Erick Erickson's Blog, page 154
May 20, 2011
Morning Briefing for May 20, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For May 20, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. President Obama Again Demonstrates his Utter Ignorance of the Israel-Palestine Situation
2. Today Barack Obama Meets His Inner Richard Nixon in Libya
3. The Horse Race for This Week
4. American Spring: Time to Stop Funding Terror Around the World
5. Dominique Strauss-Kahn: Unlikely Macho Man
6. Socialist Senator Sanders Hawks His Book Like an Evil Capitalist
7. Will the Arab Spring Lead to a War Against Israel?
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1. President Obama Again Demonstrates his Utter Ignorance of the Israel-Palestine Situation
In June of 2006 a tunnel from the Strip to an outpost on the border was completed (a three-year project), which allowed Hamas terrorists to infiltrate IDF defenses and to kidnap Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Nearly four years later, Shalit is still being held captive — yet the president of the United States demands that Israel concede land and defense in good faith with the party which is still holding one of its soldiers, kidnapped from within Israel's borders, captive. . . .
A return to the pre-1967 borders would have major implications for Israel's people and its security, and would be a major step toward the oft-repeated Palestinian goal of pushing the Jewish state entirely into the sea. This would require the abandonment of Judea and Samaria, the Golan Heights, the Sinai Peninsula, and East Jerusalem (including, most likely, the Temple Mount itself). This would immediately make the over 300,000 Israeli settlers living in the Territories into refugees. Yes, most Palestinians are refugees, in large part because of the unpublicized blockades on their other borders, with states like Jordan and Egypt which refuse to allow them admission. However, the fate of the new Jewish refugees, who would be stranded in Palestinian territory, would be far less positive (and far more gruesome) than that of the inhabitants of Gaza and the West Bank who receive massive aid shipments from Israel itself — let alone than that of the 1.2 million Arabs who live peacefully and prosperously inside Jewish Israel (with some even serving in the Knesset).
Even more importantly, such a reduction of Israeli territory would eliminate the security buffer currently created by the Territories, thereby deeply threatening the Jewish state's security. In an era when Arab fighters are employing rockets (both homemade and imported) and other standoff weaponry, moving the border of an unregulated Palestinian state up to the border of Israel would not only endanger Israeli citizens living in those border areas, but would also put major coastal cities like Tel Aviv, which is a mere eleven miles (18 km) from what would be Palestinian land, well within range of Katyusha rockets.
In other words, pulling back altogether to the pre-1967 borders would leave Israel's ability to protect and defend itself crippled. Unfortunately, Obama has chosen to ignore the lessons of the last 63 years (and, in particular, of 1948, 1967, and 2006), instead relying on his own narrow, uninformed worldview in which nations and nonstate actors do as he wishes, simply because he deigns to speak it aloud.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Today Barack Obama Meets His Inner Richard Nixon in Libya
I half expect Benjamin Netanyahu to come to the United States today and demand the U.S. cede all territory gained from the 1848 Mexican cession back to Mexico. It, like Obama's Middle East speech of yesterday, would be a key distraction from a date and duty Barack Obama has had 60 days to get ready for.
Under the War Powers Act, today is the day Barack Obama must either get congressional support for the Libyan operation or begin a full withdrawal from Libya.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. The Horse Race for This Week
I think I'll start doing this every week. The feedback, both from you guys and from others who are trying to keep up with the pulse within the conservative grassroots has been very positive. Feel free to disagree. I'm just giving you my honest take on where I see the 2012 horse race right now.
Last week I took a bit of heat from Dan Riehl and a few others for failing to list Bachmann. With a dozen or so candidates in the race it is getting hard to keep up with them all and it was simply a matter of forgetting, not disliking her.
So, to make the conspiracy theorists happy, I'll start doing these in alphabetical order.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. American Spring: Time to Stop Funding Terror Around the World
Barack Obama has many sinister friends who are egregiously subsidized by taxpayers, but at least they aren't terrorists. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his foreign patrons. At a time when Congress is searching for any morsel to cut from our domestic budget, Obama wants to expand foreign aid..to terrorists and terror filled nations. His push for expanded foreign aid comes as part of a broader endorsement of the "Arab Spring" uprisings in his latest foreign policy speech. Bin Laden is also endorsing them from the grave. Republicans need to call for an American Spring and categorically oppose all aid to enemy nations and entities in the 2012 budget.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Dominique Strauss-Kahn: Unlikely Macho Man
Like many, when I heard that IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn had been arrested in New York for a variety of sexually related crimes my first thought was: who?
