Erick Erickson's Blog, page 170
April 5, 2011
Paul Ryan is Not Jesus, But His Path To Prosperity Gospel is Really Good
Today you are going to hear a lot about Paul Ryan and his budget deal. He has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal previewing it. You can read that here.
The budget proposal is a solid proposal of solid reform. I like what I see. But I also foresee real problems with it as a result.
Let me first say the number you are going to hear batted about today is that Paul Ryan's budget cuts $6.2 trillion. Please keep in mind that following that number is this language: "from the president's budget over the next 10 years." That is different from actually cutting $6.2 trillion. These are cuts placed in juxtaposition to the President's proposed cuts. We will find out later today what the real cuts are.
Before continuing, let me also say that I am annoyed with a lot of conservatives today. Over the past 24 hours, many conservatives have raced to the nearest TV show, blog, and opinion page to praise Paul Ryan as if he is some sort of savior. There are calls for Ryan to run for President. One pundit called his budget plan "the most important domestic proposal of our lifetimes" and "the first concerted, credible effort to shrink the federal government since the birth of the welfare state seven decades ago."
Hyperbole much?
I get tired of the left investing in the cult of personality with Barack Obama, but sadly the right is not immune. Many conservatives desperate for the second coming of Reagan and Jesus have poured out their hopes, dreams, and ambitions into Paul Ryan as if he is some sort of empty vessel to be filled with the desires of conservatives.
Paul Ryan is a very decent guy, but he is just a man. He supported No Child Left Behind, the medicare prescription drug benefit, TARP, the auto bailout, the arguably unconstitutional AIG bonus tax, and capping CEO pay among other things. He is not infallible. Please, conservatives, try not to sound too enraptured.
Paul Ryan is, bar none, the best and most articulate Republican when it comes to talking budget, numbers, and reform. But that does not equate with infallibility and being a strategic mastermind.
That said, Paul Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" is really good. Again though, that it is a good plan is also its significant downfall. Let me tell you why.
Paul Ryan's plan defunds Obamacare, reforms medicare and medicaid, restructures the budget process, simplifies the tax code, and balances the budget in 26 years.
In those 26 years, Congresses and Presidents not bound by Paul Ryan's vision may or may not adhere to Paul Ryan's vision.
In those 26 years, the American Republic will still add to the deficit each year.
In those 26 years, calculations can and will change, the economy can and will change, and the projections for a balanced budget after 26 years may or may not continue.
Worse, Paul Ryan's budget balances in 26 years if and only if the Democrats agree to it. That will never happen. In other words, in the best case scenario Paul Ryan has proposed a budget that may or may not balance in 26 years. That is important not just because Democrats must go along with it, but also because the people projecting all the savings must be right. In the history of our grand Republic, those prognosticators are typically more wrong than right.
So don't actually believe the budget will balance in 26 years. History is against that. The Democrats are against it too.
Ryan started out with a plan that we can and should all praise. But it is a plan with which we should end up after negotiations with Democrats, not with which we should begin negotiations with Democrats who will only drive up the number of years in which we balance the budget, drive up spending, and drive down overall budget cuts. At least, and thank God for this, the budget plan scraps the subsidization of green jobs by the government.
There is one additional and major caveat to Paul Ryan's plan we must be aware of. The plan does, praise Paul Ryan, defund Obamacare. According to the Wall Street Journal, "the Obama health care law would be repealed, which the plan says will save $1.5 trillion, according to documents distributed to some aides on Capitol Hill."
If the plan "cuts $6.2 trillion in spending from the president's budget over the next 10 years, reduces the debt as a percentage of the economy, and puts the nation on a path to actually pay off our national debt," to quote Congressman Ryan, then $1.5 trillion of the cuts come from Obamacare.
Is the Congressman prepared to fight to the death, or at least the shutdown, to defund Obamacare, on which $1.5 trillion of his $6.2 trillion in cuts is premised? Tea Party activists will expect him to. But will he? And will he lead the GOP into that fight? Because to obtain those cuts and obtain defunding of Obamacare, we are going to have to draw a line in the sand and shut down the government. Obama will not otherwise concede to it.
The Ryan "Path to Prosperity" is a good plan. But it is, again, the plan we should end up with after negotiations, not the plan we should start with for negotiations. It will be moved left by virtue of the necessary compromises with Democrats to get it enacted into law. What those compromises are will determine conservatives' ultimate support.
In the meantime, I hope a few members of the Budget Committee might force the Republicans to up the ante on cuts and savings and start the GOP off from a position further right as the inevitable compromise to the left begins.
