Erick Erickson's Blog, page 117

Morning Briefing for September 6, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For September 6, 2011

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

1. South Carolina and the Campaign Trail

2. This is the current Texas wildfire situation.

3. The Benefit of Being In Charge

4. The Horserace

5. No, we did not "learn to like" Obamacare

6. Labor Day & The Union Tax: How Unions Kill Jobs

7. The Wadded Panties of Jonathan Capehart

8. Illegal Aliens Receive $4.2 Billion in Additional Child Tax Credits

———————————————————————-

1. South Carolina and the Campaign Trail

On Saturday, Sarah Palin went to Iowa to lament crony capitalism in both parties. Her aides said she was taking shots at Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. We don't know for sure whether or not she was because Sarah Palin herself did not confirm it. History is full of times Palin aides said something only to find Palin herself contradicting the aides.

Yesterday, Sarah Palin went to New Hampshire and said we shouldn't be squabbling with each other on the same team.

What do Jesus and Sarah Palin have in common? Only God knows the hour of their coming to save mankind. I give up and I'm tired of being teased.

Yesterday, in South Carolina, Jim DeMint hosted a forum that should be the model for future Presidential debates. He allotted time for each candidate to appear on stage and answer questions from conservatives about things conservatives what to know about. My only quibble is that, while I have tremendous respect for Robert George, I think Professor George went too far into the weeds on topics he personally cares about and, while every other conservative cares about them, are not the focus of the year in politics. Otherwise, it was nice to have non-sound bite answers to non-sound bite questions.

While all of this was happening, a shakeup happened at Michele Bachmann's campaign. My friend Ed Rollins is stepping aside as the campaign manager and the deputy campaign manager is out too. Ed says he is too old for the day to day grind of a campaign and is worried about his health. This news comes as Bachmann tries to stop her slide in the polls.

The guy everyone wanted to hear from in South Carolina, Rick Perry, was a no show. And we can now behold the disgusting rancor of a number of folks who cannot set their cheerleading for their own guy aside.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. This is the current Texas wildfire situation.

Just to make it clear precisely what we're talking about, here: it's not good. 25,000 acres burned so far, and the state is apparently as dry as a bone right now, thanks to a drought. Let me show you the extent of the problem.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. The Benefit of Being In Charge

There is a benefit to being in a position of elected leadership. We've seen it once in this GOP Presidential campaign.

On a stage of former this's and former that's, the issue of Libya came up in one of the first debates. Michele Bachmann gave a more thorough and complete answer than any of the other candidates and it was premised with the authority of being a current member of the Intelligence Committee.

In that moment, a lot of people who had dismissed her realized there was something there.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. The Horserace

It's time to step back a bit and expand the horserace out. Why? There are five debates coming up in rapid succession. A lot of people think if someone unexpected has a knockout performance the person could be revitalized and get back in the game.

I actually think the more likely scenario is to take people out via debates, not put people back in. But Newt Gingrich did get a bump in some places after his last polling. It won't help, but he got to call himself the come back kid. Michele Bachmann is trending down right now. Rick Perry looks to be the front runner, but I don't think he is.

Let's go through all the candidates today. All of them. No man out or listed as "former." Where do I see them all? Here we go.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. No, we did not "learn to like" Obamacare

"As people learn what's actually in the bill, that six months from now, by election time, this is going to be a plus because the parade of horribles, particularly the worry that the average middle class person has that this is going to affect them negatively, will have vanished and they'll see that it'll affect them positively in many ways…"

— NY Sen. Chuck Schumer, on "Meet The Press", March 28, 2010

Most of us thought Chuck Schumer was full of it in March, 2010 (among other times/places/etc.), and…we were right.

Today, Rasmussen Reports released their latest poll on Obamacare. For the second week in a row, Rasmussen showed that 57% of registered voters would like to see Obamacare repealed (36% oppose repeal).

Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. Labor Day & The Union Tax: How Unions Kill Jobs

The Labor Day holiday is always a time for union bosses and the media to reflect on the role that unions play in society. Not surprisingly, with a mere 11.9% of America's workers unionized today (6.9% in the private sector), between the unionized media and press releases issued by union communications departments, the majority of stories about Labor Day center on what used to be or the current ills ailing the moribund labor movement.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

7. The Wadded Panties of Jonathan Capehart

The kerfuffle over the scheduling of Obama's re-election kickoff event continues to be the gift that keeps on giving.

