Erick Erickson's Blog, page 178
March 10, 2011
Today on Twitter #AskDems
Today at noon on Twitter the Democrats are going to have a "townhall" where you can ask them questions.
Use the hashtag #askdems and fire away starting at 12:00 p.m. ET.
More than a dozen lawmakers, including Reps. Mike Honda (Calif.), John Larson (Conn.) and John Garamendi, (Calif.) will be fielding questions about the budget and the GOP spending bill on the social messaging site. Questions can be submitted via Twitter using the hashtag "#AskDems."
"In organizing this national town hall, House Democrats are reaching out to an America that is enraged with the Republican attack on working families, seniors, women, children, students and our economy," Honda says. "The tweeting voices are drawing a line in the sand, saying enough is enough — all in 140 characters or less."
I'd like to see the questions they are willing to answer from Republicans. Give it your best shot.
Morning Briefing for March 10, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For March 10, 2011
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1. House Leadership Let Obamacare Expansion Pass
2. The Wisconsin GOP has had enough.
3. Joe Manchin: The Cowardly Faux Moderate
4. White House to Union-Controlled NLRB: Shush now! Be quiet!
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1. House Leadership Let Obamacare Expansion Pass
Yesterday, House Republican Leadership allowed a bill to come to the floor of the House to expand the scope of an Obamacare program. The bill passed by a vote of 280-138—with 95 Republican votes.
The Veterinary Public Health Amendments Act (HR 525), introduced by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), would increase the number of veterinarians with public health training via federal subsidies. One of the bill's provisions expands the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program—a loan program created in Obamacare (Title V of Section 5204)—to include veterinarians in the definition of eligible public health officials.
After Obamacare was enacted, Democrats recognized that the loan program would not cover veterinarians and so they passed legislation late last year to expand its scope.
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2. The Wisconsin GOP has had enough.
The Wisconsin Republicans have been prevented from passing their financial reform package because they must have a super-majority quorum in the state legislature to pass financial matters. Part of the financial reform package was an end to collective bargaining on salary for public employees. Consequently, the Wisconsin legislature got tired of the Democrats hiding in Illinois. By an 18-1 vote, the Wisconsin Senate stripped collective bargaining from the financial package and passed it as a stand alone item. The portion of the financial package that the unions most objected to is now going to be the law without them present. They are, to say the least, upset.
Oh well. At least the Republicans didn't just "deem" it passed.
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3. Joe Manchin: The Cowardly Faux Moderate
Perhaps no politician is more willing to engage in political acrobatics than Joe Manchin. There is no degree to which he will not contort his political statements and ideological alignment in order to obtain and retain power in West Virginia. Manchin aired an infamous TV ad depicting himself taking aim at the cap and trade bill while campaigning to join the anti-gun, pro-'cap and trade' Democrat Party. Despite his previous support for ObamaCare, he campaigned against it. Now he is eliciting headlines by criticizing Obama on the budget. However, it is Manchin's voting record that we must examine, not his contrived political stunts or meaningless rhetoric.
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4. White House to Union-Controlled NLRB: Shush now! Be quiet!
A few weeks ago, as the debate over the FY 2011 budget was being debated, we raised the question as to why the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board wanted even more money from taxpayers, even as the NLRB's case load has plummeted over the last ten years. Then, when the GOP-led House proposed cutting the NLRB's budget by a mere $50 million (from $283 million to $233 million), the NLRB's pro-union Chairman Wilma Liebman and the NLRB's Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon responded with an alarmist statement.
March 9, 2011
Morning Briefing for March 9, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For March 9, 2011
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We Got Caps
We have RedState caps. We sure do. I've got some at the house now and they are good looking caps.
The caps come in, naturally, red, but also in khaki, and black.
They actually are good quality caps and the RedState logo makes them look sharp.
1. Reid: NEA Saving Lives via Cowboy Poetry
2. Now is the Time to Pass an ANWR Bill
3. Military Intervention In Libya Is A Bad Idea
4. The Monsters of McMinnville, Oregon: Radical teachers' union gets MEAn
5. Open Secrets, Closed Eyes
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1. Reid: NEA Saving Lives via Cowboy Poetry
When it comes to cutting budgets, everything is on the table with the Democratic leadership of the Senate. Absolutely everything, everything, up to and including cowboy poetry festivals.
Or maybe not.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Now is the Time to Pass an ANWR Bill
In 1995, the Republican-controlled House and Senate passed a balanced budget act, which contained a provision to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil drilling and exploration. On December 6th of that year, President Bill Clinton vetoed the bill, ensuring that not a drop of oil would be extracted from the barren land of this 20 million acre area. We have literally been paying for this veto for the past 15 years.
