstrated with his umpteenth bogus speech of the year.

The Do-Nothing Senate Democrats

The Do-Nothing Senate Democrats

Doing nothing won't help the Democrats down the road.

He Can’t Help Himself

Obama's ineptitude as a leader is something he can't help.

Health Is the Health of the State

Healthcare spending is the health of the State - and why it's not healthy.

Obama: Borrow $2.4 Trillion - To Cover My Ass In The Next Election

Obama wants to borrow $2.4 trillion - a figure generated from his reelection calculations.

Dissembler in Chief

All he continues to do is dissemble.

Obama Misleads on Support for 'Balanced' Deficit Agreement

Obama Deceives again on Deficit Agreement

The Government’s Four-Decade Financial Experiment

You supposedly could not go wrong here - alas, you wound up going wrong.

Ethanol Proves A Net Loser

Ethanol Now Consumes More Corn Than For Animal Feed for First Time, Corn Prices Reach Record High - this is what happens with "alternative" fuels.

Obama Tells The Truth About Social Security

Social Security is a ponzi scheme, not a legitimate entitlement. Barack Obama has now acknowledged such by saying that retirees have not been contributing to Social Security, it's been subsidized by borrowing money.

Paul Ryan Responds to Obama’s ‘Balanced’ Approach

Paul Ryan schools Obama again.

North Dakota Oilers, Part Deux

The Oilers continue sacking the enemy as their North Dakota swing continues.

Obama’s Stunning Admission - Democrats Want To End Medicare

Obama’s Stunning Admission puts the lie to Democratic "Medi-scare" campaigning.

Still Clueless About Al Qaeda in Iraq

Some Democrats still claim Al Qaida was not in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, except the facts continue to prove otherwise.

The Democrats’ Fuzzy Math and Fuzzier Logic

With apologies to MD80891, who coined the term - The Fuzzy Math and Fuzzier Logic behind the Democrats' attack on Paul Ryan's Medicare plan.

Pushing Decline

The Democrats did what they do - they pushed cutting defense and leaving real spending alone. The Republicans aren't biting right now.

Obama: Fix Unemployment by Fixing the Patent Process

Obama continues to prove how ignorant of economics he is.

The Defense Spending Myth Debunked

Is Defense Spending Driving Our Debt? No, it isn't.

Fuzzy Deficit Math

Fuzzy Deficit Math - must-read link within this piece.

The White House's Contradictory Spin on the Dismal Jobs Numbers

The White House can only Spin on the Dismal Jobs Numbers

Obama Administration on the Defensive Over Cost of Government Regulations

Obama Administration on the Defensive Over Cost of Government Regulations - always a sign liberals deep down know they're wrong but lack the guts to admit it (sort of like Roger Clemens).

Cutting Medicare Without Reforming It

Cutting Medicare Without Reforming It - Obama can still snooker the Republicans here.

Why Does Obamacare Double Down on Medicaid?

Obama insists on a program that's worse than not having insurance at all.

Obama’s Economists Tell The Truth

Obama released an economic report on a Friday - which means its contents will be overlooked as they throw The Man On The Way Up under the bus by telling the truth. In other words, the report shows - again - that Obama's "stimulus" threw away over $3 trillion for nothing.

The Great Gov't.-Induced Homeownership Bubble

A look at the new book "Reckless Endangerment" and the government-created housing meltdown.

Iran’s Proxy War Continues

Iran’s Proxy War Continues

North Dakota's Booming Oil Economy

Hey Obama, domestic drilling works. Period. Bring on the Houston Oilers (and let Houston's football team use the Oilers name, too).

When Liberal "Think" Tanks Attack

Center for American Progress Takes Aim at Koch Industries, Shoots Self in Foot - again.

Inconsistencies in Reporting U.S. Trade Data

Economist Mark Perry asks a pertinent question - Is the BEA Following the Cash, or the Goods and Assets?

The UAW Albatross Fights On

UAW Threatens to Brand Foreign Auto Plants as Human Rights Violators even when - no, especially when they're not. It's the union mission - protect their own jobs at the expense of the economy and real jobs.

The Iron Law of Intervention

Passing a law to fix a problem has never fixed the problem; it has always made the problem worse.

If You Don’t Let Us Raise Taxes, We’ll Stop Borrowing Money

Democrats are insisting on tax hikes in the debt ceiling debate because they want to be able borrow more money to spend, and increase taxes.

History Will Not Be Deceived

While the JCS throws The Man On The Way Up under the bus by telling the truth, Obama himself throws American soldiers under the bus by undercutting their mission.

Mullen Throws Obama Under the Bus

The Chairman of the JCS tells the truth.