In the space of just a few hours on Wednesday, Obama demonstrated his pettiness and his weakness in a way the GOP could never have. What is so hilarious is watching the left change from cheering Obama on to whimpering in a dark corner as their man-god, their light worker, their herder of unicorns is revealed to be an inept Jimmy Carter. Take Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post as an example.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

8. Illegal Aliens Receive $4.2 Billion in Additional Child Tax Credits

Throughout the entire debt ceiling imbroglio, Democrats incessantly regurgitated the talking point about the need for "a balanced approach." They were so uniform and synchronized that they sounded like the sheep in Animal Farm. Ironically, their idea of a balanced approach was singularly focused upon Oil Company and corporate tax deductions, which are negligible compared to the crushing debt. The targeted oil tax deductions would have brought in $2 billion in annual revenue, while the cancellation of the corporate jet depreciation deduction would have saved only $3 billion over 10 years!

Well, it turns out that illegal aliens, most of which pay zero in net taxes, enjoyed $4.2 billion from the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) last year. That's more than the annual revenue from the selected oil tax deductions and corporate jet deductions combined!

Please click here for the rest of the post.

9. In Praise of Jon Huntsman

For the first time since World War II, the American economy has created net ZERO jobs. I have seen a way to jump start recovery. And amazingly Jon Huntsman is leading the way.

I realize that with Rick Perry announcing at the RedState Gathering I am supposed to be in Rick Perry's camp or something. In truth, I would be glad to support any of the Republican candidates and absolutely will not endorse a single one of them.

The only candidate in the GOP I do not care for is Jon Huntsman. I have made those reasons clear and there is no reason to hash them out there again because I want to sing his praises right now. Shocking, I know.

Ambassador/Governor Huntsman has released his plan to jump start the economy. It is really good. It sets a much higher bar for the GOP than the other candidates. In fact, I dare say the other candidates are on notice that Huntsman's plan should be their benchmark.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

The Benefit of Being In Charge

There is a benefit to being in a position of elected leadership. We've seen it once in this GOP Presidential campaign.

On a stage of former this's and former that's, the issue of Libya came up in one of the first debates. Michele Bachmann gave a more thorough and complete answer than any of the other candidates and it was premised with the authority of being a current member of the Intelligence Committee.

In that moment, a lot of people who had dismissed her realized there was something there.

Now today the candidates are convening in South Carolina for a forum held by Senator Jim DeMint. I was supposed to be there, but due to Tropical Storm Lee and the coming ten inches of rain I'm waiting for, I'll be on CNN tonight from Atlanta instead of trying to navigate the roads between home and Columbia.

Another person who will not be there is Governor Rick Perry of Texas.

Unlike the other candidates on stage with gubernatorial stylings, Perry lacks the word "former" in front of the title. Consequently, while the other candidates get to appear on television trying to prove their leadership abilities through hypothetical scenarios of what they would do, Perry is in Texas actually doing and showing in real time.

There is an advantage to be being an elected official running for higher office. This, and the priorities it suggests, helps those candidates who have not yet acquired the word "former."

Oddly enough, about the only person who does not seem right now to benefit from a leadership title is President Obama who, we saw from the debt ceiling debacle, saw his polling numbers decline every time he stepped in front of a camera.

On An Hour Early Tonight #EERS

I'm on an hour early tonight. We'll get into why zero is not Obama's hero. Also, the Democrats' campaign strategy is shaping up to be scorched earth.

You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com and call in at 800-WSB-TALK.

Consider this an open thread.

The Horserace for September 2, 2011

IA Caucus: Feb. 6, 2012

NH Primary: Feb. 14, 2012

NV Caucus: Feb. 18, 2012

SC Primary: Feb. 28, 2012

It's time to step back a bit and expand the horserace out. Why? There are five debates coming up in rapid succession. A lot of people think if someone unexpected has a knockout performance the person could be revitalized and get back in the game.

I actually think the more likely scenario is to take people out via debates, not put people back in. But Newt Gingrich did get a bump in some places after his last polling. It won't help, but he got to call himself the come back kid. Michele Bachmann is trending down right now. Rick Perry looks to be the front runner, but I don't think he is.

