1. Sinners In the Hands of Anthony Kennedy

2. The Obama Administration Outlaws New Coal-Fired Powerplants

3. Coal policy could swing the election

1. Sinners In the Hands of Anthony Kennedy

Yesterday the left descended into madness. The madness came early in the day. It happened shortly after 10 o’clock in the morning. Justice Anthony Kennedy opened his mouth and uttered his first question on the issue of the individual mandate. He asked, “Can you create commerce in order to regulate it?” The question, the second asked yesterday morning, bothered the left.

As the clock approached 11, Kennedy spoke again, sending shockwaves through the legal community. He stated matter of factly,

“[T]he reason this is concerning, is because it requires the individual to do an affirmative act. In the law of torts our tradition, our law, has been that you don’t have the duty to rescue someone if that person is in danger. The blind man is walking in front of a car and you do not have a duty to stop him absent some relation between you. And there is some severe moral criticisms of that rule, but that’s generally the rule.

“And here the government is saying that the Federal Government has a duty to tell the individual citizen that it must act, and that is different from what we have in previous cases and that changes the relationship of the Federal Government to the individual in the very fundamental way.”

It was the quote heard round the world. It is what the tea party movement, libertarians, conservatives, and so many private citizens have been saying. It was an expression of what nearly every legal scholar on television has pooh-poohed as the troglodyte rhetoric of plebeians not educated enough to understand their own founding compact.

That Justice Kennedy expressed something so obvious to so many Americans that so many well educated legal analysts have mocked for two years as an outmoded view of the constitution put forward only by hicks, rubes, and the racist middle class tea partiers not cool enough to defecate on police cars like the Occupy Wall Street hipsters should deeply, deeply trouble every radio station, newspaper, and television news network along with the American people.

Just how out of touch are the people the news media relies on as legal experts used to help form both their and their audiences’ opinions? More so, is it not abundantly obvious that legal experts let their own partisanship shape their opinions?

All of this, however, overshadows a more important issue — how the hell did a constitutional, democratic republic come to depend on the whims of one man in a black robe who nobody ever elected to anything?

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. The Obama Administration Outlaws New Coal-Fired Powerplants

Yesterday the Obama Administration effectively outlawed coal as a fuel source and it underscores the importance of Congress severely circumscribing the authority of regulatory agencies.

By outlawing new coal-fired electric generation plants and ignoring nuclear power, the Administration has set in motion a plan to make the nation dependent upon natural gas and a mishmash of politically correct but non-viable sources such as solar and wind as older plants are decommissioned. Essentially, Obama has done via regulatory means what it could not accomplish in Congress: to set the trajectory for exorbitant electricity prices in the service of reducing “greenhouse gasses.”

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Coal policy could swing the election

Given the the administration’s recent moves on coal power, I couldn’t help but wonder how that might affect the President in swing states, should prices rise in coal-burning states.

A check I made this morning suggests that the answer is yes, if coal is an issue in this election, it could swing close states.

Here’s a simple chart of the closeness of a state’s 2008 Presidential election result vs the state’s coal use as a percentage. Source for coal use: the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, but they also cite their sources too if you’d like to dig in. Election margin source: the final column of the Wikipedia chart.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

1. Sinners In the Hands of Anthony Kennedy

2. The Obama Administration Outlaws New Coal-Fired Powerplants

3. Coal policy could swing the election

1. Sinners In the Hands of Anthony Kennedy

Yesterday the left descended into madness. The madness came early in the day. It happened shortly after 10 o’clock in the morning. Justice Anthony Kennedy opened his mouth and uttered his first question on the issue of the individual mandate. He asked, “Can you create commerce in order to regulate it?” The question, the second asked yesterday morning, bothered the left.

As the clock approached 11, Kennedy spoke again, sending shockwaves through the legal community. He stated matter of factly,

“[T]he reason this is concerning, is because it requires the individual to do an affirmative act. In the law of torts our tradition, our law, has been that you don’t have the duty to rescue someone if that person is in danger. The blind man is walking in front of a car and you do not have a duty to stop him absent some relation between you. And there is some severe moral criticisms of that rule, but that’s generally the rule.

“And here the government is saying that the Federal Government has a duty to tell the individual citizen that it must act, and that is different from what we have in previous cases and that changes the relationship of the Federal Government to the individual in the very fundamental way.”

It was the quote heard round the world. It is what the tea party movement, libertarians, conservatives, and so many private citizens have been saying. It was an expression of what nearly every legal scholar on television has pooh-poohed as the troglodyte rhetoric of plebeians not educated enough to understand their own founding compact.

That Justice Kennedy expressed something so obvious to so many Americans that so many well educated legal analysts have mocked for two years as an outmoded view of the constitution put forward only by hicks, rubes, and the racist middle class tea partiers not cool enough to defecate on police cars like the Occupy Wall Street hipsters should deeply, deeply trouble every radio station, newspaper, and television news network along with the American people.

