The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.
But I repeat myself…..
I can’t do better than the sarcasm the WSJ has already dripped on the Dems sudden love affair with Tax cuts…go read the article for yourself. Be careful, make sure you have an ace bandage tightly wrapped or your head will explode if you follow this link.
I am a bit late to the RedState/DontGo Movement Send A Pair Project. The first target is Senate “Republican leader” Mitch McConnell, specifically his Louisville office (601 W. Broadway Room 630, Louisville, KY 40202). RedState recommends playground balls, but after I read the item I’m about to post on, I’m going to send some serious 2″ gumballs (once they arrive at the bunker, that is) because somebody must’ve slipped some Neuticles into the first shipment.
Jeff Emanuel points to a piece that ran on Politico yesterday that says that quotes McConnell as saying the Republicans need to become even more liberal than they have over the last 8 years. Let me put it this way; when there were GOP governors on both coasts, when Ronald Reagan won every state except Minnesota, the GOP was the party of both economic and social conservatism. Over the last 18 years, ever since George H.W. Bush busted his lips and raised taxes, the Republican Party has abandoned first economic conservatism and then social conservatism. The Democrats never really abandoned their liberalism, at least once they reached office.
Jake Tapper of ABC reports that Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle (last seen in public life as the Democratic Senate leader) waited until he was being vetted for the HHS post before he paid $101,943 plus interest in taxes owed for using a chauffeur and car between 2005 and 2007. For those keeping score at home, that’s roughly three times what Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner belatedly paid in taxes.
I can already hear the excuses – Daschle, as Senate Democratic leader, was provided with a chauffeur and car paid for by you and me.
I’ve lost count of how many of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet and Cabinet-level advisers have had ethical lapses. Of course, since the Senate “Republican” leadership is in desperate need of a pair of balls (more on that in a moment), I’ll say that at least 12 Senators with “R”s behind their name will vote for Daschle’s confirmation.
Flip Pidot puts the answer in a handy graphic (which you’re going to have to go see yourself). In inflation-adjusted dollars, the “infrastructure/energy” portion of the Generational Theft Act of 2009 (arguably the “stimulative” part of the act) ranks below the Louisiana Purchase, the Moon Race, the first 4 years of the New Deal, and the Iraq War (the other governmental spending on the chart), while each of the remaining 3 components; “wealth redistribution”, “states/human capital” (i.e. government spending money on itself), and interest on the borrowing, each outstrip everything except the New Deal and the Iraq War.
Bonus item – Using the same numbers from Bianco Research (via The Big Picture) that Flip used, the total $1.2 trillion cost of the Generational Theft Act is greater than any “single-event” outlay other than World War II in inflation-adjusted terms.
Revisions/extensions (7:17 pm 1/30/2009) – Link to Flip’s post fixed, but I won’t guarantee success in getting through. All I can say is, “Try, try again.”
DakRoland, a regular Ed Morrissey Show chatizen, passed this one onto me. For an initial cost of $69.95 (plus shipping and handling), CollectiblesToday.com will send you the first 3 cars in the BOHO (Barack Obama HO-scale) railroad set, along with a short track and a power pack.
I’m waiting for the inevitable YouTube video of the train derailing.
Update by Shoebox: Here’s video of the 2 BOHO trains, Hope and Change, trying to use the economic track laid by the BOHO stimulus bill
Revisions/extensions (4:22 pm 1/30/2009) – Corrected the state in the party ID from Rhode Island to New Hampshire (thanks to JB in the comments).
David Fredosso picked up on an item that first ran in Roll Call that President Barack Obama wants to tap Sen. Judd Gregg (“R”-NH) as Commerce Secretary. New Hampshire is one of the states that states the governor gets to appoint a temporary replacement, specifically until the next general election (in 2010). At last check, the governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch, is a Democrat, and there is nothing that says that Lynch has to appoint another “Republican”.
I guess the ‘Rats believe there is a difference between a potential 59-of-100 and a potential 60-of-100 after all, especially since the House Republicans showed some backbone the other day in opposing the Generational Theft Act of 2009.
Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats, sans 11, passed the stimulus bill in perhaps one of the most partisan votes of the recent past.
Today, Nancy tried to put a happy face on her inability to convince Republicans to see things her way:
Throughout the stimulus “discussion,” reports varied on whether and how many Republicans might support it. It wasn’t until the final couple of days that it became apparent that while unable to defeat the bill, they would show a united, principled stand and vote no.
Why, when many of these same house Republicans supported TARP and have been just as guilty of irrationally exuberant spending the past few years, did they now decide to get solid on spending? I don’t have the full answer but I suspect some of it could be due to this:
According to Rasmussen, net positive support for the stimulus plan has slipped from +11% last week to only +3% this week. Worse for Democrats, unaffiliated voters shifted from a +1% last week to a -23% this week.
It appears that as more time goes by and more information comes out, as people who are not blinded by latent BDS or worship of “The One,” understand more of what really is and isn’t in the bill, they understand that the bill will stimulate nothing but the size of government.
The Dems may have won the battle in the House. However, the House Republicans have done a good job of shining light on this pile of stink. The question now will be whether the Senate Republicans can organize themselves to accomplish the same level of principled opposition, perform more public education and see what the public sentiment is in a week or two.
I do believe that if people understand this bill they will find it seriously lacking. While I’m not hopeful, if enough people burn the Senate phones the Dems could find themselves winning the battle but losing an embarrassing PR war.
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