Erick Erickson's Blog, page 115
September 12, 2011
Morning Briefing for September 12, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For September 12, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. LIVE FROM FLORIDA — No One Except Ron Paul
2. Where's the new [stimulus] bill Mr. Obama?
3. The American Jobs Act of 2011: Lather, Rinse, Repeat and Fail.
4. Good News: Oil Drilling Off Florida Begins Nov. 1. Bad News: It's in Cuba.
5. Obama Vindicates Rick Perry on Social Security
6. The Unintended Consequences of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis' Witch Hunt
7. Liberals Continue Push for Job-Killing Agency and Regulations
———————————————————————-
1. LIVE FROM FLORIDA — No One Except Ron Paul
I'm in Tampa, FL for the CNN-Tea Party Express Republican Presidential Debate. The debate begins at 8pm on CNN. I'll be on WSB Radio from 5pm to 7pm doing a "pre-game" show and then, starting at 7pm, I'll be on CNN the rest of the night.
When the debate starts, Michele Bachmann intends to join Mitt Romney in defending social security against Rick Perry and his evil, awful "ponzi scheme" comment.
To be clear, none of the Republican Presidential candidates, except Ron Paul, wants to abolish social security. Not even Rick Perry who, though he wrote it was an affront to our constitutional system, made clear in both his book and on stage in California that he was not going to refight 70 years of American legislative progress, but would instead work to fix a broken system.
But Romney and Bachmann intend to keep going after Rick Perry for his "ponzi scheme" comment.
They might want to reconsider. Alex Tabarrok notes at Marginal Revolution that Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman called social security "the biggest ponzi scheme on earth. That was back in 1999.
In 1967, Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Samuelson also considered social security a ponzi scheme.
Oh, and they aren't the only one's to use the word "ponzi" to describe social security. So did Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman.
That doesn't even include Mitt Romney who called the social security system a "criminal enterprise."
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Where's the new [stimulus] bill Mr. Obama?
After promising time and time again to focus on jobs.
After promising time and time again to pivot to jobs.
After promising time and time again to give a jobs plan speech right after his Martha's Vineyard vacations.
After promising new fresh proposals, not a rehash of plans he has pitched previously.
After demanding time and time again before a joint session that Congress pass his [stimulus] bill.
After demanding time and again at a campaign rally in Richmond that Congress pass his [stimulus] bill.
President Obama hasn't yet provided Congress the [stimulus] bill.
This inconvenient truth was made clear during the press gaggle, Obama's Press Secretary Jay Carney, conducted yesterday on board Air Force One, while en route to Obama's taxpayer-funded campaign rally in Richmond, Virginia.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. The American Jobs Act of 2011: Lather, Rinse, Repeat and Fail.
It's fortunate that all our Elected Leader promised us was a Job's Plan. Because the plan he presented last night looks like a cribbed version of Christine Roemer's failed effort from 2009. The President's proposed American Jobs Act features the same boondoggles, the same EBT Cards, the same targeted tax relief and undoubtedly; the same result.
Like the rest of Barack Obama's Presidency, this bill will be smaller than the failure bomb detonated in 2009. He intends to only add $447Bn worth of "paid for" spending to the deficit this time. The last time out, the price tag was $787Bn. So, outside of a $342Bn concession to the results of the 2010 Midterm Election, President Obama has learned positively nothing from the last 2.5 years.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Good News: Oil Drilling Off Florida Begins Nov. 1. Bad News: It's in Cuba.
While it's been the subject of rumor, gossip and misinformation for the last several years, this time it's real: drilling off the north shore of Cuba is scheduled to begin November 1. Six wells are planned to be drilled with this rig by the various international companies who own exploration rights off the north shore of the island.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Obama Vindicates Rick Perry on Social Security
The major controversy right now in the GOP presidential primaries is over Rick Perry's contention that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme that can't deliver on its promises under its current structure. Mitt Romney doesn't exactly dispute this – in fact, Romney himself said the same thing in his book, but then Romney always did like to attack other Republicans for things he himself has said or done – but Romney's argument is that you can't say these things out loud and win elections.
