Erick Erickson's Blog, page 175

Firebombing Pro-Life Activists — The Erick Erickson Show

Pro-life activists were firebombed. I'm on it tonight on http://wsbradio.com from 7pm to 9pm ET.

It is also a free for all Friday night. You can call in about anything you like at 1-800-WSB-TALK.

Consider this an open thread.

Democrat Division Suggests Conservatives Are Right and House Leaders Are Wrong

For several weeks House Republican Leaders have stolen a play from Barack Obama's playbook in the health care fight. Unfortunately, instead of using it against Democrats, they've used it against their fellow Republicans.

Remember when Barack Obama would say, "Republicans have no plan"? House Leaders are saying that about conservatives' plans to rein in spending.

Well, just as Dr. Tom Price and other Republicans would hold up the Republicans' health care plan in Barack Obama's 2010 State of the Union address every time he said they had no plan, conservatives are holding up their plan to House leaders who, like Baghdad Bob, choose to ignore reality in favor of their propaganda.

Unfortunately for the House Republicans, Democrats are now admitting the conservative strategy is the one they fear the most.

According to Jonathan Allen, a Democrat oriented reporter for the Politico with excellent Democrat sources, there is a great divide among Democrats who find themselves leaderless and rudderless.

House Democrats are divided on what to do. Senate Democrats are fearful of what to do. Barack Obama is clueless about what to do.

In other words, there is mass confusion. The opportunity is ripe for the GOP to set the spending agenda and lead. That's exactly what conservatives have been clamoring for.

Instead, House Republicans went through the dance of passing H.R. 1, to set out a budget for the rest of the year, and then — in effect — held a press conference and told Senate Democrats not to worry about it.

As Russ Vought pointed out here in laying out the conservative plan:

FIRST, our viable alternative strategy is to force Senate Democrats to pass a bill. Currently, the very willingness of Republicans to do the short-terms absolves both Senate Democrats and the President of any responsibility. The House acted. It passed H.R. 1. The Senate has not. Harry Reid has essentially thrown up his hands and said that he can't pass anything (notwithstanding the fact that he claims to run the Senate). We all know that he can pass something. Until the Senate passes legislation, real Congressional negotiations cannot begin. Not unlike their Wisconsin state colleagues, Democrats must participate to have a say. Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, and Chuck Schumer are not, and the short-term strategy is letting them get away with it. Furthermore, it's letting the White House get away with staying above the fray. Keith thinks this is a good thing, but why? Obama has an advantage for sure, but this debate is not a foregone conclusion, and conservatives operating on principle have bested Obama repeatedly since he has been President.

SECOND, Republicans can and must message the following argument:

a) Democrats controlled both the Presidency and the Congress and were unable to pass a budget, leaving a portion of the responsibility to Republicans.

b) House Republicans passed H.R. 1 to fully fund the government, make a down-payment of a mere $61 billion in cuts in the face of a $1.5 trillion deficit, and limit some of the main excesses of the current federal government (Planned Parenthood, EPA, Obamacare, etc.).

c) Democrats have not responded. The Democrat Senate Majority refuses to pass not just the right bill, but any bill. And the White House sent their chief negotiator to Europe and is spending more time filling out their NCAA brackets then getting serious about their shared responsibility to fund the government. Who is unserious here?

He goes on from there in laying out the details of the conservative plan.

Now, according to Jonathan Allen, "Some [Democrats] want to cut and cut now. Others say the failure to articulate a coherent anti-Republican message prevents Democrats from drawing sharp distinctions for voters."

The iron is hot for the GOP to have a unified message on spending discipline. But as long as House Republicans are fearful of picking the fight, they are giving the Democrats time to unify. If the GOP comes out now and forces the Democrats' hand on this, the GOP can win the argument, just like it did on health care (even though it didn't stop the law from being passed) and just like it did on cap-and-trade.

Eric Cantor and John Boehner's unwillingness to lead in favor of dithering is what is losing the GOP the fight for the hearts and minds of the American public.

Lead! And do so now.

