Erick Erickson's Blog, page 184

Save the Date

We're not ready to take registrations yet, but I want you to please save the date on your calendar.

From August 12th to August 14th, please join Governor Nikki Haley and RedState.com for the 2011 RedState Gathering in Charleston, South Carolina.

We'll have plenty of speakers, plenty of fun, and embrace the rich southern hospitality the low country is known for.

More details will be forthcoming.

Morning Briefing for February 14, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For February 14, 2011

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

Happy Valentine's Day. You have ordered flowers, right? If not, here are some sites you may want to go to ASAP: FTD, 1-800-Flowers, Teleflora, ProFlowers.

Info on St. Valentine can be found here.

1. Save the Date

2. Obama's deficit reduction - a measly $400 billion over ten years

3. Finally Asking My Question of Donald Rumsfeld

4. Ron Paul Supporters Boo, Heckle Rumsfeld and Cheney

5. Young Americans For Freedom Expel Ron Paul

———————————————————————-

1. Save the Date

We're not ready to take registrations yet, but I want you to please save the date on your calendar.

From August 12th to August 14th, please join Governor Nikki Haley and RedState.com for the 2011 RedState Gathering in Charleston, South Carolina.

We'll have plenty of speakers, plenty of fun, and embrace the rich southern hospitality the low country is known for.

More details will be forthcoming.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Obama's deficit reduction - a measly $400 billion over ten years

President Obama offers deficit reductions of a woefully inadequate $400 billion over ten years as he continues his "trillion-dollar deficits for years to come."

In this week's edition of his, or rather "Your Weekly Address," President Obama claims he is "proposing a new budget that will help us live within our means".

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Finally Asking My Question of Donald Rumsfeld

I had a novel experience last Thursday–I had lunch with my boss in our office conference room, not as we have untold numbers of times, but as a blogger hoping to get a question in.

In a way it was a lunch more than four years in the making.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Ron Paul Supporters Boo, Heckle Rumsfeld and Cheney

Here at RedState we have experienced several influxes of Ronbots but our first real introduction to the type of person we were dealing with occurred as the 2008 primaries were heating up. Their monomania — along with mouthbreathing and poor personal hygiene — forced us to take the unprecedented step of banning them on sight.

Any doubt that we have unfairly maligned them disappeared this past week at CPAC where they booed and shouted anti-Semitic slogans at two of the pre-eminent public servants our side has produced in the past couple of decades.

It started with former Secretary of Defense being invited to receive an award by CPAC and to speak. In response, Ron Paul's supporters, many of them paid to attend, booed him and staged a walkout.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Young Americans For Freedom Expel Ron Paul

In a statement evocative of William F. Buckley, Jr. when he excoriated Robert Welch and the John Birch Society as being "far removed from reality and common sense", the Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative/libertarian youth group founded in 1960, has given Ron Paul (Crank - TX) the boot from its board of directors.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

The Erick Erickson Show — Live from Washington

The Erick Erickson Show is live from Washington, D.C.

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

At 7:35 p.m. tonight we'll be talking to Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi.

At 8:35 p.m. we'll talk to Congressman Tom Price.

Consider this an open thread.

Morning Briefing for February 11, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For February 11, 2011

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

1. Leon Panetta Has Got Some Real Inside Info

2. The Republican Message on Spending Matters

3. Let Me Pre-Emptively Endorse Jeff Flake

4. Central Planning vs. The Market Economy

5. Parsing the Pledge, House Leadership Still Not Compliant

6. Against Expectations, Hosni Mubarak Does Not Step Down

———————————————————————-

1. Leon Panetta Has Got Some Real Inside Info

In case you missed it, Leon Panetta was called before Congress today and asked to explain exactly what in the world is going on over in Egypt. His answer was, essentially, "No worries, Mubarak will be stepping down by the end of the day." As you may have noticed, that did not happen. This raised the rather obvious question of where the Director of the CIA got this thoroughly erroneous information that he gave to Congress. It turns out, he got it from the same place the rest of us got it: from watching his television.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. The Republican Message on Spending Matters

Rumor has it that House GOP freshmen and the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) led by Jim Jordan beat the snot out of House Republican leadership and that the leadership is working on getting to $100 billion in cuts.