Well, President Obama Thursday night handed Perry a huge gift, by providing a vivid illustration of how Perry is right about Social Security.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. The Unintended Consequences of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis' Witch Hunt
In less than two weeks, on September 21st, the public comment period will be closing on a Department of Labor scheme to have employers report the amount of money paid to outside vendors (namely, attorneys, PR firms, website developers, video firms, polling firms and just about every type of communications and human resource consultant) as newly-minted "persuaders."
Please click here for the rest of the post.
7. Liberals Continue Push for Job-Killing Agency and Regulations
Last year, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) sent the President a letter raising concerns about 191 pending regulations that costs American business billions of dollars a year. The President ignored the letter, so Speaker Boehner sent him another one. The potential cost of these Obama regulations will be devastating to an already sputtering economy and constitute a massive hidden tax on all Americans.
The only way for Senators to stop regulations in the short term is to block the work of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This bureau will be a regulation creating machine and an entity that will slow economic growth — much like Obama's 191 pending regulations. The only way for Senators to stop the bureau from mass producing new regulations is to refuse confirmation of the president's nominee to head the Bureau, Richard Cordray.
September 11, 2011
If This is the Real Conscience of a Liberal, Liberals Are Disgusting
Paul Krugman posits himself as the conscience of a liberal at the New York Times.
If he speaks for liberals, liberals are truly disgusting. I assume and believe that most liberals reject this and hope many of them will be vocal about the disagreement. And the New York Times might want to rethink using Krugman's conscience as that of a typical liberal.
Today he remembers September 11, 2001.
He remembers 9/11 this way:
Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror.
He also believes, "The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it."
I suspect Krugman and his ilk behave this way because they wake up on days like this and realize they are decisively in the minority in this country.
But I also suspect the editors at the New York Times agree with Krugman and are cool with this.
September 9, 2011
The Debate. The Speech. And More #EERS #CNNTEAPARTY
I'm on live tonight from Carroll County, Georgia where I'll be speaking tomorrow at a huge gathering of tea party activists from around Georgia. Then I'm off to Tampa, FL for the CNN-Tea Party Express GOP debate.
Tonight, we'll go in depth into the President's speech, look more at the last GOP debate, and preview next week's CNN-Tea Party Express GOP Debate. The show starts at 7:05 p.m. ET.
You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.
Consider this an open thread.
The President Moves on to Jobs
Yeah, let's roll the tape again.
Last Night, President Obama Sowed the Seeds of His Own Destruction
Consider, objectively, some of the points of Barack Obama's plan.
He wants to extend unemployment benefits again. He wants to extend a payroll tax holiday. He wants to give tax credits to small businesses to hire people. He wants more government pork for more roads and bridges.
These are all things Republicans have gone along with in the past. These are all things Republicans will probably go along with this time.
Some of these things just preserve the status quo. The status quo last month created zero jobs.
In other words, Barack Obama has largely proposed a plan key portions of which can pass with bipartisan support. And they will pass with bipartisan support. And there will be a grand bipartisan signing ceremony. Lots of pictures will be taken.
No jobs will actually be created. The recession will double dip. But Barack Obama will have gotten his bipartisan jobs plan. So he will not be able to blame the GOP. He'll have to blame mother nature again.
By then, voters will have had enough. They will blame Barack Obama. They will see his ideas are failures. Barack Obama sowed the seeds of his own destruction by offering up just enough acceptable bipartisan compromises to make himself look leadenly, but those compromises are not what will create jobs. Obama will get blamed.
And the kicker?
Well, the jobs plan will get passed soon. Then the "super committee" will start tinkering with all of it and there is no guarantee his tax credits and other ideas will survive. But then the super committee was a bipartisan idea too.
Morning Briefing for September 9, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For September 9, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. Last Night, President Obama Sowed the Seeds of His Own Destruction
2. Obama's Fuzzy Stimulus Math
3. All You Need To Know About the President's Speech
4. Government Wants to Protect Your Neck
5. The Democratic Wipeout in Louisiana is of Biblical Proportions
6. Alarm Bells at the White House Over David Weprin's Race in NY-9
7. MITT ROMNEY'S Social Security blunder.
8.
