Erick Erickson's Blog, page 163

Barack Obama To Release His Long Form Birth Certificate

Barack Obama is going to release his long form birth certificate. For several years now, he has used this issue as a way to paint those who oppose him has crazy, racist extremists.

With Donald Trump seizing the issue and more and more polling showing people questioned Barack Obama's country of origin, including the National Newspaper Association, considered the black press of America, the issue has become a liability to Barack Obama.

So he'll release it and make it a non-issue for most and, for those who continue to believe there is something off, he'll go back to portraying them as crazy, racists.

Of course, once the birth certificate issue is dispatched, will he release his college transcripts? That's the issue for me.

When the birth certificate is reviewed and we can see what most of us have always known — that he was born in Hawaii — we can move on. For some, moving on will be to wonder what religion the man is.

He can't win on this. Not that I care.

I'm Filling in for Neal Boortz

Folks,

I'm filling in for Neal Boortz today on his nationally syndicated program. You can listen live from 8:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. today by going to http://wsbradio.com.

The phone number, should you want to be a part of the program, is 1 (877) 310-2100.

Hope you enjoy it.

Erick

Barack Obama Comes Out For Even HIGHER Gas Prices

I realize Barack Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and was Editor of Harvard Law Review, but I'm starting to think he's not that bright — or at least lacks sense (never mind that he won't release his college transcripts).

He's definitely an amateur and it shows when, late yesterday, Obama came out in favor of even higher gas prices.

As a friend noted on Facebook, Obama's popularity is falling so fast that Kenyans are now claiming Obama was born in the United States. This won't help that.

Now, he does not say he is in favor of higher gas prices (though his Secretary of Energy does), but Obama wants Congress to "take 'immediate action' to end tax subsidies for oil and gas companies"

The two subsidies Barack Obama specifically wants Congress to kill are the "percentage depletion" and "intangible drilling costs (IDCs)" tax incentives.

Enter Democrat Congressman Dan Boren who explains why doing so would drive up the cost of oil production, make us more dependent on foreign oil, and — oh by the way — points out that getting rid of these would not affect Exxon, Shell, BP, Phillips-Conoco, etc. in the least little bit.

Boren notes

Specifically, the Administration is seeking to repeal the "percentage depletion" and "intangible drilling costs (IDCs)" tax incentives. The removal of these provisions would negatively affect domestic independents who utilize them to attract the capital necessary to drill new oil and gas wells inside the United States. It is estimated that eliminating percentage depletion and IDCs for domestic independents would reduce U.S. drilling by 30-40 percent, thereby increasing the nation's dependence energy from foreign sources. Furthermore, the major oil companies are barred by law from receiving percentage depletion altogether, as it only is given to domestic independent producers. The IDC preference is only available for domestic drilling activity, and as the major oil companies drill primarily outside the U.S., the domestic independent sector of the industry will yet again bear the brunt of losing this critical provision.

So, getting rid of these would only affect small businesses.

Morning Briefing for April 27, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For April 27, 2011

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

Hey folks, I'm filling in for Neal Boortz on the radio today. You can listen live from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. by clicking here.

1. Barack Obama Comes Out For Even HIGHER Gas Prices

2. Why Republicans Will Never Win the PR Battle on a Government Shutdown. And Why They Shouldn't Care.

3. Daily Kos poll suggests Union movement no match for TEA Party

4. Shouldn't Facebook Provide Equal Time?

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1. Barack Obama Comes Out For Even HIGHER Gas Prices

I realize Barack Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and was Editor of Harvard Law Review, but I'm starting to think he's not that bright — or at least lacks sense (never mind that he won't release his college transcripts).

He's definitely an amateur and it shows when, late yesterday, Obama came out in favor of even higher gas prices.

As a friend noted on Facebook, Obama's popularity is falling so fast that Kenyans are now claiming Obama was born in the United States. This won't help that.

Now, he does not say he is in favor of higher gas prices (though his Secretary of Energy does), but Obama wants Congress to "take 'immediate action' to end tax subsidies for oil and gas companies"

The two subsidies Barack Obama specifically wants Congress to kill are the "percentage depletion" and "intangible drilling costs (IDCs)" tax incentives.

Enter Democrat Congressman Dan Boren who explains why doing so would drive up the cost of oil production, make us more dependent on foreign oil, and — oh by the way — points out that getting rid of these would not affect Exxon, Shell, BP, Phillips-Conoco, etc. in the least little bit.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Why Republicans Will Never Win the PR Battle on a Government Shutdown. And Why They Shouldn't Care.

