From the category archives:

Politics

Health Control Technical Note

by Maynard on November 7, 2009 · 5 comments

A meandering contemplation by Maynard

The headline: House Dems struggle for final votes. Ah, the final solution to America’s health woes is at hand.

Here’s the way it works, as I understand it (and this is not my area of expertise, so correct me if I’m wrong). The Speaker has a strategic advantage, in that she can bring a bill up for a vote when she’s ready…that is to say, when she’s got commitments for the necessary votes. So the vote will be delayed until/unless the outcome is known and favorable.

Pressure is brought to bear upon wavering votes. As I’ve noted, the party machine has many ways to bring an erring member into line. You can lose committee status or you can simply lose perks.

On the positive side, you can be promised goodies in exchange for your vote. You’ll get your bridge, your library, whatever. Maybe you’ll even get your name on it. You can go home to your district and claim you brought home the bacon. This is very good for your re-election prospects. The individual Congressmen know how to work the system.

Giving away goodies can get very expensive, of course. It’s impossible to rein in the deficit when Washington is free with commitments. Being frugal makes one unpopular in Washington. Fiscal responsibility may be good for the nation, but it’s bad politics. That’s why fiscal irresponsibility has especially ruled the day when the Dems ran the whole show or when the Reps ran the whole show. A balance of power has the advantage of each faction blocking the other’s stupid boondoggles.

Obama is pulling out all the stops to push this through. This probably means big political debts. So, although there will be pledges of fiscal responsibility to accompany this bill, in fact the budget-busting health control plan will probably result in reduced fiscal restraint on other fronts. Additional political debts will inevitably translate into bigger public debt. We’re accelerating into the train wreck.

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Andrea Mitchell – Memories

by Pat_S on November 4, 2009 · 12 comments

A post by Pat

David Axelrod appeared on a legitimate, unbiased network today. It looked more like a counseling session than a newsy Q & A. Poor Andrea Mitchell, clearly despondent over the disappointments of election night, needed some cheering up. I can just see the poor woman flipping between the HBO special reminiscing the glorious triumph last year and watching the gloomy election returns this year. Even New York 23 couldn’t cheer her up much. If Axelrod was in the studio, I’m sure he would have offered her his handkerchief, maybe a hug. He did his best consoling her on each of her worries, but Andrea wasn’t buoyed much by the pep talk. The interview ended with sad Andrea saying, “We loved you in the HBO documentary and we’ll always have the New York 23rd“. You could almost hear the music.


Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

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Two for the Gipper, and a Bunch for Next Year

by Tammy on November 4, 2009 · 11 comments

So conservatives took Virginia and New Jersey (New Jersey?!) last night, while Hoffman lost in NY’s 23rd. For an excellent assessment of why Hoffman lost, check out Michael O. Leahy’s post-mortem over at TCOT Report.

The good news, of course, is the conservative turn in VA and NJ, interestingly enough the two states Obama visited and candidates he campaigned for lost.

Sarah Palin chimes in with a Facebook note: A Victory for Common Sense and Fiscal Sanity

Yet, according to the White House it’s much ado about nothing, and yet…

Lessons For Obama, Post-Election

Republicans quickly won all three statewide races in Virginia, scoring an off-year election sweep that restored GOP dominance in a state where years of Democratic advances culminated in Barack Obama’s 2008 victory in the state.

Then the GOP snatched the governorship of New Jersey, a state where Obama had put his prestige on the line in an effort to secure a second term for Governor Jon Corzine.

And what was Urkel doing the night a couple of men in his own party, who had relied on him to help them continue their political careers watched those careers end? Barry Obama was watching television, but not the election returns. Instead, he watched the HBO movie about…himself.

Obama should also take note because a dual-state takeover by Republicans in both NJ and VA has happened before in an off-year election. Andrew Malcolm at the LA Times reminds us:

Interesting historical anecdote that sounds strangely familiar for some reason: The last time voters in both those states did this same dual political overthrow simultaneously was 1993 after the first 10 months of a new Democratic president named Bill Clinton, who was pushing a massive healthcare reform plan.

Anyone remember what the outcome of that off-year harbinger was? The Republican revolution of the 1994 midterm elections, when the GOP seized both houses of Congress.

Republicans still don’t really have anything approaching a national leader. So how’d they pull off those two major victories? Answer: By not being Democratic incumbents in tough economic times.