If that happens, it is great news - but there remains a big problem.

The problem is that by being so timid, Republicans are making their overall fight to cut spending all the more difficult. We all know that any cuts proposed will be painted by Democrats and a willing media as draconian and unfair. The poor will be out on the streets, food will be taken from children, etc…

That is why it was (and remains) so critical that Republican leadership get on the offensive immediately. They need to make the case for spending cuts, and that the $100 billion is nothing more than a first step of many more to come. To do otherwise means that we are going to just have more of the same - token cuts to pacify the base, or the Tea Party folks - but no real commitment to changing the culture of reckless spending that permeates Capitol Hill.

The American people gave Republicans license to cut - but Republicans will have to work very hard to do it and explain why it's important as time goes on.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Let Me Pre-Emptively Endorse Jeff Flake

Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is throwing in the towel and retiring from the Senate.

Much speculation will be had over the next few weeks about who to endorse and who to support.

Let me be up front and just say I endorse Jeff Flake for the United States Senate.

Now . . . now we just need to get him to run. Details. Just a detail.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Central Planning vs. The Market Economy

Today's business news contains two seemingly unrelated stories, both on the energy front. The first tells the tale of Range Fuels' foray into cellulosic ethanol, the process of making ethanol fuel, not from foodstuffs but from waste products such as wood chips. Even with government assitance with financing and with a Congressional mandate requiring customers to use their inferior fuel, Range Fuels' project is a bust, to the tune of $250 million, a good bit of that taxpayer money.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Parsing the Pledge, House Leadership Still Not Compliant

The Republican spending cut plan was thankfully moving in the right direction, but that it is not yet where it needs to be to comply with the Pledge to America. In the view of many conservatives, that pledge was clear with respect to how the $100 billion number would be arrived at, especially with respect to defense spending. Republicans promised not to rely on defense cuts to meet their goal, but now Republican leadership is pushing back.

Leadership's argument is that the Pledge never specifically said "nonsecurity," but rather "troops" and "veterans" and thus, the latest proposal from the Appropriations Committee meets the $100 billion target as promised.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. Against Expectations, Hosni Mubarak Does Not Step Down

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has decided not to step aside and will in fact stay in power until the elections in September. Early reports today indicated that he would resign the presidency, and hand over power to his Vice President, Omar Suleiman.

When the estimated three million energetic Egyptians who had gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square in anticipation of Mubarak's ouster learned of his decision, anger erupted across the crowd and tensions immediately rose. The demonstrators had been chanting "down, down Hosni Mubarak" as they carried anti-Mubarak signs and watched the speech on a large sheet acting as a projection television.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

From the Mailbag

From: John T. Harris

Subject: Conservative????????????????

Date: February 10, 2011 8:10:41 PM EST

To: contact@redstate.com

No sir, You are no conservative.

You are a statist quisling. You are a MORAN statist quisling. The youth laugh at you.

Ron Paul is the ONLY conservative.

Thank you and may God have mercy on your war-mongering soul.

Let Me Pre-Emptively Endorse Jeff Flake

Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is throwing in the towel and retiring from the Senate.

Much speculation will be had over the next few weeks about who to endorse and who to support.

Let me be up front and just say I endorse Jeff Flake for the United States Senate.

Now . . . now we just need to get him to run. Details. Just a detail.

Consider this an open thread.

This is Too Much For Me

I have, for me, shown an amazing amount of restraint in keeping my mouth shut on an issue about which I can stay silent no longer — GOProud and CPAC.

RedState's parent company, Eagle Publishing, Inc., is a long time sponsor of CPAC. RedState itself is helping FreedomWorks sponsor Bloggers Row. We were the sole sponsor of Bloggers Row last year. I will be speaking at CPAC at the Young America's Foundation luncheon named in honor of Tom Phillips, my friend and also the big boss at Eagle Publishing, Inc.