Conservatives are prone to lament a liberal bias in the media. There is another bias conservatives should play more careful attention to because it affects even the more relatively unbiased analysts and reporters that exist on television, radio, and in print. It is the "good government" bias.

The good government bias's hallmark is the exasperated sigh of the Washington press corps longing for the "adults" to have an "adult conversation" and handle gridlocked issues in Washington as "adults in the room." In other words, principles be damned, we need government to work. This is perhaps the most common press bias because it chooses to ignore or downplay real principled concerns in favor of practical, pragmatic, or "adult" solutions.

Republicans in Washington are scrambling trying to find a plan to stave off a government shutdown and reduct the debt to GDP ratio while looking like "adults" to placate a critical press. It won't happen. The GOP is so fearful of a government shutdown and the media's spin that the Democrats will be able to cajole them into doing less than they should.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Daily Kos poll suggests Union movement no match for TEA Party

I took a look at this poll by PPP for Daily Kos and SEIU. Markos Moulitsas himself is hyping the poll as showing an enthusiasm gap, which of course was one big indicator of the electoral wipeout we saw in 2010.

I think that he's right, to a degree. However I read the figures as having two conclusions: First, the TEA party effect is still there, and Republicans are slightly more engaged than Democrats at this early point in the cycle. Second, the Union activism of this year is not having the same engagement effect with Democrats, that the TEA party, the ARRA, and the PPACA had with Republicans.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Shouldn't Facebook Provide Equal Time?

Just last Wednesday, Barack Obama held a townhall meeting online at Facebook. It drew lots of publicity and was hailed as a campaign event. Heck, it clearly was all about Barack Obama's re-election.

We know Facebook leans left. We know Mark Zuckerberg is happy to be taxed more. But what of the Facebook community? They aren't all lefties.

When the GOP has a nominee, Facebook should be fair and give the GOP nominee equal time. Our sister site Human Events has a petition up that you can sign and ask Facebook for equal time.

Please note that we're not seeking state action to compel Facebook. We're just asking Facebook to do the right thing.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

Lawrence O'Donnell Is Biblically Ignorant and Barack Obama Comes Out In Favor of HIGHER Gas Prices #EERS

Lawrence O'Donnell today decided to lecture Rush Limbaugh about Jesus Christ and hellishly falls on his face.

Barack Obama came out in favor of higher gas prices today and his press secretary got all defensive over whether or not Obama is a Christian.

We'll discuss all this and more tonight on the Erick Erickson Show on WSB starting at 7:05 p.m. ET.

You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.

Consider this an open thread.

Shouldn't Facebook Provide Equal Time?

Just last Wednesday, Barack Obama held a townhall meeting online at Facebook. It drew lots of publicity and was hailed as a campaign event. Heck, it clearly was all about Barack Obama's re-election.

We know Facebook leans left. We know Mark Zuckerberg is happy to be taxed more. But what of the Facebook community? They aren't all lefties.

When the GOP has a nominee, Facebook should be fair and give the GOP nominee equal time. Our sister site Human Events has a petition up that you can sign and ask Facebook for equal time.

————-

UPDATE: Judging by the comments, some people have a literacy problem. The operative word in this post is should. The operative phrase is ask Facebook. We're not calling on the federal government to get involved. Equal time rules do not apply.

We simply think in the interests of fairness, Facebook should allow the Republican nominee to hold a Facebook townhall too.

Why Republicans Will Never Win the PR Battle on a Government Shutdown. And Why They Shouldn't Care.

"Should Washington's power diminish, reporters' access to power would diminish. Smaller government is a deal breaker for the Washington press corps."

Conservatives are prone to lament a liberal bias in the media. There is another bias conservatives should play more careful attention to because it affects even the more relatively unbiased analysts and reporters that exist on television, radio, and in print. It is the "good government" bias.

The good government bias's hallmark is the exasperated sigh of the Washington press corps longing for the "adults" to have an "adult conversation" and handle gridlocked issues in Washington as "adults in the room." In other words, principles be damned, we need government to work. This is perhaps the most common press bias because it chooses to ignore or downplay real principled concerns in favor of practical, pragmatic, or "adult" solutions.

Republicans in Washington are scrambling trying to find a plan to stave off a government shutdown and reduct the debt to GDP ratio while looking like "adults" to placate a critical press. It won't happen. The GOP is so fearful of a government shutdown and the media's spin that the Democrats will be able to cajole them into doing less than they should.

One of the ideas making the rounds is Senator Bob Corker's CrAP Act. The CrAP Act would restrain government growth at 23% of GDP, which is higher than historic norms even into the Bush Administration. Corker, through accounting sleight of hand, says it is really 20% of GDP, but that, like his Act, is crap.