Texas Turns Off Lights on Federal Lightbulb Ban

The Federal Lightbulb Ban gets sacked by those Dallas political Cowboys. Let's hope New England's Patriots, Tennessee's Titans, the Indianapolis political Colts, etc. follow suit and sack this intrusion of eco-fascism.

The Democrats’ ‘Culture of Corruption’

Anthony Weiner is just the latest in his party's long line of kleptocrats.

Follower in Chief

Leaders lead - except The Man On The Way Up stays behind everyone else.

Trade Deficits Mean - Nothing

Here's the dirty little secret about the trade deficit - U.S. Trade With Rest of World is Always Balanced

Prislam - Islamo-Arab Imperialism In Prison

Remember Representative Peter King's House Committee Hearings on Islamo-Arab terrorism? Recently they've been looking at Islamo-Arab "radicalization in US prisons." As usual, Democrats objected because the hearings show how Islamo-Arab ideology is at work.

Who Are the Big Spenders?

A reminder of who the real spenders are - and who they aren't.

Weiners, Wusses and Wonks

A look at how Anthony Weiner is far more the rule in politics than the exception, especially given the number of Democrats caught in ethics failures.

The Bush Deficits That Never Were

The failure of Obamanomics has brought out the desperation defense - that it was Bush's fault. But as usual the facts say otherwise.

The Sinister Stimulus Defense

Suddenly the argument is being advanced that Obama's signature wasting of money - the $840-plus billion sham "stumulus" - was too small. It is a sinister turn in this discussion because it amounts to a new excuse for Obama to waste still more money.

Growth Politics: Pawlenty Isn’t Bush

Growth Politics: Pawlenty Isn’t Bush

Barack Obama, The Laughing Larcenist, Used Cars

Barack Obama - shocking - lies about his bailout of the auto industries.

Myths of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Myths of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

‘Fundamentally Different Worldview’

Tim Pawlenty takes on Obama.

Americans Losing Jobs from FTAs Are Overpaid

The myth about Americans losing jobs because of FTAs gets humorously punctured.

The Obama Excuse Economy

The Obama Economy is an economy littered with failed promises and Obama excuses blaming someone else.

Crossfire in Fat City

A whistleblower on Chicago's cushy hackerama fights back against the hackerama.


NOTE: Here is the original article that set off this crossfire.

Sorry, ThinkProgress: Paul Ryan is Right

Obamacare Ends Medicare As We Know It - Paul Ryan is factually correct to say this.

Small Is Beautiful

Small Is Beautiful so the need is there to reach out to small businesses by cutting the tax-regulatory dungeon.

DNC Chair Lies About Medcare Reform Again

The DNC Chair is at it again about GOP Reform, hiding that the Dems have no program that works.

Drill For Jobs In Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania shows how drilling creates jobs.

Another Way To Curb Deficits

Another Way To Curb Deficits is to atack the spending increases Obama is sneaking into phony "tax cuts."

Ryan Nails Obamanomics

Ryan’s Right: Obama Would Raise Taxes on High Earners to 45 Percent.

We Don’t Have a Revenue Problem

We never had a revenue problem - it's the spending.

Reckless Medicaid Expansion vs. Responsible Medicaid Reform

Obamanomics at work - dump people into a pool and make someone else pay for it.

Government by Waiver, cont.

The Man On The Way Up's way of governing continues to prove that it doesn't work.

Ryan Goes On The Attack On Medicare

As Democrats keep falsifying the Paul Ryan budget, Ryan goes after Obamanomics in relation to the Medicare myth, this following a sharp retort by an oil industry type at a Congressional hearing where a Democrat called for "shared sacrifice" and the oil type retorted that people don't want shared sacrifice, they want "shared prosperity."

Obama Keeps Sinking To The Occassion On Syria

Leading from behind was on hand as he jumped in late on Egypt and Libya, but now Obama is protecting Assad in Syria, continuing to sink to the occassion when it comes to actual leadership as opposed to riding someone else's wave (see Osama's killing).

The I Obama Presidency

There's no "I" in Obama - but he shoehorns it in anyway.

Don’t Look Now, But We’re Drilling, Baby

Despite resistance from the Obama regime, domestic oil drilling is continuing, and with some surprises.

Who Really Stands to Win in the Union Fights?

A look back at a union defeat against Caterpillar that illustrates the myth that unions exist to benefit workers.

What John Boehner Didn't Say

What John Boehner Didn't Say About the Debt Ceiling and Medicare Reform has been lost in some circles.

Misleading Polls and the Ryan Plan

Polls suggesting widespread opposition to Paul Ryan's Medicare Plan inaccurately frame what the plan actually entails when the question is asked.

Obama and Dems as Britney and Lindsey

They don't want to cut spending - they want to stab Republicans in the back when they initiate spending cuts. The Dems remain Britney and Lindsey - spend spend spend and get mad when the binges are stopped by someone else.

