Erick Erickson's Blog, page 139
July 6, 2011
David Brooks Gets Played
It is a familiar tactic that the Democrats have used lately — say it enough times and hope someone believes it. I was traveling yesterday and couldn't comment on the David Brooks column, but it is more and more clear David Brooks got played.
The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, has talked about supporting a debt reduction measure of $3 trillion or even $4 trillion if the Republicans meet him part way. There are Democrats in the White House and elsewhere who would be willing to accept Medicare cuts if the Republicans would be willing to increase revenues.
This $3 to $4 trillion mysterious deal is the Democrats' talking point du jour. On CBS, Delaware Senator Chris Coons said the same.
"The next decade we can cut $4 trillion in federal spending. We can achieve real savings, and we've had plans on the table since March to do it in a bipartisan, responsible way. It's their intransigence, their refusal to consider any increase in revenue that has really stalled the talks so far. . . . I'm willing to make significant cuts in domestic spending and entitlement reform."
There's just one problem. This $4 trillion deal with entitlement reform does not actually exist. They may be saying that. David Brooks may be getting sweet nothings whispered in his ear by the White House. But there is no deal.This has become a familiar tactic by the Democrats in the past year when it comes to cutting the budget. We saw it with the continuing resolutions. We saw it with the Christmas 2010 tax extension deals. We're seeing it again. They claim there is an offer made, a deal on the table, and recalcitrant Republicans blocking the way.
But all along there is no offer. There is no deal. Heck, there isn't even a table.
They then rely on the media to whip up sentiment in favor of their mythical deal and wait for Republicans to fold. It's been an effective strategy for them so far. And yet again, David Brooks plays along.
The sad part is that this Democrat strategy says more about the media and the media's quest for deals and compromise and good government bias than anything else. The media gets played and played and played some more.
One exit point: the GOP should be on to this strategy. But we should pay attention to which Republicans actually fold in on this.
———————–
UPDATE: A friend points out that the Times has had to correct David's column. He originally wrote it as a "few hundred million" in tax increases. It's actually a few hundred billion. Was that a typo or did David get played that bad?!
Morning Briefing for July 6, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For July 6, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. I Think the Casey Anthony Verdict is a Good Thing
2. The Casey Anthony Verdict is Not an Endorsement of Our Criminal Justice System
3. Bobby Jindal's steadily-advancing re-election.
4. The Greek Debt Swap: Is it a Default, or isn't it?
5. Teamsters' Push For Shorter Hours May Leave Drivers Very Short On Pay
6. Corporate Welfare Gets New Life in the House
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1. I Think the Casey Anthony Verdict is a Good Thing
I have prided myself on not talking about this trial. But I think it is a wonderful verdict.
I don't know whether the woman killed her daughter or not. I have not kept up. But the media certainly thinks she did. And a lot of spectators think she did.
Here's the thing though — our justice system runs largely in the background of American conscience and as long as it does not come off the wheels, the public pays it little attention. Then something like this happens and it is a good reminder that neither judges nor juries nor government prosecutors are perfect and flawless.We live in a world where when the court says something is blue, we are all expected to bow to the judge and proclaim the something blue. When the court says something is constitutional, we are expected to do the same.
In the years between Plessy vs. Ferguson and Brown vs. Board of Education, nothing substantive affecting those decisions were placed in the constitution. And yet, the Court in Brown had to admit that the Court in Plessy was wrong. What had been constitutional was no longer constitutional.
Courts and people make mistakes. The greatest danger our society faces is the one we've already curled up in the fetal position and refused to make eye contact with — the oligarchy of the Judiciary.
The Casey Anthony trial is a state court case in Florida. But it was watched nationally by millions of people. I'll refrain from commenting on those people. But this afternoon, millions of people decided 12 jurors in Florida got it wrong and many of them think the government screwed up the case along the way.