Morning Briefing for March 18, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For March 18, 2011

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

1. Democrat Division Suggests Conservatives Are Right and House Leaders Are Wrong

2. Nostalgia with '95 Political Narrative Should Cut Both Ways

3. The Cat Is Now Out Of The Bag –James Sherk Describes What Was Won in Walker's War

4. Andrew Cuomo Wakes Up And Smells The Tea

5. Sherrod Brown admits free trade in oil will save us (and himself)

———————————————————————-

1. Democrat Division Suggests Conservatives Are Right and House Leaders Are Wrong

For several weeks House Republican Leaders have stolen a play from Barack Obama's playbook in the health care fight. Unfortunately, instead of using it against Democrats, they've used it against their fellow Republicans.

Remember when Barack Obama would say, "Republicans have no plan"? House Leaders are saying that about conservatives' plans to rein in spending.

Well, just as Dr. Tom Price and other Republicans would hold up the Republicans' health care plan in Barack Obama's 2010 State of the Union address every time he said they had no plan, conservatives are holding up their plan to House leaders who, like Baghdad Bob, choose to ignore reality in favor of their propaganda.

Unfortunately for the House Republicans, Democrats are now admitting the conservative strategy is the one they fear the most.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Nostalgia with '95 Political Narrative Should Cut Both Ways

Republican leadership is waging a civil war against conservatives over the budget, due to their visceral fear of a government shutdown. Their inexplicable fixation on the 1995 political paradigm has traumatized them from repeating the alleged mistakes of Newt Gingrich and the 104th congress. Such a one-dimensional focus should logically dictate that we attempt to replicate the successes of that era as well.

While the political liabilities of the '95 government shutdown are debatable, the political successes of welfare reform are incontrovertible. By 1996, Republicans, with the overwhelming support of the public, forced President Clinton to sign the most sweeping welfare reform act in decades.

Unfortunately, the Democrats gutted the most potent accountability mechanisms of the bill with the Obama stimulus in 2009. In addition, the '96 reform bill, imposing work requirements and spending caps, was only applied to 1 of 77 anti-poverty programs. RSC Chairman Jim Jordon has introduced The Welfare Reform Act of 2011 to address these issues.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. The Cat Is Now Out Of The Bag –James Sherk Describes What Was Won in Walker's War

Wisconsin's fight against the public unions was yet another battle in the war to prevent government from remaining self-perpetuating; regardless of the outcome of those pesky things called elections. The victory Scott Walker won against the Wisconsin public employee unions has spawned similar efforts in Alabama, Idaho, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Nebraska, and Tennessee. James Shrek of National Review gives us an extraordinary look at how state public union reform is spreading like wildfire.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Andrew Cuomo Wakes Up And Smells The Tea

The biggest political story of 2011 is at the state level, where new Republican governors like Scott Walker and Rick Snyder have followed in the footsteps of Mitch Daniels and Chris Christie by seeking not only to cut short-term spending to address their states' immediate budget crises while resisting tax hikes, but to attack the #1 source of their states' long-term fiscal problems: excessive long-term commitments to pay and benefits for (mostly unionized) state and local public employees. Local Democrats in many states have responded with apoplexy, reflecting their political and financial dependence on those same unions. In other states, where the Democrats still hold the statehouses, they've had to swallow some spending cuts, but are nonetheless in denial - Jerry Brown in California has tried to close his budget gap with a 50/50 mix of spending cuts and tax hikes, Mark Dayton in Minnesota has pandered to the DailyKos crowd by proposing to double the state's top income tax bracket, Connecticut's Dan Malloy - elected by the slimmest of margins - blasted Walker's collective bargaining reforms as "Un-American" and proposed a battery of tax hikes, and Maryland's Martin O'Malley even went to the Corzine-esque extreme of giving the keynote speech at a union protest against his own budget, swearing to avoid "Midwestern oppression."

But oddly, at least one newly-elected Democratic governor seems to have come to grips thus far with reality, and it's maybe the unlikeliest of all: New York's Andrew Cuomo.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Sherrod Brown admits free trade in oil will save us (and himself)

You may have heard that there was an election in Ohio last year. Popular Governor Ted Strickland (D) was defeated in his re-election campaign by John Kasich (R), and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher (D) was crushed in the Senate race by former Bush advisor Rob Portman (R).

Senator Sherrod Brown (D) has sure noticed. He's also noticed that gas prices are going up, and up, and up since Barack Obama took office, skyrocketing from under $2/gal to over $3.50/gal, an increase of about 75%.