Let's go through all the candidates today. All of them. No man out or listed as "former." Where do I see them all? Here we go.

Michele Bachmann

Interestingly, the first attack ad out against Rick Perry is from Michele Bachmann, not Mitt Romney. It did not come directly from the Bachmann campaign, but from a Super PAC supporting Bachmann. It does suggest some worry there. But there is more for Bachmann to be worried about. She has lost traction in Iowa.

I've spent a lot of time talking to people on the ground in Iowa and South Carolina in the past week and there is a sense among activists on the ground that Bachmann is starting to fade. It is not that they do not like her. In fact, they love her. But there is a creeping sense that she cannot beat Obama and they want someone who can beat Obama.

Right now that is working to Rick Perry's favor, but there is no guarantee he can keep it up. Bachmann needs to avoid gaffes in the coming debates. That has worked against her with this growing sense, though fostered by the media, setting into people's minds that Bachmann's mouth gets her in trouble.

Given her past debate performances, she is going to shine. The question is whether she shines enough to overcome the perception that she cannot win. It's a nebulous feeling and nebulous how to fix something like it. But the sense is there among the grassroots now and it is dragging her down in the polls.

Herman Cain

When the other candidates were in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida this past week, Herman Cain went to Israel. I interviewed him this week about it and two things struck me. First, Herman sold it as a fact finding mission and attending the Glenn Beck rally. But Herman did not speak at the Beck rally. Second, while a fact finding mission and the ability to talk about who he saw and what he learned is really awesome, most candidates do that before actually getting into the race.

Spending resources to go to Israel during the middle of a campaign is not a good use of time, talent, or treasure. Compounding that is going to the Beck rally and getting minimal media exposure out of it. There is a general sense in the media, frustrating to the Cain camp, that his time is over.

There are five debates and Cain is a great debater. The PPP poll shows him in fourth place in South Carolina. If he hits it out of the park, he's going to get a bounce. But with the media and public (reflected in Herman's declining poll numbers) of the opinion he never made it into the top tier, he's going to be fighting for attention.

Newt Gingrich

Newt is calling himself the come back kid. Ironic considering that's what the media called Bill Clinton in 1992.

Newt calls himself this because after the Iowa debate, Newt bumped up in Louisiana and Missouri, among other places. First of all, those state polls are irrelevant this far out. He has to do well in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. He is not.

Gingrich is also out of money. My guess is he wants to hang on as long as possible, hope these five debates get him elevated enough in the polls that when the primaries come around he can get some matching funds to pay off campaign debt. That seems to be the only rationale left for the Gingrich campaign, i.e. he cannot afford to get out of the race now.

As I've said repeatedly, expect Gingrich to shine in the debates. He does well in debates. Debating and speaking are not his problems. Everything else is. And everything outside the debates has kept and will keep Newt Gingrich from being the nominee.

Jon Huntsman

I still can't figure out Jon Huntsman. His economic plan is deeply conservative and pro-growth. But everything else about him is a nothing burger. He has positioned himself as the guy to go to if you don't like Romney or Perry, but there are not enough people outside the press and D.C. establishment to go to him. He barely has a pulse in Iowa, South Carolina, or New Hampshire.

The slow and steady approach did Tim Pawlenty in, but Pawlenty at least had some incremental increases in the polls. Huntsman is the opposite. The longer he stays in, the further down he goes. He is now polling less than Gary Johnson.

His economic plan puts me more at ease with him, but his rhetoric against his own base is appalling and I don't see him shining in the debates. The first debate he was in he made the "prayer" crack about Perry and did not come across well in exchanges. He may have the pretty image on the trail, but that worked out well for John Edwards too.

Gary Johnson

Johnson is not worth spending time on. He has gone no where and his polling higher than Huntsman by a point is largely a matter of the margin of error. He will not be the nominee.

Thad McCotter

Thad McCotter is a good man, but he is not going to be the nominee. He has done nothing substantive to crack into the race, make a name for himself, or poll high enough to really even get into the debates. Given his musical background, he could perhaps use the Gibson guitar story to make a name for himself, but nothing suggests it would be more than a flash then fade.

Sarah Palin

I absolutely do not think Sarah Palin is running.