Just how out of touch are the people the news media relies on as legal experts used to help form both their and their audiences’ opinions? More so, is it not abundantly obvious that legal experts let their own partisanship shape their opinions?

All of this, however, overshadows a more important issue — how the hell did a constitutional, democratic republic come to depend on the whims of one man in a black robe who nobody ever elected to anything?

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. The Obama Administration Outlaws New Coal-Fired Powerplants

Yesterday the Obama Administration effectively outlawed coal as a fuel source and it underscores the importance of Congress severely circumscribing the authority of regulatory agencies.

By outlawing new coal-fired electric generation plants and ignoring nuclear power, the Administration has set in motion a plan to make the nation dependent upon natural gas and a mishmash of politically correct but non-viable sources such as solar and wind as older plants are decommissioned. Essentially, Obama has done via regulatory means what it could not accomplish in Congress: to set the trajectory for exorbitant electricity prices in the service of reducing “greenhouse gasses.”

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Coal policy could swing the election

Given the the administration’s recent moves on coal power, I couldn’t help but wonder how that might affect the President in swing states, should prices rise in coal-burning states.

A check I made this morning suggests that the answer is yes, if coal is an issue in this election, it could swing close states.

Here’s a simple chart of the closeness of a state’s 2008 Presidential election result vs the state’s coal use as a percentage. Source for coal use: the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, but they also cite their sources too if you’d like to dig in. Election margin source: the final column of the Wikipedia chart.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

1. Obama in South Korea is no Reagan in Reykjavik

2. Handicapping Health Care

3. FROM RICK SANTORUM: RomneyCare Inspires ObamaCare, But Not America

1. Obama in South Korea is no Reagan in Reykjavik

One the arguments Mitt Romney’s opponents have against him was defined by Romney’s own campaign’s “etch-a-sketch” comment. No one seems to know what Mitt Romney really stands for and the etch-a-sketch comment gave a visual image, created by Romney’s own campaign, to drive home the lack of trust in Mitt Romney.

With an open microphone, Barack Obama has now done the same to himself. One of the arguments Barack Obama’s opponents make is that after this next election, Obama will not have to worry about public support for his actions. Without having to worry about losing an election, the President who has already gone to war against religious groups, dragged his feet on oil drilling expansion, and sought to destroy private health care for American citizens will be even more emboldened to bring his European style socialist vision for America to reality.

Speaking before a live mic to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, President Obama explained to him that he and the Russians could find common ground, but Vladimir Putin would have to give President Obama “space” until after the election. Medvedev questions what President Obama meant about “space.” President Obama responded, “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.”

Just as Romney’s words reinforce people’s fears that he will say or do anything to get elected, President Obama’s words reinforce people’s fears that should he win re-election, he will say and do whatever the hell he wants since the voters won’t be able to toss him out of office.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Handicapping Health Care

Supreme Court oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act began Monday. We can expect a decision either in June or October. I predict June. What will it be? I’ll go out on a limb and predict Unconstitutional by 5-4. My confidence level is under 60%. I would not be surprised at Unconstitutional, 6-3, but the odds are less than 1%. Constitutional at 6-3 has odds, in my opinion, at 30%.

The Court faces five main arguments.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. FROM RICK SANTORUM: RomneyCare Inspires ObamaCare, But Not America

Two years ago, President Obama signed into law ObamaCare, his signature piece of legislation. As a direct result of that law’s unpopularity, Congressional Democrats suffered devastating defeats in the midterm election of 2010, losing more than sixty seats in the House. It would be an understatement to say the President’s healthcare overhaul law is merely “unpopular.” According to several recent polls, Americans still overwhelmingly oppose ObamaCare by a two-to-one margin. Americans understand that not only is this the wrong solution to our healthcare needs and challenges, it is also an affront to freedom that makes our families’ health and country’s fiscal health more fragile.

The 2012 election should be an opportunity for Americans to elect a President committed to ObamaCare’s repeal and replacement with sound free-market competition. But that is where this 2012 election has an unusual aspect. The original architect of the Democrats’ unpopular healthcare law is himself also running for president on the GOP ticket. Mitt Romney, one of the candidates in the race for the GOP nomination, authored and championed his own version of ObamaCare less than six years ago.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

1. Obama in South Korea is no Reagan in Reykjavik

2. Handicapping Health Care

3. FROM RICK SANTORUM: RomneyCare Inspires ObamaCare, But Not America

1. Obama in South Korea is no Reagan in Reykjavik

One the arguments Mitt Romney’s opponents have against him was defined by Romney’s own campaign’s “etch-a-sketch” comment. No one seems to know what Mitt Romney really stands for and the etch-a-sketch comment gave a visual image, created by Romney’s own campaign, to drive home the lack of trust in Mitt Romney.