It may be bad for the victim, but this reminder that courts should not and were never intended to be sacrosanct chambers of perfection is a very good thing.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. The Casey Anthony Verdict is Not an Endorsement of Our Criminal Justice System
When the Casey Anthony verdict was announced I expected celebration from her defense team. I was more taken aback by the celebratory tone taken by pundits like Geraldo Rivera and Judge Andrew Napolitano. Their position is the same one that many liberals, anti-death penalty activists and libertarians are promoting now: this proves the system works.
But it doesn't.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Bobby Jindal's steadily-advancing re-election.
55 has two major meanings, in fact:
First off, it's 'merely' Governor Bobby Jindal's approval rating in Louisiana last year – and unchanged, six months before the election*.
Second, it's the number of signatures on the latest recall petition against Jindal – a petition that expires next week.
If you look at the above Politico article from December, you might suspect that the Politico author might just be the slightest bit disappointed in the second bullet point… although it's highly unlikely that the author's name would have been on the petition, even if she did live in Louisiana. Which is kind of the point.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. The Greek Debt Swap: Is it a Default, or isn't it?
While you were watching imported Chinese fireworks yesterday, the Europeans were shooting off some home-grown ones.
The euro has been trading down for most of the last 24 hours, as S&P and Fitch announced that they would consider the French-led rollover plan for Greek debt a "selective" default.
What's really going on is that a negotiation is taking place over what should be the credit rating of Greece as an issuer, and of its particular debt issues. (Wouldn't it be nice if you could negotiate with ratings agencies over your credit rating, next time you have to borrow money?)
Greece has to "roll over" its existing debt (meaning, reissue it as it matures) without getting slaughtered on the interest rate or even failing to find lenders at all. And of course, they're running a budget deficit that's in the high single digits (ours is even higher, at about 11%), so they need to keep issuing brand new debt on top of the rolls.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Teamsters' Push For Shorter Hours May Leave Drivers Very Short On Pay
It is axiomatic—a given, if you will—that unions do not like workers to work overtime. Sure, they'll do it, but if unions had their druthers, the work week would be limited to 40 hours—in some cases unions prefer 35 hours. The reasoning is simple, the fewer hours worked, the more employees an employer must employ and, in a workplace where unions can require dues, the union makes more money.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. Corporate Welfare Gets New Life in the House
Ronald Reagan once said that, "The closest thing to eternity is a government program." Case in point: The Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank, which has made most every conservative list of programs to eliminate over the last few decades.
The House Financial Services Committee—controlled by Republicans—recently passed legislation (H.R. 2072) to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank, which is nothing more than corporate welfare to corporations that export. It was passed without a recorded vote so we don't know who would have opposed the legislation, but the voice vote does tell us that a sufficient number of conservatives did not mobilize against the legislation in committee.
In short, the Ex-Im Bank subsidizes lending (direct loans, loan guarantees, export credit insurance etc.) for American corporations that export and foreign corporations that purchase U.S. exports. H.R. 2072, authored by Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA), would extend the program for four years and increase the Bank's exposure cap by 60 percent from $100 billion to $160 billion.
July 5, 2011
Your Cathartic Casey Anthony Moment #EERS
OK. One night only. I'll talk about Casey Anthony in the first hour tonight and then we'll move on to who is lying to David Brooks or is he just a tool.
The phone number is 1-800-WSB-TALK and you can listen live at http://wsbradio.com.
Consider this an open thread.
I Think the Casey Anthony Verdict is a Good Thing
I have prided myself on not talking about this trial. But I think it is a wonderful verdict.
I don't know whether the woman killed her daughter or not. I have not kept up. But the media certainly thinks she did. And a lot of spectators think she did.
Here's the thing though — our justice system runs largely in the background of American conscience and as long as it does not come off the wheels, the public pays it little attention. Then something like this happens and it is a good reminder that neither judges nor juries nor government prosecutors are perfect and flawless.We live in a world where when the court says something is blue, we are all expected to bow to the judge and proclaim the something blue. When the court says something is constitutional, we are expected to do the same.
In the years between Plessy vs. Ferguson and Brown vs. Board of Education, nothing substantive affecting those decisions were placed in the constitution. And yet, the Court in Brown had to admit that the Court in Plessy was wrong. What had been constitutional was no longer constitutional.