I have done my best to stay out of this business, keep my mouth shut, and appreciate my friends on both sides of the CPAC divide. Had I not seen this particular attack by GOProud against long time solid conservatives I'd continue keeping my mouth shut. But this is too much. And my guess is that there aren't many if any willing to call foul, so I will do it.

As someone who spent time trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, I accept this as conclusive proof that, while it is a Republican organization, GOProud is not a conservative organization.

Let me tell you why.

What has my blood pressure up is this particular bit from the article:

Of the Heritage Foundation's decision, he says, "They've chosen to – and it's a mystery to me why – but they've chosen to align themselves with the losers."

Asked to explain, Barron places the blame at the feet of Cleta Mitchell, the big-name Republican D.C. lawyer who was the attorney for the groups trying to keep marriage equality from coming to the District. Mitchell did not respond to multiple requests from Metro Weekly for comment.

"I think there's a couple people in Heritage who, at the behest of Cleta Mitchell – who is just a nasty bigot … she got some of the people at Heritage early on fired up about this," Barron says. "We tried very, very hard to smooth this over and to avoid any public fight with Heritage and then when Heritage came up with their excuse about how this wasn't about GOProud – first of all, we knew it was, we knew it was six months ago – but we were willing to publicly let them."

You really should read the whole thing. You'll learn that should you disagree with GOProud, you are a bigot too. In fact there are lots of delightful quotes. GOProud has taken one of the favorite leftist bullet points and brought it straight into CPAC. You oppose affirmative action? You're a racist. You oppose gay marriage? You're a bigot.

Wonderful trick. Sadly, it is being used on real heros within the conservative movement, including Cleta Mitchell, a board member of the American Conservative Union.

According to the dictionary, a bigot is a person "obstinately convinced of the superiority or correctness of [their] own opinions and prejudiced against those who hold different opinions."

Chris Baron might want to look in the mirror.

Cleta Mitchell is not just my friend and lawyer, she is one of the keystones of the conservative movement in Washington, D.C. When Sharron Angle's campaign seemed off the rails right after the primary, it was Cleta who went in to help right the ship. It was Cleta Mitchell who stepped up to defend Christine O'Donnell when no one else would. It was Cleta Mitchell who exerted pressure on wavering conservatives to get on board Marco Rubio's campaign. It was Cleta Mitchell who helped organize defense and offense for a host of conservative causes headed to court. It remains Cleta Mitchell who does not hesitate to give advice for new conservative organizations and pick up the phone to raise money for conservative causes and candidates.

In fact, let me now fully disabuse you of the notion that GOProud is a conservative organization.

While Cleta Mitchell was fighting for children, Chris Baron was signing up to work for the champions of child killing.

While Cleta Mitchell was fighting for people's right to work, GOProud was aligning itself with the AFL-CIO and the SEIU.

While Cleta Mitchell was helping the Senate Conservatives Fund get people like Pat Toomey, Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and others elected, GOProud was attacking Jim DeMint.

While Cleta Mitchell was in super secret meetings of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy this week, GOProud was attacking Tim Pawlenty for daring to defend conservative positions on don't ask-don't tell.

Those groups and people who have sat out CPAC this year have done so not because they hate the gays, as Grover Norquist and GOProud would have you believe, but because GOProud is not a conservative organization and its agenda is not a conservative agenda.

For that, they are called losers and nasty bigots.

These losers and nasty bigots have done a lot more for the conservative movement than GOProud. And I am very happy to call them my friends.

This week, I'd much rather be with them than be at CPAC.

Morning Briefing for February 10, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For February 10, 2011

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

1. This is Too Much For Me

2. Movement Towards $100 Billion, But Not There Yet

3. Jimmy Webb (D, VA) cuts and runs.

4. WaPo's Greg Sargent Casually Slanders Tea Party Movement

5. Too Cool for Terrorism

———————————————————————-

1. This is Too Much For Me

I have, for me, shown an amazing amount of restraint in keeping my mouth shut on an issue about which I can stay silent no longer — GOProud and CPAC.

RedState's parent company, Eagle Publishing, Inc., is a long time sponsor of CPAC. RedState itself is helping FreedomWorks sponsor Bloggers Row. We were the sole sponsor of Bloggers Row last year. I will be speaking at CPAC at the Young America's Foundation luncheon named in honor of Tom Phillips, my friend and also the big boss at Eagle Publishing, Inc.