With an open microphone, Barack Obama has now done the same to himself. One of the arguments Barack Obama’s opponents make is that after this next election, Obama will not have to worry about public support for his actions. Without having to worry about losing an election, the President who has already gone to war against religious groups, dragged his feet on oil drilling expansion, and sought to destroy private health care for American citizens will be even more emboldened to bring his European style socialist vision for America to reality.

Speaking before a live mic to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, President Obama explained to him that he and the Russians could find common ground, but Vladimir Putin would have to give President Obama “space” until after the election. Medvedev questions what President Obama meant about “space.” President Obama responded, “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.”

Just as Romney’s words reinforce people’s fears that he will say or do anything to get elected, President Obama’s words reinforce people’s fears that should he win re-election, he will say and do whatever the hell he wants since the voters won’t be able to toss him out of office.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Handicapping Health Care

Supreme Court oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act began Monday. We can expect a decision either in June or October. I predict June. What will it be? I’ll go out on a limb and predict Unconstitutional by 5-4. My confidence level is under 60%. I would not be surprised at Unconstitutional, 6-3, but the odds are less than 1%. Constitutional at 6-3 has odds, in my opinion, at 30%.

The Court faces five main arguments.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. FROM RICK SANTORUM: RomneyCare Inspires ObamaCare, But Not America

Two years ago, President Obama signed into law ObamaCare, his signature piece of legislation. As a direct result of that law’s unpopularity, Congressional Democrats suffered devastating defeats in the midterm election of 2010, losing more than sixty seats in the House. It would be an understatement to say the President’s healthcare overhaul law is merely “unpopular.” According to several recent polls, Americans still overwhelmingly oppose ObamaCare by a two-to-one margin. Americans understand that not only is this the wrong solution to our healthcare needs and challenges, it is also an affront to freedom that makes our families’ health and country’s fiscal health more fragile.

The 2012 election should be an opportunity for Americans to elect a President committed to ObamaCare’s repeal and replacement with sound free-market competition. But that is where this 2012 election has an unusual aspect. The original architect of the Democrats’ unpopular healthcare law is himself also running for president on the GOP ticket. Mitt Romney, one of the candidates in the race for the GOP nomination, authored and championed his own version of ObamaCare less than six years ago.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

1. The Left No Longer Finds Dissent Patriotic

2. MSNBC’s Karen Finney Says the Koch Brothers Killed Trayvon Martin

3. PTA Assaulting School Choice in South Carolina

4. And Now for a Postal Bailout

5. Evan Feinberg in Pennsylvania

1. The Left No Longer Finds Dissent Patriotic

Workforce Fairness is releasing a series of videos chronicling left-wing intimidation, including showing up at people’s houses to harass them and their families. We’re pleased to debut the first of the videos here at RedState. The videos document a growing trend in American civic discourse — the use of intimidation against private citizens to punish dissent.

Listen to Media Matters For America and other outlets on the left and they claim they are outraged at Rush Limbaugh for using the word “slut.”

They’re OK with it when the left does it. Routinely, conservative activists are targeted for harassment, subject to degrading comments, etc. from the left and they are okay with that. Bill Maher gets invited to keynote Democratic dinners.

Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia, in a Lenten Letter to his pastoral flock, said that evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant and then tries to silence good. The secular left, having preached tolerance for years, is proving the Archbishop true with their new found intolerance for opposing views. Witness opponents to Proposition 8 in California actively targeting for harassment supporters of Proposition 8. Witness union goons showing up on the doorsteps of private citizens to scare them into submission. Witness Media Matters For America targeting American supporters of Israel and attacking them as “Israel Firsters,” questioning their loyalty to the United States.

The left is trying to shut down the opposition. When they were out of power, dissent was patriotic. Now that they are in power, they want to use both the state and intimidate in the public square to shut down opposing views. It goes beyond boycotts to financially intimate those who disagree with them. Now, the left is showing up at the private homes of American citizens they disagree with to intimidate them, threaten them, harass them, and make them pay for daring to have a different view.

The only time anyone wants to shut down opposing views is when the opposing views are winning. And that is the left’s problem. Rush Limbaugh, the free market, the right to work states, etc. are all winning. And it is not just that the right is winning, the left is losing.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. MSNBC’s Karen Finney Says the Koch Brothers Killed Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin’s death in Florida is a terrible tragedy made even worse by a police department that seemingly bungled the investigation. There are multiple eyewitnesses, some who saw the shooter, George Zimmerman, yelling for help. Others saw Trayvon Martin yelling for help.

It shouldn’t be a partisan issue.