This gargantuan frozen tundra in the northeast corner of Alaska contains the most oil of any single untapped source within the borders of the U.S. According to the mean average estimate of the U.S. Geological Survey, there are at least 10.3 billion barrels of oil in ANWR. Most of this oil can be tapped through a drilling imprint of just 2,000 acres, or .01%, of the reserve area. In addition, there is an estimated 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in ANWR. Only an insidious gang of politicians hell-bent on undermining our national security, economic prosperity, and free market capitalism, could be so intransigent to impound this treasure from the American people.
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3. Military Intervention In Libya Is A Bad Idea
One of the immutable laws of politics is that the Democrat party will refuse to use military intervention in any location where the US has strategic geopolitical or trade interests. The corollary to that law is that there is no Third World craphole (see Somalia, Darfur, Haiti) to which the Democrats will not offer to send US troops so long as it is high risk and with no real purpose.
One must understand both these rules to comprehend the calls coming from the left demanding US intervention in Libya.
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4. The Monsters of McMinnville, Oregon: Radical teachers' union gets MEAn
In a sleepy little suburb outside of Portland, Oregon, there is a monster lurking in the classroom, teaching schoolchildren their three Rs—Reading, Radicalism & Reprisal. The monster is known as the McMinnville Education Association [MEA].
McMinnville School District is in negotiations with the MEA (hereafter to be known as MEAn) and has been since last year (with the occasional help of a mediator), with the parties being millions apart. However, according to local press reports, with a state school budget crisis, while some progress has been made, so far an agreement has been elusive.
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5. Open Secrets, Closed Eyes
I have tended to be a big fan of Open Secrets, a website by a lefty group that shows how money is spent in politics. The nice thing is that they provide data. And the nice thing about data is that it gives you good apples-to-apples comparisons. Based on data, you can argue things like "the largest donors and lobbyists in Wisconsin are the teachers unions" and have something to back that up with.
So I was really disappointed to read this recent piece by Michael Beckel at Open Secrets entitled "Union Muscle Eclipsed by High-Profile Conservative Groups During 2010 Election". They reviewed the publicly disclosed spending information and concluded that the unions spent less money than American Crossroads, the Chamber, et al. in the 2010 cycle. In particular, they found that the unions spent $46.7m while business groups spent $97m or so.
There's a catch though. AFSCME, the largest of the public employee unions, told the New York Times that they spent $91m.
March 8, 2011
We Got Caps
Morning Briefing for March 8, 2011
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1. Small government wins another election in Europe
2. Blame the Democrats for High Gas Prices
3. The Seed Corn Is What's For Breakfast
4. The Return of the Balanced Budget Amendment
5. Bill Gates Weighs in on Wisconsin…Sort of.
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1. Small government wins another election in Europe
Forgive me for being a broken record on this, but the right has won yet another election in Europe, this time in Estonia. Last June, I wrote that Keynesianism is dead in Europe as a political force. This weekend, the Estonian right has won another election fought over government spending. The coalition of the right went from 44% of the vote in the last parliamentary election in 2007 to over 50% in this one. The New York Times made it very clear that the left's attack on the government was that it cut too deeply.
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2. Blame the Democrats for High Gas Prices
In the Atlanta area, where I am, gas prices are up $0.77 from where they were a year ago. It is worth noting that Democrats have been politicizing and blocking expanded oil drilling for quite some time. Consider this:
"Critics (of Arctic drilling), including Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., say the drilling plan would violate the nation's last remaining pristine wilderness. Moreover, they charge, the oil would consist of a 6-month supply for the nation, and would not be ready for use by consumers for up to 10 years."
That newspaper article was written April 2, 2001. For those of you in Rio Linda, that would be ten years ago.
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3. The Seed Corn Is What's For Breakfast
In the recent two years, oil has gotten progressively more expensive and as a result, gasoline prices have followed a similar trajectory. That was until two weeks ago, when both of these commodities blasted to the moon in response to the uprising-cum-civil war in Libya. This leaves our current Presidential Administration with two sets of choices of how to handle the resulting public suffering from expensive gasoline.
The choice the administration makes depends upon what they interpret the problem to actually be.
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4. The Return of the Balanced Budget Amendment
"The balanced budget amendment has good aspects, but it is simply not good enough in dealing with fundamental constitutional change for our country." And thus with that 23-word statement in 1997, Democrat Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey sunk conservative spirits. No longer did the U.S. Senate have the two-thirds it needed to enshrine a fundamental principle of governing into the highest law of the land: that politicians should pay for what they spend.
