Friday, March 29, 2013

Obama calls on Congress to approve $21 billion infastructure, a.k.a. stimulus plan « Hot Air

Obama calls on Congress to approve $21 billion infastructure, a.k.a. stimulus plan « Hot Air: "“There are few more important things we can do to create jobs right now and strengthen our economy over the long haul” than infrastructure spending? Er, really? How about reducing the overall regulatory burden, lowering taxes and simplifying the tax code, expediting oil-and-gas permitting, trimming the bureaucracy, dismantling ObamaCare, etcetera? Yeah, I’d rank all of those pretty highly on the economy-strengthening scale."

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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Rachel Maddow: Roger Ailes Put a 'Jet Engine' Into GOP's 'Hunk of Junk' Car | NewsBusters

Rachel Maddow: Roger Ailes Put a 'Jet Engine' Into GOP's 'Hunk of Junk' Car | NewsBusters: "Ailes, meanwhile, said of Maddow, “Rachel is good and she will get even better when she discovers that there are people on earth who don’t share every one of her beliefs.”"

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Your tax dollars at work – IRS Star Trek parody film (with video) « Hot Air

Your tax dollars at work – IRS Star Trek parody film (with video) « Hot Air: "Wait… the IRS has their own television studio?"

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Scott Walker vs the world « Hot Air

Scott Walker vs the world « Hot Air: "You want parents to have choices as to which church – if any – their children attend. You want them to have choices about who they marry or who their kids can marry. You want them to be able to choose healthier foods and habits if they wish. But when the subject turns to the universally agreed upon, important topic of education, choice is a bad thing. If you live in an area with substandard or failing schools, allowing the state government to offer a bit of a leg up to send them someplace else where they might stand a chance to make it into a good college or other career path is… bad?

Can somebody explain this one for me, please?"

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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Video: Gun-grabbing billionaire hints at defeating Senators who vote no on assault-weapons ban « Hot Air

Video: Gun-grabbing billionaire hints at defeating Senators who vote no on assault-weapons ban « Hot Air: "For all the crowing the left does about Wayne LaPierre’s “messaging problems” (not without reason sometimes), having the country’s most famously meddlesome nanny-stater throwing millions in pocket change to buy Senate seats because he’s unhappy that there’s still a bit too much liberty in the Second Amendment for his liking is a case of “optics” I can live with."

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Fusion Power on the Right - Jonah Goldberg - [page]

Fusion Power on the Right - Jonah Goldberg - [page]: "Libertarianism has a better brand name than conservatism these days, particularly among young people. Conservatives shouldn't be freaking out about this any more than libertarians should start a victory dance. The agreements between the two sides remain far greater than the differences."

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MSNBC to HHS secretary: So, three years later, what do Americans still not understand about ObamaCare? « Hot Air

MSNBC to HHS secretary: So, three years later, what do Americans still not understand about ObamaCare? « Hot Air: "Blergh. All of the items that Sebelius ticks off in the beginning of the segment — checkups without co-pays, the illegality of declining higher-risk patients, etcetera — these things are not free. The costs are merely being redistributed to all Americans at large, but when she’s pressed about the rising prices of premiums in California — the first guinea-pig state to get to work on implementing ObamaCare — she just kind of casually brushes it off like these companies can somehow magically find a way to prevent their operating costs from increasing, and touts how the Obama administration has munificently limited the salaries of these insurance companies’ bigwig CEOs, as if their oh-so-ill-begotten fat checks are one of the main drivers of rising health care costs. (But don’t you dare accuse them of class-warmongering!)"

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Monday, March 18, 2013

Robert Samuelson: A dishonest budget debate - The Washington Post

Robert Samuelson: A dishonest budget debate - The Washington Post: "What frustrates constructive debate is muddled public opinion. Americans hate deficits but desire more spending and reject higher taxes. In a Pew poll, 87 percent of respondents favored present or greater Social Security spending; only 10 percent backed cuts. Results were similar for 18 of 19 programs, foreign aid being the exception."

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Crovitz: Aiding the Enemy Isn't Journalism - WSJ.com

Crovitz: Aiding the Enemy Isn't Journalism - WSJ.com: "Among the prosecution's more than 100 witnesses will be a Navy SEAL who participated in the raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden. He'll testify to finding Manning-Assange documents on the terrorist leader's computer. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole."