Since then I've found that Strauss-Kahn ("DSK" to his Euro pals and "sweet thing" to his Rikers Island cohabitants is, in fact, the single indispensable man to the economic system of the entire planet.
I was amused that his seduction technique - spring from the bathroom buck naked, chase your prey down the hallway, subdue her, drag her back to your room and sodomize her - was such a faithful metaphor for the way the IMF treats Third World countries but I suppose you can't work in any organization and not be affected by it in some way.
I have, however, been more surprised by another aspect of the story: the claim that France is home of a "macho" culture.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. Socialist Senator Sanders Hawks His Book Like an Evil Capitalist
Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders is a different kind of socialist: the kind who will partake in the capitalist venture of freely exchanging money for products… at least when it comes to selling his own book.
The self-described socialist is out promoting his straight-to-paperback The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class, and was eager to sign and sell copies at corporate entities like Barnes & Noble in Washington, D.C.
That's where HUMAN EVENTS caught up with Sanders to ask him how exactly an avowed socialist squares his collectivist worldview with the fact that he's taking a bite of the forbidden fruit of capitalism? Is he giving away his "profits" to the federal government?
Watch.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
7. Will the Arab Spring Lead to a War Against Israel?
On today's edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Chuck DeVore to talk about the uprisings in the Middle East and how it could lead to a war against Israel.
May 19, 2011
Herman Cain and Jeff Emanuel #EERS
Tonight on the show, Jeff Emanuel at 7:35 and Herman Cain at 8:05.
I'll give you one guess on the topic.
Listen live at http://wsbradio.com and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.
Consider this an open thread.
The Horse Race for This Week
I think I'll start doing this every week. The feedback, both from you guys and from others who are trying to keep up with the pulse within the conservative grassroots has been very positive. Feel free to disagree. I'm just giving you my honest take on where I see the 2012 horse race right now.
Last week I took a bit of heat from Dan Riehl and a few others for failing to list Bachmann. With a dozen or so candidates in the race it is getting hard to keep up with them all and it was simply a matter of forgetting, not disliking her.
So, to make the conspiracy theorists happy, I'll start doing these in alphabetical order.
Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann will apparently declare her bid for the Presidency this week. She's going to excite perhaps the most excitable bit of the base not already enthused by Herman Cain. Like with Palin, she'll have to overcome the myth that she is stupid, which I think she can do in short order. Friends who know her better than I do say she is a quick study.
Given her besting of Paul Ryan in response to President Obama's State of the Union this year, she'll do well on the stump and it would not surprise me if she, out of the box, gives the most "numbers" oriented pitch instead of big themes. Look for Republican colleagues to start a whisper campaign against her. They are both jealous of the affection the tea party movement has for her and also are not supportive.
Herman Cain
He will announce for the Presidency this Saturday, May 21, 2011, in Atlanta at Centennial Olympic Park. A Daily Caller tracking poll has Cain surging into a solid position to the point where he can no longer be easily dismissed by critics as a fringe candidate. With Huckabee now completely out, I continue to believe Cain is going to be a candidate Huck's Army could rally to. He has the outsider credentials, the evangelical street cred, and the messaging.
Others are going to start attacking Cain as being great with a one liner, but shallow on policy. He's going to need to start focusing on the policy. In some sense, Cain does know the policy, but he presents it so simply and in a way the press isn't used to, they take over simplification in a pitch to the public as actual policy shallowness.
Mitch Daniels
If he gets in, he is going to be the serious contended against Mitt Romney, but he will also not be a shoo-in like some think.
His problem is going to come from a couple areas. First, conservatives are already deeply distrustful of him personally. And right now, the "he's not one of us" is more signal while the "have you seen his actual record" rebuttal is more noise. He has a great record. But his tin ear of late with conservatives and the continuous dribble of new YouTube clips is hurting him.
Second, I think Mitt Romney is right now the front runner and the race will rapidly shape up to be a Romney vs. Daniels death match to prove who is the wonkier reformer. The buzz for Daniels has been so strong for so long, it has given Romney and others plenty of time to get their ammo loaded for the moment Daniels gets in. In fact, I suspect we're already seeing the fruits of Romney's operation at work.