The Two Faces of Pakistan Plus Reasonable Suspicion

A look at the possibility that the Osama hideout was found years before the US strike, and also at the bizarre two faces of Pakistan as an ally of the US.

Private Sector Gains Jobs, Public Sector Loses

When the hackerama loses jobs, it's called reality.

Better Living Through Chemistry (If Permitted)

Recent media scare stories about chemicals are junk science at work again.

A Phantom Budget—and a Phantom $4 Trillion

Obamanomics is at it again.

Many Reasons for America's Continued Engagement in the Middle East

Obama's potential "new" direction in the Middle East isn't new and - as usual - ignores the reality of US engagement there.

Green Energy Bombs In Spain

On Green Energy: Plainly Not Helping Spain.

A Look Back At "Ford To City: Drop Dead"

Looking back at Gerald Ford's handling of New York City's 1975 debt crisis. The famous Ford To City: Drop Dead headline should have read Ford To City: Grow Up.

Fill-In-The-Blank Price Gouging

Worth asking - Who Should Decide On Prices After a Disaster?

Osama Bin Elvis - Dead

With mania that Osama Bin Laden has been killed, we may need to hold the phone. DNA analysis of the man killed and buried at sea has identified him as Osama Bin Laden. Even with this, there was reason to believe the real Osama died in 2001 or '02 and in any event Osama-mania has masked that a spoiled Saudi youth who turned to terrorism and was inept at it was transmuted by the CIA's bizarre analysis into a mastermind that he never was, obscuring what international terrorism really is - state-sanctioned war by proxy.

The US Navy (whose special forces, the SEALs, performed the heroic raid) is to be commended for superb execution - in every sense of the word. But the CIA's involvement means my distrust level remains.

Obamaisms On Oil Companies

Oil Company "Subsidies" and Oil Companies "Not Paying Their Fair Share" of Taxes - Obamaisms at work.

A Medicare Study Gets Attacked - And Defended

Please Actually Read (The) Research - from The American Magazine

Did Sotomayor Save Baseball? Not Really.

The myth that Sotomayor saved baseball is being cited with regard to the NFL labor fight and a court's meddling. All Sotomayor did was prolong baseball's dysfunctional economic model.

A Look At How Gov't. Created An Unsustainable "Homeownership Bubble"

CARPE DIEM: Homeownership Rate Falls to 1998 Level; Gov't. Created An Unsustainable "Homeownership Bubble"

When One Has No Use For An Opportunity

The Dole Comes to America illustrates when the entitlement mentality takes root.

Obama Sinks to the Occasion

From mid-April, a reminder of the con that is Obama as he perennially lets people down.

Germany's Green Energy Fraud

Germany is often said to be a model on "green energy." In fact it is a fraud.

Barack Obama/Jimmy Carter

The same cowardliness and the same economic stupiduty.

Obama's Hypocrisy on Unions and Political Disclosure

Obama once again tries to rewrite the rules to help his political allies.

Blinders On Regarding Ryan

A writer named Blinder wears them in attacking Paul Ryan's plan.

Taxation and Taxable Income

The Man On The Way Up wants to tax the rich. Economic reality won't let him.

Obama's Push to Deny Tax Facts

The Man On The Way Up wants to pretend that "the rich" are paying less in taxes. The real world proves - again - he is not just wrong, but dishonest.

Green Energy A U.K. Failure

Renewable Energy Fails to Green the U.K. Economy

The Refutation of An Attack On Ryan

An attack on Paul Ryan's Medicare plan is acknowledged by a liberal writer to be inaccurate.

Obama's Medicare Plan: Rationing by Bureaucrats

The Man On The Way Up is at it again.

Obama's "Pitiful" Speech

Even a big opponent of the Republicans' plan calls out The Man On The Way Up as "pitiful."

How you can tell Obama isn't serious about reducing the national debt

When he proposes cutting the areas where spending is less and when he stays in denial of bankrupcy by entitlements. This is The Man On The Way Up in action.

Need to Move Beyond Social Compact Rhetoric

Democratic talk about the mythical "Social Compact" is a weapon for them to stay in denial of economic reality.

Obama’s Budget, Take Two

The cliche that Obama promises have expiration dates should be kept in mind here.

On Green Energy: A Dutch (Re)Treat

Holland rethinks wind energy.

The Great Debate Between The Adult And The Obama-Child

Paul Ryan has changed the debate by acting as an adult. Obama's response has been that of a child. It is illustrative of the two conflicting ideologies.

Ryan Answers His Critics

Ryan Answers His Critics

Paul Ryan on Defense Spending

Attacking the (persistent) myth of the bloated defense budget.

