Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) Holds The Line
The guy just won’t let up. According to The Wall Street Journal, Dr. Coburn has identified at least 640 programs that can be consolidated in order to allow Congress to stay its hand on lifting the debt ceiling. As WSJ puts it:
One message Massachusetts voters sent last week is concern over runaway federal spending. Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is offering Democrats a chance to show they heard that message.
Coburn is doing exactly what every Republican and Democrat should- making sure Congress does not spend beyond its means. That is one of the messages sent by Massachusetts residents last week, and I am grateful to Coburn for holding true to his responsibilities as a United States senator.
What it Means To Be A Conservative
From Austin Russell:
At times, it can appear almost impossible to identify the fundamental philosophical precepts that define the Conservative—or, as it has come to be called by many popular news sources— the Tea-Party Movement. Many dismiss it as nothing more than a marketing gimmick employed by the Republican Party to turn public sentiment against the current administration. Indeed, some argue that the only ideal underlying the movement is outrage. Politico reported yesterday morning—without providing any direct quote—that Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) himself, a popular figure within the movement, suggested that “the GOP should be wary of aligning themselves too closely to protesters who can be unpredictable in their actions and messaging.” The obvious inference is that the Movement lacks a firm philosophical leg upon which to stand. Additionally, The New York Times yesterday published a criticism of Governor Mitt Romney for his participation in the formation of the Massachussetes socialized healthcare program. It calls Romney “One of the most prominent supporters of the main ideas behind the health care plan passed by the Democratic Senate”—equivocating support for state government social programs with that of federal social programs in an attempt to demonstrate that “the [Republican] [P]arty’s voice has been dominated by people who make things up, and then condemn the rhetorical phantoms of their making.” While the article does not directly refer to the Conservative Movement, it does place Rush Limbaugh, Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Mitt Romney, and Governor Sarah Palin into the same philosophical camp, once more implying that there is no true difference between the Conservative Movement and the Republican Party. The reality, of course, is that nothing could be further from the truth.
Barack Obama’s ascendance to the presidency, combined with the Democratic takeover of Congress did not, as many suppose, signal a desire on the part of the American people to empower, much less to expand, the size of the federal government. Rather, the continued expansion of the federal government under President George Bush and the Republican Congress, despite campaign promises to the contrary, convinced voters that the Republican Party was, at the very least, dishonest. It was upon Democratic promises of responsibility, accountability and change upon which so many relied for their vote. After all, if the previous administration had practiced a policy favoring bigger government, would not a change from such require a policy favoring smaller government? Unfortunately, the reality was not, as many supposed, a choice between big and small, but rather, big and bigger. In an effort to understand and correct their mistake, Americans have taken it upon themselves to more narrowly define what it is they actually want. And what do they want? The answer is obvious: a smaller, less intrusive, cleaner and more efficient federal government. That is why the latest Gallup poll found that an overwhelming majority (40%) of Americans identified their political ideology as conservative.
The new movement favors principles over individuals and values what politicians do over what they say or how they present themselves. In short, conservatives care most about what happens rather than who is in power. If Barack Obama were, today, to begin supporting the ideals of smaller government, and individual liberty—and not only in word, but in deed—there is no doubt that those same conservatives that now seek his political head would rally behind him in numbers greater than those following his election fourteen months ago.
Harry Reid Needs Sleep
So this is worth only a chuckle, but apparently Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) accidentally voted against his own bill before changing his vote. It wouldn’t have made a difference, of course, but it’s still funny.
Health Care Officially Passes Senate
It passed on a party-line vote, too. However, do not despair yet:
1. The White House is outright lying about President Obama’s campaigning on the public option. Desperation?
2. According to Politico, the White House is admitting negotiations over the bill may go past the State of the Union address in late January or very early February. Given that there have been multiple passed deadlines already, and primary season hits full stride in May, will vulnerable Democrats like Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) be willing to pass this monstrosity in the final vote? Their constituents will be (and are) paying attention, and 2010 is going to be a Republican year anyway, so conservative Democrats are going to continue to be very careful.
3. Democrats in the House have felt ignored and trampled for much of the health care debate, and The Heritage Foundation has compiled a number of issues the House and Senate will have to overcome to get a final bill passed. Question: will the House be willing to cave? That verdict is uncertain.
4. Politically influential conservatives, liberals and moderates are against the Senate bill. Polls show Americans are increasingly against the so-called “ObamaCare” version of health care reform. Again, will vulnerable Democrats risk voting for the bill?
5. The designed-to-be-a-pain federal legislation process is in America’s favor.
It’s Christmas- let’s enjoy the day, thank God for sending us His son and enjoy our time with family and friends. Let’s also pray for the guidance and ability to prevent this bill from gravely harming Americans by not letting it pass.
Stimulus Fail, Part 2 (Part 3? 4?)
The Washington Examiner’s Mark Hemingway takes it away with this one:
“A new analysis of the $157 billion distributed by the American Reinvestment and Recovery act, popularly known as the stimulus bill, shows that the funds were distributed without regard for what states were most in need of jobs.”
Later: “The Mercatus Center analysis also found that Democratic congressional districts received on average almost double the funding of Republican congressional districts. Republican congressional districts received on average $232 million in stimulus funds while Democratic districts received $439 million on average.”