If Daniels gets in and does not seemingly play nice with broad spectrum conservatives, there will be a real push to draft another candidate. Daniels' entry and how he accomplishes it does, I think, set or open up the list of candidates. If he does it well, we've got our slate. If he rocks the boat with social conservatives too much, there'll still be a willingness for more.
Newt Gingrich
I don't think we've seen such a terrible entry into a Presidential Primary since Ted Kennedy failed to answer Roger Mudd's question, "Why are you running for President?" The statements on Sunday's Meet the Press and the subsequent retreat have signaled a level of disarray in the campaign.
But anyone who thinks Gingrich is out of this is out of their mind. Gingrich has staying power on name brand alone. There are a lot of people not yet paying attention. And while it may make it tougher for him and certainly gives him the "loser of the week" award for this week, this week is not the race. The most interesting thing about his unforced errors was seeing long time conservative pundits come out after Gingrich. That suggests to me he has very few friends among conservative opinion makers willing to carry his water. And that will hurt him if he can't rebuild bridges there.
Jon Huntsman
As much I wish otherwise, keep your eye on Huntsman. For all the talk that Mitch Daniels is the media's darling, Huntsman is the real media darling. John Weaver, his and McCain's consultant, is a master of media generated imagery of positive candidate press. It may all be fluff pasted to bull, but it gets out there.
There is, however, a level of silliness about the candidate wanting to be both Ambassador to China and Governor of Utah while buying a house in Washington and running a race from Disney World. Certainly it is convenient to be in the Eastern Time Zone, but Utahan with a D.C. address whose running a campaign from Orlando signals a great level of manufacturing an inauthenticity.
Gary Johnson
He and Ron Paul will go nowhere except at each others' throats competing for the slim pickings of college students not too stoned to stay home and libertarian voters too ashamed to vote libertarian. It will amount to a lot of hot air and the aggravation equivalent of termites and lice, but in the end, actual primary election days will function like turpentine to the scalp of the Republican Primary.
Sarah Palin
Palin remains the absolutely wild card now with Huckabee gone. If Palin comes in, she fundamentally redefines the race. She'll draw from Santorum's crowd, Cain's crowd, Pawlenty's crowd, and especially Bachmann's. It's too soon to tell her full impact, but I do think if she gets in, she winds up helping Mitch Daniels by drawing fire away from him to her.
People fear this woman. They should. She aims to win.
Ron Paul
See Gary Johnson above.
Tim Pawlenty
Pawlenty is the guy I'm keeping my eye on. He's holding his fire, keeping his head down, and working hard to raise money. His money is going to be one of the things I'm most interested in seeing. The conventional wisdom is that he is not doing a bang up job. Relatedly, he has low name identification. When Daniels gets in, it will suck a good bit of oxygen out of Pawlenty's flame, but I think it will also draw away a lot of attacks from Pawlenty that would otherwise be there.
Keep your eye on this one as he continues to intentionally float under the radar.
Mitt Romney
Romney is the front runner, but arguably is going to start having a harder time after that healthcare speech. That's one reason I think the Romney camp made such a big deal out of his Las Vegas, NV take of $10+ million. Most of that money was already scheduled to come in prior to the healthcare speech. Future events are going to be a better estimate of what the healthcare speech did to him.
He's still the odds on favorite to win right now just because of name ID. He does not have terrible negatives. If his campaign is able to take out Mitch Daniels as the wonk, he's on a good glide path to victory. But he'll have to keep an eye on Huntsman who has capital to spend, hates Romney, and wants to beat him. Huntsman may turn more into Huckabee than Cain in the sense he stays in the race just to hurt Romney.
Rick Santorum
I still don't see him making it to Iowa, but he is pulling in voters who were with Huckabee largely on the strength of his social conservative credentials. Left-wing media attacks on his prior statements are only helping him.
But he is still going to have to overcome the stigma of losing his Senate seat in a swing state in a year Obama was not on the ballot. Likewise, coming from the Senate continues to be a drain on Republicans. I continue to have a hard time trying to figure out exactly why Santorum is in the race.
If Palin gets in, I think Santorum's run ends sooner rather than later. Without her, he's got some basic staying power, but I don't think he'll have the funds to compete effectively.