Who'd Have Thought This?

From the Well DUH! files comes this astonishing (to Democrats) insight into taxation.

Kill Dodd-Frank

The Dodd-Frank law has done nothing to correct whatever flaws exist in the banking industry - all it does is increase an already-preposterous level of government meddling. It needs to die.

Clarifying the Debate About Libya

Some clear-headed information is offered about the Libya uprising.

Obama's Phony Distinction Between Arab Dictators

Syria, the U.N. Human Rights Council, and the Obama Administration shows Obama trying to draw a phony distinction between the varied dictators under seige in the Middle East.

Obama’s Energy Blueprint Folly

Obama’s Energy Blueprint is the same failure he tried to peddle before.

The Libyan Whopper

Obama's Libya speech was praised as "Kennedy-esque" in some surprising circles, and in a sense it was. But as always with The Man On The Way Up, the broader reality is he's trying to have it both ways by ordering some military action but not decisive military action.

Obama Like Ike? Hardly

Obama Like Ike? Hardly. Eisenhower could lead - Obama consistently proves he can't - he is a follower.

The Unknown in Libya

The intelligence community - again - seems clueless.

U.S. Has Most Progressive Tax System for OECD-24

Check this look at how progressive the US tax system is.

No Substitute for Power

No Substitute for Power

The Outdated View On Manufacturing

Manufacturing and the "Worrying Class."

Distorting Walker's Budget Repair Bill

Who's Distorting Walker's Budget Repair Bill? Who else? The Mainstream Media.

The Collective Bargaining Fraud In Wisconsin

Why Wisconsin took away collective bargaining "rights".

The Best Regulator

Greyhound just learned that competition works.

Social Security: Middle-Class Welfare For The Past

Is Social Security Middle-Class Welfare? Not anymore - it was in the past - for those retiring in the 1960s and early '70s. Now it is just a pyramid scheme that is going bankrupt.

Obama: Strategy without Objective

Obama's community meddling - aka community organizing - leaves him unprepared for leadership that requires having an objective.

Democrats Remain Fools On Islamo-Arab Terror

King's Hearing on Homegrown Radicalization Reveals Democratic Irrationality.

Union Myths

Myths about unions hide the fact they are not a viable economic force.

Leasing Frenzy in Ohio for Shale Oil, Chesapeake Energy Spends $1B, Creating Instant Millionaires

There's black gold in them there Ohio shales.

Medicare Loses Nearly Four Times More Than Health Insurers Make

Medicare recently lost $48 million while the ten largest US health insurance companies earned a combined profit of $12.7 billion. Yet also at work is the scam of Washington trying (via ObamaCare) to funnel $1 trillion for those same insurers by trying to strongarm people into buying something (health insurance) they don't need.

The Next Entitlement Program: Interest on Debt

Obama's budget ego wants to write checks that won't be cashed.

Anwar Al Awlaki’s Direct Connection to Terror

Anwar Al Awlaki is a terrorist. The American Silly Liberties Union objects to him being treated as a terrorist.

Stimulus Architect Wiffs On Republican Budget Cuts

Will GOP Spending Cuts Really Kill Jobs? The Washington Post seems to think so based on the view of Mark Zandi, an architect of the 2009 "stimulus" package that wasted over $1 trillion in spending.

An Administration Adrift

That The Man On The Way Up's State Department flack couldn't even bring himself to admit Qaddafi is a dictator, you know this is an Administration that will never get it.

See also the contrast with Britain's reaction.

Why the Unions Fight

The issues are union dues and unions' ability to subsidize Democrats.

Two More Indictments of President Anodyne

Two superb indictements of The Man On The Way Up over his cowardice on Qaddafi.

The Real Problem with Government Employee Unions

They're there to support the party of government, not the real world.

The Libyan Terrorist: Muammar Qaddafi

A reminder that Moammar Qaddafi is an international brigand.

A $930 Million Misunderstanding Over Walker's Budget Repair Bill

A look at a central point of contention over Scott Walker's Budget Repair Bill.

Wisconsin Showdown

Public sector union wage inflation is the heart of the bankrupcy of Wisconsin.

Bullish Economic Signs

Despite scares that oil will rise because of Mideast fighting, other signs are the economy is gaining strength.

Wisconsin Public Employees: A Question of Justice or Rent-Seeking?

Wisconsin Public Employees: A Question of Justice or Rent-Seeking?

Howard Dean Breaks Wisconsin Law.....

....by creating a slush fund for fourteen AWOL Wisconsin state senators. They are AWOL over the state's public-sector klepocrats fighting for their trough. They call it "budget cuts and collective bargaining rights," but it's nothing but public-sector kleptocrats fighting to keep the kleptocracy.