But MSNBC decided to make it one. According to Karen Finney on MSNBC, the Koch Brothers, NRA, and other conservatives are responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. PTA Assaulting School Choice in South Carolina

As a mother of four, the first of which entered public school last year, keeping up with my children’s education is extremely important to me. I’ve heard the stories of children fearing the end of the world due to global warming and seen the history books that exclude any Republican or Conservative from the important events that have shaped our country. My husband and I moved to a small town in South Carolina due in part to the notoriety of the schools. I immediately joined the PTA, looking forward to communicating and working with other parents to help our children achieve the high standards to which we hold them accountable.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case, this PTA had an agenda and used its access to my email address to push that agenda.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. And Now for a Postal Bailout

It’s another week in Washington, and it’s yet another bailout. This time, taxpayers will be tapped for another $41 billion to subsidize the healthcare retirement benefits of postal workers – benefits that are quite scarce in the private sector.

Democrats have a serious problem with creative destruction and advancements in technology. For self-described progressives, they are quite regressive when it comes to efficiency in markets and use of technology. They exhibit nostalgia for 14th century energy technology and 20th century banking technology. Hence, they don’t care too much for market progression. In concerted drives to hold back the tide of technology, they are quick to offer a helping hand to a dying industry. One such industry is the mail delivery.

It’s no secret that the United States Postal Service is on its way out. The transition to electronic communication, in conjunction with the success of private mail carriers, has dramatically reduced the demand for their service. Consequently, they no longer generate enough revenue to function as a self-sufficient entity, particularly when it comes to paying employee retirement benefits. In recent years, the USPS has patched the annual losses with borrowed money from the Treasury. However, it is now in such dire straits that it’s expected to hit the $15 billion borrowing cap later this year. It needs extra taxpayer cash to fill in the gaps.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Evan Feinberg in Pennsylvania

The Republican Primary in Pennsylvania is one month away. I have documented just how terrible Congressman Tim Murphy is.

I’d like to encourage you to support his opponent, Evan Feinberg. Evan is endorsed by Senators Tom Coburn and Rand Paul. He is a solid conservative and a great fit for Tim Murphy’s district. Conservatives lost a primary with Don Manzullo’s defeat last week. What conservatives are seeing is conservative activists not opening their checkbooks. I realize people don’t have a lot of money to give these days, but the cruel reality is that conservatives need money to get elected and our opponents are opening their checkbooks up while we are not.

So do what you can for Evan Feinberg. We need him in Congress.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

1. The Left No Longer Finds Dissent Patriotic

2. MSNBC’s Karen Finney Says the Koch Brothers Killed Trayvon Martin

3. PTA Assaulting School Choice in South Carolina

4. And Now for a Postal Bailout

5. Evan Feinberg in Pennsylvania

1. The Left No Longer Finds Dissent Patriotic

Workforce Fairness is releasing a series of videos chronicling left-wing intimidation, including showing up at people’s houses to harass them and their families. We’re pleased to debut the first of the videos here at RedState. The videos document a growing trend in American civic discourse — the use of intimidation against private citizens to punish dissent.

Listen to Media Matters For America and other outlets on the left and they claim they are outraged at Rush Limbaugh for using the word “slut.”

They’re OK with it when the left does it. Routinely, conservative activists are targeted for harassment, subject to degrading comments, etc. from the left and they are okay with that. Bill Maher gets invited to keynote Democratic dinners.

Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia, in a Lenten Letter to his pastoral flock, said that evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant and then tries to silence good. The secular left, having preached tolerance for years, is proving the Archbishop true with their new found intolerance for opposing views. Witness opponents to Proposition 8 in California actively targeting for harassment supporters of Proposition 8. Witness union goons showing up on the doorsteps of private citizens to scare them into submission. Witness Media Matters For America targeting American supporters of Israel and attacking them as “Israel Firsters,” questioning their loyalty to the United States.

The left is trying to shut down the opposition. When they were out of power, dissent was patriotic. Now that they are in power, they want to use both the state and intimidate in the public square to shut down opposing views. It goes beyond boycotts to financially intimate those who disagree with them. Now, the left is showing up at the private homes of American citizens they disagree with to intimidate them, threaten them, harass them, and make them pay for daring to have a different view.

The only time anyone wants to shut down opposing views is when the opposing views are winning. And that is the left’s problem. Rush Limbaugh, the free market, the right to work states, etc. are all winning. And it is not just that the right is winning, the left is losing.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. MSNBC’s Karen Finney Says the Koch Brothers Killed Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin’s death in Florida is a terrible tragedy made even worse by a police department that seemingly bungled the investigation. There are multiple eyewitnesses, some who saw the shooter, George Zimmerman, yelling for help. Others saw Trayvon Martin yelling for help.

It shouldn’t be a partisan issue.