Lastly: “Finally, the Mercatus analysis shows that a majority of the funds allocated went to public rather than private entities — nearly $88 billion to $69 billion.”
What a surprise- you mean to tell me the stimulus is failing again? I’m shocked. Really. (Okay, not really.)
This is really bad, for four reasons: first, since a majority of public employees are members of unions, the money is going to sources of voting power for Democrats as opposed to helping all Americans (assuming, of course, it did help, which is doubtful). Secondly, the money was not distributed for efficienty of employment- even though that was its selling point. Thirdly, the money was spread by two departments not Congress, which means either those departments are biased (unlikely) or they are following a formula, as the study Hemingway quotes concludes, and that means the formula is skewed. Fourth, this is almost exactly 20% of the $770 billion approved by Congress, and it’s been ten months or so since it was approved.
George Will called it- “Which suggests that Stimulus II is…primarily designed to save a few dozen jobs — those of Democratic members of the House and Senate.”
Boxer’s Opponents Scraping The Barrel
A few months ago, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) had an ego trip with a general who called her ma’am. This caused quite a bit of hilarity among conservatives, and wincing among Democrats. Now Boxer’s primary opponent hopefuls are making the most out of it.
The arrogance of Boxer will light a bit of a fire under the seat of the tiny Republican base in California, but it won’t play out in the general election. Boxer is powerful- the current chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee- and a third-term senator. Incumbency is a huge strength in congressional elections, and Boxer isn’t going to lose to a Republican in California, especially one using an example of her arrogance as a primary weapon.
What might work, however is continuing to highlight her major support and substantial role in creating a cap-and-trade bill; highlight how the bill was pushed to next year by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), indicating both how unpopular it is and how there are no major plans to pass it (no, Democrats are not going to pass a job-killing bill in the same year as an election during a major recession); and perhaps how even President Obama has admitted electricity costs will skyrocket and how the EPA Administrator admitted earlier this year in Hill testimony that ?[she] believe[s] that essential parts of the chart are that the U.S. action alone will not impact CO2 levels.? Too, emphasize how it was liberals who created California’s economic and other messes, and how conservatives can fix them.
Common-Sense Leadership
Apologies for the late post on this topic- I’ve been very busy the for last week. However, last week the Republican governors?seemed to decide on a strategy they think will win them elections next year and, if I may say so, it’s about time. As newly-elected Virginia governor McDonnell said, ?The focus should be on bread-and-butter, kitchen-table, quality-of-life issues…I think that really helped us. We ended up with a two-to-one margin with independent voters because of our focus on the economic problems.?
It’s about time Republicans and conservatives stopped worrying about gay marriage. Economic issues are not only the most important issue facing the country, they are more relevant to most people than two guys living together. Plain and simple. The governors are somewhat ignoring abortion, which is not good- it’s murder, after all- and gun control, but since most Americans are in support of gun ownership, I’m not too worried about that one. Once we get into power, then we can worry about those issues. After all, it’s not about being moderate- it’s about being conservative and appealing to moderates.
Mocking Government Incompetence in New Hampshire
This is brilliant. I know Grant Bosse fairly well, and met him when he ran for the Republican nomination for the second Congressional district in New Hampshire. Apparently Bosse decided to run for a political nomination in the OO district of NH, which doesn’t exist but is mentioned on Recovery.gov as having received stimulus money. Bosse’s mockery is of no surprise to me, and I only wish I had thought of it first.
Alan Grayson Is Enjoying His 15 Minutes of Fame
Imagine if a conservative or Republican did this about abortion. Unfortunately, it’s a very effective tactic- minimal effort, lots of attention and it excites the base.
“Question Authority”
“Question Authority” is a popular slogan often pasted on bumper stickers that came out of the late 1970′s famous protests around the United States. The phrase is a statement refuting the logical fallacy of “because I said so.” In other words, statements made by “authority figures” are not necessarily factual just because the individual making the statements have rank over others.
“You will always find that those are most apt to boast of national merit, who have little or not merit of their own to depend on…” -Oliver Goldsmith
From Vietnam to George W. Bush, questioning authority has been the policy of the left, especially when Republicans have been in office. And to be fair, there has always been an assumption that it is the duty of citizenry not to blindly accept what they are being told by a government. Especially when that government was appointment by the very people it assumes it has authority over.
“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.” -Benjamin Franklin
But for the Left, this mantra of sorts has quickly come to a close with the election of a Progressive administration. Questioning authority is unacceptable. And it is confusing to the Left why conservatives would ever question the policies of the administration. Furthermore, the generation that invented the “Question Authority” movement, now the authorities themselves, have entered into numerous double standards.
Mark Lloyd was brought into the administration as the Chief Diversity Officer. A position that is designed to verify that a strategy of diversity and inclusion policy is taking place across the nation. Yet the administration has attempted to shut down and shut out Fox News as of late. A very diverse move.
Back in August the Obama administration became concerned over email chain mails that were making the rounds on the Internet. One should take pause and consider that sentence. The administration of the Office of the President of the United States of America was concerned about a chain email circulating on the Internet regarding the health care bill. David Axelrod emailed thousands of individuals who had not opted in to receive correspondence from the White House in order to confront “myths” circulating on the Internet.
I for one was never taught in school that asking questions was a thing of ignorance.
-nick