Morning Briefing for April 5, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For April 5, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. Paul Ryan is Not Jesus, But His Path To Prosperity Gospel is Really Good
2. Time Magazine's Bobby Ghosh Is Ignorant About Christianity
3. Irreligion And Irrationality. Don't Believe The Hate.
4. If You Think Unfunded Pensions Are A Problem, You Don't Know The Half of It…
5. This ad about Wisconsin Democrat Joanne Kloppenburg scares the Left.
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1. Paul Ryan is Not Jesus, But His Path To Prosperity Gospel is Really Good
Today you are going to hear a lot about Paul Ryan and his budget deal. He has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal previewing it. You can read that here.
The budget proposal is a solid proposal of solid reform. I like what I see. But I also foresee real problems with it as a result.
Let me first say the number you are going to hear batted about today is that Paul Ryan's budget cuts $6.2 trillion. Please keep in mind that following that number is this language: "from the president's budget over the next 10 years." That is different from actually cutting $6.2 trillion. These are cuts placed in juxtaposition to the President's proposed cuts. We will find out later today what the real cuts are.
Before continuing, let me also say that I am annoyed with a lot of conservatives today. Over the past 24 hours, many conservatives have raced to the nearest TV show, blog, and opinion page to praise Paul Ryan as if he is some sort of savior. There are calls for Ryan to run for President. One pundit called his budget plan "the most important domestic proposal of our lifetimes" and "the first concerted, credible effort to shrink the federal government since the birth of the welfare state seven decades ago."
Hyperbole much?
I get tired of the left investing in the cult of personality with Barack Obama, but sadly the right is not immune. Many conservatives desperate for the second coming of Reagan and Jesus have poured out their hopes, dreams, and ambitions into Paul Ryan as if he is some sort of empty vessel to be filled with the desires of conservatives.
Paul Ryan is a very decent guy, but he is just a man. He supported the medicare prescription drug benefit, TARP, the auto bailout, the arguably unconstitutional AIG bonus tax, and capping CEO pay among other things. He is not infallible. Please, conservatives, try not to sound too enraptured.
That said, Paul Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" is really good. Again though, that it is a good plan is also its significant downfall. Let me tell you why.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Time Magazine's Bobby Ghosh Is Ignorant About Christianity
I have no idea what religion Bobby Ghosh is. He is from India, so my assumption is, if anything, Hindu, but I have no idea really. It doesn't matter other than some may be quick, because of his last name, to assume he is a muslim. He is not.
One thing we can be absolutely sure of is he is totally and completely ignorant about Christians.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Irreligion And Irrationality. Don't Believe The Hate.
When intellectually-oriented atheists or agnostics choose to opine on religious matters, they sometimes tend to subject their own predictably negative views of religious practice into the discussion. This is particularly true when they deign to inform us how rigorously logical they are. Examining two attempts to cast pearls of agnostic or atheist logic before the deeply religious swine demonstrate the predictable vapidity of the hostile irreligious.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. If You Think Unfunded Pensions Are A Problem, You Don't Know The Half of It…
This nation is in trouble. Unfortunately, rather than recognize that they are a large part of the problem, today's union bosses would rather obfuscate and attack those trying to reform the government-union system. Today, unions and their allies are engaging in rallies throughout the country decrying the so-called union-busting (or, more likely, the loss of their union dues). Meanwhile, America's financial future continues careening toward a cliff, with union bosses and their political puppets refusing to turn the wheel.
After more than a month of protesting efforts to reform the government-union system, as well as threatening lawmakers and bullying businesses, union bosses are using the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King to stage nationwide demonstrations of "solidarity" with government unions. The problem is ignoring the problem. Despite the protests, despite the rancor, there is no more time and, more importantly, there is no more money. The piggy bank is empty.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. This ad about Wisconsin Democrat Joanne Kloppenburg scares the Left.
I'm repeating myself, but the Left keeps trying to push back on this ad highlighting Wisconsin Democrat (and candidate for Supreme Court Justice) Joanne Kloppenburg's utter lack of compassion for abuse survivors so pass it along. Make sure that the Wisconsin voter in your life watches it. The vote is TODAY; the incumbent Wisconsin voters should re-elect is David Prosser.
April 4, 2011
The Alleged Religion of Peace — The Erick Erickson Show
We'll be talking about Koran burnings tonight on the Erick Erickson Show.
You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.
I follow hashtag #EERS on Twitter during the show.
Consider this an open thread.
