Erick Erickson's Blog, page 191
January 19, 2011
Well That Didn't Last Long
In an extraordinary outburst on the House floor, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) invoked the Holocaust to attack Republicans on health care and compared rhetoric on the issue to the work of infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
"They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels," Cohen said. "You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it. Like blood libel. That's the same kind of thing, blood libel. That's the same kind of thing."
And Congressman Cohen didn't stop there.
"The Germans said enough about the Jews and people believed it–believed it and you have the Holocaust. We heard on this floor, government takeover of health care. Politifact said the biggest lie of 2010 was a government takeover of health care because there is no government takeover," Cohen said.
Note how Democrats are more and more quoting Politifact, which is a pretty left-leaning organization. The American people know what this is and that is why they want it repealed.
Little White (Board) Lies
The White House has out another white board video in defense of Obamacare.
There's just one problem: it's so loaded up with half-truths and lies as to be propaganda, not fact.
in a nutshell, here's what you need to know about the lies in the video from the Republican Policy Committee:
The video claims that premiums will fall under the law, and will increase under repeal – statements that are inaccurate for several reasons. First, the video asserts that premiums for a family of four making just over $30,000 will be $1,500 in 2014. The problem is that such low premiums are made possible only because the federal government is subsidizing them – and only to a select sub-group of individuals. The Congressional Budget Office found that only 19 million individuals – about six percent of the population – would be eligible for these subsidies. If the subsidies were extended to all low-income Americans, federal spending under the law would skyrocket.
The second problem is the claim that the law reduces premiums. The Congressional Budget Office has already debunked this myth, noting that premiums would rise by $2,100 per family in the individual market thanks to the law. But even its supporters don't argue that the law really reduces premiums – they just claim that premiums will go up by slightly less than they would have had the law been enacted. As we've previously noted, the Administration touted as "progress" a study indicating that premiums will rise by ONLY $6,911 per family over the next decade.
Of course, candidate Obama repeatedly promised to give struggling American families a $2,500 average premium reduction within his first term. The Administration's "progress" on that count is documented below – because for some reason, this chart didn't make it on to the White House white board.
The white board video also discusses claims that the health care law will create jobs, citing a paper from economist David Cutler on this issue. However, Cutler was the also same Obama campaign adviser who co-wrote the famous memo attempting to defend candidate Obama's assertion that his health plan would save $200 billion per year, or $2,500 per family. This of course raises an obvious question: If both Cutler and the White House can't defend their prior allegations that health "reform" will cut premiums by $2,500 per family, why should anyone believe their claims on job creation now?
The chart referenced is right here.
Morning Briefing for January 19, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For January 19, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. Repeal of ObamaCare in the Senate - How To Do It
2. Force Congress to Stop the Debt
3. America Is Diseased: Democrats Incite Panic With Garbage Research
4. Anti-WalMart Thugs Target Developer: Plan Protest Outside of Private Residence
5. Our Anglophobic President
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1. Repeal of ObamaCare in the Senate - How To Do It
Although it is unlikely that the Senate will take up the House repeal measure H.R. 2 in the next few months, it is possible to bring it up later this year or some time next year if Republicans are smart.
If Senators don't take any action when the bill is transmitted from the House to the Senate, then there is little to no chance to pass the House repeal measure. This will show that Senate Republicans are not serious about a full repeal of ObamaCare. It is possible for conservative Senators to force a vote on H.R. 2, when the time is right, if they follow two simple procedures in the Senate to protect their rights.
The bottom line is that it is possible for opponents of ObamaCare to set themselves up for an extended debate on ObamaCare in the Senate — if they have the will. It is also possible to pass the bill in the Senate, if conservatives are patient and ready to spring a vote on liberals when the time is right.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Force Congress to Stop the Debt
In 1997, the United States Senate voted on a balanced budget amendment. It fell just one vote short of the necessary 67 votes required for passage.
49 of the 50 states are required to balance their budgets, but Congress, like Vermont, has no such requirement. Complicating that is the legitimate argument that should a Balanced Budget Amendment go forward, it could just be an excuse for Congress to raise taxes in order to increase spending.