Stop Goodwin Liu [Updated]
UPDATE: Goodwin Liu has been stopped for now. The Senate failed to stop the filibuster against Liu.
Thanks for your calls.
— Erick
——————————————
Today the United States Senate will vote on cloture in the matter of Goodwin Liu. Sixty votes are needed. Call 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senator. Tell him to oppose Goodwin Liu.
Goodwin Liu is a true radical, in favor of using the courts to redistribute wealth and impose slave reparations, among other things. He's so radical that even Rahm Emanuel was opposed to his nomination.
According to Harry Reid (D-NV), the Democrats need Goodwin Liu on the federal bench because "the court of appeals is where law is made, and we need the finest minds in the world for that."
There are some Senate targets to focus on in getting them to oppose cloture.
They include Sens. Alexander, Brown, Chambliss, Collins, Graham, Isakson, Kirk, McCain, Murkowski, Snowe, and Thune.
Call 202-224-3121 and get your Senator to oppose cloture.
Stop Goodwin Liu
Today the United States Senate will vote on cloture in the matter of Goodwin Liu. Sixty votes are needed. Call 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senator. Tell him to oppose Goodwin Liu.
Goodwin Liu is a true radical, in favor of using the courts to redistribute wealth and impose slave reparations, among other things. He's so radical that even Rahm Emanuel was opposed to his nomination.
According to Harry Reid (D-NV), the Democrats need Goodwin Liu on the federal bench because "the court of appeals is where law is made, and we need the finest minds in the world for that."
There are some Senate targets to focus on in getting them to oppose cloture.
They include Sens. Alexander, Brown, Chambliss, Collins, Graham, Isakson, Kirk, McCain, Murkowski, Snowe, and Thune.
Call 202-224-3121 and get your Senator to oppose cloture.
David Dewhurst Embraces The DewCrist Label And Openly Declares War on Conservatives
Next year's U.S. Senate primary in Texas offers a wide range of choices. RedState has previously noted our strong preference for either former Texas solicitor general Ted Cruz or former railroad commissioner Michael Williams – both of whom have proven themselves as articulate and reliable champions of conservative principles. On the next tier are former Texas secretary of state Roger Williams and current railroad commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, whose commitment to conservative principles may be somewhat shakier but at least are mouthing the right words so far in this campaign.
And then there is Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, or as I like to call him, DewCrist.
Much like the former government of Florida turned ambulance chaser, DewCrist's conduct as lieutenant governor has been consistent: whatever advances his political aspirations at that moment, he's for. Obviously, it worked well for him during his first two terms. But in the first few months of his third term – the one in which his path toward higher office has finally cleared – his continuing to play both sides of the fence is costing Texas conservatives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make historic policy gains.
He has approached the budget as a math problem rather than an opportunity to downsize government. As president of the Texas Senate, he allowed the finance committee to adopt a draft budget $12 billion larger than the one approved by the House and endorsed by the state's leading conservative organizations.
Rather than using his leverage with senators to persuade them to reinvent and downsize government within existing revenues, he assigned a moderate Republican senator to come up with accounting gimmicks and "non-tax revenues" to pay for $4 billion of higher spending, and then gave mixed signals as to whether he'd support their use of $3 billion more from the state's rainy day fund.
But his latest antics on higher education may be his most egregious knifing of conservatives yet.
For the past three years, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has promoted a responsible agenda for improving Texas public universities. The measures in the package are intended to increase transparency and accountability, emphasize quality teaching, and rein in the runaway costs.
Recent polls show that Texas voters overwhelmingly support these higher education reforms. After all, who could possibly be against making teaching a higher priority, reducing university operating costs, and making universities more transparent and accountable?
University administrators, tenured professors, and alumni elitists – that's who. And now, apparently David DewCrist.
At the start of the session, DewCrist named Sen. Judith Zaffirini, a liberal Democrat and the University of Texas' best friend in the Legislature, to chair the Senate's higher education committee. Just this week Zaffirini said in an interview, "Rick Perry doesn't understand higher education. He doesn't have a graduate degree, and he graduated a long time ago with a major in something like agriculture. I have a PhD, so I understand the value of research and teaching. He just doesn't understand it."
In other words, DewCrist has handed over education reform in Texas to an elitist, arrogant snob.