Time Magazine's Bobby Ghosh Is Ignorant About Christianity
I have no idea what religion Bobby Ghosh is. He is from India, so my assumption is, if anything, Hindu, but I have no idea really. It doesn't matter other than some may be quick, because of his last name, to assume he is a muslim. He is not.
One thing we can be absolutely sure of is he is totally and completely ignorant about Christians.
In trying to explain to Chris Matthews why muslims might be incited to behead people because some pastor in Florida burned a Koran, Ghosh says, "The thing to keep in mind that`s very important here is that the Koran to Muslims, it is not — it is not the same as the Bible to Christians. The Bible is a book written by men. It is acknowledged by Christians that it is written by men. It`s the story of Jesus."
That is a profoundly ignorant thing.
See Chapter 1, Paragraph 4 of the Westminster Confession of Faith:
The authority of the holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.
Likewise, the First Vatican Council proclaimed the books of the Bible were sacred "because, having been written by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that have God for their author, and as such have been handed down to the Church"
Further in a Barna survey, 55% of Christians believe the Bible to be the accurate word of God and evangelical or "born again" Christians are twice as likely to view the Bible that way.
If Bobby Ghosh thinks that Christians do not believe the Word of God is, in fact, the Word of God, he either does not understand Christians or he is influenced by the every shrinking numbers of center-left mainline Christians who increasingly do not accurately represent the faith.
But there is a more troubling side to Bobb Ghosh's statement, and one far more damning to his world view.
Ghosh says, "the Koran, if you are a believer, if you`re a Muslim, the Koran is directly the word of God, not written by man. It is transcribed, is directly the word of God. That makes it sacred in a way that it`s hard to understand if you`re not Muslim."
In other words, Ghosh thinks the savage murder of innocent people when the Koran is burned is a normal part of being a muslim. Now, assuming we take as the objective fact that most Christians believe exactly as Muslims believe regardless of Ghosh's ignorance — that the Bible is the inerrant , God breathed very Word of God — we are left with a compelling glimpse into the world.
Time Magazine's "World Editor" believes that it is a perfectly expected act for the "Religion of Peace" to lob off the heads of the infidel in revenge for a Koran burning and for Christians to sit idly by when their Bible is burned.
And this all gives the lie to one of the center-left's statements of faith as embraced by even George W. Bush: The Religion of Peace is not a religion of peace. For that, you have to turn to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Morning Briefing for April 4, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For April 4, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
Have you signed up yet?
Folks, I just wanted to remind you about the free Hillsdale College Townhall on April 16, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. ET. You can watch it online from the comfort of your home. It's a townhall on the constitution and our economic liberty. Mike Pence (R-IN) and the fine folks at Hillsdale will spend time with you talking about how our economic liberty has been diminished and how to restore it.
You can find out more by going here.
1. Hi, here's a food stamp graph that will ruin your day.
2. Senate Wants to Punt Constitutional Duty to Advise and Consent
3. UN Staffers in Afghanistan Killed Due To Barbarism, Not A Burned Koran
4. Senators Reid and Graham Jump On Revolting Afghan Murderers-Apologist Bandwagon
5. The US and NATO-backed side in the Libyan Civil War is Requesting a Cease-Fire
6. Death, Taxes…and Union Dues?
7. Obama adviser Eric Schmidt tries to hide donations at Google
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1. Hi, here's a food stamp graph that will ruin your day.
Because why have a nice, sunny morning? We probably can't afford those anymore, anyhow.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Senate Wants to Punt Constitutional Duty to Advise and Consent
Does anyone in Washington understand the concept of reading your job description and then doing your job? Apparently the esteemed members of the U.S. Senate - including both Republican and Democrat leadership - do not.
You see, they would rather have time to meddle further in the lives of Americans than in performing their constitutionally prescribed duty to advise and consent to Presidential nominees. As David Addington of the Heritage Foundation notes in Heritage WebMemo #3211, Senator Schumer has introduced S.679 and, along with 15 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, would like to reduce the number of Presidential appointments that require consent of the Senate while also establishing a "Working Group on Streamlining Paperwork for Executive Nominations" within the executive branch.
Addington properly dismisses this idea as detrimental to the Constitutional safeguard against the accumulation of power in one branch. In short -the idea is stupid and the result of busy-bodies who are too lazy to do their actual job effectively rather than coming up with yet another bill to tell us how to live our lives.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. UN Staffers in Afghanistan Killed Due To Barbarism, Not A Burned Koran
On Friday, as many as 20 United Nations staffers were killed in Afghanistan. Reuters reported it this way (emphasis added):
"(Reuters) – Afghan protesters angered by the burning of a Koran by an obscure U.S. pastor killed up to 20 U.N. staff, beheading two foreigners, when they over-ran a compound in a normally peaceful northern city on Friday in the worst ever attack on the U.N. in Afghanistan."