This past week suggests to me that if she runs her staff relationship will be her own worst enemy. She has some great, great staffers, which is why I cannot fathom how the hullabaloo over the Iowa speech got out of control. First, her staff gave reporters the impression the speech was cancelled. Then it was just on hold. Then it was back on again. Then on hold. Then back on again.

It was not a media hit job. It was a major miscommunication. Compounding it was the Palin echo chamber of supposed Palin prophets trying to divine her every move who were reduced to babbling about "unless you hear it from Palin herself, don't believe it."

Governor Palin is either running for President or she is not. Either way, if we cannot hear things from her staff and take it on face value, there is a serious micro-management problem that is going to trip her up. Governor Palin first needs to decide whether or not she is running and let us all know. Right now, the biggest problems Sarah Palin has on the way to the White House, if she were to go, is a perception that there are internal managerial problems such as what led to this past week's issues and then, even more so, the most aggressive Palin fans who have become worse than a lot of Ron Paul fans. They have made it about Palin the person, not the policies. At least Ron Paul supporters have the gold standard and, at least a good portion of them, a shared hatred of Israel.

Sarah Palin is a great asset to the Republican Party. Running for President would disrupt her position and, while it might emboldened a core group of supporters increasingly detected from reality the more they've made it about Palin the person instead of the policies, every poll from the Fox poll to the CNN poll to the Gallup poll and more show the long perceived tease of "will she or won't she" has hurt her chances and the public — the Republican base — would now prefer she not get in.

That adds another hurtle to the already high hurtles she'd face if she did get in.

Ron Paul

Ron Paul will not be the nominee.

Rick Perry

Rick Perry is not the front runner. I know his campaign is cool with you saying he is. And I know the media says he is. There are signs he is becoming the front runner. Typically, the front runner is the guy who beats Obama in the polling and polling is starting to show Perry not at parity with Obama, but ahead of Obama.

Here's why he is not the front runner though — he has not been on the debate stage yet. And when he gets there, a lot of fire will be trained on him. If Perry can withstand the fire and hold his own, he is the front runner. In fact, if Perry makes it through September relatively unscathed, he is the nominee. But he has to survive September. People are starting to pay attention to the field and attacks will start to resonate more than they have.

Perry does have one unique advantage in the field — the Goldilocks effect on spending. Huh?

Well, the left has given up trying to say Perry had a budget deficit because they can't. He signed a balanced budget for a two year period and for the first time scaled back the size and scope of government in Texas. So the left's approach is to attack Perry now for substantial cuts hurting the poor.

Contrast that with the Bachmann Super PAC attacking Perry for "doubling spending in ten years." So which is it? Has he blown up spending or cut it back to hurt the poor? He's Goldilocks on this issue.

Mitt Romney

Here is Mitt's problem — people want to support someone else. In head to head matches within the GOP, Romney loses to both Bachmann and Perry. He is perceived as the establishment candidate in a year when the GOP wants nothing to do with the establishment. He is seen as the centrist candidate and voters remember him as the conservative alternative in 2008. So the base is having a collective "WTF" moment on who MItt Romney is. That makes them less willing to support him.

Compounding this is that outside of lobbyists and hired guns, Romney has no natural constituency this year.

He is left to use the Obama attack on Perry that Perry had nothing to do with job creation in Texas. The problem for Romney and Obama is two fold — first, for Romney, to make this line of attack, he is going to have to ignore his record in Massachusetts and run as "Bain Capital" in a year when folks on the left and right both hate Wall Street. Second, for Obama, if Perry had nothing to do with job creation in Texas then Bill Clinton had nothing to do with job creation in the U.S. back in the 90′s. Notice how the old Clinton hands are not taking up this argument.

It puts Romney in an awkward position.

The better position for Romney is to go after Perry as the career politician — a line that I think will resonate more. The problem for Romney here too is that he would be a career politician except he kept losing elections. Still, it is a better approach than trying to tell the world Perry, as Governor for a decade, can't take credit for being Chief Executive of Texas.

The other Romney problem is his well known stiffness on the campaign trail. He's now forced to compete with another tier one candidate — the first real match for Romney in tier one — and the competitor is routinely referred to by Democrats as the "Republican Bill Clinton," not for his personal life, but because of his ability to connect with people on the campaign trail. Romney is not a retail politician. He is an executive.