It is, however, all done in the name of good government and bipartisanship in an effort to slow the growth of government without a government shutdown. Republicans need to understand that they will never ever win a PR battle on a government shutdown with the media, but they shouldn't fear that. Winning a PR battle with the media is no longer necessary to win the hearts and minds of the American public.

But to understand why the GOP won't win a PR battle is to understand how the Washington press works and is to understand precisely why the GOP so often comes off as the stupid party selling its soul for larger government.

One of the old sayings in Washington is that there are two parties — the stupid party and the evil party. Occasionally the stupid party and evil party will get together and do something that is both stupid and evil and it will be hailed as a bipartisan compromise. The media is complicit in this because just about every bipartisan compromise gets referred to as the adults coming together in a room.

The most recent conversation about the 2011 continuing resolution is a case in point. Analysts and reporters talked about the "far right" and the "far left" and how John Boehner and Barack Obama would have to overcome those extremes to find a bipartisan solution. The simpleness of the conversation ignored the very real concerns by both liberals and conservatives related to spending priorities and the size of government.

More troubling for conservatives, good government rarely, if ever, can also be limited government. Despite the federal constitution being a constitution of limit power for Washington, the nation has evolved to consider Washington the center of power. It is reflected in a class of political analyst and reporter in Washington who believes themselves to be covering the corridors of power. The conversation rarely occurs among the press corps that perhaps Washington should not be doing something or its power to act is limited. The very notion is silly in the twenty-first century despite what the Constitution may or may not say.

Consequently, instead of treating the concerns of those who want more limited government seriously, they are assigned the label of "far right" and definitionally excluded when mentioning "adults" having conversations to fix Washington. Should Washington's power diminish, reporters' access to power would diminish. Smaller government is a deal breaker for the Washington press corps.

This should not, however, matter to Republicans. A recent CBS News survey found that 70% of Americans oppose raising the debt ceiling even if it means higher interest rates. The vast majority of Republicans and Independent voters oppose raising the debt ceiling. Surprisingly, just under half of Democrats oppose raising the debt ceiling too. Meanwhile, any casual review of reporting on the debt ceiling will find that all the adults think the debt ceiling needs to be raised.

In essence, the media and the Democrats are both stuck in 1995 when the GOP lost the PR battle to a media highlighting boy scouts shut out of the National Air and Space Museum. But the public has moved on to recognize the problem. Likewise, the public's trust of the media continues to fall to new lows.

The GOP should not be afraid of the media's spin and bias on this because the public has largely tuned out the routine pooh-poohing and pining for adults by the media. Instead of worrying about PR, the GOP should worry about reducing the size and scope of the federal government, which more and more polls show Americans want.

Leading From Behind

Many of us have been struggling to make sense of Barack Obama's erratic foreign policy. He says he doesn't want to fight "dumb wars" and then goes and acts stupid in Libya. He constantly seems to be working to undermine the United States' role in the world and bows to every foreign crowned head except Queen Elizabeth II, who he gives an iPod. He returns the Churchill bust. He bends over backwards to kiss up to Hu Jintao.

It makes you wonder.

Well, wonder no long. Over at the New Yorker, Ryan Lizza sums up the erratic foreign policy of Barack Obama and it is worse that you or either imagined.

In a very long piece, we are shown an adult Hillary Clinton having to prod Barack Obama who flips between realism and idealism hoping that if he flips back and forth he can blur the two.

Ultimately, you can figure out all you need to know from a Presidential advisor who describes Barack Obama's foreign policy as "leading from behind." Seriously.

Leading from behind is premised on two thoughts within Barack Obama's head:

(1) We have been replaced on the world stage by China as the pre-eminent super power; and,

(2) Everyone else hates us.

To sum it up, Barack Obama's foreign policy is based on the belief that we have surrendered or had taken from us our leadership role in the world. He's operating intentionally as a failure.

Obama may be moving toward something resembling a doctrine. One of his advisers described the President's actions in Libya as "leading from behind." That's not a slogan designed for signs at the 2012 Democratic Convention, but it does accurately describe the balance that Obama now seems to be finding. It's a different definition of leadership than America is known for, and it comes from two unspoken beliefs: that the relative power of the U.S. is declining, as rivals like China rise, and that the U.S. is reviled in many parts of the world. Pursuing our interests and spreading our ideals thus requires stealth and modesty as well as military strength. "It's so at odds with the John Wayne expectation for what America is in the world," the adviser said. "But it's necessary for shepherding us through this phase."