Note the bolded part.
You see, it is not the fault of the barbarians who murdered 20 innocent people, beheading two of them. It's the fault of some unknown hick pastor – because he burned a book.
To say that the reason they committed such barbaric acts was "in response" to anything is an act of bigotry as well as an affront to human decency and dignity.
Because what they believe, and what they expect us to believe, is that the killers in Afghanistan are just poor dumb "brown people" who don't know any better. They are so simple-minded, in fact, that they can be led astray and led to commit heinous acts of murder by one unknown pastor. Never mind the fact that they behead their own people and stone women to death for the horrendous crime of baring an ankle. Or, you know, being the victim of a rape.
We philistines just don't understand the nuance of their culture and the religion of Islam, you see.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Senators Reid and Graham Jump On Revolting Afghan Murderers-Apologist Bandwagon
This is utterly revolting:
"U.S. lawmakers said Sunday they would consider a request by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to formally condemn a Florida pastor's decision to burn the Koran, after the act triggered deadly riots in Afghanistan."
Note that once again it is being said that one act – the burning of paper – "triggered" the deadly riots. Not the ideology nor the people who committed the acts, of course. Reid flat-out says that Terry Jones caused the murders — murders committed at the hands of other people. People apparently so simple-minded that they cannot think for themselves and cannot possibly know the difference between right and wrong.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. The US and NATO-backed side in the Libyan Civil War is Requesting a Cease-Fire
On the heels of the Obama administration's declaration of its readiness to go to Kinetic Military Action on both sides of the Libyan civil war comes a report that the rebels have requested a cease-fire from the Qaddafi government.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. Death, Taxes…and Union Dues?
As the ethically-challenged judge in Wisconsin holds up Scott Walkers' union-reform law again (for another two months) and AFSCME bullies local businesses and think tanks receive death threats, the fight in Wisconsin (and elsewhere) is becoming clearly about union power, nothing more and nothing less.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
7. Obama adviser Eric Schmidt tries to hide donations at Google
Google Chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt tried to use his influence within Google to gain privacy from searches about him, specifically trying to hide his political donations through secret "whitelists" whose existence has only recently been admitted.
This revelation from Steven Levy's new book In the Plex is not surprising given Schmidt's high level of political activity, advising candidate Barack Obama on tech issues, and now rumored as a candidate to be the next Secretary of Commerce. He's in deep politically, and probably doesn't want that to hurt him personally or in business.
But given Schmidt's history, he's now exposed as a massive hypocrite.
April 1, 2011
Cease Fire in Libya & A Coup in Georgia — The Erick Erickson Show
The rebels want a ceasefire in Libya. Here in Georgia, the Lt. Governor is siding with Democrats and threatening to redistrict Republicans into defeat.
It's a free for all Friday night on my radio show. You can call in toll free about whatever is on your mind at 1-800-WSB-TALK.
Listen live at http://wsbradio.com
Consider this an open thread.
President Obama's First Campaign Ad for 2012
We have President Obama's first campaign ad of 2012. It made it onto the internet today.
14 Georgia Republicans Join The Democrats In A Coup
As you wake up today, if you are in Georgia, you need to know that fourteen Georgia Republican state senators have stabbed their caucus in the back in the quest for more power.
Last year, after numerous screw ups, abuses, and incompetencies, Georgia Republican State Senators had enough and neutered Lt. Governor Casey Cagle. They stripped him of power other than to leave him as figurehead of the State Senate — his constitutional power.
Things have not worked out well for the State Senate in the new power arrangement, but there is wide agreement that it is better to have the present set up than to have Casey Cagle in charge.
Yesterday, Casey Cagle allied himself with the Democrats in the Georgia State Senate. Fourteen Republicans in the State Senate joined the Democrats in a coup against the present leadership.
If they are not stopped today, the Democrats will, with the help of Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, get the upper hand in the final days of the General Assembly. This is not good.
Nine of the Republican turncoats are Jim Butterworth, Bill Hamerick, Frank Ginn, Steve Gooch, Butch Miller, Jeff Mullis, Jack Murphy, David Shafer, and Renne Untermann.
If you are in Georgia, go to http://action.redstate.com and call your Republican State Senator. Urge him to shut down this coup and oppose restoring Casey Cagle's power.