This just seems less and less to be Romney's year. If he gets it, it won't be because people are excited about MItt Romney. It'll be because the GOP had to settle for Romney, partly through attacks Romney leveled at the voters' preferred alternatives. Not exactly a way to win friends and influence people.

For all the talk about this election being about "beating Obama," the base still would rather have someone they love, not what would amount to an arranged marriage.

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum will not be the nominee. He's great on social issues. He has a terrible fiscal record in the Senate. Fiscal records are key right now. Rick Santorum cannot win.

Listing of Presidential candidates

I consider "former" candidates

(in order of being dropped)

Gary Johnson

Rick Santorum

Thad McCotter

Newt Gingrich

Tim Pawlenty

Herman Cain

In Praise of Jon Huntsman

For the first time since World War II, the American economy has created net ZERO jobs. I have seen a way to jump start recovery. And amazingly Jon Huntsman is leading the way.

I realize that with Rick Perry announcing at the RedState Gathering I am supposed to be in Rick Perry's camp or something. In truth, I would be glad to support any of the Republican candidates and absolutely will not endorse a single one of them.

The only candidate in the GOP I do not care for is Jon Huntsman. I have made those reasons clear and there is no reason to hash them out there again because I want to sing his praises right now. Shocking, I know.

Ambassador/Governor Huntsman has released his plan to jump start the economy. It is really good. It sets a much higher bar for the GOP than the other candidates. In fact, I dare say the other candidates are on notice that Huntsman's plan should be their benchmark.

In Huntsman's economic plan, he would eliminate the alternative minimum tax, eliminate the capital gains tax, lower the corporate tax rate to 25%, and dramatically simplify the individual income tax code with a maximum rate of 25% while getting rid of all deductions.

Huntsman would also push for comprehensive patent reform — real patent reform instead of what both Republicans and Democrats are current pushing. Hopefully he'll support the elimination of patents altogether on software.

The plan also is aggressively in favor of free trade and energy independence, including building out our use of natural gas, but without ridiculous government subsidization.

Jon Huntsman campaign has used conservatives, particularly social conservatives, as his whipping boy to get media attention lately. He doesn't have my support for his Presidential campaign given his campaign strategy to seemingly alienate the conservative base.

But let's be clear that his economic plan is deeply conservative and is based, in part, on his record as Governor of Utah. The other Republican candidates should look to this plan as a good benchmark for recovery moving forward.

The Ad Campaign

I have in my head an ad campaign I think the GOP should get ready to roll out for the general election, regardless of the nominee.

In Idaho, a man saw a female grizzly bear enter his backyard while his kids were playing in the back yard. He did the only reasonable thing he could. He got a gun and killed the bear. Then he immediately called the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. The federal government is now prosecuting him for killing the grizzly instead of letting it kill and eat his kids.

In Virginia, an 11 year old rescued a protected woodpecker species from the jaws of a cat and kept it in a cage to make sure it would survive. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services official showed up on the family's front door step with a state trooper and ordered the girl's mother to appear in federal court on charges that could send her to jail for a year. Only an ensuing media backlash got the government to stand down.

Then there is the Gibson guitar case where the government, assuming the facts are as presented, wanted Gibson Guitar to create jobs, not in the United States, but in Madagascar and India.

There are the independent oil and gas companies in Louisiana shut down by Barack Obama taking advantage of the BP oil spill crisis to rid himself of Gulf of Mexico oil drillers.

The list goes on and on. So the ad would be very simple.

Victim of government abuse looks into the camera and tells his/her story.

Candidate then says, "Barack Obama's government has gone wild. Is it any wonder businesses are worried about investing and citizens cannot find jobs? It's time to tame Washington."

Barack Obama might want to run against Congress, but it is not John Boehner's branch of government fining eleven year olds and hauling men off to jail for saving their children's lives.

Morning Briefing for September 2, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For September 2, 2011

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

1. The Ad Campaign

2. Solar Power Business Model Unsustainable

3. Shock National Journal Poll: Romney Staffers Think Romney Should be GOP Nominee

4. The Euphocrats

5. Nebraska Gov. Heineman to the Left of Obama Administration on Keystone Pipeline

———————————————————————-

1. The Ad Campaign

I have in my head an ad campaign I think the GOP should get ready to roll out for the general election, regardless of the nominee.