Well, no more. Jim DeMint and several of his colleagues are pushing a modified Balanced Budget Amendment and they want our help.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. America Is Diseased: Democrats Incite Panic With Garbage Research
According to airtight research reported by Reuters, there's probably not enough handicapped spots at your local grocery store.
"As many as 129 million Americans under age 65 have health problems that could hurt their ability to obtain health insurance or force them to pay higher premiums, a U.S. government study said on Tuesday," Reuters reports.
According to the U.S. Census, there's around 307 million Americans. 12% of those are 65 or older. That means there are approximately 270 million people under the age of 65.
129 million of the 270 million have "health problems". That would be 47% of Americans under 65 or nearly half of all Americans under the age of 65 have a health problem that would preclude them from getting health insurance.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Anti-WalMart Thugs Target Developer: Plan Protest Outside of Private Residence
Last May, a frightened teenager was trapped inside his home when a mob of SEIU astro-turfing thugs (estimated at 500 strong) trespassed on his front lawn to intimidate his father, the deputy general counsel of the Bank of America. While the protesters caught the family by surprise (allegedly aided and abetted by the police), unbeknownst to them, Fortune's Nina Easton was a neighbor to the victim and exposed the injustice for what it was.
Now, though, another gang of astro-turfing thugs has targeted (yes, targeted) the private home of a real estate developer for the audacity of building a WalMart that will employ up to 1200 DC-area residents.
With unemployment in Washington, DC at 10.2%, it is hard to imagine anyone not wanting to see jobs added. That is, unless that someone is a union that doesn't like the fact that WalMart operates its U.S. stores union-free.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Our Anglophobic President
At the outset of his presidency, Barack Obama promised to restore America's great diplomatic stature, weakened in the politically costly wake of its war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Healed by renewed international cooperation, those wounds would be a thing of America's darker, Republican past, he promised.
But Number 10 never envisioned that Mr. Obama's overhaul of America's international relations would come at the cost of its own special relationship. Despite Britain's political and economic proximity to the United States, that special relationship — invoked in every Anglo-American diplomatic communique from Winston Churchill to George Bush — has waned, diminished in equal proportion to Mr. Obama's disquieting provocations.
January 18, 2011
The Erick Erickson Show Open Thread for January 18th, 2011
I'm on tonight starting at around 9:30 instead of the usual 9:00 p.m. ET because of a basketball game.
I'm going to be spending the first segment talking about disastrous public schools with a particular influence on Atlanta and New Orleans post Katrina.
But we'll have some fun with Hu and the Chicoms, Obama's deregulator effort, and more as well.
You can listen live at http://wsbradio.com if you can't get it on 750AM (you might be surprised) or 95.5 FM in the Atlanta area.
As always, you can call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.
Force Congress to Stop the Debt
In 1997, the United States Senate voted on a balanced budget amendment. It fell just one vote short of the necessary 67 votes required for passage.
49 of the 50 states are required to balance their budgets, but Congress, like Vermont, has no such requirement. Complicating that is the legitimate argument that should a Balanced Budget Amendment go forward, it could just be an excuse for Congress to raise taxes in order to increase spending.
Well, no more. Jim DeMint and several of his colleagues are pushing a modified Balanced Budget Amendment and they want our help.
First, visit http://stopthedebtpledge.com and sign our "Stop the Debt" pledge. It states, "I hereby pledge to support only those candidates who demand that Congress stop the debt and pass a Balanced Budget Amendment."
In the last 10 years, Congress has raised the debt ceiling 10 times, but it has not voted a single time to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment. The only way to keep Congress from creating more debt is to pass a Constitutional Amendment that forces it to balance the budget without raising taxes.
Second, call your senators and tell them to "stop the debt and balance the budget". Urge them to do everything it takes, including a filibuster, to block the debt limit increase and pass the Balanced Budget Amendment. Click here to contact your senators.
Under the DeMint proposal, the Balanced Budget Amendment would
Require Congress to balance the federal budget each year
Prevent Congress from spending more than 20 percent of GDP
Require a 2/3 super-majority vote to raise taxes
The "adults" in Washington should not be able to hold us hostage with debt ceiling "sky is falling" rhetoric if they aren't going to balance the budget.
Sign the pledge and let's fight for a real balanced budget and no more debt.