———————————————————————-
1. Last Night, President Obama Sowed the Seeds of His Own Destruction
Consider, objectively, some of the points of Barack Obama's plan.
He wants to extend unemployment benefits again. He wants to extend a payroll tax holiday. He wants to give tax credits to small businesses to hire people. He wants more government pork for more roads and bridges.
These are all things Republicans have gone along with in the past. These are all things Republicans will probably go along with this time.
Some of these things just preserve the status quo. The status quo last month created zero jobs.
In other words, Barack Obama has largely proposed a plan key portions of which can pass with bipartisan support. And they will pass with bipartisan support. And there will be a grand bipartisan signing ceremony. Lots of pictures will be taken.
No jobs will actually be created. The recession will double dip. But Barack Obama will have gotten his bipartisan jobs plan. So he will not be able to blame the GOP. He'll have to blame mother nature again.
By then, voters will have had enough. They will blame Barack Obama. They will see his ideas are failures. Barack Obama sowed the seeds of his own destruction by offering up just enough acceptable bipartisan compromises to make himself look leadenly, but those compromises are not what will create jobs. Obama will get blamed.
And the kicker?
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Obama's Fuzzy Stimulus Math
Let's forget the fact that Obama's entire Stimulus 10.0 is a counterintuitive proposal that doubles down on the very failures that precipitated this speech. Let's also disregard the fact that enshrining unemployment insurance as a permanent handout will perpetuate unemployment. And more union-induced, short-term money drops on infrastructure will do nothing but stimulate traffic jams. Let's focus purely on the very numbers that the administration has offered –numbers that would undoubtedly be revised upward, if the plan is passed.
Total package – $447 billion
- 50% payroll tax cut for every employee, dropping the rate from 6.2% to 3.1%= $175 billion
-Obama also proposed cutting the employer payroll tax in half on the first $5 million of a firm's payroll in 2012. About 98% of firms have payrolls of $5 million or less.= $70 billion
-National infrastructure bank = $10 billion
- Pork project handouts to unions for roads, rails and bridges= $50 billion
-An unprecedented extension of unemployment insurance benefits to be extended for another year, beyond the 99 weeks= $62 billion.
-Handouts to public school teacher unions, even though we already spend more per capita on education than any other country=$35 billion
-Refurbishing schools, a responsibility of local government=$25 billion
-Handouts to community colleges=$5 billion
-Rehabilitate vacant property=$15 billion
Despite the steep cost, Obama claims that it will all be paid for. How will he pay for it?
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. All You Need To Know About the President's Speech
(1) The President took Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO with him to Congress. Trumka's union saw 500 of its members storm a business last night, take hostages, and destroy property. The President also took Jeffrey Immelt of GE with him. General Electric is a prime example of a business that has profited lately not through the free market, but through the government picking winners and losers.
(2) Solydra, which got millions from Barack Obama in his last stimulus and had the President champion its cause, got raided by the FBi yesterday.
(3) We would not have to be subjected to this if President Obama's last attempts had worked — including attempts from when the the Democrats controlled both the White House and Congress.
We heard nothing new — just repackaged, failed ideas. Consider what we heard in 2009, 2010, and in January of this year.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Government Wants to Protect Your Neck
Rep. John Boehner recently requested from President Obama a list of any pending regulations that would cost business $1 billion or more.
Interestingly enough, Obama did as requested and some of the more egregious regulations have been making waves.
While they're all expensive and ridiculous, one particular regulation put another chink in the armor of an administration that I have said before, seems intent on bankrupting the American auto industry.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. The Democratic Wipeout in Louisiana is of Biblical Proportions
Huey Long must be turning over in his grave. Qualifying closed today for Louisiana's Fall 2011 statewide elections, and the once super-dominant Democratic Party has failed to field a single credible candidate for statewide office.
Not a single one.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. Alarm Bells at the White House Over David Weprin's Race in NY-9
Unlike the other New York special election races where the Democrats batted a thousand and the media covered them as prognosticators of doom and gloom for the GOP, there's been radio silence for the most part on the special election to replace Anthony Weiner in NY-9.