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Winning Three for the Gipper Open Thread

by Tammy on November 3, 2009 · 19 comments

Reagans.1981.Toast“Governments don’t control things. A government can’t control the economy without controlling people.” — Ronald Reagan

Today is the day when New York, New Jersey and Virginia can give a tip of the hat to President Ronald Reagan and the vital importance of fiscal conservatism and small, unobtrusive government. Now go out there you guys and win three for the Gipper, that’s all we ask :)

As news and related commentary warrant, links will be listed here and feel free to use this as today’s Open Thread on all issues.

UPDATE: 10pm ET. One down two to go. Republican McDonnell takes Va. governorship

UPDATE 6:45p ET: 73Wire is Liveblogging Tonight’s Election Results

UPDATE 6:10p ET: Election 2009 Exit Polls: From Obama to the Economy

Mainers vote on taxes, medical marijuana, schools

Republicans Are Poised for Gains in Key Elections

Intrade Online Bettors Back Christie Over Corzine in New Jersey

Politico: Five things to watch in New Jersey

The Long, dark tea Time of the GOP’s Soul

To Big Media, conservatism comes in only one flavor, social conservatism, namely anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage and a smattering of other issues that would fall flat over canapés and seltzer (liberals don’t seem to drink anymore). That Dede was pro-choice and pro-gay marriage fits the narrative perfectly for the media. End of story.

But, the media, and political leaders would be wise to dig a bit deeper into the story. Yes, Dede was pro-choice and pro-gay marriage, but she was also pro-government spending, pro-taxes and pro-Big Labor, to name just a few other issues. When a Republican candidate regularly seeks out the endorsement of ACORN and wins the endorsement of DailyKos, it isn’t much of a stretch to imagine that large segments of the party might have some misgivings about supporting the candidate. (And they would be right, since she has now endorsed the Democrat in the race.)

Virginia Holds Gubernatorial Election

The First Draft: off-year election day could spell trouble for Obama

Stephen Kruiser: Election Day 2009-What Does It All Mean?

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Palin and Gingrich: The Visionary and the Hack

by Tammy on November 2, 2009 · 9 comments

Proud to be referenced in this excellent piece over at American Thinker. (HT Patricia)

Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich: The Visionary and the Hack

Two weeks after Sarah Palin’s unique exit from public office, Newt Gingrich offered up some unsolicited counsel for the former governor in an interview with POLITICO. Apparently, Newt at-logowas certain that Palin’s reputation needed serious burnishing, and he was all too ready to provide it by offering substantial details on the range and style of speeches that would be most appropriate for Palin to deliver to various audiences in order to sustain a public revival. Exactly why he felt she needed his help remains a bit of a mystery, except that Gingrich, like Karl Rove, seems absolutely certain that the world is always on edge awaiting his next tactical stroke of genius.

Now that an intense internecine battle is raging over how Republicans should react to Doug Hoffman’s Conservative Party bid for New York’s 23rd , one thing is certain: it is Newt whose reputation is in shambles, and it is he who should seek political advice from Palin as to how he might regain his lost stature. And this will remain true whether Mr. Hoffman wins or loses…

Newt Gingrich has earned that dreaded label he once affixed to Nancy Pelosi. Newt has become a partisan and trivial politician. He has become a common hack.

In contrast, Sarah Palin just compiles conservative esteem. When she railed against the compromised Republican machine in its support of Scozzafava, it felt like a stiff, clean, purifying breeze. In her October 24th Facebook Note announcing her support for Hoffman, Palin argued with deep philosophical references to conservative ideals. Her support and conviction were not products of a focus group. The note moved many a radio talk show host who read it aloud, from Mark Levin to Tammy Bruce. It was the reasoned stance of a visionary.

Palin evoked Ronald Reagan, mentioned the importance of establishing sharp contrasts with opponents, and stressed the primacy of principle over party. Palin continues to be the antithesis of the trivial politician. She has that unique ability to convey the highest sense of personal honor without ever projecting any of the usual political pomposity. Perhaps the highest compliment we can pay Palin is that she is always interesting and always surprising.

Of course, read the whole thing.

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A Tea Party Greets Obama in…San Francisco?

by Tammy on October 16, 2009 · 5 comments

You know Urkel’s in trouble when signs like these start showing up in San Francisco of all places ;)

The City Square has the scoop.

whichbev

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Palin Launches New Political Group

by Tammy on October 14, 2009 · 10 comments

Woo hoo! “Stand Up For Our Nation.” Sounds good to me.