But MSNBC decided to make it one. According to Karen Finney on MSNBC, the Koch Brothers, NRA, and other conservatives are responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. PTA Assaulting School Choice in South Carolina

As a mother of four, the first of which entered public school last year, keeping up with my children’s education is extremely important to me. I’ve heard the stories of children fearing the end of the world due to global warming and seen the history books that exclude any Republican or Conservative from the important events that have shaped our country. My husband and I moved to a small town in South Carolina due in part to the notoriety of the schools. I immediately joined the PTA, looking forward to communicating and working with other parents to help our children achieve the high standards to which we hold them accountable.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case, this PTA had an agenda and used its access to my email address to push that agenda.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. And Now for a Postal Bailout

It’s another week in Washington, and it’s yet another bailout. This time, taxpayers will be tapped for another $41 billion to subsidize the healthcare retirement benefits of postal workers – benefits that are quite scarce in the private sector.

Democrats have a serious problem with creative destruction and advancements in technology. For self-described progressives, they are quite regressive when it comes to efficiency in markets and use of technology. They exhibit nostalgia for 14th century energy technology and 20th century banking technology. Hence, they don’t care too much for market progression. In concerted drives to hold back the tide of technology, they are quick to offer a helping hand to a dying industry. One such industry is the mail delivery.

It’s no secret that the United States Postal Service is on its way out. The transition to electronic communication, in conjunction with the success of private mail carriers, has dramatically reduced the demand for their service. Consequently, they no longer generate enough revenue to function as a self-sufficient entity, particularly when it comes to paying employee retirement benefits. In recent years, the USPS has patched the annual losses with borrowed money from the Treasury. However, it is now in such dire straits that it’s expected to hit the $15 billion borrowing cap later this year. It needs extra taxpayer cash to fill in the gaps.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Evan Feinberg in Pennsylvania

The Republican Primary in Pennsylvania is one month away. I have documented just how terrible Congressman Tim Murphy is.

I’d like to encourage you to support his opponent, Evan Feinberg. Evan is endorsed by Senators Tom Coburn and Rand Paul. He is a solid conservative and a great fit for Tim Murphy’s district. Conservatives lost a primary with Don Manzullo’s defeat last week. What conservatives are seeing is conservative activists not opening their checkbooks. I realize people don’t have a lot of money to give these days, but the cruel reality is that conservatives need money to get elected and our opponents are opening their checkbooks up while we are not.

So do what you can for Evan Feinberg. We need him in Congress.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

1. Media Matters’ Desperate Need to Focus on Rush Limbaugh

2. People Are Badly Misinterpreting Rick Santorum

3. Obama’s Secret Debt Milestone

4. Washington Post’s Lisa Miller Is An Idiot. Part 2.

5. The Club for Growth on the Ryan budget

6. Same Talking Points For ALL The Countries

1. Media Matters’ Desperate Need to Glory Hound Rush Limbaugh

The Washington Times has the story of Media Matters’ latest effort to drive Rush Limbaugh from the airwaves. They’ll use radio ads in eight cities.

“In one of the anti-Limbaugh ads, listeners are urged to call the local station that carries Limbaugh to say “we don’t talk to women like that” in our city.

“Ad time was purchased in Boston; Chicago; Detroit; Seattle; Milwaukee; St. Louis; Macon, Ga.; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The cities were selected to support active local campaigns against Limbaugh or because of perceptions Limbaugh may be vulnerable in that market, said Angelo Carusone of Media Matters.”

What I found interesting was Media Matters listing Macon, GA. I’m writing this from Macon right now. It’s where I got my start on the radio and where I live. There is no active local campaign to silence Rush Limbaugh.

That’s when I realized what Media Matters is doing. They say they are advertising in some locations because “of perceptions Limbaugh may be vulnerable in that market.”

Media Matters is trying to be a glory hound and take credit if Rush Limbaugh is dropped when they have nothing to do with it.

Three stations in the list, Macon, Detroit, and Chicago, are Cumulus Media stations. Cumulus Media has plans to launch Mike Huckabee as a competitor to Rush Limbaugh later this year. In fact, Cumulus’s management has, though to a lesser degree than Media Matters, been playing up Rush Limbaugh’s comments on Sandra Fluke suggesting Mike Huckabee would be a more responsible alternative.

Already I’m being told Cumulus will offer Huckabee as a cheaper programming option than Limbaugh. Likewise, they plan to start putting Huckabee on a number of Cumulus stations around the country as their contract with the Premier Radio for Rush’s show expires. Even Rush’s flagship station, WABC, might go to Huckabee as it is owned by Cumulus.

When it happens, Media Matters will try to take credit when, in fact, these are business decisions by Cumulus Media, which is struggling financially following its purchase of Citadel Broadcasting and wants some in house talent it can syndicate instead of having to pay Premier syndication fees.

What’s most important though is why Media Matters is trying to keep the focus on Rush Limbaugh.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. People Are Badly Misinterpreting Rick Santorum

Much hay is being made of Rick Santorum saying he’d prefer Obama to Romney. Except that is not what he said or what he meant. Certainly he could have had a clarifying clause in his statement, but given the context, I think he was saying no more and no less than what I have been saying.

