Erick Erickson's Blog, page 219
October 11, 2010
Morning Briefing for October 11, 2010
RedState Morning Briefing
For October 11, 2010
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. Barack Obama Is 'A Threat to Our Democracy'
2. Distracted Driving Restrictions Gone Wild
3. Charlie Cook's List of DOOM.
4. True unemployment breaks 17% again - Obama's jobless recovery continues
5. Google, Daily Kos, Net Neutrality
6. Davy Plouffe tries to manage expectations.
7. SEIU: They can dish it out, but they can't take it…
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1. Barack Obama Is 'A Threat to Our Democracy'
When you've hung around with so many people who idealize communism and socialism and loath the United States, you tend to develop an inner-Soviet voice. Barack Obama sure has.
He let it slip with Joe the Plumber and Obama's talk of wealth redistribution. He let it slip when declaring that "I do think at a certain point you've made enough money". He's now let it slip again.
His campaign farce, Organizing for America, sent out an email noting that Barack Obama declared the United States Chamber of Commerce "a threat to our democracy."
What. The. Hell.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Distracted Driving Restrictions Gone Wild
The federal government is considering measures to pressure states to ban hands-free cell phone use by drivers. This is an over reaction to the problem of distracted driving. Bloomberg reports that officials of the U.S. Department of Transportation are working on a plan to ban all cell phone use by drivers of cars, including hands-free technology.
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3. Charlie Cook's List of DOOM.
For those who don't know: Charlie Cook is one of the more respected political handicappers out there, with a solid reputation for accurate forecasting. I can personally attest to that, given that in 2008 I glumly used his site to assist me in the task of watching things spiral downward for the GOP. As you can imagine, the 2010 election cycle has been a lot more enjoyable in that regard: and never so much so as recently, when Charlie Cook broke a rule.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. True unemployment breaks 17% again - Obama's jobless recovery continues
The government unemployment report that the economy lost another 95,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate remained stuck at 9.6 percent in September is a disaster for the Obama/Democrats. This is the highest sustained unemployment rate since the Great Depression.
The government's broader measure of unemployment, sometimes referred to "true unemploytment," now stands at 17.1 percent. As the Washington Post's Frank Ahrens puts it, you are not included in the "official" unemployment rate if, a) you would like to have a full-time job but can find only part-time work, and b) if you've grown so discouraged at finding work, you've simply given up.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Google, Daily Kos, Net Neutrality
If there's one thing Google guards closely, it's the secrets of its search service. Despite praising the virtues for the customer of transparency online, Google's anything but transparent. Take a look at their webmaster guidelines, which in part explain how to avoid the Google Death Penalty.
But one thing that is clear is that linking schemes, particularly those using shadow websites, are forbidden.
So the question is: Is Google watching the Chris Bowers pagerank scam? Will they delist him and the entire Daily Kos.com domain if they find that he's breaking the rules? It's clear they're recruiting people to spam links to pre-selected pages across volunteer website owners' sites based on their use of a SEO Blogger checkbox option on their signup page. This is precisely the kind of illegal cross-link scheme Google warns about being an unethical SEO practice.
So the ball's in your court, Google. If you do not delist Daily Kos for this behavior you call unethical, then you have a partisan political bias.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
6. Davy Plouffe tries to manage expectations.
Plouffe took some time away from his current job - which is to say, rewriting the Democratic party's rules so as to eliminate any chance of a successful primary challenge to the President in 2012 - to graciously define the Republican party's November victory conditions for it. Apparently, according to Davy if we're not "winning back the House, winning back the Senate and winning every major governor's race" on Election Day then we've failed. Which is an entertaining little argument, and quite clever (for a Democratic strategist), for two reasons. The first is that it's essentially unfalsifiable: all a Democrat has to do is declare that a particular governor's race is 'major' and hey presto! - the GOP has failed.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
7. SEIU: They can dish it out, but they can't take it…
Do you remember a few months ago, when the SEIU and its mob of zombies stomped all over private property, terrorizing a 14-year old boy who was home alone at the time?…And the police stood by and did nothing?
Well, get a load of this:
A week after Arizona governor Jan Brewer knocked the once-mighty United Food & Commercial Workers out of the Boycott Arizona campaign, one, single Angry Right Wing Housewife decided to do a little protesting on her own.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
October 8, 2010
The Passion of Melanie Cross
Like me, Melanie Cross is a graduate of Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law. Like me, Melanie Cross more likely than not had Congressman Jim Marshall as a law school professor.