A Reason for Optimism in Afghanistan

Yes, we are winning.

Video of Madison Protests: Is This the Best the Unions Can Do?

Apparantly so.

Government At "Work"

Government as wealth-transfer machine subsidizing entitlement pyramid schemes.

After Wisconsin, How Do Democrats Argue Against a GOP Government Shutdown?

After Wisconsin, How Do Democrats Argue Against a GOP Government Shutdown? Easy - the Democrats only oppose government shutdowns if they're about stopping public-sector/entitlement kleptocracies. If shutting down government is in defense of said kleptocracies......just see Wisconsin.

Obama Backs Protesters… in Wisconsin

Proetsters in Egypt fight against a public-sector kleptocracy - while those in Wisconsin fight to save one. And The Man On The Way Up sides with the kleptocracy.

NY Times Gets Taxes Wrong - Again

Race to the Top of the Laffer Curve.

The Interrogation of Rumsfeld

The Interrogation of Rumsfeld begins - and begins to fail.

Mideast Revolt Exposes Isolationist Left’s Foreign Policy Delusions – and Hypocrisy

Mideast Revolt Exposes Isolationist Left’s Foreign Policy Delusions – and Hypocrisy

A Limited Government— and a Strong Defense

An idea of how to have both.

CARPE DIEM: Exports to China Surge

Exports to China Surge to Record Level in Dec. ($10B); Exports to China Have Grown Faster (19%/yr.) Than Imports (13.8%/yr.) Since 2000

And you thought world trade only works one way, right?

Misguided Military Talk

Tom Donnelley looks at the absurd push to cut defense spending.

Lack Of Winners, Lack Of Lead Changes Explain NASCAR's Ratings Dip

In July 2007 NASCAR became rather defensive about its competitive product, shown here and in various other forums. Below is a post initiated in November 2006 in response to this recent surge of defensiveness; it has been updated where needed -


NASCAR has undergone substantial change in this decade, and more and more those in the sport are questioning the need for change.

That Winston Cup "no longer has any competitive sizzle" and is thus suffering from a decline in TV ratings and attendance is universally understood in the sport, but the reason for this lack of sizzle is subject of disagreement and some misleading analysis. Some blame the length of races and the length of the schedule, but such complaints are for people with Attention Deficit Disorder; the races and the schedule are not too long. The Chase format has certainly taken away some competitive sizzle with its arbitrary lockout of most of the field from any top-ten points position, but the real core issue has largely gone unnoticed.

Pro Football had its Dead-Ball Era of 1966-77, when scoring was low and rule changes were needed to open up scoring. NASCAR for the last 25 seasons has been in a Dead-Lane Era, an era of mediocre racing highlighted by lack of lead changes. It began in 1985 when the Winston Cup season failed to produce a race with at least 40 lead changes for the first time since 1970. The decade that began with 20 such races 1980-4 saw just three more by the end of 1989 - at Talladega twice (1986 and 1989) and Charlotte in 1988. In April 1991 Bristol broke the 40-lead-change barrier (the only short track racing in NASCAR history to do so) thanks to a bizarre pitstop and double-file restart package that was discontinued after that race; the 40-lead-change barrier was not broken again until October 2000 at Charlotte.

It has, however, been the restrictor plate races, which were consistently the most competitive races during the 1990s (plate races set the season record for lead changes in 1990, 1993-4, and 1996-7), that broke the 40-lead-change barrier the most. Talladega in its last 22 runnings entering 2011 has broken that barrier sixteen times - October 2000, four straight races 2003-4, and a whopping eleven straight October 2005 through 2010, reaching 63 lead changes in October 2006, the most competitive race in 22 years, and then topping that mark at 64 lead changes among a motorsports-record 28 leaders in October 2008 - only to obliterate the record in 2010 with 88 lead changes among 30 drivers in April 2010, followed by 87 lead chanegs among 26 drivers on Halloween.

Outside of Talladega, however, the competitiveness of the racing has been subpar. Making it worse has been a shrinkage of winning organizations in the sport. The 1980s saw a phenomenal increase in winners, both in drivers and teams - in 1986 13 drivers for 11 teams won races; in 1988 14 drivers for 12 teams won; in 1990 14 drivers for 14 teams won, while a year later there were 14 winning drivers again.