I’m on record thinking it is over and Romney is the nominee, but the hand-wringing over Santorum is juvenile and reminds me again why I so dislike Team Romney. We’re going to have put up with months of Team Romney whining about things if he is the nominee. This is the latest example.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Obama’s Secret Debt Milestone

Here is a debt milestone that we surpassed this week, yet you won’t read about it anywhere in the media. The gross federal debt has increased more under Obama in just 3.2 years than it did during Bush’s entire 8-year tenure. And Bush was no limited government conservative either.

When President Bush was sworn in on January 20, 2001, the total federal debt stood at $5.728 trillion. On January 20, 2009, the day he left office, the debt had increased to $10.629 trillion, a jump of $4.9 trillion. Just 38 months later, the debt has increased another $4.954 trillion to a grand total of $15.583 trillion! Amazingly, $4.514 trillion, or 91% of the debt increase comes from the public share of the debt, which now stands at $10.8 trillion.

We should also keep in mind that we are on pace to breach the $16.394 trillion debt limit before the November elections, even with the uptick in revenue. That means that he will have amassed almost $6 trillion in debt by the time he, God willing, leaves office next January. And it’s not just the $6 billion. He has set us on such an unsustainable trajectory that we will never achieve a balanced budget without massive restructuring of government. If Obama’s proposed budget blueprint was allowed to come to fruition, the federal debt would reach $26 trillion in 10 years assuming rosy revenue predictions.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Washington Post’s Lisa Miller Is An Idiot. Part 2.

Earlier this month I posted on the attack by Lisa Miller, the Washington Post’s egregiously stupid religion correspondent, on Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney because they had large families. Miller found large families to be vaguely threatening to her self esteem and indicative of a “smug fecundity” and not valuing women for anything other than their ability to reproduce.

Today Miller doubles down and accuses Rick Santorum of being a “cafeteria Catholic.”

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, a cafeteria Catholic applies to Catholics who dissent from Church dogmas. These are the “smells and bells” Catholics who have some cultural attachment to the Church but find that its teachings on sodomy, birth control, etc. gives them hives and boils on their butt.

For her evidence, Miller trots out the following killer evidence.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. The Club for Growth on the Ryan budget

Yesterday, the Club for Growth released a statement saying that the Ryan budget was “on balance, a disappointment to fiscal conservatives.” We applauded the strong pro-growth reforms in the bill, but the reasons for our opposition were twofold:

First, the budget doesn’t balance within 10 years, or for that matter, even 20 years. Our country is currently enduring unsustainable trillion-dollar deficits. We cannot wait until 2040 — the year the Ryan budget balances (page 84) — in order to arrest our ever-growing national debt.

Second, we are opposed to how the budget dismantles the annual sequestration spending cuts enacted into law by last year’s Budget Control Act (also known as the debt-limit deal). As you may recall, the debt deal established annual discretionary spending caps for the next ten years. But the debt deal also required additional cuts (both discretionary and mandatory) because the supercommittee failed. Therefore, for the upcoming year, the real number that needs to be achieved, beyond the spending cap, is $110 billion in cuts in total spending authority. But Ryan’s budget achieves less than that: $19 billion in discretionary cuts and $53 billion in cuts to mandatory authority, of which only $18 billion would be included in budget reconciliation, a fast-track process requiring committees to actually pass implementing legislation.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. Same Talking Points For ALL The Countries

Danish broadcaster Thomas Buch-Anderson from Detektor has analyzed some of what President Obama has to say about other nations.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

1. Media Matters’ Desperate Need to Focus on Rush Limbaugh

2. People Are Badly Misinterpreting Rick Santorum

3. Obama’s Secret Debt Milestone

4. Washington Post’s Lisa Miller Is An Idiot. Part 2.

5. The Club for Growth on the Ryan budget

6. Same Talking Points For ALL The Countries

1. Media Matters’ Desperate Need to Glory Hound Rush Limbaugh

The Washington Times has the story of Media Matters’ latest effort to drive Rush Limbaugh from the airwaves. They’ll use radio ads in eight cities.

“In one of the anti-Limbaugh ads, listeners are urged to call the local station that carries Limbaugh to say “we don’t talk to women like that” in our city.

“Ad time was purchased in Boston; Chicago; Detroit; Seattle; Milwaukee; St. Louis; Macon, Ga.; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The cities were selected to support active local campaigns against Limbaugh or because of perceptions Limbaugh may be vulnerable in that market, said Angelo Carusone of Media Matters.”

What I found interesting was Media Matters listing Macon, GA. I’m writing this from Macon right now. It’s where I got my start on the radio and where I live. There is no active local campaign to silence Rush Limbaugh.

That’s when I realized what Media Matters is doing. They say they are advertising in some locations because “of perceptions Limbaugh may be vulnerable in that market.”

Media Matters is trying to be a glory hound and take credit if Rush Limbaugh is dropped when they have nothing to do with it.