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Bean Counters vs. History - Thomas Sowell - National Review Online

Bean Counters vs. History - Thomas Sowell - National Review Online: "One reason is that “disparate impact” lawsuits require nothing more than statistical differences to lead to verdicts, or out-of-court settlements, involving millions of dollars. And the reason that is so is that so many people have bought the unsubstantiated assumption that there is something strange and sinister when different peoples have different achievements."

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The USDA is probably going to “intervene” in the sugar market, for only the zillionth time « Hot Air

The USDA is probably going to “intervene” in the sugar market, for only the zillionth time « Hot Air: "The USDA estimates it would need to buy 400,000 tons of sugar to boost prices to an “acceptable level,” said Barbara Fecso, an economist at the department. A purchase of 400,000 tons would amount to about 4.4% of projected U.S. sugar production in the marketing year that ends Sept. 30."

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For Obama, It's All About 2014 | The Weekly Standard

For Obama, It's All About 2014 | The Weekly Standard: "If the White House is bragging about its unwillingness to concede on entitlement reform, the one thing that could conceivably allow Republicans to be part of a “grand bargain,” how likely is it that the president is serious about getting a deal?"

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For Obama, It's All About 2014 | The Weekly Standard

For Obama, It's All About 2014 | The Weekly Standard: "If the White House is bragging about its unwillingness to concede on entitlement reform, the one thing that could conceivably allow Republicans to be part of a “grand bargain,” how likely is it that the president is serious about getting a deal?"

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Video: Falklands vote about as close as you’d expect « Hot Air

Video: Falklands vote about as close as you’d expect « Hot Air: "Falkland Islands voters decided by an overwhelming 99.8 percent margin Monday to keep their government just the way it is: a British Overseas Territory."

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Monday, March 11, 2013

Bizzaro World Pelosi Says: Obama ‘Has Always Been Very Respectful Of The Views Of The Republicans’ | Mediaite

Bizzaro World Pelosi Says: Obama ‘Has Always Been Very Respectful Of The Views Of The Republicans’ | Mediaite: "This type of bipartisan voodoo is something both Team Red and Team Blue try all the time. When something doesn’t go your way just claim moral superiority by saying you respect the other side and are ready to work with them even though you think they’re a bunch of raving idiots."

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Saturday, March 9, 2013

Where are the honest atheists? - The Week

Where are the honest atheists? - The Week: "If atheism is true, it is far from being good news. Learning that we're alone in the universe, that no one hears or answers our prayers, that humanity is entirely the product of random events, that we have no more intrinsic dignity than non-human and even non-animate clumps of matter, that we face certain annihilation in death, that our sufferings are ultimately pointless, that our lives and loves do not at all matter in a larger sense, that those who commit horrific evils and elude human punishment get away with their crimes scot free — all of this (and much more) is utterly tragic."

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Ethanol regs push us into “the blend wall” « Hot Air

Ethanol regs push us into “the blend wall” « Hot Air: "The key figure to watch here is the fact that we are currently projected to only have an available supply of 12.3 billion gallons of ethanol available for blending in 2013. To keep up with government mandates under the Renewable Fuel Standard, 13.8 billion gallons would be needed."

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Insurers raise California health care rates; state officials doth protest « Hot Air

Insurers raise California health care rates; state officials doth protest « Hot Air: "State officials are also getting upset that health insurers are “charging people more this year to recoup fees related to the federal healthcare law that don’t take effect until next year” — but what was it that they were expecting, exactly? Legislators and regulators can talk themselves blue in the face about what they think the appropriate prices should be, but that’s just not how it works; insurance companies calculate their risks and set their prices from there, and ObamaCare requires them to take on a heck of a lot more risk."

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Message: I Care - By Yuval Levin - The Corner - National Review Online

Message: I Care - By Yuval Levin - The Corner - National Review Online: "All this seems like a recipe for presidential irrelevance, and Obama seems to be responding to that danger by putting himself back in the middle of the story. Being nice to people is always a good idea, but I think he’s going to find that the trouble he’s in is not the result of a shortage of lunch invitations."