I have done my best to stay out of this business, keep my mouth shut, and appreciate my friends on both sides of the CPAC divide. Had I not seen this particular attack by GOProud against long time solid conservatives I'd continue keeping my mouth shut. But this is too much. And my guess is that there aren't many if any willing to call foul, so I will do it.

As someone who spent time trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, I accept this as conclusive proof that, while it is a Republican organization, GOProud is not a conservative organization.

Let me tell you why.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Movement Towards $100 Billion, But Not There Yet

According to press reports, House Republican Leaders are moving off their line and indicating a willingness to embrace additional non-defense cuts–closing the gap between their $58 billion "annualized" proposal and the $100 billion promised in their Pledge to America.

Leadership is now proposing an additional $26 billion in non-defense cuts on top of the $58 billion already contemplated, for a total of $84 billion. But they still need to find an additional $16 billion to comply with the terms of the Pledge. They are not there yet, and conservatives need to be vigilant in holding Leadership accountable.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Jimmy Webb (D, VA) cuts and runs.

Just couldn't handle the thought of running again for VA-SEN, apparently - although I'm sure that the lack of money didn't help much there, either. Or the fact that Webb was practically guaranteed a messy primary, thanks to his race-related thoughtcrime last year. What ever it was, this isn't a surprise, of course: it was obvious last week that Webb didn't have the right stuff to run again in a year where things weren't guaranteed to go his way. I wonder whether enabling the extremist agenda of the exact same people who spit on his troops was worth it to the man?

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. WaPo's Greg Sargent Casually Slanders Tea Party Movement

As anyone who has spent any time reading them knows, left-wing bloggers and activists tend to live in a world of their own, in which the most outrageous sorts of allegations against conservatives and Republicans are not required to be supported by any evidence. This is especially true when it comes to accusing conservatives and Republicans of bigotry and other improper motivations; left-wingers feel free to lecture us on how they know better than we do what motivates us and how we think, and leave conservatives and Republicans stuck attempting to disprove a negative.

In theory, the Washington Post is supposed to be a reputable newspaper and above this sort of thing. But Greg Sargent, the former Talking Points Memo blogger and the Post's current in-house left-wing activist, doesn't see himself as bound by such mundane considerations as having evidence before slandering an entire movement.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Too Cool for Terrorism

Reason.com editor and hardcore Libertarian Nick Gillespie "responded" to Ben Howe's post on the connection between the Muslim Brotherhood and the ACU yesterday here. I use scare quotes around "responded" because Gillespie, in true Libertarian form, breezes completely around the essential thrusts of the post, including Hasan's ludicrous statement that the 9-11 hijackers were not Muslims, and studiously ignores the fact that the connection being drawn was not between the Muslim Brotherhood and Muslims for America, but rather between the Muslim Brotherhood and the ACU Board of Directors. Hey, it's easy to see how he could have missed that little tidbit; it was only in the title of Ben's post. Why not instead whack down a nice, satisfying man of straw by claiming that we're suggesting that Sharia Law is going to break out at CPAC? Sneering contempt and intellectual condescension has always been a useful substitution for argument with Gillespie and the big-L Libertarians.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

The Erick Erickson Show — PATRIOT Act Canned

I'm late putting this up tonight. You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com

I'll be talking about the PATRIOT Act, iPads in school, CPAC, etc. tonight on the air.

You can call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK

Consider this an open thread.

House GOP's Spending Cut Less Than Expected

Here is the only piece you need to read about the House GOP's budget cuts and how insignificant they are.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R.-Wis.) is filing a budget limit this week that would cut government spending by $32 billion starting March 5. 

The Appropriations Committee will use the new spending levels to determine specific government department cuts and write a new Continuing Resolution (CR) bill that will come to the floor for a vote next week. 

The CR would be the largest one-time discretionary spending cut in history. However, the $32 billion would only cut this year's budget deficit by 2.2%.

I implore you — go read the whole thing.