Courts and people make mistakes. The greatest danger our society faces is the one we've already curled up in the fetal position and refused to make eye contact with — the oligarchy of the Judiciary.
The Casey Anthony trial is a state court case in Florida. But it was watched nationally by millions of people. I'll refrain from commenting on those people. But this afternoon, millions of people decided 12 jurors in Florida got it wrong and many of them think the government screwed up the case along the way.
It may be bad for the victim, but this reminder that courts should not and were never intended to be sacrosanct chambers of perfection is a very good thing.
The irony here, through all the lamenting and even through my largely unnecessary extrapolation into a bigger picture, is that the system worked as designed. The prosecution failed to meet the burden to convict someone of murder. The jury is not supposed to go beyond what was presented at trial and jump to conclusions based on presuppositions that many spectators and the press have.
One can be a murderer without being convicted and something can be unconstitutional even when a judge says otherwise.
Separating Men From Boys
It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Heritage Action for America as a sponsor of the Morning Briefing. As I have written repeatedly on RedState, there are five organizations in America that have my unwavering support and should have yours too. Put another way, there are many, many outstanding organizations in America that I truly respect and like. But there are only five I love like my own children. Heritage Action is on that list.1
Why do I like them? Because Republicans in Congress fear them. Look, I know a lot of Republicans get tired of me knocking Republicans, but I strongly believe if we don't hold our own side accountable, the result will be devastation at the hands of voters.
Heritage Action for America holds Republicans accountable. When Republicans call themselves "conservative," Heritage Action sets the bench mark on what that actually means. The result is that a lot of Republicans who call themselves "conservative" are really just pro-life statists ruining the country at only a slower clip than the Democrats. Heritage Action separates the men from the boys.
The Heritage Foundation provides the intellectual leadership for conservatives in Washington. It's sister organization, Heritage Action for America, provides the muscle to move Washington right.
Now you may think you support Heritage Action for America because you support the Heritage Foundation. You would be wrong. They are separate entities. It's all a muddled mess thanks to American campaign finance rules, but in a nutshell, Heritage and Heritage Action have separate membership lists. So you need go support Heritage Action in addition to the Heritage Foundation.
American Majority (and Am Action), Club for Growth, Gun Owners of America, Heritage Action for America (and Heritage), and the Senate Conservatives Fund.
↩
Morning Briefing for July 5, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For July 5, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. Separating the Men from the Boys
2. #WI IAFF: This Independence Day, it's union first, American second…
3. Teamsters' Vegas Convention Calls for CEO Prosecutions & Union Pension Bailout
4. It's Not Easy Going Green
———————————————————————-
1. Separating the Men from the Boys
It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Heritage Action for America as a sponsor of the Morning Briefing. As I have written repeatedly on RedState, there are five organizations in America that have my unwavering support and should have yours too. Put another way, there are many, many outstanding organizations in America that I truly respect and like. But there are only five I love like my own children. Heritage Action is on that list.
Why do I like them? Because Republicans in Congress fear them. Look, I know a lot of Republicans get tired of me knocking Republicans, but I strongly believe if we don't hold our own side accountable, the result will be devastation at the hands of voters.
Heritage Action for America holds Republicans accountable. When Republicans call themselves "conservative," Heritage Action sets the bench mark on what that actually means. The result is that a lot of Republicans who call themselves "conservative" are really just pro-life statists ruining the country at only a slower clip than the Democrats. Heritage Action separates the men from the boys.
The Heritage Foundation provides the intellectual leadership for conservatives in Washington. It's sister organization, Heritage Action for America, provides the muscle to move Washington right.
Now you may think you support Heritage Action for America because you support the Heritage Foundation. You would be wrong. They are separate entities. It's all a muddled mess thanks to American campaign finance rules, but in a nutshell, Heritage and Heritage Action have separate membership lists. So you need go support Heritage Action in addition to the Heritage Foundation.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. #WI IAFF: This Independence Day, it's union first, American second…
On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people were killed by terrorists. The terrorists were indiscriminate in their slaughter of lives—while the attacks were an attack on America, the terrorists did not care whether those they killed were exclusively American or not, nor did they care whether or not the victims were carrying a union card.
