Erick Erickson's Blog, page 160
May 6, 2011
An Interesting Coincidence?
A week ago, the Wall Street Journal ran a big story about major hedge fund managers jumping to the GOP from Barack Obama. One of the big jumpers is Steve Cohen.
Cohen … has "previously been a big Democratic supporter, regularly giving the maximum allowable to Democratic legislators in his home state of Connecticut," and spent $500,000 on Democrats in 2008.
But last year Cohen decided to "direct contributions to GOP campaign coffers and to pro-Republican groups that could raise and spend unlimited amounts." He gave Republican Governors Association alone $1.5 million.
And Cohen was doing more than just giving cash; he also gave time. Remember that GOP mid-term strategy meeting he hosted last year?
The Wall Street Journal is now reporting federal prosecutors have suddenly decided to examine "trades made in an account overseen by hedge-fund titan Steven Cohen that were suggested by two of his former fund managers who have pleaded guilty to insider trading."
I'm sure it is just a coincidence in timing.
Morning Briefing for May 6, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For May 6, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. Will Obama 2012 Campaign Run On The "Gutsy Call" Of Doing The Obvious?
2. The First Debate: Pawlenty & Cain Win
3. Violating the Oath – Voting For Cloture
4. Show Us The Budget, Senator Conrad
5. Did Pakistan Aid the Bin Laden Raid?
6. White House Puts Out Feelers on the Transportation Opportunities Act
7. Some Thoughts on Inheritance
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1. Will Obama 2012 Campaign Run On The "Gutsy Call" Of Doing The Obvious?
If you click on the URL www.gutsycall.com, you will notice that - as of this writing - it redirects you to the Obama 2012 re-election campaign website. The URL was apparently purchased yesterday, although the purchaser seems to have covered its tracks. It would appear that this is being done with the intention of using "Gutsy Call" as a campaign slogan for Obama's 2012 campaign, in an effort to capitalize on President Obama's decision -after just 16 hours of deliberation - to order the operation that led to Osama bin Laden's death.
If that's the plan, it speaks badly of President Obama as a leader and of the political instincts of his campaign team.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. The First Debate: Pawlenty & Cain Win
Two winners came out of the South Carolina Republican Presidential Debate.
Let me start this off by noting that Frank Luntz's panel went for Herman Cain first and Rick Santorum second. Why? Their effective takedowns of Obama. In fact, Republican candidates need to note this, Santorum scored big tonight in his very effective take down of Obamacare.
Now, to the real winners.
The first winner is Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.
The other big winner is Herman Cain.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Violating the Oath – Voting For Cloture
In voting for cloture on the nomination of Jack McConnell on Wednesday, 11 Republican Senators violated the oath they took to defend the constitution. It's that simple.
Senators Alexander, Brown of Massachusetts, Chambliss, Collins, Graham, Isakson, Kirk, McCain, Murkowski, Snowe and Thune provided Democrats with the necessary votes to overcome a filibuster of McConnell to be a district court judge in Rhode Island.
How bad is Jack McConnell? One only needs to look to the scathing Dear Colleague letter circulated by Senator Cornyn prior to the Senate conducting a cloture vote.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Show Us The Budget, Senator Conrad
Senator Kent Conrad is about to release the Senate Democrats' budget. What we know so far is that Senate Democrats are aghast at what might be in it.
Now, I can't actually tell you what is in Senator Conrad's budget because only Senate Democrats have actually seen it. It is not released to the public. Even Senate Republicans have not seen it.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Did Pakistan Aid the Bin Laden Raid?
We will probably never know a lot of what transpired in that shabby villa in Abbottabad but what we do know is that the release of information has been dreadfully mismanaged by the White House and calls into question whether anyone there is interested in much more than making themselves look good or damaging someone else.