Morning Briefing for April 26, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For April 26, 2011

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

1. King & Spalding Decides That Marriage And Democracy Are Indefensible, But Terrorists and Murderers Are Fine

2. Leading From Behind

3. EPA Ruling Kills Shell's Plans to Drill Offshore Alaska

4. Union Leaders Teach Labor Studies Courses on Communism, Violence, Industrial Sabotage & Frying Cats

5. Haley Barbour Not Running For President in 2012

6. The Media Skirts Past Sarah Palin's Uterus and Truthers in Search of Birthers

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1. King & Spalding Decides That Marriage And Democracy Are Indefensible, But Terrorists and Murderers Are Fine

Who deserves legal representation - the American people, or their sworn enemies? To the Atlanta, Georgia law firm of King & Spalding, the answer most emphatically is only the latter.

That is the message sent by that firm as we get news that the head of King & Spalding's appellate practice group, former Solicitor General Paul Clement, has resigned from the firm after King & Spalding backed out of Clement's representation of the United States House of Representatives in defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Leading From Behind

Many of us have been struggling to make sense of Barack Obama's erratic foreign policy. He says he doesn't want to fight "dumb wars" and then goes and acts stupid in Libya. He constantly seems to be working to undermine the United States' role in the world and bows to every foreign crowned head except Queen Elizabeth II, who he gives an iPod. He returns the Churchill bust. He bends over backwards to kiss up to Hu Jintao.

It makes you wonder.

Well, wonder no long. Over at the New Yorker, Ryan Lizza sums up the erratic foreign policy of Barack Obama and it is worse that you or either imagined.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. EPA Ruling Kills Shell's Plans to Drill Offshore Alaska

A ruling by the Environmental Appeals Board of the EPA has scuttled Shell Oil Company's plan to drill its initial exploratory test in Alaska's Chukchi Sea. This is at least the second time drilling has been deferred or delayed due to environmental concerns. But this time, the reason proffered by EPA seems to be "Because we can."

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Union Leaders Teach Labor Studies Courses on Communism, Violence, Industrial Sabotage & Frying Cats

The University of Missouri has an expansive $1.9 billion enterprise with an operating budget of $500 million which, according to its website, 37% comes through state appropriations. While the University's Institute of Labor Studies may only be a small fraction of its budget, one must wonder why tax dollars are being used to fund a program that espouses Communism, teaches tactics in industrial sabotage (including stalking CEOs, using members to insinuate sabotage, as well as the killing of cats), and convincing union members that their "group goals" are more important than their individual goals.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Haley Barbour Not Running For President in 2012

If there is one thing we should have learned from the 2008 primary and general elections, to say nothing of 1996, it's that being a good presidential candidate on paper is useless; you have to want it - want it badly enough to hire a serious staff, badly enough to trim a few positions and hard edges to fit the various demands of the primary and general electorates, badly enough to endure the most exhaustive efforts to tear apart your entire life for public entertainment, badly enough to spend endless weary hours fundraising and stumping in Iowa and New Hampshire and enduring crummy bus rides with grumpy reporters and town halls with cranks and half-wits and left-wing troublemakers. Your family needs to want it too - a man whose wife doesn't want him to be president will not become president. It's a big, life-consuming commitment, and you don't do it halfway.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. The Media Skirts Past Sarah Palin's Uterus and Truthers in Search of Birthers

There is no need to write ten thousand words to highlight what is perhaps the very best example these days of profound liberal bias in the media.

Andrew Sullivan is now working for the Daily Beast and Newsweek after spending a great deal of time at the Atlantic. No one in the media cares to note that Andrew Sullivan is obsessed with Sarah Palin's uterus and whether Trig Palin once resided there. His obsession amounts to Tourettes on a keyboard coupled with some form of mental illness.

But the media embraces Andrew Sullivan. Harvard Magazine just named him the world's best blogger. Wonkette, the site that used to be slightly funny, followed up on Andrew Sullivan's obsession last week and suggested that Trig Palin is actually the incestuous love child of Todd Palin and his daughter. They also howled with laughter about his Downs Syndrome.

The media yawned.

In 2006, Scripps Howard found that more than half of all Democrats believe George W. Bush was complicit in the September 11th attacks.

The media yawned.

But by God, you suggest Barack Obama might have a problem with his birth certificate and maybe was not born in the United States, and you are liable to have a television news crew on your lawn with a TV shrink explaining how you are nuts and cannot be taken seriously in American society.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

King & Spalding Kwits and Scrams #EERS

King & Spalding is perfectly happy to represent terrorists, but not the House of Representatives in defense of a popular piece of legislation. We'll talk about it tonight and also fisk a Nightline report on fracking.

You can listen to the whole show live at http://wsbradio.com and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK. The show starts at 7:05 p.m. ET.

Consider this an open thread.