President Obama had a splendid idea this week. He challenged governors who oppose his health care reforms, most of whom are Republicans, to come up with a better alternative. He has agreed to move up the date at which states can offer their own solutions and thus opt out of requirements that they oppose, like the mandate that everyone buy health insurance and that most employers provide it.
Let as many states as possible test innovative approaches to determine which works best….
…. THE CATCH IS that a state’s plan must cover as many people as the federal law does, provide insurance that is as comprehensive and affordable, and not increase the deficit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/opinion/02wed1.html?_r=2&ref=opinion
I thought the cartoon alongside this editorial says it all.
Whitewashing Wisconsin’s Union Protests
For example, A MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER STUDY OF 53 WISCONSIN STORIES ON ABC, CBS AND NBC FOUND THAT ONLY EIGHT STORIES VISUALLY FEATURED SIGNS COMPARING GOV. WALKER TO HITLER, OR MUSSOLINI, OR STALIN, OR MUBARAK, OR SATAN. More incredibly, not a single network anchor or reporter addressed whether that kind of signage was civil or appropriate. And ONLY FOX COVERED CAPUANO'S "GET A LITTLE BLOODY" REMARK.
Now, compare this to how tea party protests have been covered, and you can see a glaring double standard at work.
These same media outlets SPENT TWO YEARS OBSESSING OVER EVERY OVER-THE-TOP TEA PARTY SIGN AND MERE ACCUSATION OF UNCIVIL BEHAVIOR…..
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/02/opinion-whitewashing-wisconsin-s-protests/
This really isn’t much of a news flash. MSM in bed with the left is a dog bites man story. But it’s good to remember every once in a while.
GOP reality check: Obama looking tougher to beat in 2012
Having gone from despondency in 2008 to euphoria last November, A MORE SOBER GOP IS WINCING IN THE LIGHT OF DAY AS THEY CONSIDER JUST HOW DIFFICULT UNSEATING AN INCUMBENT PRESIDENT WITH A MASSIVE WARCHEST IS GOING TO BE, EVEN WITH A STILL-DISMAL ECONOMY….
…Much of the GOP realism is rooted in a long-standing truism of American politics – that absent a major crisis of confidence, IT’S HIGHLY DIFFICULT TO DEFEAT A SITTING PRESIDENT.
But aside from the traditional advantages of incumbency, Republicans are also fretting about the strength of Obama’s campaign infrastructure, the potential limitations of their own field and, particularly, the same demographic weaknesses that haunted them in 2008.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/50308.html#ixzz1FSPNPtus
This is a lightweight argument. Of course an incumbent President is harder to beat than an opponent who doesn’t have the benefits of incumbency. But Obama was the incumbent four months ago and he had his campaign infrastructure in place as well. I take this story like the predictions of pundits at the beginning of the NFL season. They tend to predict a repeat of the previous season. Yet how often do you have repeat Super Bowl winners?
Just for Fun
Have you heard the ads running on the radio this week promoting the local pinky-ring public-sector unions — excuse me, the working people of Massachusetts.
SOME PUBLIC-SECTOR HACK COMES ON AND EXPLAINS HOW HE PLOWED YOUR STREET OR SAVED A PUPPY OR SOME SUCH NONSENSE. Thank God for the buttons on my car radio. The “working people” need some new writers. I’M HERE TO HELP WITH A FEW NEW SCRIPTS.
“I’M A PARKING-LOT ATTENDANT AT LOGAN AIRPORT. That’s right, at the garage that’s fully automated, where you have to pay inside the terminal. I’m the guy you look for — and can’t find — when you come back and realize your car won’t start. Maybe I’ll ‘rent’ you some jumper cables for $20. I MAKE $90,000 A YEAR — MORE THAN SOME OF THE PILOTS ACTUALLY FLYING THE JETS. I’m one of the working people of Massachusetts.”
“I’M A TOLL TAKER ON THE MASS PIKE. Don’t call me unskilled labor — I had to graduate toll takers’ school to get this job. Flunked out twice, but big deal — the governor failed his bar exam twice, too. YOU WON’T BE SEEING ME HERE AT THIS BOOTH MUCH LONGER — I’M PLANNING TO DROP A CASH DRAWER ON MY FOOT AND TAKE THE SUMMER OFF. Teamsters rule, dude!”
“I’M A COURT ADMINISTRATOR AND I TAKE REAL LOOOONG LUNCHES. I’m the first nonlawyer to hold this here $130,000 job, which means THEY HAD TO HIRE AN EXTRA LAWYER FOR $100,000 TO PERFORM THE DUTIES I CAN’T DO. God save the Massachusetts Trial Court. I’m one of the working people of Massachusetts.”…
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view/2011_0302ads_a_minus_for_public_sector/srvc=news&position=also
I invite you to go to the link because there is more.