In 2006, Melanie Cross and her husband Ray held a fundraiser for Jim Marshall in their home and contributed $1,000.00 to Marshall's congressional re-election campaign.
Between 2006 and now, Melanie Cross became a Tift County Superior Court Judge, thus prohibiting her from participating in political campaigns other than her own.
Nonetheless, earlier this year, Melanie Cross's husband co-hosted an event for Jim Marshall and contributed another $1,000.00 to Jim Marshall's congressional campaign.
Given Melanie Cross's track record and station in life, you would think she would leave well enough alone and not come within ten feet of a political issue relating to Jim Marshall. But Melanie Cross couldn't help herself.
Middle Georgia Democratic activist Amy Morton, wife of Daryl Morton who is the 8th District Chairman for the Georgia Democratic Party, filed an action in Tift County Superior Court against Marshall's 8th District challenger, Austin Scott.
Scott and his ex-wife, a decade ago, filed for divorce and subsequently had their divorce records sealed in part to protect their child from having both of his parents' lives dragged out before him by his dad's political opponents.
Amy Morton, who ironically is a child counsellor who should know the impact of divorces on children, wants that divorce record unsealed so any dirty laundry that might be in there can be used by her and other Democrats to destroy what is shaping up to be a substantial challenge to Jim Marshall.
Melanie Cross, a Marshall supporter and donor, is more than happy to oblige. Morton's demand to unseal the divorce made its way to Cross's desk who, instead of passing it on to a judge without a dog in the fight, did what any loyal Marshall supporter would do — she set a hearing for a week before the general election. One week.
That gives plenty of time for the gossip-mongers to circulate rumors, make sure it gets plenty of attention, but not enough time to effectively combat the gossip. Oh, but bless her heart, Melanie Cross decided she would not actually preside at the hearing. Another judge will do that.
In other words, Jim Marshall supporter and donor Melanie Cross used her power to set a hearing on a sealed divorce record at the most inopportune time for Marshall's challenger Austin Scott, then passed the political hot potato to another judge lest anyone cry foul.
With judges like that, who needs a judiciary — let's just let politicians handle everything.
The Marshall campaign is now running from this as fast as possible denying any culpability. They may not be directly involved, but they are only a few degrees, at best, removed from this.
In April, opposition researchers for the Democrats were snooping around filing open records requests and trying to get the divorce records. Two weeks ago the National Republican Congressional Committee called to tell me Marshall staffers were telling potential Scott supporters the divorce stuff would be coming.
Instead of running on the issues and his voting record, Jim Marshall and the Democrats would rather resort to the politics of personal destruction. Considering all those who have ever run against Marshall did that to him and lost, you would think he would realize just how likely this is to blow up in his face.
Morning Briefing for October 8, 2010
RedState Morning Briefing
For October 8, 2010
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. The Opening Salvo
2. Liberals Pointing Fingers Ahead of their Loss
3. Looks like Robin Carnahan's friends aren't getting their money's worth
4. For the EU, It's Still 'Drill, Baby, Drill'
5. Murkowski Yet Again Profits In Office
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1. The Opening Salvo
The 2010 primary season was, for the most part, a good one for limited government, freedom-loving conservatives. Most of the high profile challenges against the incumbent or establishment candidates, with Mike Lee, Ken Buck, Joe Miller, and Sharron Angle ended with the grassroots candidate winning. The American people clearly demonstrated that they are tired of long time incumbents, the ruling class, ignoring the will of the people and growing government spending and the role of government in people's lives.
But we need to put things into perspective: the 2010 primary season must be seen as simply the opening salvo in the American people's war against statism. It is the first battle in many to come in the war over whether the American people, or the ruling class, will control the American system of government.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Liberals Pointing Fingers Ahead of their Loss
Before we dive into the frenzied attack some on the Left are mounting against the US Chamber of Commerce, let's look at the record, shall we? While the Left is concerned today about the possibility of foreign money influencing elections, how vigilant have they been in the past? Let's consider their scrutiny of some notable episodes in the past.
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3. Looks like Robin Carnahan's friends aren't getting their money's worth
Today, the Washington Post's columnist Chris Cillizza makes a somewhat odd claim in his column "The Fix":
"Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's (D) Senate campaign will announce $2.1 million raised in the third quarter, a campaign source tells The Fix, bringing it near parity with Rep. Roy Blunt's (R) more than $2 million raised. Outside groups are spending heavily for Blunt, but this remains arguably Democrats' best pickup opportunity."