During the past three years, while the Texas A&M and Texas Tech University Systems have made baby steps toward reforms, the University of Texas passively defended its status quo and quietly undermined its colleagues.
But once Gov. Perry appointed a new board chairman and three new reform-minded regents earlier this year, the UT establishment went to DEFCON-1. For the last two months, it has engineered a relentless media assault against Gov. Perry, the UT regents, and the Texas Public Policy Foundation – on whose research much of Gov. Perry's proposals are based.
Sen. Zaffirini has exploited her chairmanship to build the media narrative. When the regents hired a former TPPF scholar to help them analyze university data on excellence and productivity, she cheered on the UT establishment's witch hunt that led to that scholar's reassignment, demotion, and eventual firing.
Zaffirini's weekly committee hearings have become show trials where university officials are trotted before her and let through a series of increasingly pointed questions attacking the higher education reforms championed by Gov. Perry and TPPF.
Last month, she filed an open records request with all Texas public universities and systems seeking all e-mails and documents from all university employees that reference TPPF's recommendations, plus its president and a board member – both of who are private citizens. Despite the furious outrage of the Left over a request for the e-mails of three professors in Michigan, this exponentially more expansive and invasive request has generated barely a peep from Texas news outlets.
But the kicker is the decision by DewCrist and fellow liberal Speaker Joe Straus to create a "Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance, Excellence, and Transparency," to be co-chaired by Zaffirini and House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, a blue-blood liberal Republican from Highland Park.
It begs the question – why would there need to be a "joint oversight committee" when both the House and Senate already have committees singularly focused on higher education and with the authority to meet together? Looking at the committee duties and jurisdiction, we find the real motive:
"The committee shall examine the following matters:
The governing structure and organization of the state's universities, health-related institutions of higher education, and university systems;
The manner in which the governing boards and administrators of those institutions develop and implement major policy decisions, including the impartiality and adequacy of their processes;
Measures to identify and encourage those governing boards and administrators to follow best practices in policy development and implementation; and
Any other matter related to excellence, transparency, accountability, or efficiency in the governance or administration of the state's universities, health-related institutions of higher education, and university systems."
Essentially, the first three charges give Zaffirini and Branch carte blanche to menace the university system regents – particularly those at the University of Texas System – who dare to step outside of their recent role of hiring and firing the football coach, and instead seek to do their statutory job "to promulgate and enforce such other rules and regulations for the operation, control, and management of the university system and the component institutions thereof as the board may deem either necessary or desirable."
Gov. Perry, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, important business leaders, and overwhelming majorities of the Texas public agree: we need to reform higher education so that it provides students with a better education at a lower cost. Meanwhile, DewCrist has staked himself to the view that the universities should be free to do whatever the hell they want – regardless of the cost to taxpayers or students' futures.
I would have thought that the 2010 gubernatorial primary would have been enough to convince DewCrist that the path to the Republican nomination no longer went through the Dallas Country Club. But I guess conservative voters are going to have to convey that message again next spring.
Morning Briefing for May 19, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For May 19, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
Editoral Note: Due to a database issue yesterday, the link to this story about how the left and Barack Obama's favorite think tank used foreign money to influence American elections didn't work for some people. To access the story and laugh at the hypocrisy of Lee Fang and the Center for American Progress, go here now.
1. TODAY: Biggest Nomination Fight of 2011
CALL YOUR SENATOR AT (202) 224-3121 THIS MORNING AND TELL HIM TO VOTE AGAINST CLOTURE FOR GOODWIN LIU.
2. Rick Perry Is Not Running for President. Mitch Daniels Is Running for President.
3. Mitch Daniels in 2009: Stop Disagreeing with Democrats
4. David Dewhurst Embraces The DewCrist Label And Openly Declares War on Conservatives
5. Turns Out Grover Norquist Lobbied For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
6. Oil Company Profits Are the Solution, Not the Problem
7. Secretary Geithner, spending is not a problem of the past
8. Where are the adult Wisconsin Democrats?
———————————————————————-
1. TODAY: Biggest Nomination Fight of 2011
Today the Senate Democrats will force a cloture vote on Ninth Circuit nominee Goodwin Liu, President Obama's most radical judicial nominee and the man whom Obama would dearly like to make the first Asian-American Supreme Court justice. Liu's left-wing agenda and outrageously activist view of the law makes this showdown a classic test of the bipartisan "extraordinary circumstances" standard for when judicial nominees can be filibustered. The standard originated in the 2005 Gang of 14 agreement.