Comparison is interesting to make in number of winning teams. The bulk of the 1970s was said to be dominated by a few teams. While this is true, the number of winning teams was greater than is generally given credit for -


WINNING TEAMS 1971-8 -

FRED ELDER #96
HOLMAN-MOODY #17/12
COTTON OWENS #6
PETTY ENTERPRISES #43 AND #11
WOOD BROTHERS #21
NORD KRAUSKOPF #71
RICHARD HOWARD/JUNIOR JOHNSON #3/12/11 AND #52
L.G.DeWITT #72
PENSKE RACING #12/16
HYLTON ENGINEERING #48
BOBBY ALLISON RACING #12
CRAWFORD ENTERPRISES #22
BUD MOORE ENGINEERING #15
DARRELL WALTRIP #17
DIGARD RACING #88
HOSS ELLINGTON #1
J.D.STACY #5
RANIER RACING #54


The 1979-80 period was when NASCAR first began to get major live television exposure after two decades mostly consigned to weekend sports anthology broadcasts -

1979-80 WINNING TEAMS -

DIGARD RACING #88
PETTY ENTERPRISES #43
JUNIOR JOHNSON #11
BUD MOORE ENGINEERING #15
RANIER RACING #28
ROD OSTERLUND #2
WOOD BROTHERS #21
M.C. ANDERSON #27
HOSS ELLINGTON #1
HAGAN RACING #44


The switchover to 110-inch wheelbases in 1981 coincided with a steady influx of new teams and new sponsorships, and the sport began reaching new highs in winning teams -

1981-4 WINNING TEAMS -

RANIER RACING #28
PETTY ENTERPRISES #43
JUNIOR JOHNSON #11
M.C. ANDERSON/BLUE MAX RACING #27 (team purchased from Anderson by Raymond Beadle after 1982)
CLIFF STEWART #50
BUD MOORE ENGINEERING #15
JUNIE DONLAVEY #90
JACK BEEBE #47
WOOD BROTHERS #21
DIGARD RACING #88/22
MARCIS AUTO RACING #71
MACH ONE MOTORSPORTS #33
J.D. STACY #2
RAHMOC RACING #75
RCR ENTERPRISES #3
HAGAN RACING #44
MELLING RACING #9
JACKSON BROTHERS #55
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #5
CURB MOTORSPORTS #43 ("replaced" Petty Enterprises 1984-5)



The Dead-Lane Era began in 1985, a season almost monopolized by Bill Elliott and the Melling #9. From 1986 onward, though, the number of winning teams remained strong -


1986 WINNING TEAMS -

RCR ENTERPRISES #3
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #5, #25
JUNIOR JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES #11, #12
BLUE MAX RACING #27
STAVOLA BROTHERS RACING #22, #8
MELLING RACING #9
WOOD BROTHERS RACING #7
RACE HILL FARMS RACING #47
BILLY HAGAN RACING #44
BUD MOORE ENGINEERING #15


1988 set the post-1971 record with fourteen winners -


WINNING TEAMS -

RCR ENTERPRISES #3
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #5, #17, #25
LAKE SPEED RACING #83
RAHMOC RACING #75
STAVOLA BROTHERS RACING #12
BLUE MAX RACING #27
MELLING RACING #9
JUNIOR JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES #11
JACKSON BROTHERS RACING #55
KING RACING #26
RANIER-LUNDY RACING #28
KULWICKI RACING #7


As the 1990s began the competitive depth of the sport remained -


1990-1 WINNING TEAMS -

RCR ENTERPRISES #3
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #5, #25
WALTRIP RACING #17 (team purchased off of Hendrick Motorsports)
JUNIOR JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES #11
MORGAN-MCCLURE MOTORSPORTS #4
BLUE MAX RACING #27
PENSKE RACING #2 (Team formed from equipment and shop of Blue Max Racing)
SABCO RACING #42
LEO JACKSON MOTORSPORTS #33
KING RACING #26
ROUSH PERFORMANCE #6
MELLING RACING #9
ROBERT YATES RACING #28
KULWICKI RACING #7
BUD MOORE ENGINEERING #15
BOB WHITCOMB RACING #10


But as the multicar era surged the number of winning organizations began to shrink.
Here is the 1994 list of winning teams in the Second Hoosier Tire War:

1994 WINNING TEAMS -

RCR ENTERPRISES #3
PENSKE RACING #2
MORGAN-McCLURE MOTORSPORTS #4
ROBERT YATES RACING #28
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #5, #24
JUNIOR JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES #27, #11
RUDD PERFORMANCE #10
GEOFF BODINE RACING #7
ROUSH PERFORMANCE #6
JOE GIBBS RACING #18

With the end of that tire war and further restriction on testing, the surge of multicar teams became clear -


1995-6 WINNING TEAMS -

RCR ENTERPRISES #3
MORGAN-McCLURE MOTORSPORTS #4
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #5, #24 (also fielded #25)
JOE GIBBS RACING #18
PENSKE RACING #2
ROUSH PERFORMANCE #6
SABCO RACING #42
ROBERT YATES RACING #28, #88
BILL DAVIS RACING #22
RUDD PERFORMANCE #10
GEOFF BODINE RACING #7
PETTY ENTERPRISES #43