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Friday, March 8, 2013

A minute’s pause for the minimum wage « Hot Air

A minute’s pause for the minimum wage « Hot Air: "When you raise the minimum wage for people working in the lowest skill level, easiest to qualify for jobs with the greatest possible labor pool, you do – without a doubt – benefit those earning that wage. But as we have repeatedly pointed out, you drive up the labor costs for the primarily smaller business outlets who rely on this labor, offering a disincentive to hire and, quite likely, a cause to let some people go to keep costs down. You also drive up the cost of basic services and products which employers must charge to break even. But that’s not the entire picture I’m asking you to consider today."

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The Anti-Confidence Man - WSJ.com

The Anti-Confidence Man - WSJ.com: "Barack Obama really is a study in contrasts, such as aloof and omnipresent. He's never fully present and he won't leave. He speaks constantly, endlessly, but always seems to be withholding his true thoughts and plans. He was the candidate of hope and change, of "Yes, we can," but the mood of his governance has been dire, full of warnings, threats, cliffs and ceilings, full of words like suffering and punishment and sacrifice."

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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

It's "I Told You So" on ObamaCare | RealClearPolitics

It's "I Told You So" on ObamaCare | RealClearPolitics: "Virtually all of these problems and many others were predicted by conservatives, but the media rolled their collective eyes in response. The Iraq war justifiably led to a lot of media soul-searching about how journalists were too credulous of the Bush administration's arguments. A similar discussion about how we got stuck in the Obamacare quagmire seems long overdue."

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Review & Outlook: #SequesterThis - WSJ.com

Review & Outlook: #SequesterThis - WSJ.com: "Yes, even as the White House warns that the modest automatic spending cuts will force the furlough of meat inspectors, two divisions of the Agriculture Department will underwrite the 26th California Small Farm Conference in Fresno next week.

The event will feature USDA speakers, field trips, a banquet and a tasting reception, according to the conference website. Conference organizers promise the tasting will be a "mouthwatering event" featuring "fine wines and exceptional micro-brews paired with seasonally driven culinary delicacies." How can we sign up?"

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White House “recalibrating” on sequester hysteria after world keeps turning « Hot Air

White House “recalibrating” on sequester hysteria after world keeps turning « Hot Air: "If they really thought that the hysterics would force House Republicans to cave, then they’re reading far too much of their own press.  The shift in leverage was obvious from the moment that the tax-rate issues were settled without any further sunset-clause extensions.  Republicans might not like the nature of the cuts, but they weren’t about to offer more revenue for spending reductions — and they didn’t have to do so, thanks to the automatic application of the sequester, which Obama and his team authored."

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Hugo Chavez Wasn't Just a Buffoon. He Was an Oppressive Autocrat. - NationalJournal.com

Hugo Chavez Wasn't Just a Buffoon. He Was an Oppressive Autocrat. - NationalJournal.com: "It's easy to chuckle -- but try to imagine what would happen to your own psyche if no one ever questioned you to your face over 14 years. Wouldn't your grasp start to slip?"

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Faithful Progressive ‘False Equivalency’ Warriors Prepare To Eat Their Own | Mediaite

Faithful Progressive ‘False Equivalency’ Warriors Prepare To Eat Their Own | Mediaite: "Progressives should be careful not to fall for meretricious arguments that theirs is the only virtuous position in the arguments for and against targeted federal spending cuts. It has already blinded many in their ranks to the idea that their opponents’ arguments may be valid and their motives pure. While public opinion is on their side, this is a consequence-free position to hold. However, with the winds shifting – as told in public opinion polling showing voters perfectly willing to cast doubt on the competence of both parties in Washington – progressives risk becoming lost in the echo chamber. Their arguments will increasingly strain credulity. Their willingness to think critically will become ever more impaired."

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The Deficit Reduction We Deserve - NYTimes.com

The Deficit Reduction We Deserve - NYTimes.com: "What’s clear, though, is that something like the current “soak the rich and hack away at everything but Medicare” approach has vastly more support than any kind of serious entitlement reform. This is bad news for conservatives trying to keep the government’s share of G.D.P. within historic norms, bad news for liberals who would prefer that the government do more than just deliver Social Security checks and Medicare reimbursements, and probably bad news for today’s economy and tomorrow’s federal balance sheet alike."