So what does a Democrat (and Daily Kos darling) who has built a career by crusading against international trade do, when his career is on the line in 2012? Why, become a champion of trade, of course.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

An Act of War Against Mexico — The Erick Erickson Show

I'm going to spend some time on Operation Gun Walker tonight on the radio. I've got some new information on this. You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com starting at 7:05 p.m. and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.

Consider this an open thread.

I think Jim DeMint clears that up nicely

After suggesting Mike Lee was going to be wholly ineffective the other day, Jenn Rubin has turned her sights back on Jim DeMint today with some statements from DeMint that Rubin accurately notes could ruffle some feathers within the tea party movement.

DeMint said, among other things, "One of the reasons I endorsed Romney [in 2008] is his attempts to make private health insurance available at affordable prices."

Rubin notes,

His backers and the Republican base more generally are not going to buy the excuse DeMint has offered on RomneyCare. Romney is going to be savaged by the right, and from those very people who have given DeMint his base of support. So the question for DeMint is: Is he willing to risk his own conservative street cred to support a candidate who will be the target of his base's ire?

Well, DeMint has made sure no one will connect him to supporting Romneycare. He won't support Romney until Romney apologizes for Romneycare. The Hill reports

A source close to the conservative icon emphasized that, despite comments to The Hill indicating that Romney shouldn't shoulder all the political blame for the Massachusetts healthcare plan, DeMint wouldn't endorse Romney again unless he admits the plan was mistaken.

"It's obvious Jim was just trying to be nice to the guy he backed over McCain, as many conservatives did in 2008," the source said. "But he would never consider backing Romney again unless he admits that his Massachusetts healthcare plan was a colossal mistake."

I think that ends that.

Drunk With Debt on St. Patrick's Day

Consider this an open thread.

Operation Gun Walker: An Act of War Against Mexico With One American Murdered Already

As the sun is rising this morning, it appears more and more that the Obama Administration committed an actual, factual act of war against Mexico through sheer incompetence that has left at least one American border patrol agent murdered.

What if I told you that the Obama Administration's Justice Department authorized the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (the "ATF") to rig gun background checks so gun runners could "walk" guns into Mexico after clearing an instant background check at various gun stores in the U.S.?

What if I told you that the Department of Justice and ATF did this to try to build a picture of Mexican Drug Cartels so the cartels could be taken out?

What if I told you that the ATF's authorization of this operation, called by them "Fast and Furious", corresponded to an increase in gun violence by drug cartels in Mexico?

What if I told you the Obama Administration never told the Mexican Government — making this a clear act of war under any host of international precedents?

What if I told you that at least one, and maybe more, American border patrol agents were murdered by guns passed over the border with the permission of the ATF?

And what if I told you that the Department of Justice and ATF decided to use the gun running they authorized, enabled, and oversaw as evidence in the Obama Administration's fight to crack down on gun sales in the United States?

You'd think I was crazy, wouldn't you? You'd think I had Obama Derangement Syndrome, wouldn't you?

I'll be honest. Had this come from any one of a million different right wing websites, I would be deeply suspicious that there were key details missing in order to paint a picture of an out of control Obama Administration and Eric Holder.

What if I told you the source of this fantastical story is the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric?

The facts here fit a pattern in Obama's Department of Justice. Remember the Somali teen who the FBI gave pretend explosives to so the kid could take out a bunch of people in Oregon — or at least plot to? Only now, instead of imaginary bombs, the Department of Justice is authorizing real weapons that are being used to murder actual Americans.

Surveillance video obtained by CBS News shows suspected drug cartel suppliers carrying boxes of weapons to their cars at a Phoenix gun shop. The long boxes shown in the video being loaded in were AK-47-type assault rifles.

So it turns out ATF not only allowed it - they videotaped it.

Documents show the inevitable result: The guns that ATF let go began showing up at crime scenes in Mexico. And as ATF stood by watching thousands of weapons hit the streets… the Fast and Furious group supervisor noted the escalating Mexican violence.

One e-mail noted, "958 killed in March 2010 … most violent month since 2005." The same e-mail notes: "Our subjects purchased 359 firearms during March alone," including "numerous Barrett .50 caliber rifles."