Liu is a 40 year old Berkeley law professor whose vocal and unabashed championing of judicial activism has made him a star on the legal left. Liu "envisions the judiciary … as a culturally situated interpreter of social meaning" and believes judges should create constitutional rights to "distributive justice," including welfare rights to "education or housing or medical care."
Liu has expressed left-wing views on virtually every hot-button issue likely to come before him on the bench, including the view that Americans are obligated to pay reparations for slavery, an obligation he would likely read into the Constitution. Liu is too far to the left for even Rahm Emanuel, who advised the President against making this nomination.
CALL YOUR SENATOR AT (202) 224-3121 THIS MORNING AND TELL HIM TO VOTE AGAINST CLOTURE FOR GOODWIN LIU. GO HERE FOR A DIRECT LINE TO YOUR SENATOR.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Rick Perry Is Not Running for President. Mitch Daniels Is Running for President.
Rick Perry is not running for the Presidency.
There is a lot of buzz about what Perry has recently said, but he is not running. His key people are helping Newt. Behind the scenes, many have been pestering him, but he has been swatting them away.
Rick Perry is not running for President of the United States. The buzz is related to the continuing disappointment of many conservatives about the current crop of candidates and the wishful thinking of many.
But he's not running.
Now . . . I do think Rick Perry could be persuaded to run. In the next couple of weeks Mitch Daniels will announce he is running for President.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Mitch Daniels in 2009: Stop Disagreeing with Democrats
I am not really sure what is wrong with Mitch Daniels. Two years ago, you would not have found a bigger Mitch Daniels booster in the United States than yours truly. He had bucked national trends to win an landslide re-election and was doing all the right things to demonstrate administrative competence, which is something our party badly needed to demonstrate after the last two years of the Bush administration. Then he started saying crap like this.
So, as Republicans were gearing up for their biggest electoral victories in 16 years by fighting Obama and the Democrats tooth and nail on every aspect of their agenda, Mitch Daniels was telling everyone that the way to victory was to forget what a wedge issue even was, and just be nice so that people will like us again. Since then, Daniels has demonstrated that having a political tin ear in his case is a congenital defect rather than an isolated occurrence, telling social conservatives repeatedly to get to the back of the bus and indicating that he would pick Condi Rice - widely vilified as a miserable SecState by Republicans of all stripes - as his VP.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. David Dewhurst Embraces The DewCrist Label And Openly Declares War on Conservatives
Next year's U.S. Senate primary in Texas offers a wide range of choices. RedState has previously noted our strong preference for either former Texas solicitor general Ted Cruz or former railroad commissioner Michael Williams – both of whom have proven themselves as articulate and reliable champions of conservative principles. On the next tier are former Texas secretary of state Roger Williams and current railroad commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, whose commitment to conservative principles may be somewhat shakier but at least are mouthing the right words so far in this campaign.
And then there is Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, or as I like to call him, DewCrist.
Much like the former government of Florida turned ambulance chaser, DewCrist's conduct as lieutenant governor has been consistent: whatever advances his political aspirations at that moment, he's for. Obviously, it worked well for him during his first two terms. But in the first few months of his third term – the one in which his path toward higher office has finally cleared – his continuing to play both sides of the fence is costing Texas conservatives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make historic policy gains.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Turns Out Grover Norquist Lobbied For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
While heading Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist founded the lobbying firm of Janus-Meritt Strategies with David Safavian, the former Chief of Staff of the General Services Administration (GSA) who was convicted of lying to prosecutors during the Abramoff scandal and sentenced to prison. Safavian's conviction was recently upheld.
One of the more interesting clients for Mr. Norquist was Fannie Mae. In 2000, Janus Merit received $120,000 in lobbying fees from Fannie Mae. Mr. Norquist, along with Safavian, was listed as one of the main lobbyists on the Fannie Mae account.