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Video: Dem Senate candidate in IA blames filibusters for budget failure « Hot Air

Video: Dem Senate candidate in IA blames filibusters for budget failure « Hot Air: "Braley then goes on to lecture at length about the need for filibuster reform, but he’s ignorant of one important fact: filibusters don’t apply to budgetary bills.  Budgets don’t need anything more than a simple majority to pass.  In fact, that fact got intense national attention during the final stage of the ObamaCare debate, when the Senate used the budget mechanism to pass a House bill that bypassed the opportunity for Republicans to filibuster, in a process known as ironically known as “reconciliation.”"

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China to increase defense budget by 10.7% « The Greenroom

China to increase defense budget by 10.7% « The Greenroom: "And that’s just what they’re willing to admit."

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Barack Obama’s Defective Public Character « Commentary Magazine

Barack Obama’s Defective Public Character « Commentary Magazine: "Since the sequestration idea was first signed into law by President Obama in 2011, House Republicans have twice passed legislation to make the cuts more reasonable–and Democrats have refused to act on it."

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Best of the Web Today: Not a Dictator - WSJ.com

Best of the Web Today: Not a Dictator - WSJ.com: "What Yellin was really asking was something like this: Couldn't you just invite them down here and persuade them that it's in their best interests to make a deal?

The answer to that question, it seems clear, is also no, but for a different reason: because Obama is not very good at the job of being president. He does not seem able to command the congressional leadership's respect or trust. Nor does he seem capable of striking fear into them. That needn't mean ordering his guards to threaten them physically but rather making them feel there will be unpleasant political consequences if they don't give him a deal."

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Monday, March 4, 2013

The Tyranny of the Queen Bee - WSJ.com

The Tyranny of the Queen Bee - WSJ.com: "As the old male-dominated workplace has been transformed, many have hoped that the rise of female leaders would create a softer, gentler kind of office, based on communication, team building and personal development. But instead, some women are finding their professional lives dominated by high school "mean girls" all grown up: women with something to prove and a precarious sense of security."

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Morning Examiner: Obama’s campaign of pain | WashingtonExaminer.com

Morning Examiner: Obama’s campaign of pain | WashingtonExaminer.com: "For perhaps the first time in the history of the United States, it is in the political interest of a president to inflict maximum pain on the American people. Obama could have spent the last 16 months preparing to mitigate sequestration’s impact on the American people, as any responsible manager would have. Instead, he has done the opposite, explicitly ordering government agencies not to prepare for the worst. And he has refused all Republican efforts to pass legislation that would minimize the sequester’s pain."

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Klavan On The Culture » Conservatives Are Boobs When it Comes to Pop Culture

Klavan On The Culture » Conservatives Are Boobs When it Comes to Pop Culture: "Criticize the song??? The right should’ve posted the bloody song on every website we have! We should have said: Hey, ladies, if it makes you feel bad when someone publicly talks about what you publicly do — guess what? Don’t do it! Do something else instead! Maybe treat your bodies with dignity and respect — the way you’ll want your daughters to treat their bodies. The way men ought to treat them."

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Simony at the Church of Hope and Change - The Week

Simony at the Church of Hope and Change - The Week: "While no one should be surprised by a politician from Chicago innovating new ways to sell political power, the entire exercise demonstrates just how misguided campaign-finance efforts have been for the last several decades."

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Boehner: No gov’t shutdown — as long as Senate does their job « Hot Air

Boehner: No gov’t shutdown — as long as Senate does their job « Hot Air: "Boehner’s strategy aims to force the Senate into finally getting back to normal order legislating.  This CR sends the signal that Boehner isn’t going to White House têtes-aux-têtes any longer on budget matters.  He wants conference committees to resolve these issues, and the White House out of the middle.  We’ll see if Reid still fights normal order or finally begins to do his job and produce budgets."