The number of stories emerging from the White House and immediately being contradicted by the White House, and in the process leaving the White House spokescritter, Jay Carney, resembling a stunned mullet, include: which of bin Laden's sons was killed, bin Laden using a woman as a shield, his wife being killed, bin Laden firing at US forces, the raid being monitored in real time, and the cause of the helicopter crash.
We also can say with some degree of certainty that we've been misled on the involvement of Pakistan.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. White House Puts Out Feelers on the Transportation Opportunities Act
Via The Hill:
"The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax automobile drivers based on how many miles they drive."
It's called the Transportation Opportunities Act, which is very ironic because I'm not sure of one opportunity that this would provide for the middle class Obama seems to keen on assisting. If you think for half a second you'll quickly realize that we pay gas taxes every time we fill up our cars.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
7. Some Thoughts on Inheritance
"Inheritance" is a neutral word–it can be bad and good depending on the circumstance. You don't get to pick what you get any more than you can pick your parents. On the one hand, you have things like photo albums and trusts funds. On the other you have the lasting repercussions of bad behavior, the sins of the father if you will, that can reach down across generations. Most of us inherit a combination of the two from our predecessors, hopefully with more of the former than the
This construct applies to presidents as well. You begin the job basically beholden to your predecessor, who has created the circumstances under which you have to try to do your job. Indeed, your first year is in many ways the political equivalent of adolescence, as you try to break away from the existing model and establish your own identity. This process can be particularly dramatic when you have successive presidents of opposing political parties.
So we have seen President Obama rebel against the Bush administration legacy throughout both his campaign and his first twenty-seven months in office. Calling attention to his inherited burdens, particularly at home but also abroad, has been a constant refrain in Obama's rhetoric, an inevitable codicil to any policy announcement. To date, these references have been exclusively negative and pejorative, and to be honest many Americans suffering from an extended economic downturn and weary of the lengthy foreign wars have tended to accept these statements at face value.
May 5, 2011
The First Debate: Pawlenty & Cain Win
Two winners came out of the South Carolina Republican Presidential Debate.
Let me start this off by noting that Frank Luntz's panel went for Herman Cain first and Rick Santorum second. Why? Their effective takedowns of Obama. In fact, Republican candidates need to note this, Santorum scored big tonight in his very effective take down of Obamacare.
Now, to the real winners.
The first winner is Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. Handicapped by being Minnesota's Governor, many pundits on the right have struggled to put him in the top tier of Republican candidates. He was largely a no-named candidate compared to a Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, or a Sarah Palin — the other Governors in the race. Tonight, he proved he is Presidential material.
Maybe it was because of the people surrounding him — the one eyed man is king among the blind. But I think it was more than that. He came across polished in his own right and not just in comparison to the others. His answers were solid. His admission of error on cap and trade was solid. His jobs answer was golden. His attacks on the President were spot on.
Keep your eye on Tim Pawlenty. I think he is going to go far. People forget he is an evangelical and will relate well in Iowa. People also forget he is a conservative who won twice statewide in Minnesota, where Al Franken is a Senator.
The other big winner is Herman Cain.
In fact, in the Frank Luntz gathering after the debate, Cain dominated. He went from being unknown to a household name. Herman Cain gave the best one liners and a brilliant defense of his lack of elected experience. He pointed out all the guys in Washington who have been elected and asked, "How's that working out for ya?" It was a golden moment.
Cain also shined because of his business experience. He stood out from the crowd in knowledge of private sector job creation, the effects of government regulation, etc. Chris Wallace asked him how he could be elected President. Tonight we know – through sheer force of personality.
While I pray I never have to see Gary Johnson in another debate ever again, Herman Cain will hopefully be in every debate from here on out. The more the voting pubic hears of Herman Cain, the more his rivals are going to come after him. He is this year's Mike Huckabee.
Osama's Lost Tape
Another Steven Crowder original.
Gutsy Calls and Pride Before Falls #EERS
We'll talk about Obama's "gutsy" call, as they are calling it, and about pride coming before the fall on tonight's Erick Erickson Show. The show starts at 7:05 p.m. You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.