In disclosure records, Janus-Meritt says its lobbying activities related to a "Home ownership tax." It appears this lobbying work was designed to protect the homeownership tax credit, which Franklin Raines described as key to "increase homeownership in urban and rural areas." As many conservatives believe, this credit, which Mr. Norquist and Safavian apparently defended, was a major contributing factor in the housing bubble and mortgage crisis.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. Oil Company Profits Are the Solution, Not the Problem
Left to its own devices, the oil industry is its own worst enemy. Relatively low barriers to entry have made the industry freely competitive. The reward goes to the quickest and the most efficient companies; just like in a Gold Rush, we remember the big winners and quickly forget the also-rans. Since the days of Colonel Drake, Patillo Higgins and Dad Joiner, twas ever thus.
The consumer ultimately benefits from a profitable and efficient energy business in the form of affordable and abundant energy supplies. This is because energy is essentially a "grow or die" business. An oil company that does not efficiently replace its production with new reserves is essentially holding a "going out of business sale" with every barrel of oil it produces.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
7. Secretary Geithner, spending is not a problem of the past
Unless we reverse course from the Obama Administration's endless borrowing and spending policies, economic collapse is a certainty.
If our entitlement programs are not reformed, they will go broke and break their promises to millions of seniors, disabled and needy Americans. If the government never stops spending more than it takes in, it will go bankrupt. And, if liberals are successful in passing massive tax increases to continue their spending spree, millions more jobs will be destroyed, companies will ship new investments overseas, and our economy will be crippled for years to come.
None of these outcomes are desirable and all of them are preventable.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
8. Where are the adult Wisconsin Democrats?
Because somebody in the Wisconsin Democratic party needs to be the adult in the David Prosser/JoAnne Kloppenburg state Supreme Court recount, here. This nonsense has gone on long enough: three weeks and a quarter-million taxpayer dollars later, it has - not 'become' obvious that Prosser has won. It's been obvious since they certified the results. What's more properly 'become' obvious is that the Kloppenburg camp has decided to simply wait until the recount is over, then challenge the results in court on the grounds of a Democrat lost/ they don't like the results/democracy. Which is why the Democrats are doing things like disenfranchising nuns; it's all about the narrative that they hope to present, at this point.
May 18, 2011
On the show: My Bid for the United States Senate, Rick Perry, and Mitch Daniels #EERS
Tonight on the Erick Erickson Show, we'll talk about my possible bid for the United States Senate, Rick Perry not running for President, Mitch Daniels running for President, and much, much more.
You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.
During the show, I follow hashtag #EERS on twitter.
Consider this an open thread.
Introducing the New Leaders Project From American Majority
There are two authentically grassroots activist groups right now that I will go to mats for: American Majority and Heritage Action for America. In fact, they are two of the four political groups in America today I proudly, personally support without any hesitation — the other two being the Club for Growth and Senate Conservatives Fund.
And American Majority is rolling out its New Leaders Project, which you should try to be a part of. Ned Ryun explains the New Leaders Project in this video.
An Introduction to American Majority's New Leaders Project from American Majority on Vimeo.
Rick Perry Is Not Running for President. Mitch Daniels Is Running for President.
Rick Perry is not running for the Presidency.
There is a lot of buzz about what Perry has recently said, but he is not running. His key people are helping Newt. Behind the scenes, many have been pestering him, but he has been swatting them away.
Rick Perry is not running for President of the United States. The buzz is related to the continuing disappointment of many conservatives about the current crop of candidates and the wishful thinking of many.
But he's not running.
Now . . . I do think Rick Perry could be persuaded to run. In the next couple of weeks Mitch Daniels will announce he is running for President. I know, he is denying he has made up his mind. On Monday night I put on twitter that my sources are telling me a decision has been made. The next day, Daniels denied that.
But three people who know Daniels well are telling me his mind is made up and his wife is at peace with the decision. They could be reading tea leaves, but they tell me their certainty goes beyond that.
Here's the thing, though. Perry is not running, but if Daniels does get in as seems certain and conservative angst runs high, I also believe that Perry could be drafted.
Conservatives would have to mount a massive, rapid, and high volume effort to get him in. I think such an outpouring of support and requests would draw Perry in. But, to do so, it'd have to be after Daniels and with continued displeasure with the field by conservatives.
One of the sticking points has always been whether the country was ready for another guy from Texas so soon after Bush. With Texas's economy flourishing and the national economy still imploding, I think the country could get ready for another guy from Texas really quick.
Daniels is running. How conservatives react once Daniels makes it official could have an impact on Perry if conservatives target him for a draft effort.
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