In Idaho, a man saw a female grizzly bear enter his backyard while his kids were playing in the back yard. He did the only reasonable thing he could. He got a gun and killed the bear. Then he immediately called the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. The federal government is now prosecuting him for killing the grizzly instead of letting it kill and eat his kids.

In Virginia, an 11 year old rescued a protected woodpecker species from the jaws of a cat and kept it in a cage to make sure it would survive. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services official showed up on the family's front door step with a state trooper and ordered the girl's mother to appear in federal court on charges that could send her to jail for a year. Only an ensuing media backlash got the government to stand down.

Then there is the Gibson guitar case where the government, assuming the facts are as presented, wanted Gibson Guitar to create jobs, not in the United States, but in Madagascar and India.

There are the independent oil and gas companies in Louisiana shut down by Barack Obama taking advantage of the BP oil spill crisis to rid himself of Gulf of Mexico oil drillers.

The list goes on and on. So the ad would be very simple.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Solar Power Business Model Unsustainable

The Obama administration has been trying to foist green industry on uninterested Americans since he first stepped in to office three years ago. So far, the efforts have been less than successful. The Chevy Volt has miserable sales, wind-power has proven to be something less than a viable alternative, and now it appears that reality is catching up with solar power as well.

Solyndra is a solar panel maker that was propped up by the administration having been awarded over half a billion dollars in loan guarantees. Now, the company is going under and taking all that money and 1,100 employees jobs with it.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Shock National Journal Poll: Romney Staffers Think Romney Should be GOP Nominee

Earlier today National Journal released its latest poll of the opinions of Beltway insiders. According to the National Journal news story about the new poll, entitled "Insiders: GOP Would Be Better Off With Romney for 2012," many GOP insiders think Romney is a much better candidate than Rick Perry. What National Journal failed to inform its readers is that at least 30 of the 141 GOP operatives polled — nearly 25 percent of the GOP sample — currently work for Romney or worked for his 2008 presidential campaign. Only one insider was readily identified in a Google search as being a member of Team Perry.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. The Euphocrats

Ever notice how adept the Democrats are at the use of euphemisms to try to hide their agenda? We've seen it a number of times recently: "revenue enhancements" instead of "tax increases" during the debt limit debate, or "balanced approach", which again hid the Obama agenda of jacking up taxes. How about the efforts of Debbie Wasserman-Schulz ("competitive option") and Nancy Pelosi ("consumer option") to hide the real Democrat agenda of governmental intrusion in private health insurance (the semi-euphemistic "public option"). Even the Harry Reid Democrats' use of "compromise" is a veiled attempt at hiding their agenda of "my way or the highway".

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Nebraska Gov. Heineman to the Left of Obama Administration on Keystone Pipeline

After three years of cumbersome red tape, environmental impact studies, and endless litigation, the Canadian Keystone KL Pipeline extension project is close to obtaining final approval from the State Department. This $7 billion pipeline project, when completed, would transport over 700,000 barrels of oil per day from the Canadian tar sands in northeast Alberta to the hungry oil refineries on the Texas Gulf coast. This project, along with current imports, would deliver 10% of our energy needs from our most friendly ally, by using the safest, most efficient means of transportation; a pipeline.

Due to the international scope of this project, the State Department was required to sign off on its final approval. Despite the issuance of two favorable impact studies from the State Department, the EPA had refused to issue the requisite permits for this 1,800-mile pipeline – an endeavor that would create close to 120,000 primary and secondary jobs and generate $5.2 billion in property tax revenue for Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

We Don't Need a Speech. We Need Jobs.

President Obama and Speaker Boehner have agreed that the President will address a joint session of the Congress next Thursday. The President wanted Wednesday during the GOP debate, but John Boehner said no. Folks at the White House said the Speaker had been consulted before they put it in writing and did not object. Speaker Boehner's staff say he was not consulted prior to receiving the President's request. It doesn't really matter. People are beyond tired of speeches from Washington.

As the President addresses the nation, Arizona will face off against Oklahoma for a college football game and the NFL regular season will start.

The President had two years with his party controlling the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. They managed to pass a stimulus bill that, by 2010, was such a dismal disaster the President would not even use the word "stimulus." Remember that press conference?