Controversial, I know. Pfft.
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5. Bill Gates Weighs in on Wisconsin…Sort of.
Bill Gates, not exactly known for partisan politics, is sounding the alarm on states' unfunded pensions and health care costs that are wreaking havoc on state budgets (now and in the foreseeable future). Gates does not mention Wisconsin by name, nor does he cite the unionized public-sector. However, with Wisconsin in the limelight right now, Gates' warning should be heeded by all Americans (union and non-union alike).
Please click here for the rest of the post.
March 7, 2011
Blame the Democrats for High Gas Prices
In the Atlanta area, where I am, gas prices are up $0.77 from where they were a year ago. It is worth noting that Democrats have been politicizing and blocking expanded oil drilling for quite some time. Consider this:
"Critics (of Arctic drilling), including Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., say the drilling plan would violate the nation's last remaining pristine wilderness. Moreover, they charge, the oil would consist of a 6-month supply for the nation, and would not be ready for use by consumers for up to 10 years."
That newspaper article was written April 2, 2001. For those of you in Rio Linda, that would be ten years ago.
Likewise, roughly ten years ago on July 3, 2001, the Bush Administration began consideration of drilling in the outer continental shelf.
Democrats opposed that too because it would take up to ten years to see a return on investment. In other words, it would take until about right now to see a return on investment.
I sure hope they are better at forecasting health care than oil futures. Otherwise, if we don't repeal Obamacare, we're screwed in ten years on that too.
I hope the left will be accurate in its criticism
Many on the left are criticizing Speaker Boehner for the decision to keep Frank Buckles from lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
This is not a partisan matter. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is joining John Boehner in the decision.
I believe they are both wrong, but I do think it is both unfair and unwise to solely point the finger at John Boehner.
Frank Buckles and where we remember both him and the rest of the men who fought in World War I is not and should not be a partisan issue.
Consider this an open thread.
Morning Briefing for March 7, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For March 7, 2011
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the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. Speaker Boehner & Harry Reid, Allow Frank Buckles Into the Rotunda
2. Reid's Obstructionism May Cause Government Shutdown
3. TN Democrats go, charitably, nuts over teacher reform bills.
4. NJ Union Caught Interfering With Turnpike Bidding Process Gets Shown the Exit
5. Bob Woodward Pwned by Donald Rumsfeld
———————————————————————-
1. Speaker Boehner & Harry Reid, Allow Frank Buckles Into the Rotunda
I think Speaker John Boehner and Harry Reid are making a terrible mistake.
The Speaker's Office and the Senate Majority Leader are blocking a request that Frank Buckles be allowed to lie in state (or in honor as the case may be) in the rotunda of the United States Capitol.
Frank Buckles is not just anybody. I agree that we should not let just anybody lie in state in the rotunda. I totally understand Harry Reid and John Boehner's reasoning. The right should be reserved for a very special few. While I understand his reasoning, I think the last of the WWI and the last of the WWII servicemen should be given the honor.
Frank Buckles is not just a special few. He is the last of his kind. The very last.
Precisely 4,734,991 Americans served in World War I. Frank Buckles was the last of them to die. He lied to get into the Army at age 16 so he could fight the Kaiser. He is the last of a generation of Americans who heard the calling for freedom in a way other did not and rose up to fight.
He is the last of those men and boys who fought under an American flag across an ocean in a land most had never been who did so not because we were attacked or brought into a war, as we were in World War II, but because they heard the call of freedom in the first great war.
He, as the last of the embodiment of the men and boys who heard that first call for freedom across the seas, deserves to lie in the Rotunda.
The Speaker may be reached at (202) 225-0600. Harry Reid may be reached at (202) 224-3542.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Reid's Obstructionism May Cause Government Shutdown
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) may cause a government shutdown.
Senator Reid is employing a procedural strategy to deal with the House-passed long-term Continuing Resolution (CR), H.R. 1, that may make it more likely that the federal government will shut down when the government runs out of money on March 18. Remember this when we get closer to March 18 and both parties blame each other for failing to pass an appropriations bill to fund the government through September 30 of this year (the end of Fiscal Year 2011).
The House passed a long-term CR on February 19 by a 235–189 vote. The long-term CR funds the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011 and contains $61 billion in cuts from FY 2010 levels of spending.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. TN Democrats go, charitably, nuts over teacher reform bills.