But there are alarm bells going on at the White House and the DNC. The DCCC just dropped a half-million dollars into a district the Democrats should easily win.
The House Majority PAC is suddenly dumping money into the race.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
7. MITT ROMNEY'S Social Security blunder.
You've probably read by now Mitt Romney adviser Stuart Stevens' gleeful email to Ben Smith – and might I add that there is something unseemly about an ostensible Republican using Politico for what is essentially an internal debate? – crowing over Governor Rick Perry's rather sensible observation that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme:
"He has lost. No federal candidate has ever won on the Perry program to kill Social Security. Never has. never will."
A few things: first off, note that what Perry said is not what Romney had his minion accuse Perry of saying. Just to get that out of the way. Second – and much more importantly – federal candidates can in fact say in public that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme and still win elections. Just ask Senator Ron Johnson (R, WI).
Please click here for the rest of the post.
8.
The Obama campaign has set up a voter registration effort for the next election called "Project Vote" – the same name as a voter registration organization closely associated with Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN). The selection of this name for Obama's effort raises serious questions about what Obama intends to do with his get out the vote campaign.
Project Vote's connection to ACORN links it to voter registration fraud in the 2008 elections. Prior to the summer of 2008 (when an ACORN embezzlement scandal became public), Project Vote's board was made up entirely of ACORN staff members and ACORN members, according to The New York Times. An internal report by ACORN's lawyer Elizabeth Kingsley indicated that due to the tight relationship between Project Vote and ACORN, it was impossible to document that Project Vote's money had been used in a nonpartisan manner as required by law. ACORN and Project Vote ran voter registration drives which were largely underwritten by Project Vote in 2008 in states Obama needed to win the White House. Former Project Vote employee and ACORN whistleblower Anita Moncrief testified to under oath in 2008 that "Project Vote is a sister organization of ACORN. When I got there, I actually thought I was working for ACORN. . . I learned there wasn't much of a difference" between the two groups.
September 8, 2011
I'll be on radio breaking down this ridiculous farce tonight
I'll be on the radio tonight starting at 9pm to break down this ridiculous farce of a speech. You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com and call in to vent at 1-800-WSB-TALK.
Consider this an open thread.
The Obligatory Word Cloud For Tired Old Rhetoric
This speech sounds pretty much exactly like all his other failed speeches. Pretty much every job he talks about, just like in 2009, 2010, and 2011 are government jobs or jobs dependent on government.
The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working. It will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for the long-term unemployed. It will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and every small business. It will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled, and give companies confidence that if they invest and hire, there will be customers for their products and services. You should pass this jobs plan right away.
and
Building a world-class transportation system is part of what made us an economic superpower. And now we're going to sit back and watch China build newer airports and faster railroads? At a time when millions of unemployed construction workers could build them right here in America?
and on and on and on.
But there's no sputnik moment this time.
Compare, again, to his previous speeches:February 24, 2009:
Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90% of these jobs will be in the private sector – jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges; constructing wind turbines and solar panels; laying broadband and expanding mass transit.
Because of this plan, there are teachers who can now keep their jobs and educate our kids. Health care professionals can continue caring for our sick. There are 57 police officers who are still on the streets of Minneapolis tonight because this plan prevented the layoffs their department was about to make.
Because of this plan, 95% of the working households in America will receive a tax cut – a tax cut that you will see in your paychecks beginning on April 1st.
Because of this plan, families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax credit for all four years of college. And Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession will be able to receive extended unemployment benefits and continued health care coverage to help them weather this storm.
As a result, millions of Americans had more to spend on gas and food and other necessities, all of which helped businesses keep more workers. And we haven't raised income taxes by a single dime on a single person. Not a single dime. (Applause.)
Because of the steps we took, there are about two million Americans working right now who would otherwise be unemployed. (Applause.) Two hundred thousand work in construction and clean energy; 300,000 are teachers and other education workers. Tens of thousands are cops, firefighters, correctional officers, first responders. (Applause.) And we're on track to add another one and a half million jobs to this total by the end of the year.