Union Goons, Yet Again, Target A Businessman For Attack
Editorial Note: Originally this post only mentioned the SEIU, but I have fixed it to clarify that the SEIU is one of several unions involved.
The head of the SEIU purple people beaters attacked Sarah Palin for her target map. He feared it might incite violence.
But, that was Sarah Palin. The SEIU itself is perfectly willing to incite violence to serve its purposes.
Walmart is building a store in Washington, D.C. A company called Pratt Development is leasing land to Walmart for the store.
A group called "Wal-Mart Free DC", a union group that has SEIU involvement, is circulating a flier with the home address of Dick Knapp, the head of Pratt Development, to send people out to protest and intimidate him.
Oh, and yes, the flier has a gun range style target on it. You can see it right here.
Back in May, you will recall, the SEIU sent out 500 purple people beaters to the home of a Bank of America Executive.
So much for a changed tone.
UPDATE: Aaron points out that the Wal Mart will replace an old Chevy dealership. The dealership would probably still be there if not for unions.
Metaphorically Speaking, the Adults Should be Getting Punched
I realize we are not supposed to use "angry" rhetoric these days, but columns like this one in USA Today by Jody Bottum demand an answer.
The title is, "Where are adults in debt ceiling talks?" If there is justice in the world, the only correct answer is, "Getting punched in the face, though metaphorically speaking."
We can forgive a contributing editor of the Weekly Standard for taking to USA Today to take shots — also metaphorical — at Jim DeMint. After all, the magazine that gave us the ideological underpinnings of the "big government conservative" cannot be expected to really be too dedicated to . . . um . . . smaller government.
But to juxtapose Jim DeMint as a child and Tim Geithner as an adult is a bit much — let alone Geithner as the conservative and DeMint as the radical.
Jim DeMint says it's not his fault. The GOP senator from South Carolina points out that he didn't help spend all the nation's money. Neither did the new congressional Republicans. So why, he asked in a recent interview, should they extend the national debt ceiling to pay for that spending?. . . .
[I]t's curious that Geithner sounds like a conservative in all this, while DeMint sounds like a radical.
Here is the problem, which no one wants to discuss. If we are going to keep raising the debt ceiling, why have it at all? We've set ourselves up for an elaborate and cynical kabuki dance with a pre-ordained outcome and, ultimately, no incentive to cut spending.
In fact, it is the adults in the room — the ones who supposedly aren't speaking enough — who have created the problem. I don't want those people to speak. I want them to shut the heck up.
They've driven up debt. They've driven up spending. They'd drive up taxes if we let them. And they know, they absolutely know, that they can do it with impunity because high minded pundits will take to the pages of USA Today and call them adult, back them up, and insist on more debt so we can have more spending. Of course most will fail to mention the "more spending" problem.
The arguments we are having now — the sky is falling, the world is ending, we are going to default, the markets will crash, everyone will hate us — are the exact same arguments pushed by the exact same people who advocated TARP.
Many politicians lost their political lives — again, metaphorically speaking — for supporting TARP. The same should happen here.
As Jody Bottum himself notes, the world will not end, the sky will not fall, and the Treasury Secretary can keep paying out money.
Friends, we take in more money each month than we must pay out in interest on the national debt. The only way we will default on our loans if the debt ceiling is not raised is if Barack Obama lets us default.
We should resist all efforts to raise the debt ceiling and should instead start living within our means. Otherwise, let's scrap the debt ceiling and stop doing the stupid kabuki dance while lighting candles and sacrificing red herrings in the name of some mythical, responsible adults participating in a conversation we wouldn't even be having if these adults hadn't been destroying the economic future of this country in the first place.
Maybe heaven is not the only thing requiring the faith of a child.
By the way, it is time we consider making the "Adult Establishment" in Washington as morally objectionable as "adult establishments" already are.
Morning Briefing for January 18, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For January 18, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. Metaphorically Speaking, the Adults Should be Getting Punched
2. NYT: Tucson bias was in our very genes.
3. Rep. Ed Markey (D) on the BP/Russia Deal
4. The Secret Ballot Protection Act: It's Time to Make it Law.
5. FCC v. AT&T: what's at stake
———————————————————————-
1. Metaphorically Speaking, the Adults Should be Getting Punched
I realize we are not supposed to use "angry" rhetoric these days, but columns like this one in USA Today by Jody Bottum demand an answer.