Three stations in the list, Macon, Detroit, and Chicago, are Cumulus Media stations. Cumulus Media has plans to launch Mike Huckabee as a competitor to Rush Limbaugh later this year. In fact, Cumulus’s management has, though to a lesser degree than Media Matters, been playing up Rush Limbaugh’s comments on Sandra Fluke suggesting Mike Huckabee would be a more responsible alternative.

Already I’m being told Cumulus will offer Huckabee as a cheaper programming option than Limbaugh. Likewise, they plan to start putting Huckabee on a number of Cumulus stations around the country as their contract with the Premier Radio for Rush’s show expires. Even Rush’s flagship station, WABC, might go to Huckabee as it is owned by Cumulus.

When it happens, Media Matters will try to take credit when, in fact, these are business decisions by Cumulus Media, which is struggling financially following its purchase of Citadel Broadcasting and wants some in house talent it can syndicate instead of having to pay Premier syndication fees.

What’s most important though is why Media Matters is trying to keep the focus on Rush Limbaugh.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. People Are Badly Misinterpreting Rick Santorum

Much hay is being made of Rick Santorum saying he’d prefer Obama to Romney. Except that is not what he said or what he meant. Certainly he could have had a clarifying clause in his statement, but given the context, I think he was saying no more and no less than what I have been saying.

I’m on record thinking it is over and Romney is the nominee, but the hand-wringing over Santorum is juvenile and reminds me again why I so dislike Team Romney. We’re going to have put up with months of Team Romney whining about things if he is the nominee. This is the latest example.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Obama’s Secret Debt Milestone

Here is a debt milestone that we surpassed this week, yet you won’t read about it anywhere in the media. The gross federal debt has increased more under Obama in just 3.2 years than it did during Bush’s entire 8-year tenure. And Bush was no limited government conservative either.

When President Bush was sworn in on January 20, 2001, the total federal debt stood at $5.728 trillion. On January 20, 2009, the day he left office, the debt had increased to $10.629 trillion, a jump of $4.9 trillion. Just 38 months later, the debt has increased another $4.954 trillion to a grand total of $15.583 trillion! Amazingly, $4.514 trillion, or 91% of the debt increase comes from the public share of the debt, which now stands at $10.8 trillion.

We should also keep in mind that we are on pace to breach the $16.394 trillion debt limit before the November elections, even with the uptick in revenue. That means that he will have amassed almost $6 trillion in debt by the time he, God willing, leaves office next January. And it’s not just the $6 billion. He has set us on such an unsustainable trajectory that we will never achieve a balanced budget without massive restructuring of government. If Obama’s proposed budget blueprint was allowed to come to fruition, the federal debt would reach $26 trillion in 10 years assuming rosy revenue predictions.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Washington Post’s Lisa Miller Is An Idiot. Part 2.

Earlier this month I posted on the attack by Lisa Miller, the Washington Post’s egregiously stupid religion correspondent, on Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney because they had large families. Miller found large families to be vaguely threatening to her self esteem and indicative of a “smug fecundity” and not valuing women for anything other than their ability to reproduce.

Today Miller doubles down and accuses Rick Santorum of being a “cafeteria Catholic.”

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, a cafeteria Catholic applies to Catholics who dissent from Church dogmas. These are the “smells and bells” Catholics who have some cultural attachment to the Church but find that its teachings on sodomy, birth control, etc. gives them hives and boils on their butt.

For her evidence, Miller trots out the following killer evidence.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. The Club for Growth on the Ryan budget

Yesterday, the Club for Growth released a statement saying that the Ryan budget was “on balance, a disappointment to fiscal conservatives.” We applauded the strong pro-growth reforms in the bill, but the reasons for our opposition were twofold:

First, the budget doesn’t balance within 10 years, or for that matter, even 20 years. Our country is currently enduring unsustainable trillion-dollar deficits. We cannot wait until 2040 — the year the Ryan budget balances (page 84) — in order to arrest our ever-growing national debt.

Second, we are opposed to how the budget dismantles the annual sequestration spending cuts enacted into law by last year’s Budget Control Act (also known as the debt-limit deal). As you may recall, the debt deal established annual discretionary spending caps for the next ten years. But the debt deal also required additional cuts (both discretionary and mandatory) because the supercommittee failed. Therefore, for the upcoming year, the real number that needs to be achieved, beyond the spending cap, is $110 billion in cuts in total spending authority. But Ryan’s budget achieves less than that: $19 billion in discretionary cuts and $53 billion in cuts to mandatory authority, of which only $18 billion would be included in budget reconciliation, a fast-track process requiring committees to actually pass implementing legislation.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. Same Talking Points For ALL The Countries

Danish broadcaster Thomas Buch-Anderson from Detektor has analyzed some of what President Obama has to say about other nations.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

1. Forgetting History

2. Marx Madness Redux

3. Mitt Romney: The Consummate Etch A Sketch

4. A Real Solution to the Gridlock Over the Highway Bill

1. Forgetting History

I have a confession to make.