Consider this an open thread.
Show Us The Budget, Senator Conrad
Senator Kent Conrad is about to release the Senate Democrats' budget. What we know so far is that Senate Democrats are aghast at what might be in it.
Now, I can't actually tell you what is in Senator Conrad's budget because only Senate Democrats have actually seen it. It is not released to the public. Even Senate Republicans have not seen it.
Based on what Senator Conrad is saying, Senate Republicans will be prohibited from seeing the budget they are expected to vote on until the moment they begin marking down the budget. In other words, there will be no time to review the budget before changes are to be offered to the budget.
This is important because Mr. Obama sent over his budget and it was full of ridiculous gimmicks. In fact, it was too gimmicky for even the Congressional Budget Office. Obama claims the budget balances, but only does so if you exclude payments on our national debt and related interest. The CBO says the budget never balances. And that's not all.
So Senate Democrats are going to come out of the gate, proclaim themselves the saviors of fiscal sanity in Washington, and do so with a budget no one has had time to see, let alone process and weed out all the gimmicks.
Senate Republicans are sending a second letter to Conrad about this. They already sent one and Kent Conrad ignored them. He'll probably ignore this one too, but it is important for the American people to understand that with a $14 trillion national debt, Kent Conrad is telling the world he's the budget savior. Just don't ask him to show you anything to prove it.
Yet Again Politifact Shows Itself to be Leftist Propaganda Masquerading as an Agent of Truth
Politifact continues to masquerade as an agent of truth when it is, in fact, a mouthpiece for the left. It took great pains to slowly establish itself as something resembling a ref on a field, but once that reputation was established it has gone out of its way to peddle lefty talking points.
Consider it labeling as "a lie" the accurate Republican claim that the Democrats intend a government take over of healthcare — something even Democrats admit Obamacare intends.
Now Politifact is going after Senator Rob Portman for saying
As an immediate bridge, we should increase access for oil exploration and production in energy-rich areas of the country like the Outer Continental Shelf, and in parts of Alaska
Get ready. What is Politifact saying?
Not so fast, say the experts. Pretend that environmentalists dropped all objections to drilling for oil on the Outer Continental Shelf — that area that lies offshore between states' jurisdictions and the end of United States oceanic boundaries. Also pretend that the public decided its need for oil trumped what environmentalists see as the sanctity of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR. Since we're just pretending, everyone join in: Drill, baby, drill.
Then wait.
See ya around 2021.
That is exactly what the Democrats said in 2001 when George Bush tried it. Today is the tomorrow the Democrats told us yesterday was too far away to do anything about. Politifact continues the Democrats' talking points.
Politifact likewise chooses to ignore that its argument that somehow Rob Portman isn't telling the truth is exactly the argument the Democrats used ten years ago to tell us not to drill.
Pence is In!
Mike Pence is going to do it. Just . . . um . . . not run for President.
No, Mike Pence announced this morning that he is going to disappoint conservatives nationwide and make conservatives in Indiana very happy by running for Governor of Indiana.
Guess I'll have to move to Indiana now, or something.
Count me all in 100% with Mike Pence for Indiana.
Mitch Daniels: The Anti-Tea Party Candidate
I'm still pretty sure he wants to run for the Senate and not President, but it does seem to me that Jenn Rubin delivers a fatal blow to Mitch Daniels' run for the Presidency.
The New Yorker's Hendrik Hertzberg explains that Daniels didn't go to the Tea Partyers or to the National Rifle Association for a testing-the-waters confab. Instead, he went to Manhattan
Surrounded by people across the spectrum, the liberals seemed to like him better than any of the other Republican candidates out there. Well, there you go. But more so, when asked who he'd call at 3 a.m. for foreign policy advice, given the choice between John McCain and Dick Lugar, he went with Lugar.