The Democrats then pivoted to health care claiming it was about entitlement reform and related to jobs.

Every time the President has pivoted to jobs a funny thing has happened — we've wound up losing more jobs.

How many mulligans will we give our golfer-in-chief?

In early 1992, facing a struggling economy and an increasingly tough re-election bid, President George H. W. Bush decided to give a talk from the White House about the economy and his jobs plan. The media largely refused to carry it because it was, in their eyes, a campaign event.

In August of 2011, President Obama toured the nation in a campaign event paid for 100% by American taxpayers out of the federal treasury. Now in September of 2011, the President intends to take his campaign road show to the floor of the United States House of Representatives.

He first tried to do it on a Wednesday night, which would have disrupted the GOP debate. Back in 2009, when Dick Cheney decided to speak at AEI, President Obama decided to have a press conference to try to step on Cheney. This is par for the course.

Well, for those of you who believe in karma, on Thursday night President Obama is going to get stepped on by the millions of Americans who don't want another speech, just a job. And until they get one, they'll at least distract themselves with football instead of Captain Bull Malarkey and 24th and a half jobs plan.

Morning Briefing for September 1, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For September 1, 2011

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

1. We Don't Need a Speech. We Need Jobs.

2. DOJ Advises Gibson Guitar to Export Labor to Madagascar

3. Ezra Klein vs. the Dictionary

4. Dana Milbank: Perry Is Not A Libertarian

5. The Arrogant Left Hates Rural, Conservative America.

6. DoJ targets AT&T: The story behind the story

7. Obama Makes the Case for State Control of Surface Transportation

8. Is Ryan Lizza An Idiot or Willfully Distorting Christian Theology?

9. 'Jihad Joe' and the Radicalization of American Muslims

———————————————————————-

1. We Don't Need a Speech. We Need Jobs.

President Obama and Speaker Boehner have agreed that the President will address a joint session of the Congress next Thursday. The President wanted Wednesday during the GOP debate, but John Boehner said no. Folks at the White House said the Speaker had been consulted before they put it in writing and did not object. Speaker Boehner's staff say he was not consulted prior to receiving the President's request. It doesn't really matter. People are beyond tired of speeches from Washington.

As the President addresses the nation, Arizona will face off against Oklahoma for a college football game and the NFL regular season will start.

The President had two years with his party controlling the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. They managed to pass a stimulus bill that, by 2010, was such a dismal disaster the President would not even use the word "stimulus." Remember that press conference?

The Democrats then pivoted to health care claiming it was about entitlement reform and related to jobs.

Every time the President has pivoted to jobs a funny thing has happened — we've wound up losing more jobs.

How many mulligans will we give our golfer-in-chief?

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. DOJ Advises Gibson Guitar to Export Labor to Madagascar

The Gibson Guitar saga has taken a sinister turn.

It seems that the Department of Justice wasn't satisfied with merely raiding the law abiding factories of Gibson Guitar with armed agents, shutting down their operation costing them millions, and leaving the American company in the dark as to how to proceed without shutting down.

Now, according to CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, agents of the United States government are bluntly informing them that they'd be better off shipping their manufacturing labor overseas.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Ezra Klein vs. the Dictionary

Ezra Klein is the twenty something leftwing hack who has never had a real job in the private sector beyond the lefty think tank and pundit shops in DC. Somehow or another he got a cushy gig pretending to be objective at the Washington Post where he continues to mouth off on economic policy from a decidedly left-wing bent.

It's gotten so bad that Ezra Klein is forced to play word games and lie to win an argument on social security. Klein wants to win an argument against the Republicans on social security. So what does he do? He has to reinvent a new definition of ponzi scheme.

Klein relies on liberal blogger/polisci guy Jonathan Bernstein to give him his definition, which is to define a ponzi scheme as "a fraud that relies on new investors being unaware of the program's financing mechanism." And OH MY GOSH!!!!! social security is fully transparent therefore it cannot be a Ponzi scheme.

EZRA IS BETTER THAN WELL WHO CARES. HE WINS!!!!!

Except he only wins by willfully changing the definition of a ponzi scheme. I say willfully because he can't be that stupid can he?