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Video: And now, presenting the CIA’s greatest resource on the Kim regime « Hot Air

Video: And now, presenting the CIA’s greatest resource on the Kim regime « Hot Air: "Honestly, the ABC article does a disservice to Stephanopoulos.  He offered a number of incredulous questions to Rodman, such as pointing out that Kim starves millions of people and puts people in prison camps.  When Rodman suggests that it’s no different than what we do here, Stephanopoulos asks, “We put people in prison camps here?” At the end of the interview, Stephanopoulos hands Rodman a report from Human Rights Watch and tells him to deliver it to his newfound “friend” the next time he visits North Korea.  While Stephanopoulos never quite gets around to explicitly saying “You’re a moron,” the subtext is pretty clear."

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Two months in, Democrats lament lack of leverage for more tax hikes « Hot Air

Two months in, Democrats lament lack of leverage for more tax hikes « Hot Air: "He’s tried everything he can — except, of course, his job.  The Senate is required by law to produce an annual budget, a task that has gone unfulfilled for almost four years.  Instead, Reid has insisted on budgeting via a series of artificial crises by demanding that House Republicans reach agreements on temporary spending measures designed to keep federal budgets at the free-spending FY2010 baseline, and creating “fiscal cliffs” through obstructionism.  During that period, the House passed budgets every year, and even Obama produced the legally-required budget requests, even if they arrived late four years running."

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Sperling: Yeah, I guess Obama fibbed during the presidential debate on the sequester « Hot Air

Sperling: Yeah, I guess Obama fibbed during the presidential debate on the sequester « Hot Air: "This is a good lesson in how this administration, Democrats, and the public sector think about the money we all earn.  It’s really theirs, and anyone who gets in the way of their confiscation of it is a thief."

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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Michael Gerson: The liberal addiction to red ink - The Washington Post

Michael Gerson: The liberal addiction to red ink - The Washington Post: "At a recent meeting of the House Financial Services Committee, two Democratic members objected to the display of the debt clock — a running count of the federal debt — as “a political prop designed to message ideologically.” Numbers, it turns out, have an offensive ideological bias."

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A sordid business indeed « Hot Air

A sordid business indeed « Hot Air: "This entire battle over the last century has been to ensure that we are all recognized as equal human beings, hasn’t it? But apparently not if you happen to be part of the progressive contingent determined to grimly cling to the nightmares of the past to use as cudgels against those who disagree with them in the present. Racism is still a problem today, but it’s not coming from where you think."

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Saturday, March 2, 2013

WaPo: Another two Pinocchios for Obama’s Janitorgeddon « Hot Air

WaPo: Another two Pinocchios for Obama’s Janitorgeddon « Hot Air: "In other words for those other words, no one actually bothered to check this claim before Obama made it at the press conference.  Why not?  Apparently, they don’t care about getting caught fibbing and demagoguing, and the rest of the media (Kessler aside) doesn’t seem to be checking up on their claims, especially those that fit their class-warfare paradigm."

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The slow slide toward state run media « Hot Air

The slow slide toward state run media « Hot Air: "This is no tempest in a teapot but rather the leak in the dike. Drip by drip, the Obama administration has demonstrated its intolerance for dissent and its contempt for any who stray from the White House script. Yes, all administrations are sensitive to criticism, and all push back when such criticism is deemed unfair or inaccurate. But no president since Richard Nixon has demonstrated such overt contempt for the messenger. And, thanks to technological advances in social media, Obama has been able to bypass traditional watchdogs as no other president has."

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Friday, March 1, 2013

Romney: It was an exciting roller coaster ride, but the ride ends « Hot Air

Romney: It was an exciting roller coaster ride, but the ride ends « Hot Air: "Sidebar: I think David Weigel had a fantastic idea over at Slate for a way in which post-presidential candidate Mitt Romney could contribute to the national dialogue. The guy basically ran on his resume of solid business sense and managerial know-how; can I second that we give Detroit to Mitt Romney? "

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Charles Krauthammer: Hail Armageddon - The Washington Post

Charles Krauthammer: Hail Armageddon - The Washington Post: "“The worst-case scenario for us,” a leading anti-budget-cuts lobbyist told The Post, “is the sequester hits and nothing bad really happens.”"

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Obama Is Playing a New Game - WSJ.com

Obama Is Playing a New Game - WSJ.com: "He doesn't have time for Congress, but he has time to go on Al Sharpton's radio show and say Republicans care only about protecting the rich from taxes. Which is the kind of thing that embitters, that makes foes dig in more deeply."

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