Palin Plans New Political Group

Sarah Palin fans can expect to see a new Palin political organization surface as her memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” hits the shelves next month.

Palin_Group“There will be an announcement about it coming up,” Palin associate Tim Crawford said Wednesday.

The New York Post reported this week that Palin’s new group will be called “Stand Up For Our Nation.” (News Corp. owns both the Post and The Wall Street Journal as well as HarperCollins Publishers, publisher of Palin’s book.) Crawford, who is treasurer of Palin’s existing political-action committee, SarahPAC, refused to provide any details about the new organization’s purpose or structure.

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When a Raccoon Is Just a Raccoon

by Tammy on October 13, 2009 · 29 comments

When wild, paranoid leftists attack (and get delusional) they see not dead people, but racists. Everywhere. In everything. Always. The instance at hand, Patterico filets a rather amusing paranoid rant from the Left complaining about the Raaaaaacism! in my Cracker Jack/Raccoon

post just after the Urkel Nobel Trinket announcement. That post, of course, followed my main commentary on the Nobel Joke Prize noting that I, too, had just won, finding my trinket in a Cracker Jack box.

Sadly, No! Sees the RACISMS!! in Tammy Bruce’s Photo of Her Pet

Some fringe leftists enjoy nothing better than to accuse conservatives of racism. It makes them feel very tingly with self-righteousness, and that is a great feeling to many a fringe leftist. The presidency of Barack Obama has been a banner time for such folk…

The headline of that post: “Breaking: Nobel Committee Announces Another Peace Prize Winner.”

Cute, huh?

Not to D. Aristophanes from Sadly, No, who encountered Tammy’s post during an evening troll through the conservative blogosphere, doing what fringe leftists do best — looking high and low for any and all evidence of racism by conservatives.

And look! He found a picture of a raccoon! And you know what happens when you shorten the word “raccoon”!!!!!

And so, damn the research! To hell with looking up the easily-found information cited above about Tammy’s pet raccoon. Why bother reading her previous post, in which she compares the Nobel Peace Prize to the prize in a box of Cracker Jacks? Aristophanes skips all that overrated Googling and heads straight to spittle-flecked howling cries of RACISM!!!!

Yes, that’s right. You see, if you take off the first part of the word, twirl around three times singing “Mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack Husssein Obama”, and then erase the additional ‘c’, bow twice to the left, you get the word, wait, let’s make sure we do this right, okay: you get the word “coon.”

Patterico is right regarding my raccoon Rocky, who is old now and rather rotund, but he is not the raccoon in the picture. I’ve seen Rocky tucked into a can of cat food, but alas, never engrossed in Cracker Jack. I can just imagine the liberal head assplosions had I used a pic of the local skunk going through my recycling bin! Admittedly, one freaking liberal blogger with paranoid delusions about raccoons does not an entire group make, but this was funny enough to expound upon.

I will now admit: both Cracker Jack posts were meant as smears–of southern whites. I mean, come on now, how many posts does a girl need to make with the word “Cracker” in it to get noticed?!

And now as a favor to every Obama Zombie out there scratching through the conservative blogosphereRolling-Stones-Paint-It-Black-57812 looking for the Raaaaacism! they see in everything anyway, here’s a heads up: tomorrow on Tammy Radio I pledge to play “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones.

Yes, I know that’s risky–a white boy band singing a song with the word “black” in it, but I’ll take my chances. Just for affect, I might add in Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black.” Yes, Courage is my middle name!
Amy_Winehouse_-_Back_To_Black_US

Oh, and after all this, a heart-felt thank you to the Zombie who sees Raaaacism! in raccoons. The extra traffic has been delightful.

Now everybody get ready. The next controversy, those cute furry, but sorta brownish yet dreaded…Chipmunk!!!!

Chipmunk1

UPDATE:

Patterico makes note of my Cracker confessional. Yes, he knew it.

The Dandelion has a normal, non-paranoid, sense of humor.

Grand Rants notes It’s Not Always Raaaaacism! (Except When It Is) And in this case, it’s not.

And Teh Resistance looks to be one of the first to put Raccoon delusions in perspective. With Cartman’s help of course.