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Dana Milbank: Perry Is Not A Libertarian

A few years ago NRO's Jonah Goldberg coined the term Conservatives in the Mist to describe what happens when liberals set out to explain conservatives to liberals. Recently, we've seen The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza engage in egregious and hopefully painful self-beclowning while attempting to explain garden variety Christianity to his neo-pagan readership.

Now the Washington Post's one-man Fifth Column, the absurd Dana Milbank, undertakes the task of using the Conservatives in the Mist methodology to explain to Republicans why Texas Governor Rick Perry is on the fringe. His killer argument:

"Yes, Perry is passionately anti-government, or at least anti-this-government. But the man who suddenly tops the Republican presidential polls is no libertarian. Rick Perry is a theocrat."

I didn't realize that Rick Perry had ever claimed to be a libertarian.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. The Arrogant Left Hates Rural, Conservative America.

"It seems unjust to me that someone would be charged when they were protecting their family," state Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said after the hearing. "I'm at a loss to understand why the U.S. government is pursuing this in the manner they are."

(HT: The Spokesman Review)

Let me break this down for Representative Keough. I'll be blunt here, but without any disrespect intended. Jeremy M. Hill, a US Citizen, from Northern Idaho, shot and killed a female grizzly bear which had entered his backyard while two of his children were playing. This forced the US Government to choose whether it valued the grizzly bear more or two children of a US citizen, who happened to live in a Conservative, rural county.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. DoJ targets AT&T: The story behind the story

Yesterday it was announced that the Department of Justice will attempt to block AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile. The deal is needed for technical and regulatory reasons to allow AT&T to compete in the 4G wireless market with Verizon, Sprint/Clearwire, and with the upcoming competitor LightSquared. So why is the Department of Justice calling it bad for competition?

Enter R. Gerard Salemme. It's not a well-known name, but it's been an important one in the Obama administration. It's also a name that often comes up in the ventures of one Craig McCaw. Craig McCaw is an equal opportunity donor who gives to anyone who looks likely to win, including Gore 2000, Bush 2004, and both sides in 2008.

That $2,300 donation to Obama sure is paying off.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

7. Obama Makes the Case for State Control of Surface Transportation

Yesterday, Barack Obama decried the gridlock that has prevented Congress from passing a long-term surface transportation bill (highway bill) as unacceptable and inexcusable. He also asserted that we must formulate a policy in which funding would be directed to those districts that need it the most, instead of politically motivated pork, such as the bridge to nowhere (which he supported in the Senate). Well, unknowingly, Obama has made a strong case for transferring surface transportation funding, and its accompanying revenue source; the gasoline tax, back to the states.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

8. Is Ryan Lizza An Idiot or Willfully Distorting Christian Theology?

From Ben Domenech's excellent Transom, I found out some news I did not have when I wrote yesterday about Ryan Lizza's The New Yorker article where he got major, substantive facts wrong.

One of the things Lizza did was tie Michele Bachmann to Francis Schaeffer and Nancy Pearcey, who Lizza opined are "dominionists." Well, Schaeffer may be dead, but Nancy Pearcey is very much alive and has her own website. She has responded to Lizza's piece.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

9. 'Jihad Joe' and the Radicalization of American Muslims

AT A TIME when so many books on politics, religion, and world events are little more than puffed-up pamphlets which are simultaneously high on hyper-partisanship and low on facts, J. M. Berger's Jihad Joe, a treatment of the radicalization and actions of American Muslims who have dedicated themselves to "violent jihad" (the author's chosen term), is a breath of fresh – and troubling – air. Painstakingly researched and heavily footnoted (the author, an investigative journalist, consulted thousands of pages of court records and documents obtained through FOIA request, as well as source material from the making of multiple documentaries on jihadi activities in Bosnia and in the U.S.), Jihad Joe does not couch opinion as fact, but instead makes use of often disparate stories and information sources to weave together a factual account of radicalized American Muslims, from their diverse motivations and processed of radicalization to their actions.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

Back By Popular Demand — Ms. Maxy

Folks, I've been overwhelmed with requests to replay Ms. Maxy on Boortz's show and relink. Here you go.

Ace of Spades discovered Ms. Maxy on YouTube. I cleaned it up and put her on air today for Neal Boortz.

You can listen to the edited version that I played by clicking right here.