The title is, "Where are adults in debt ceiling talks?" If there is justice in the world, the only correct answer is, "Getting punched in the face, though metaphorically speaking."
We can forgive a contributing editor of the Weekly Standard for taking to USA Today to take shots — also metaphorical — at Jim DeMint. After all, the magazine that gave us the ideological underpinnings of the "big government conservative" cannot be expected to really be too dedicated to . . . um . . . smaller government.
But to juxtapose Jim DeMint as a child and Tim Geithner as an adult is a bit much — let alone Geithner as the conservative and DeMint as the radical.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. NYT: Tucson bias was in our very genes.
Ah, the New York Times. Not only did their recent attempt to declare the Tucson shootings an episode of political violence spawned by right-wing rhetoric fail; it actually encouraged a minor episode of political violence spawned by left-wing rhetoric*. This has made the paper look even worse than usual, so they need a good excuse to explain away the problem. Said excuse? It's all the fault of the media's genetic condition.
Seriously.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Rep. Ed Markey (D) on the BP/Russia Deal
Anyone can be misinformed, or suffer a mental lapse resulting in an incorrect statement. Any of us might be stricken with poor judgment, and take a questionable position on an important matter of state from time to time.
But occasionally prejudice, bad judgment and contorted logic become woven together into a tapestry of wrong-headed thinking. And sometimes the people who issue these statements hold responsible government jobs. Scary.
As an example, here is the entire text of a polymorphously boneheaded statement from Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA).
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. The Secret Ballot Protection Act: It's Time to Make it Law.
Let's put this whole debate about card-check to bed once and for all. It's time to pass the Secret Ballot Protection Act.
On Friday, the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board threatened to sue the states of Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah, if any (or all) of them attempt to enforce the recent voter-approved measures in their states that guarantee workers the right to a secret-ballot election.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. FCC v. AT&T: what's at stake
You may not have heard about it, but there's a tremendously important case that will be argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on Wednesday. It's the Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T, Inc. — and if decided wrongly, it has the potential to transform the federal government's Freedom of Information Act into a powerful anti-business weapon in the hands of the left.
January 17, 2011
Outside Effort to Get Mike Pence to Run Gains Steam
An outside effort by conservative activists around the country is gaining steam. The effort, to get Mike Pence to run for President, is intriguing many old guard conservatives in Washington and activists around the country. The effort is being organized by a group calling itself the "America's President Committee". Former Congressman Jim Ryun of Kansas is lending his voice to the cause.
With tea party sentiment running high and a preference for a new face instead of someone who lost the primary fight in 2008, Pence makes an intriguing choice for many.
This morning a new website called www.theconservativechampion.org goes live as a way to get conservatives signed up and on the Pence bandwagon immediately.
Congressman Pence is still weighing whether to run for President or Governor of Indiana. The path of least resistance seems to be Governor, but then many paths without resistance are simply lures away from the race intended. The Congressman is expected to decide later this month what he'll do.
Morning Briefing for January 17, 2011
RedState Morning Briefing
For January 17, 2011
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
Just a quick note: I'll be filling in for Neal Boortz today on his nationally syndicated show. You can listen from 9am to noon right here. Neal's long time producer Royal Marshall died suddenly over the weekend. The first hour of the show will be a tribute to Royal and I'll take over the microphone at 10:00 a.m. ET.
— Erick
1. The Reverend's Day
2. Mission accomplished, Markos Moulitsas.
3. Outside Effort to Get Mike Pence to Run Gains Steam
4. Cruz or Williams in Texas
5. What Is Wrong With Democrat Senate Rules Changes
6. Marxist Democrat Cringes As Russian Immigrants Compare Communism to…Democrats!
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1. The Reverend's Day
We celebrate today a national holiday in honor of an ordained minister of Jesus Christ.
There are three men in American history distinguished enough that they have been honored with a national holiday - George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther KIng jr. - but only Dr. King has been honored solely for his time as a private citizen, having never held public office or military commission.