The plan that has made all of this possible, from the tax cuts to the jobs, is the Recovery Act. (Applause.) That's right -– the Recovery Act, also known as the stimulus bill.
Over the last two years, we have begun rebuilding for the 21st century, a project that has meant thousands of good jobs for the hard-hit construction industry. Tonight, I'm proposing that we redouble these efforts.
We will put more Americans to work repairing crumbling roads and bridges. We will make sure this is fully paid for, attract private investment, and pick projects based on what's best for the economy, not politicians.
All You Need To Know About the President's Speech
(1) The President will take Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO with him to Congress tonight. Trumka's union saw 500 of its members storm a business last night, take hostages, and destroy property. The President will also take Jeffrey Immelt of GE with him. General Electric is a prime example of a business that has profited lately not through the free market, but through the government picking winners and losers.
(2) Solydra, which got millions from Barack Obama in his last stimulus and had the President champion its cause, got raided by the FBi today.
(3) We would not have to be subjected to this tonight if President Obama's last attempts had worked — including attempts from when the the Democrats controlled both the White House and Congress.
Tonight we will hear nothing new — just repackaged, failed ideas.
Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90% of these jobs will be in the private sector – jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges; constructing wind turbines and solar panels; laying broadband and expanding mass transit.
Because of this plan, there are teachers who can now keep their jobs and educate our kids. Health care professionals can continue caring for our sick. There are 57 police officers who are still on the streets of Minneapolis tonight because this plan prevented the layoffs their department was about to make.
Because of this plan, 95% of the working households in America will receive a tax cut – a tax cut that you will see in your paychecks beginning on April 1st.
Because of this plan, families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax credit for all four years of college. And Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession will be able to receive extended unemployment benefits and continued health care coverage to help them weather this storm.
As a result, millions of Americans had more to spend on gas and food and other necessities, all of which helped businesses keep more workers. And we haven't raised income taxes by a single dime on a single person. Not a single dime. (Applause.)
Because of the steps we took, there are about two million Americans working right now who would otherwise be unemployed. (Applause.) Two hundred thousand work in construction and clean energy; 300,000 are teachers and other education workers. Tens of thousands are cops, firefighters, correctional officers, first responders. (Applause.) And we're on track to add another one and a half million jobs to this total by the end of the year.
The plan that has made all of this possible, from the tax cuts to the jobs, is the Recovery Act. (Applause.) That's right -– the Recovery Act, also known as the stimulus bill.
Over the last two years, we have begun rebuilding for the 21st century, a project that has meant thousands of good jobs for the hard-hit construction industry. Tonight, I'm proposing that we redouble these efforts.
We will put more Americans to work repairing crumbling roads and bridges. We will make sure this is fully paid for, attract private investment, and pick projects based on what's best for the economy, not politicians.
Just words and status quo.
Alarm Bells at the White House Over David Weprin's Race in NY-9
Unlike the other New York special election races where the Democrats batted a thousand and the media covered them as prognosticators of doom and gloom for the GOP, there's been radio silence for the most part on the special election to replace Anthony Weiner in NY-9.
But there are alarm bells going on at the White House and the DNC. The DCCC just dropped a half-million dollars into a district the Democrats should easily win.
The House Majority PAC is suddenly dumping money into the race.
The DCCC is "said to be 'panicking'" about the race. They should. This was Chuck Schumer's district and Anthony Weiner's district and the race is extremely close. Voters in NY-9 want to send a message to Barack Obama that they hate his policies on Israel (the district is strongly Jewish) and they hate his economics proposals.
A prominent Democrat and member of the Jewish community, Dov Hikind crossed party lines to endorse Republican Bob Turner against Democrat David Weprin.
Weprin himself is now shelling out over $260,000.00 in this solidly blue district to combat the Republican surge. Oh, his ad sucks too.
That Republicans are doing so well in a New York City district that his solidly Democrat should be a terribly warning sign for Democrats. If the GOP wins, and the odds are still against them, Barack Obama will suddenly become more toxic. If this district crumbles, we may just see a real move for a primary challenge against Barack Obama.
You might want to send some money Bob Turner's way. The special election is Tuesday.
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