And last but not least, the ever-predictable leftist gestapo Media Matters has decided RaccoonGate deserves to be listed among the other Thought Crimes they have assigned to me. Hahahahahaha!
laughingraccoons

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And They Wonder Why the GOP Is Dead

by Tammy on October 13, 2009 · 22 comments

Someone better tell Michael Steele his time would be better spent getting certain liberal Repubs in line rather than redesigning the GOP website.

Funny how some want the prestige of being associated with the prestige of the philosophy that sets people free while voting with those ready to condemn your children and grandchildren to indentured servitude while setting this nation on fire. gopdop

GOP’s Snowe voting for Democrats’ health care bill

Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe says she will vote for a Democratic health care bill, breaking with her party on President Barack Obama’s top legislative priority.

The Maine senator kept virtually all of Washington guessing how she would vote until she announced it late in the Senate Finance Committee debate Tuesday. Until then, she told reporters, she had not even let Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in on her secret. She told her colleagues: “When history calls, history calls,” even though she had some criticism of the bill.

That’s nice. I much prefer the phrase, “When being fired calls, being fired calls.”

And then there’s Lindsay Grahamnesty.

Graham Backs Push for Climate Change Legislation

A top Senate Republican on Sunday announced his support for sweeping climate change legislation, disputing the “conventional wisdom” that says Congress simply cannot tackle the issue this year.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., co-authored an op-ed with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in The New York Times calling for action on legislation.

Kerry rolled out a Senate climate change bill alongside Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., late last month. A Graham aide said Sunday that the South Carolina Republican was not explicitly endorsing that bill, but stands ready to work with Kerry toward some version of legislation to combat global warming.

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Liz Cheney New Group Challenges ‘Radical’ White House

by Tammy on October 13, 2009 · 1 comment

Excellent. I’m especially pleased Debra Burlingame is involved in this new effort.

Liz Cheney’s group ‘Keep America Safe’ takes on ‘radical’ White House

Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s eldest daughter Liz will launch a new group aimed at rallying opposition to the “radical” foreign policy of the Obama administration which it says has succeeded only in undermining the nation’s security.

The new group, Keep America Safe, will make the case against President Barack Obama’s moves to wrench America away from Bush era foreign policy on issues from detaining alleged terrorists at Guantanamo Bay to building a missile shield in Eastern Europe.

“The policies being proposed by the Obama administration are so radical across the board,” Cheney said. “Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you want the nation to be strong and so many steps this president is taking are making the nation weaker.” [...]

Keep America Safe will focus on issues like troop levels, missile defense, detainees, and interrogation, according to Liz Cheney, who is heading the group along with Weekly Standard editor William Kristol and Debra Burlingame, the hawkish sister of an American Airlines pilot killed in the September 11 attacks.

Their web video:

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Fox Responds to White House Attack

by Pat_S on October 13, 2009 · 5 comments

A post by Pat

The White House declared war on Fox News. Last night Fox responded.

Journalists who were attack dogs against the Bush administration are at least raising an eyebrow over the White House statements. I think the concern is off the mark to criticize the administration for poor political strategy. The demographics of the Fox News audience are irrelevant. It isn’t an issue of differentiating news programming from opinion programming. This is a heavy-handed attempt by the government to suppress free speech. It is not a matter to be taken lightly when government attempts to intimidate news or opinion.

Of all people, it is a T.V. critic who sees this for what it is. Of course a comparison has to be made to Nixon to make the point.

White House war on Fox: Echoes of Nixon-Agnew

I have been writing for several months about how thin skinned the White House has been about press criticism — especially when it comes to the Fox News Channel. I have compared the current administration to the White House of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, and believe me, I did not do that lightly. Nixon-Agnew was a very dark time for the First Amendment.

I have argued that whether or not you like Fox News, all of us in the press need to be concerned about the administration of President Barack Obama trying to “punish” the cable news channel for its point of view.

This campaign by the Obama administration is dangerous to press freedom, and it should concern everyone in the press, not just Fox. If you want to get a sense of little regard Team Obama has for the press in general, check out this “Time” magazine article.

The greater concern about the White House and the press is the overwhelming obsequious nature of the coverage coming from most news organizations.

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Klavan asks, ‘Is Barack Obama Jesus Christ?’

by Tammy on October 10, 2009 · 4 comments

I’d say [insert Jeopardy music here]….No. You will too! (HT Patricia)

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