The multicar boom continued as the decade of the 1990s ended, resulting in a net shrinkage of winning organizations -


WINSTON CUP WINNING TEAMS, 1997-99 -

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #5, #24 (also fielded #25)
PENSKE RACING #2, #12
ROBERT YATES RACING #28, #88
ROUSH PERFORMANCE #6, #99 (also fielded #16, #26, #97)
RUDD PERFORMANCE #10
CALE YARBOROUGH MOTORSPORTS #98
PETTY ENTERPRISES #43 (also fielded #44)
JOE GIBBS RACING #18, #20
RCR ENTERPRISES #3 (also fielded #31)
MORGAN-McCLURE MOTORSPORTS #4
SABCO RACING #42 (also fielded #40, #46)


In 2001 a switch to a harder tire compound helped the sport reach a stunning high in number of winners at 19, and 13 different teams accounted for those wins. 2002 was less dramatic but of near-equal competitive depth as the two seasons combined for 26 winning drivers among 14 teams -

WINSTON CUP WINNING TEAMS IN 2001-2 SEASONS -

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #24, #48 (also fielded #5 and #25>
RCR ENTERPRISES #29, #31 (also fielded #30)
EARNHARDT, INC. #1, #8, #15
ANDY PETREE RACING #33, #55
JOE GIBBS RACING #18, #20
PENSKE RACING #2, #12
ROUSH PERFORMANCE #6, #17, #97, #99
ROBERT YATES RACING #28, #88
WOOD BROTHERS RACING #21
CAL WELLS #32
GANASSI/SABCO RACING #40 (won with two drivers)
BILL DAVIS RACING #22
RAY EVERNHAM MOTORSPORTS #9
MORTON-BOWERS #10


But from 2003 onward the number of winning organizations has shrunk, to where only the following teams have won in the period of 2003-6 -


WINSTON CUP WINNING TEAMS, 2003 THROUGH 2006 -

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #5, #24, #25, #48
RCR ENTERPRISES #29, #31 (also fielded #30/#07)
EARNHARDT, INC. #8, #15
JOE GIBBS RACING #18, #20, #11
MORTON-BOWERS RACING #01 (also fielded #10)
ROBERT YATES RACING #38, #88
ROUSH PERFORMANCE #6, #16, #17, #97, #99
CAL WELLS #32
RAY EVERNHAM MOTORSPORTS #9, #19
PENSKE RACING #2, #12


The 2007-8 period saw the disbanding of Ray Evernham Motorsports, Petty Enterprises, the Cal Wells team, Robert Yates Racing, and the former Morton-Bowers team; it also saw the merger of Ganassi Racing and Earnhardt, Inc. Johnny Benson's breakthrough for Morton-Bowers in 2002 was the last new winning organization to hit Cup until a flukish surge in 2009 saw victories for teams owned by James Finch, Michael Waltrip, and Dietrich Mateschitz.    2010 saw the merger of Ganassi Racing and DEI into a truncated two-car Chevrolet team using RCR engines - a team that shocked the sport by bursting to four victories that season, the first comeback by an organization since the Wood Brothers'  2001 victory at Bristol.   The Woods themselves spent the decade in essence just surviving, until Ford began increasing engineering help to where rookie Trevor Bayne pulled off the stunning 2011 Daytona 500 upset.

Even with this the number of teams competitive enough to win has shrunk to where only four teams control the engines and chassis of virtually the entire field and the number of teams merely running laps and then parking - widely derided as "start and park cars" - became noticeable and also significant.


********************


There are numerous reasons for this and the multicar monster is a major one, perhaps the key one; also contributing has been the repeated versions of the infamous and ineffectual 5&5 Rule, trademarked by a higher airdam and smaller spoiler compared to 2003; making it worse was the decision by NASCAR's John Darby to change swaybar diameter and mounting location rules and also the implemetation of aero-matching - aka Common Templates. "In three years," noted blogger MD80891, "teams had to suffer through half a dozen tire changes, two spoiler reductions, two or three swaybar changes, and aero-matching. Then they wonder what happened to the ontrack product?"


----------------------------------------------


NASCAR pinned considerable hope to the Car Of Tomorrow, but the COT proved an unadjustable failure.   A car/Truck hybrid, the COT has been based in large part on a myth - that the Craftsman Truck Series has the best racing.    The attempt to apply Truck-themed aerodynamics to make "The Quick Brick" from the beginning did not work; the COT did next to nothing beyond make the Dead-Lane Era even worse because of its abysmal design and inability to race well.  The only tracks where the COT did put on excellent races were the plate tracks.    Its poor design was criticized almost right away by drivers.