Senator Chuck Grassley "began investigating after his office spoke to Dodson and a dozen other ATF sources — all telling the same story."

Now Congressman Darrell Issa is promising a congressional investigation. on the Rodger Hedgecock Show last night, Congressman Issa told Roger he is going to make sure there is a full inquiry into what happened.

The question, of course, to use the cliché, is what did Eric Holder and Barack Obama know and when did they know it.

One final note on this — CBS News itself does not get into the speculation that the Justice Department will be using this information to go after gun shops in this country. That's just what ATF agents are whispering to Congress directly.

Had it not been CBS News, I'd say this was crazy talk. But they have the emails, videos, and actual ATF agents all saying the same thing.

Morning Briefing for March 17, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For March 17, 2011

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

1. Operation Gun Walker: An Act of War Against Mexico With One American Murdered Already

2. The Strategy of Short-Term CR Opponents

3. The Perfect Purchaser

4. Congressional Republicans Begin Planting Hit Jobs on Conservatives

5. A Note to House Republicans Patting Themselves On the Back

6. The Devastation of Market Distortion is Coming Home to Roost

7. Choosing Your Hill to Die On

8. The Latest Escapade of Hastings the General Slayer

9. The Importance of Saying Thank You

———————————————————————-

1. Operation Gun Walker: An Act of War Against Mexico With One American Murdered Already

As the sun is rising this morning, it appears more and more that the Obama Administration committed an actual, factual act of war against Mexico through sheer incompetence that has left at least one American border patrol agent murdered.

. . . .

I'll be honest. Had this come from any one of a million different right wing websites, I would be deeply suspicious that there were key details missing in order to paint a picture of an out of control Obama Administration and Eric Holder.

What if I told you the source of this fantastical story is the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric?

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. The Strategy of Short-Term CR Opponents

Dear House Republicans and others. You keep saying that conservatives have "not strategy" on spending.

HERE IS OUR STRATEGY. And it is a heck of a lot better that yours!

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. The Perfect Purchaser

Jared Lee Loughner was Barack Obama's perfect gun purchaser -– right up until the moment when he started killing people.

Remember when, in 1968, we were told that, if felons and other undesirables were prohibited from having guns, gun crime would stop? Loughner was not a felon. He was, likewise, not an illegal alien, a deserter, or a fugitive from justice.

Remember when, in 1994, we were assured that, if gun purchasers were "checked out" against an FBI database, gun crime would stop? Loughner was checked out by the FBI; he passed.

Remember when, after Columbine, we were told that, if we cracked down on gun shows, gun crime would stop? That crackdown didn't pass. But Loughner didn't buy his gun at a gun show.

Remember when, after Virginia Tech, we were told that, if we sent the names of more of America's mentally disabled to the FBI's "secret list," gun crime would stop? Loughner's name wasn't on the FBI expanded list because he hadn't been "adjudicated as a mental defective" or "committed to a mental institution."

So, with every gun control "panacea" proven to be a lie, now comes Barack Obama, from the crime-free mecca of Chicago, proposing to negotiate with us about what further Second Amendment rights he can take away for no apparent use.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Congressional Republicans Begin Planting Hit Jobs on Conservatives

First the House GOP required Democrats to get their three week continuing resolution passed — a continuing resolution that cuts less money than the interest on our national debt that will accumulate over the next three weeks.

Then the House GOP started bad mouthing the conservatives who voted against their plan.

Now the House GOP is launching a direct assault on . . . wait for it . . . conservatives.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. A Note to House Republicans Patting Themselves On the Back

I hope John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, Jeb Hensarling, and the rest of the House Leadership and those Republicans who supported the 3 week continuing resolution "cutting" $6 billion realize this:

The daily amount of interest we will accrue on our national debt is greater than the $6 billion saved over three weeks. In other words, these cuts have done nothing to save us any money.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. The Devastation of Market Distortion is Coming Home to Roost

Wholesale Food Prices Highest since 74?

Food Stamps Surge in West

These two headlines are quintessential examples of the perennial cycle of government intervention. They offer a vivid portrayal of how the Democrats perfidiously inflate the price of food so that the maximum number of people will be dependent upon their food programs, thus granting them a permanent electoral constituency.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

7. Choosing Your Hill to Die On

Some folks know only one gear.