In New York, there were first responders killed on September 11th, 343 of them from the FDNY, many of them who happened to be members of a union, the IAFF.
To most Americans, it is the bravery and heroism of those first responders, including the 343 from the FDNY, that is remembered with honor—along with the tragedy of all those who perished—regardless of their union membership.
Yet, in Racine, Wisconsin, the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 321 has made this Independence Day more about union loyalties than America when they voted to refuse support of a float built to honor the public safety workers killed on September 11th in Racine's Independence Day Parade.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Teamsters' Vegas Convention Calls for CEO Prosecutions & Union Pension Bailout
Despite the bribery scandals, the dancers, and the jokes about the millions of their members' dues that Teamster bosses spent in Las Vegas last week at the union's 28th international convention, delegates did accomplish one thing of note: The delegates passed a resolution that, among other things, calls for a "financial rescue package for struggling union pensions" (also known as the $165 billion union pension bailout).
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. It's Not Easy Going Green
It sounded like such a good idea.
Back in 2009, NRG Energy Inc. hatched a plan to "go green" using switchgrass and sorghum as boiler fuel supplement. It was hoped that it might replace up to 10% of the coal which fires its Big Cajun II power plant in New Roads, LA.
All the elements were in place: land near the plant (up to 30,000 acres of fertile Mississippi River floodplain — you can't afford to transport biomass very far), plus the help of California-based Ceres Inc., a recently-IPO'd specialist in switchgrasses.
The project was to start up this year.
July 4, 2011
Happy Independence Day
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
July 1, 2011
Filling in for Neal Boortz
I'm going to be filling in for Neal Boortz today on his nationally syndicated show. The show runs from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
You can tune in live right now at http://wsbradio.com and can call in at 1-877-310-2100.
We'll talk about Marco Rubio's comments on the President, the Republicanization of the 4th of July, and much, much more.
Consider this an open thread.
Obama's "Leadership"
The NRSC has a great new web ad out about Barack Obama's supposed leadership.
As the Politico reportedyesterday
But Democrats who thought Obama was churlish in his Wednesday White House press conference know that criticism is coming. "The president might as well cancel every golf game, Martha's Vineyard vacation and fundraiser from here until doomsday because he's living in a glass White House and Republicans are already throwing rocks," said a senior congressional Democratic source who described watching Obama's press conference in bewilderment.
The Third World Oscar Mayer Wiener
It looked to me to be some sort of joke they intended to play on the producers. On yesterday's Morning Joe, Time magazine's Mark Halperin, asked his take on Barack Obama's Wednesday press conference, said the President came off like a "dick." That's his word, not mine.
He said they might need a delay. The production crew may have been asleep at the switch. They did not delay it. It got out there on live television. Halperin apologized. MSNBC suspended him "indefinitely." He said what a growing number of Republicans, Democrats, and people in the media think.
It's a problem for Barack Obama.
But another problem is shaping up on the floor of the United States Senate. Marco Rubio, who is rapidly becoming one of the most impassioned champions for opposing the debt ceiling increase, said that Barack Obama's class warfare soliloquy was not the rhetoric of the President of the United States, but of a third world leader.
In fact, you could hear a Hugo Chavez or a Fidel Castro or a Robert Mugabe or a Lula da Silva say the same thing. And to be honest, I think this is a message that will resonate with independent voters, a growing number of whom do see Barack Obama as a jerk who tries to reward his friends, punish his enemies, and have the government pick the winners and losers.
Couple that with the President rejecting an invitation to meet with Republicans on Capitol Hill to discuss the debt, while pounding his chest that Congress stay in Washington while he goes out on the campaign trail and he leaves voters with a real disconnect.
If the economy suddenly improves, Barack Obama will win re-election. But thanks to his failed policies that he intends to perpetuate, the economy will not improve. And come 2012 a ham sandwich would be Barack Obama. Worse for him, a Republican will beat him.
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