I don't think I need to remind you that, as Jenn ably notes, Lugar "has run interference for President Obama on foreign policy issues such as START."
Oh, and Daniels also received an award from the Arab American Institute, led by James Zogby. The group is not exactly on board with a foreign policy that treats Israel as a friend.
Sigh.
Morning Briefing for May 5, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For May 5, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. The Palin Foreign Policy Doctrine
2. GOP House Intel Chair Thinks We Are No Better Than Animals
3. Visual Confirmation Denied. Obama Decides Against Releasing Bin Laden Photos.
4.
5. Spike The Ball – Hard!
6. Boeing vs. Union-Controlled NLRB Heats Up
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1. The Palin Foreign Policy Doctrine
In light of Obama's morally indefensible and dyslexic policies regarding Egypt, Iran, Israel, Libya, and Syria, it is important that our eventual presidential nominee articulate a bold distinction in the realm of foreign policy.
Conservative domestic policy doctrine is quite indubitable and lucid (except among many elected Republicans); limited government, free enterprise, protection of individual liberties, limitation of criminal liberties, secure borders, and a robust civil society. Foreign policy is more ambiguous because it is governed more by prudence than by doctrine. Even though the overarching principle of any foreign policy initiative is American exceptionalism, the murkiness of America's security interests has long blurred the distinction between divergent foreign policies.
During the Bush years, the distinction between "liberal" and "conservative" foreign policy was obfuscated even further due to President Bush's embrace of neoconservative principles such as democratization and human rights interventions. Also, the only opposition from the right which percolated into the media was the voices of those like Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan, who believed that our involvement in the Middle East and support of Israel served as the impetus for Islamic terror.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. GOP House Intel Chair Thinks We Are No Better Than Animals
Representative Mike Rogers is the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Clearly, "intelligence" is a term used very loosely, as his remarks regarding the release of Bin Laden photos make abundantly clear.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Visual Confirmation Denied. Obama Decides Against Releasing Bin Laden Photos.
These last few days have created feelings that many of us had forgotten in the 9+ years since the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks. I can't speak for everyone, but in the winter of 2001 after the feelings of horror and anger subsided, a feeling of pride, unity, and commonality overwhelmed me for months. I was the least partisan I'd ever been in my life. For a while, I would think to myself, "Hey self, the Democrats may be bumbling idiots that want to create a socialist utopia, but they're our bumbling idiots that want to create a socialist utopia." Unity was on the tips of everyone's tongues as national pride blanketed the country. Interestingly, those months following September 11th, the Bush administration made the wise choice to not squander and diminish that unity.
The Obama administration seems to have no such desire to do the same having decided for Americans what level of closure they can receive in regards to the bloody end of Usama Bin Laden.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4.
As if Congress had nothing more important to do, ABC News brings us word that Congress will hold hearings on the use of the code name Geronimo as a reference to Osama Bin Laden.
5. Spike The Ball – Hard!
When Barack Obama won election as President of The United States, he spent over $100 million on his inaugural bacchanalia. When he negotiated a contentious issue with Senator John Cornyn of Texas, his logical gravamen was "I won, and I will trump you on that!" Now, after shooting Osama Bin Ladin, he has an aversion to spiking the football. He has decided not to release the death photos of OBL in order to avoid inciting Muslim anger.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. Boeing vs. Union-Controlled NLRB Heats Up
Following the union-controlled NLRB's attack on complaint against the Boeing Company's decision to open second 787 plant in South Carolina, politicians, pundits and free-market advocates have all criticized the NLRB's Acting General Counsel actions as an example of government overreach on behalf of union bosses.
In the nearly two weeks since the actions of the NLRB broke in the news, with the exception of a press release vowing to vigorously fight the NLRB's "legally frivolous" complaint, the company has been fairly quiet.
On Tuesday, the Boeing Company's Executive Vice President and General Counsel, J. Michael Luttig, sent the NLRB's Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon a strongly worded letter.
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