For some folks, their one gear can best be described as CHAAAAAARGE!! In politics, every single thing that any Republican does that displeases them in the least is grounds to threaten to NEVER DONATE TO OR VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN AGAIN. Threatening total abandonment of politics (or voting third party, or for Democrats), is the only negotiating tactic these people know. Similarly, everything Obama and/or the Democrats do is the most shocking attack on capitalism and the Constitution that has ever been seen in the history of ever.

Another group of folks knows only the gear that we will call "Congress." Another word for this gear is "retreat." For these folks, there is always an excuse for capitulation, always a reason to bend to pragmatism, always a reason to not rock the boat. No matter what horrible thing the Republicans do, we dare not abandon them and be left to the Democrats. To these folks, we dare not risk provoking either a governmental shutdown or the teachers' unions, no matter the stakes, for fear of bad polling.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

8. The Latest Escapade of Hastings the General Slayer

I bring you the news that Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone, the professional military gadfly and all-around speaker of truth to power, hit a new low yesterday. At a Congressional Progressive Caucus Peace and Security Task Force briefing, Hastings lit into General David Petraeus, accusing him of employing the "Charlie Sheen strategy."

Please click here for the rest of the post.

9. The Importance of Saying Thank You

Below are the 54 Republicans who voted no. Call them at 202-224-3121 and make sure they know you appreciate their stand. Right now all they've heard are their colleagues bad mouthing them. We need to remember to say thank you for their willingness to stand for their principles.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

Gutless Republicans and the 2012 Field — The Erick Erickson Show

Tonight on the Erick Erickson Show we're going to talk about the gutless Republicans smearing conservatives in the House of Representatives. We'll also discuss the 2012 field.

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

Consider this an open thread.

Congressional Republicans Begin Planting Hit Jobs on Conservatives

First the House GOP required Democrats to get their three week continuing resolution passed — a continuing resolution that cuts less money than the interest on our national debt that will accumulate over the next three weeks.

Then the House GOP started bad mouthing the conservatives who voted against their plan.

Now the House GOP is launching a direct assault on . . . wait for it . . . conservatives.

One reporter called me today. He is a long time acquaintance for a national newspaper. In shooting the breeze he dropped the names of leadership staffers pushing several of the hit jobs.

Unfortunately, though he named some names I'd already guessed, I can't share them. But he said so many phones are burning up with hit jobs being planted I can write what I wrote because it will be impossible to trace back to him.

Then there is this from the Daily Caller.

One GOP aide unloaded on the conservatives, offering a more colorful view privately held by many other Republicans.

"These people aren't thinking clearly. Their logic doesn't pan out. They have NO plan. What concessions were they going to get if it failed? They were going to shut down the federal government over Planned Parenthood?" the source said, "It was totally reactionary. These people got elected to lead. Instead they got jerked around by the political equivalent of music critics. If these people knew anything about governing, they'd be in Congress, not lobbing bombs from the cheap seats and sending out fundraising emails."

The aide offered contempt for Pence in particular. "Pence is running for governor, and has to get through a primary, so his position is about as genuine as a $10 Gucci hand bag on Sunset Boulevard."

I'll first point out that Eric Cantor is well known to wear Gucci loafers. Second, I will pass comment on the sexual orientation of whoever came up with the Gucci hand bag line. Third, I would like to ask exactly whose side these Republicans are on.

See, I'm on the side of smaller government and more freedom. These House Republicans seem to be in favor of smaller government in the abstract, just not in the real world.

They're attacking Heritage Action for America, Club for Growth, Family Research Council, Mike Pence, and any other conservatives who dare to actually make them live up to their own Pledge to Nowhere. We conservatives have a plan. We just want the House Republicans we elected to find their testicles and run the ball down the field.

By the way, the House aide said, "If these people knew anything about governing, they'd be in Congress." Actually, (1) Mike Pence is in Congress, (2) Chris Choccola was in Congress, (3) Tony Perkins was in the Louisiana State Legislature, and (4) unlike the House Aide, I have actually run and won elected office as a conservative. So, the House aide throwing shots is the only one in the picture who has never been elected to anything!

In fact, I think that makes this House aide akin to a prostitute — getting money from a congressman to perform cheap tricks. The rest of us are standing up for our convictions instead of selling out.