The simple fact is that the sport needs racing like it has at Talladega to reclaim its competitive sizzle - 40 or more lead changes needs to be the sport's norm, as it was in the 1970s and early 1980s, and not the exception is has been in the Dead-Lane Era. I hear a lot from fans who say they got interested in the sport because of the strategies from crew chiefs and so forth. The problem is none of that matters without on-track action, meaning passing and repassing, drafting and sidedrafting.

The sport also needs a points system without a playoff format and which requires winning the most races and leading the most often, either most net laps or most laps led in the highest number of races. And it needs to break up the multicar monopolies and get more teams on the winning track.

The sport also needs tire competition. There's a mixed bag here because one recalls the hard-tire package of 2001-3 that saw the above-mentioned upsurge in winners. The hard tire gave teams pitting options they did not have before, and as MD80891 pointed out, problems attributed to the hard tire in terms of adjustment were more a factor of two seasons of bizarre weather changes, with temperature swings periodically hitting ten to fifteen degrees day to day, which left most teams scrambling for answers; mismatching of tires was also a factor.

There is, though, something to be said for tire competition. Those who cringe at the idea of a tire war should note that number of winners has generally increased whenever there was tire competition, notably in 1988 when the sport reached 14 winners for the first time since the 1960s, and 1994, when the sport ended a two-year drought of first-time winners and jumped from ten winning drivers in 1993 to 12 and saw two owner-driver teams take victory - one was Ricky Rudd in his #10 Tide Ford, while the other, the ex-Kulwicki team of Geoff Bodine, won three times and led over 1,500 laps as Hoosier Tire's main works car. Why allowing some teams to use Firestones and some to use Hoosiers can really be that bad for the sport is puzzling.

The wildcard angle to the issue is the forgiving nature of the tire; short track series such as NASCAR's K&N Series and weekly racing use bias-plies, which are more forgiving than radials; it is noteworthy that in 1995-6 Goodyear used leftover tire-war tires and as Chris Economaki and Dick Berggren noted in their racing forums at the time those tires raced far more like bias-plies, and it was reflected in very spirited racing pretty much the entirety of those two seasons.  In the second half of 1999 Goodyear increased stagger on its tires and passing up front increased noticeably, with Michigan, Dover, and especially Atlanta seeing some of their most competitive racing in years. 


--------------------------------------------


The sport needs the racecars to be underpowered and overgripped, overall and/or relative to what the tracks can handle (see for example the difference between Indycars, the Modifieds, the Trucks, etc. in races such as 2016 at Daytona, Kansas, Indianapolis, and Texas) the draft needs to punch open, and the tire needs to be forgiving.   The points structure needs to revert to the Latford Point System with  100-plus point bonuses for each race win and most laps led per race. 

The sport also needs some procedural changes - or more accurately reversion to some older procedural changes. The Chase has to go.  Also needing to go is the field freeze and lucky dog rule, a procedure introduced in panic after September 2003 at New Hampshire and having nothing in NASCAR history to serve as justification.  Racing to the caution was never as dangerous as the field freeze rule makes it out to be, and that races are more and more being determined not at the stripe but at scoring loops often a mile from the stripe strikes at the integrity of the sport.  This is the officiating tower wielding too much control of the racing and it needs to be ended.

The decade beginning in 2010 has had some good moments but overall hasn't ended the Dead-Lane Era.  That has to change.


2016 POSTSCRIPT    -  In the years since this piece first aired, the Truck Series has seen some striking improvement in its racing; as horsepower was restricted more the series saw memorable battles up front on several intermediate tracks, notably Atlanta, Kansas in 2013 and 2014, and Charlotte in 2015's epic Erik Jones-Kasey Kahne shootout; it also saw some spirited competition in the series' 2010 debut at Pocono.  Daytona and Talladega as usual provided the wildest racing, especially in 2008-09, 2013, and 2016, while Kansas and Texas in 2016 saw stunningly physical battles up front. 

A rumored 2011 wider tire didn't happen, but the idea certainly is not a bad one and engineering a more forgiving tire remains necessary.   The COT is gone, but top-heavy sedan bodies are still the body of choice for NASCAR. 

The 5&5 Rule was revived for the Kentucky race in 2015 and saw substantial driver praise though the racing was okay yet not great.   That low-downforce package was then used at Darlington's throwback Southern 500, a race that set a new record for yellows for that track and didn't see much in the way of passing - the final 70-plus laps in particular were woefully uncompetitive.  Yet NASCAR in 2016 began running the low downforce package on the non-plate tracks, this despite its history of competitive failure - a history proven anew as 2016 soldiered on. 

And with additional downforce changes at Charlotte in May 2016, NASCAR's rules search goes on.

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