New Video Explains that Tax Competition Is a Powerful Mechanism to Restrain the Greed of the Political Class
Here’s a new mini-documentary from the CENTER FOR FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY, narrated by Natasha Montague of Americans for Tax Reform, that EXPLAINS WHY THE PROCESS OF TAX COMPETITION IS A CRITICAL CONSTRAINT ON THE PROPENSITY OF GOVERNMENTS TO OVER-TAX AND OVER-SPEND.
The issue is very simple. When labor and capital have the ability to escape bad policy by moving across borders, politicians are more likely to realize that it is foolish to impose high tax rates. And they oftentimes compete for jobs and investment by lowering tax rates. THIS VIRTUOUS FORM OF RIVALRY HELPS EXPLAIN WHY SO MANY NATIONS IN RECENT YEARS HAVE LOWERED TAX RATES AND ADOPTED SIMPLE AND FAIR FLAT TAX SYSTEMS.
http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/new-video-explains-that-tax-competition-is-a-powerful-mechanism-to-restrain-the-greed-of-the-political-class/
I recommend watching the video. It will explain why liberalism’s most cherished axiom “Tax the Rich” doesn’t work.
Funeral Protesters Win at High Court
TODAY THE SUPREME COURT ISSUED ITS OPINION IN SNYDER V. PHELPS. The FUNERAL PROTESTERS WON 8–1. Chief Justice Roberts wrote for the Court. Justice Breyer concurred, and Justice Alito dissented. The majority opinion concludes:
Our holding today is narrow. We are required in First Amendment cases to carefully review the record, and the reach of our opinion here is limited by the particular facts before us. As we have noted, “the sensitivity and significance of the interests presented in clashes between First Amendment and [state law] rights counsel relying on limited principles that sweep no more broadly than the appropriate context of the instant case.” Florida Star v.
B. J. F., 491 U. S. 524, 533 (1989).
Westboro believes that America is morally flawed; many Americans might feel the same about Westboro. WESTBORO’S FUNERAL PICKETING IS CERTAINLY HURTFUL AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO PUBLIC DISCOURSE MAY BE NEGLIGIBLE. BUT WESTBORO ADDRESSED MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORT ON PUBLIC PROPERTY, IN A PEACEFUL MANNER, IN FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE GUIDANCE OF LOCAL OFFICIALS. The speech was indeed planned to coincide with Matthew Snyder’s funeral, but did not itself disrupt that funeral, and Westboro’s choice to conduct its picketing at that time and place did not alter the nature of its speech.
SPEECH IS POWERFUL. IT CAN STIR PEOPLE TO ACTION, MOVE THEM TO TEARS OF BOTH JOY AND SORROW, AND—AS IT DID HERE—INFLICT GREAT PAIN. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a Nation we have chosen a different course—to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate. That choice requires that we shield Westboro from tort liability for its picketing in this case.
http://volokh.com/2011/03/02/funeral-protesters-win-at-high-court/
Here is another example of speech I don’t particular care for, but speech that needs to be protected. If you lose freedom of speech all other freedoms quickly disappear as well. So SCOTUS got is right, but we still don’t have to like it.
The long death of environmentalism
A LONG, LONG ARTICLE BY MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER AND TED NORDHAUS LOOKING AT WHERE THE GREEN MOVEMENT WENT WRONG.
Yet today, environmental efforts to address climate change and build a green economy lie in ruins. The United States Congress this summer once again rejected climate legislation that even had it succeeded would have had virtually no impact upon U.S. carbon emissions over the coming decade. The magnitude and consequence of this defeat are poorly understood outside of Washington. GREENS HAD THE BEST OPPORTUNITY IN A GENERATION -- A DEMOCRATIC WHITE HOUSE AND LARGE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITIES IN CONGRESS. BUT THEY BANKED EVERYTHING ON A SINGLE BILL AND WALKED AWAY WITH NOTHING -- or rather worse than nothing, since today environmental credibility with lawmakers of both parties is today at an all-time low.
Meanwhile, GREEN STIMULUS INVESTMENTS ENDED UP CREATING VERY FEW JOBS. Those that it did create were low-wage and temporary custodial jobs -- not the high-wage manufacturing jobs that created the black middle-class after World War II. And today, the clean tech sector-- the darling of high tech VC's at the height of the green bubble-- IS IN A STATE OF COLLAPSE AS STIMULUS FUNDS EXPIRE, LARGE PUBLIC DEFICITS THREATEN CLEAN ENERGY SUBSIDIES BOTH HERE AND ABROAD, and Wall Street firms short clean tech stocks.
http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2011/3/1/the-long-death-of-environmentalism.html
AGW is dead. I’ve said it before, but like rumors of Elvis still being alive, the left tries to pretend it is still viable as a political cause.
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