Unsurprisingly, to be so honored, all three men hold lessons for conservatives and liberals alike. All were in some sense revolutionary figures, unwilling to sit quietly on the status quo for the sake of comity and going along to get along, even at the sake of personal danger and the making of many enemies. Washington took up arms against his own government, and forged a new nation unlike any that had come before. Lincoln led a new, sometimes hard-edged political party that challenged a deeply embedded evil afoot in the nation, never backing down from his anti-slavery convictions even when accused of fomenting violence by anti-slavery radicals, nor when half the country took up arms in rebellion rather than accept his election. And Dr. King challenged, with stubborn persistence, the equally entrenched legacy of slavery in the form of Jim Crow laws. Yet by the same token, none of the three was a radical.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Mission accomplished, Markos Moulitsas.
I started following the saga of J. Eric Fuller a couple of days ago: the short version is that he was one of the victims of the Tucson attack of last week that killed six people and nearly killed Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Despite the fact that the consensus is, from the President on down, that harsh political rhetoric had nothing to do with the attack (the shooter is generally conceded to have been motivated by violent paranoid schizophrenia, not political beliefs), Mr. Fuller has made a name for himself by declaring that the right wing is responsible for the attacks, to the point where he is calling for Sarah Palin's arrest for treason. And I was going to let all of that go: the guy did get shot, he was a hardcore Democrat beforehand - and, honestly, Fuller didn't sound all that much different than this fool (more here) or this fool or the fools found here (and see here for much, much more). Free speech is free speech, even when the guy's cynically milking the fetishes of the Left, am I right?
Except that Mr. Fuller wasn't being cynical. He really, truly believes what he's been told by the netroots; which is why he's under arrest for making actual, public death threats against Trent Humphries, who was not involved with the Tucson attacks in any way, shape or form but who is the president of the Pima County Tea Party. Mr. Humphries has, in fact, been getting death threats all week; this was just the first time it was done in a fashion that the media couldn't ignore.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Outside Effort to Get Mike Pence to Run Gains Steam
An outside effort by conservative activists around the country is gaining steam. The effort, to get Mike Pence to run for President, is intriguing many old guard conservatives in Washington and activists around the country. The effort is being organized by a group calling itself the "America's President Committee". Former Congressman Jim Ryun of Kansas is lending his voice to the cause.
With tea party sentiment running high and a preference for a new face instead of someone who lost the primary fight in 2008, Pence makes an intriguing choice for many.
This morning a new website called www.theconservativechampion.org goes live as a way to get conservatives signed up and on the Pence bandwagon immediately.
Congressman Pence is still weighing whether to run for President or Governor of Indiana. The path of least resistance seems to be Governor, but then many paths without resistance are simply lures away from the race intended. The Congressman is expected to decide later this month what he'll do.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Cruz or Williams in Texas
The rumor is that, as we all expected David Dewhurst, who is more like DewCrist, is going to be running for Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate seat. Senator Hutchison has said she is not going to run again.
DewCrist has the money and is the man to beat. We must beat him.
In a state with no income tax, DewCrist is on record supporting an income tax. He's not as good as we can do.
There are two, however, who will make conservatives happy:
Ted Cruz and Michael Williams.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. What Is Wrong With Democrat Senate Rules Changes
One would think it would be pretty easy to understand why conservatives wouldn't want to give Harry Reid more power.
Reid has corruptly used the Senate rules to cram liberal legislation like ObamaCare down the American people's throats. And, now that his Democrats have been repudiated in the elections, he wants even more power to cram even more liberal legislation -– thereby nullifying the November election results.
Nevertheless, we're still getting Fox interviewers asking questions like: "What's wrong with a Mr.-Smith-goes-to-Washington-filibuster?"
So here's, specifically, what Senator Udall of New Mexico and nine other Democrats are proposing, what's wrong with what they're proposing, and a GOP alternative.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. Marxist Democrat Cringes As Russian Immigrants Compare Communism to…Democrats!
There is just no way to describe this without a smirk and a chuckle. When you read how some of New York's Russian immigrants (who know Soviet-style Communism all-too-well) are aligning with Republicans—because they view Democrats' policies to be too similar to the failed policies of their homeland—there is just something richly ironic there. However, when you read how their never-met-a-Marxist-she-didn't-love Democrat legislator reacts to be having her party compared to Soviet Russia, now that is just over-the-top funny.
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