Based on their latest email blast, the Tennessee Democratic Party seems to have a problem understanding what "fascism" is, not to mention "terrorism." Apparently, Tennessee Democratic chair Chip Forrester and House Democratic chair Mike Turner seem to think that these terms are appropriate for describing several reform bills currently being considered by the Tennessee legislature. Presumably they mean HB 2012 and HB 0130; the first is a tenure reform bill that introduces merit into the tenure process and the second is a collective bargaining reform bill that removes the Tennessee Education Association's privileged status as the only permissible agent for bargaining with school boards.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. NJ Union Caught Interfering With Turnpike Bidding Process Gets Shown the Exit
They could have been contenders. Unfortunately, though, the union representing the nearly 300 New Jersey Turnpike toll collectors took an opportunity for preferential hiring on the state's plans to privatize collections and tried to interfere with the process. Now, the Garden State has shown them the exit (so to speak).
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Bob Woodward Pwned by Donald Rumsfeld
One of the interesting phenomena in Washington politics is the collection of little men who make a living taking shots at great men. Never has that been more in display than in the recent Bob Woodward critique of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's book Known and Unknown on the blog former Washington Post defense correspondent Tom Ricks tries to run at the Foreign Policy magazine website.
While Mr. Rumsfeld's most recent term of service as Secretary of Defense has controversial aspects and he has been challenged by other participants (see, for instance, the very well done series by RedState alumnus Ben Domenech here | here) the disagreements are largely of a Rashomon quality. Woodward's screed, on the other hand, is little more than the screech of a wounded ego.
Mr. Rumsfeld's office has taken up the cudgel on his behalf and there is little need to repeat the work Keith Urbahn has already done. To give a flavor on Woodward's caterwauling we'll look at the most interesting one in which Woodward claims a meeting didn't happen because he, Woodward, didn't know about it.
March 4, 2011
Speaker Boehner & Harry Reid, Allow Frank Buckles Into the Rotunda
[UPDATED:] Press reports this evening indicate that Senator Harry Reid is siding with John Boehner on this. The post has been updated to reflect that.
I think Speaker John Boehner and Harry Reid are making a terrible mistake.
The Speaker's Office and the Senate Majority Leader are blocking a request that Frank Buckles be allowed to lie in state (or in honor as the case may be) in the rotunda of the United States Capitol.
Frank Buckles is not just anybody. I agree that we should not let just anybody lie in state in the rotunda. I totally understand Harry Reid and John Boehner's reasoning. The right should be reserved for a very special few. While I understand his reasoning, I think the last of the WWI and the last of the WWII servicemen should be given the honor.
Frank Buckles is not just a special few. He is the last of his kind. The very last.
Precisely 4,734,991 Americans served in World War I. Frank Buckles was the last of them to die. He lied to get into the Army at age 16 so he could fight the Kaiser. He is the last of a generation of Americans who heard the calling for freedom in a way other did not and rose up to fight.
He is the last of those men and boys who fought under an American flag across an ocean in a land most had never been who did so not because we were attacked or brought into a war, as we were in World War II, but because they heard the call of freedom in the first great war.
He, as the last of the embodiment of the men and boys who heard that first call for freedom across the seas, deserves to lie in the Rotunda.
The Speaker may be reached at (202) 225-0600. Harry Reid may be reached at (202) 224-3542.
Speaker Boehner, Allow Frank Buckles Into the Rotunda
I think Speaker John Boehner is making a terrible mistake.
The Speaker's Office is blocking a request that Frank Buckles be allowed to lie in state (or in honor as the case may be) in the rotunda of the United States Capitol.
Frank Buckles is not just anybody. I agree that we should not let just anybody lie in state in the rotunda. I totally understand John Boehner's reasoning. The right should be reserved for a very special few. While I understand his reasoning, I think the last of the WWI and the last of the WWII servicemen should be given the honor.
Frank Buckles is not just a special few. He is the last of his kind. The very last.
Precisely 4,734,991 Americans served in World War I. Frank Buckles was the last of them to die. He lied to get into the Army at age 16 so he could fight the Kaiser. He is the last of a generation of Americans who heard the calling for freedom in a way other did not and rose up to fight.
He is the last of those men and boys who fought under an American flag across an ocean in a land most had never been who did so not because we were attacked or brought into a war, as we were in World War II, but because they heard the call of freedom in the first great war.
He, as the last of the embodiment of the men and boys who heard that first call for freedom across the seas, deserves to lie in the Rotunda.
The Speaker may be reached at (202) 225-0600.
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