9 Georgia Republicans Join The Democrats In A Coup
As you wake up today, if you are in Georgia, you need to know that nine Georgia Republican state senators have stabbed their caucus in the back in the quest for more power.
Last year, after numerous screw ups, abuses, and incompetencies, Georgia Republican State Senators had enough and neutered Lt. Governor Casey Cagle. They stripped him of power other than to leave him as figurehead of the State Senate — his constitutional power.
Things have not worked out well for the State Senate in the new power arrangement, but there is wide agreement that it is better to have the present set up than to have Casey Cagle in charge.
Yesterday, Casey Cagle allied himself with the Democrats in the Georgia State Senate. Nine Republicans in the State Senate joined the Democrats in a coup against the present leadership.
If they are not stopped today, the Democrats will, with the help of Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, get the upper hand in the final days of the General Assembly. This is not good.
The Republican turncoats are Jim Butterworth, Bill Hamerick, Frank Ginn, Steve Gooch, Butch Miller, Jeff Mullis, Jack Murphy, David Shafer, and Renne Untermann.
If you are in Georgia, go to http://action.redstate.com and call your Republican State Senator. Urge him to shut down this coup and oppose restoring Casey Cagle's power.
Morning Briefing for April 1, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For April, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. American Orchestrated Air Strikes In Libya Kill Innocent Civilians
2. The Time for Action is Now
3. Obama Threatens Veto If Congress Strips Pro-Union Election Rules in FAA Bill
4. Let's get serious about domestic energy
5. Planned Parenthood: Did We Say We Do Mammograms?
6. Support For The Koch Brothers From An Unlikely Source: The United Steelworkers
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1. American Orchestrated Air Strikes In Libya Kill Innocent Civilians
You and I both know that anytime you have a war, innocent civilians get killed.
But Barack Obama told us this is not a war. This is just a kinetic military action.
The whole reason we are in Libya is to stop innocent civilians from being killed. It is the raison d'être of Susan Rice, Samantha Powers, and Hillary Clinton. They wanted to stop a massacre.
According to Vatican officials we have now killed 40 innocent civilians in Tripoli.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. The Time for Action is Now
As our country faces a fiscal crisis brought on by an unprecedented surge in deficit spending, it is clear that we do not have the luxury of kicking the can down the road and continuing with business as usual in Washington. Over the past two years, President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have tried to convince the American people that we can borrow and spend our way to prosperity. The American people aren't buying it, and they have made their desire for fiscal restraint loud and clear.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Obama Threatens Veto If Congress Strips Pro-Union Election Rules in FAA Bill
The FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act is scheduled for a vote. However, the White House is now stating that it is likely the President will veto the legislation if a provision that gives union bosses the ability to more easily unionize airline (and railroad) employees is not removed.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Let's get serious about domestic energy
n his speech at Georgetown University this week, President Obama acknowledged the alarming increases in prices at the gas pump, which in many states are approaching $4 per gallon. The president restated some vague platitudes about the need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but offered no concrete plans to rein in those prices, which are putting a strain on family budgets across the country.
On his recent trip to South America, the President expressed hope that Brazil would aggressively develop its resources so that the United States could become one of the "best customers" of Brazil's oil industry. This comes on the heels of his administration sending a loan of more than $2 billion to Brazil to expand its offshore drilling operations. Obama reaffirmed that insulting endorsement of boosting Brazil's energy economy in his speech yesterday, leaving drivers across the country wondering why we continue to import over 60 percent of our nation's total oil consumption from foreign countries and leave vast resources here untouched.
What we need is a strong energy policy that starts, first and foremost, with developing our abundant resources here at home to spur our economy, reduce our reliance on oil from unfriendly regimes overseas and bring down the deficit.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Planned Parenthood: Did We Say We Do Mammograms?
One of the ridiculous canards always trotted out in defense of taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood is that Planned Parenthood is not just an abortion mill, it is a full-service women's health provider. Specifically, it has been claimed over and over again that Planned Parenthood provides mammograms. Why do you want women to die of breast cancer, you evil Republican?
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. Support For The Koch Brothers From An Unlikely Source: The United Steelworkers
If you've been following the Wisconsin fracas over these past few weeks, you've probably noticed that the Left's enemy du jour has become the American businessmen Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries. As an American company, Koch Industries employs over 50,000 Americans. In total, the number of American jobs that indirectly supported Koch Industries is over 200,000. In Wisconsin, Koch Industries provides nearly 3,000 jobs directly and 11,000 jobs indirectly. More importantly, many of those jobs are good-paying union jobs. So, why all the hate?
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