I am a thirty-something pundit on television and radio and I am frequently aggravated by many twenty and thirty-something pundits on television and radio. It is even a non-partisan aggravation.

We all make mistakes and I am sure someone can be critical of me for the same reason I find so many up and coming political pundits so aggravating, but I try to do my homework. I do keep a Lexis-Nexis account. I do read my history books. Mistakes happen, but it seems a lot of up and coming soon to be somebodies are making needless mistakes.

This may sound like a Matt Lewis inspired “get off my lawn” screed, but put very simply, a lot of pundits of the twenty and thirty-something variety have absolutely no sense of history. For them, partisan politics began at Bush vs. Gore and history did not exist before November of 2000.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Marx Madness Redux

My radio producer, Shane, is a genius. And he put this audio montage together in honor of the 2nd anniversary of Obamacare.

What to call it? Marx Madness.

What to put as background music? Why the national anthem to the USSR of course.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Mitt Romney: The Consummate Etch A Sketch

Throughout the presidential campaign, we have been lampooned by the pale-pastel wing of the party for not coalescing around the Romney campaign with alacrity. Our detractors have been stupefied by our stubborn opposition to “the only candidate who can beat Obama;” the man with the requisite resume, funding, organization, intelligence, and persona.

We’ve been at a loss to encapsulate our opposition into a one-liner; a bumper sticker. After all, it takes copious pages of ink to explain the extent of Romney’s hypocrisy on the issue of healthcare alone. Yet, late in the 11th hour of the campaign, when it’s probably too late to make a difference, we have finally discovered our symbol that exemplifies Romney. Ironically, it came from his own campaign.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. A Real Solution to the Gridlock Over the Highway Bill

As we approach the March 31 expiration date for surface transportation projects, we can take solace in the fact that the House will not vote on two bad bills; Boehner’s original 5-year $260 billion reauthorization and the Senate’s 2-year $109 billion bill. While we push for a more prudent long-term solution, the House will pass a 90-day stopgap bill to continue spending at current levels until the end of July.

While funding transportation projects with short-term bills is not ideal, it is better than passing a lousy long-term bill that cannot be altered for several years. Democrats are already launching their cantankerous assaults on the “irresponsible” stopgap bill, but we must remind them of two points that are overlooked in this debate.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

1. Forgetting History

2. Marx Madness Redux

3. Mitt Romney: The Consummate Etch A Sketch

4. A Real Solution to the Gridlock Over the Highway Bill

1. Forgetting History

I have a confession to make.

I am a thirty-something pundit on television and radio and I am frequently aggravated by many twenty and thirty-something pundits on television and radio. It is even a non-partisan aggravation.

We all make mistakes and I am sure someone can be critical of me for the same reason I find so many up and coming political pundits so aggravating, but I try to do my homework. I do keep a Lexis-Nexis account. I do read my history books. Mistakes happen, but it seems a lot of up and coming soon to be somebodies are making needless mistakes.

This may sound like a Matt Lewis inspired “get off my lawn” screed, but put very simply, a lot of pundits of the twenty and thirty-something variety have absolutely no sense of history. For them, partisan politics began at Bush vs. Gore and history did not exist before November of 2000.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Marx Madness Redux

My radio producer, Shane, is a genius. And he put this audio montage together in honor of the 2nd anniversary of Obamacare.

What to call it? Marx Madness.

What to put as background music? Why the national anthem to the USSR of course.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Mitt Romney: The Consummate Etch A Sketch

Throughout the presidential campaign, we have been lampooned by the pale-pastel wing of the party for not coalescing around the Romney campaign with alacrity. Our detractors have been stupefied by our stubborn opposition to “the only candidate who can beat Obama;” the man with the requisite resume, funding, organization, intelligence, and persona.

We’ve been at a loss to encapsulate our opposition into a one-liner; a bumper sticker. After all, it takes copious pages of ink to explain the extent of Romney’s hypocrisy on the issue of healthcare alone. Yet, late in the 11th hour of the campaign, when it’s probably too late to make a difference, we have finally discovered our symbol that exemplifies Romney. Ironically, it came from his own campaign.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. A Real Solution to the Gridlock Over the Highway Bill

As we approach the March 31 expiration date for surface transportation projects, we can take solace in the fact that the House will not vote on two bad bills; Boehner’s original 5-year $260 billion reauthorization and the Senate’s 2-year $109 billion bill. While we push for a more prudent long-term solution, the House will pass a 90-day stopgap bill to continue spending at current levels until the end of July.

While funding transportation projects with short-term bills is not ideal, it is better than passing a lousy long-term bill that cannot be altered for several years. Democrats are already launching their cantankerous assaults on the “irresponsible” stopgap bill, but we must remind them of two points that are overlooked in this debate.

Please click here for the rest of the post.