"Spending heavily"? Strange. The numbers don't seem to back this claim.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. For the EU, It's Still 'Drill, Baby, Drill'
In spite of a vote by its committee on the environment to ban all deep sea drilling in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the European Parliament has rejected a moratorium on deep sea drilling for oil and gas. By doing so, the EU finds itself in a rather unfamiliar position: being farther to the right on an issue, more pragmatic and more firmly committed to acting in its own self-interest, than the United States.
Instead of shutting down drilling in its entirety, the EU is enacting a common-sense approach of more rigid safety standards and increased financial penalties on operating companies in the event of a spill.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Murkowski Yet Again Profits In Office
I've documented before how Lisa Murkowski profited in office through a land deal in which she increased the value of property by directing a federal earmark to build a short road to the property for several millions of dollars.
Well, she's done it again. This time by voting for TARP.
Turns out Lisa had substantial investments in several of the companies that benefited the most from TARP.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
October 7, 2010
Paying Off the Dead
The Social Security Administration sent about 89,000 stimulus payments of $250 each to dead and incarcerated people — but almost half of them were returned, a new inspector-general's report has found.
The kicker is that the stimulus legislation did not include a provision for the Social Security Administration to automatically pull back the money so, in some cases, the money is sitting in checking accounts of dead people.
We're talking $12 million, which Democrats will say is not a lot and the rest of us will note is $12 million more than should have been paid.
It has come to this: Democrats are not only getting the dead to vote, but paying them for their votes too.
Murkowski Yet Again Profits In Office
I've documented before how Lisa Murkowski profited in office through a land deal in which she increased the value of property by directing a federal earmark to build a short road to the property for several millions of dollars.
Well, she's done it again. This time by voting for TARP.
Turns out Lisa had substantial investments in several of the companies that benefited the most from TARP.
At the time, the Senator and her family had upwards of $335,000 invested in Wall Street banks and institutions who, in turn, received billions of dollars in bailout funds. Among them was Morgan Stanley. The information is publicly available on Murkowski's personal financial disclosures.
Remember when public service was all about serving others instead of your bank account?
John Salazar Votes With Nancy Pelosi 97% of the Time. He Says He Never Does.
With a hat tip to Jim Geraghty we can see just how bad it is for Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats right now.
John Salazar, Congressman from Colorado, is being attacked for voting 97% of the time with Nancy Pelosi. NINETY-SEVEN PERCENT.
His Republican challenger, Scott Tipton, is tied with Salazar in a race that two years ago Mr. Salazar walked away with.
So how does John Salazar interpret voting NINETY-SEVEN PERCENT of the time with Nancy Pelosi?
"I've never voted with Nancy Pelosi," Mr. Salazar says, adding that "every vote I've taken" has been with and for his constituents.
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
What's the Point of Obamacare Then?
To stop all the fussing by major American corporations about the devastating effects of Obamacare, the Obama administration is going to give a bunch of waivers to major corporations so they don't have to comply with the law.
What's the point of the law then?
The reality here is that this will perpetuate Obama policies in furtherance of John Edwards' two Americas — those with the connections and power to get out from under the yoke of the law and those that cannot.
The law and the waivers will pit entrepreneurs against armies of well paid lobbyists giving a competitive advantage, yet again, to big businesses.
That's Obama's America.
Morning Briefing for October 7, 2010
RedState Morning Briefing
For October 7, 2010
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. On the Left, the View of the Tea Party Gets a Little More Nuanced
2. As the Worm Turns: Andrew Cuomo Lied to Union & Media.
3. Union Militants Storm New Haven City Hall
4. Discovery Company Hopes to Make James Lee Happy
5. John Tierney's (D, MA-06) wife to plead guilty to tax fraud.
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1. On the Left, the View of the Tea Party Gets a Little More Nuanced
Who says the Left will never understand the Tea Party movement? Sure, they may have a long way to go, but they are making progress.
Take for example, this new 'documentary' from… some liberal activist. You can watch the preview if you have a masochist streak, or you can just accept my word that it's another hack job aimed at grassroots activists - one that will make a nice rental for some sad left-wing coffee parties, starting on November 3. They'll pop this in the DVD player ($14.99 - with free shipping!) and console each other with tales of how they could never hope to compete against the power of the Right Wing Machine. Because you see, the whole movie is about how the Tea Party movement is an astroturf operation. They have fancy charts and everything, which prove that this was put together by a bunch of shady billionaires. (Remember that projection is one of the signature habits of the professional left.)
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. As the Worm Turns: Andrew Cuomo Lied to Union & Media.
Over the summer, from May until September, members of the RWDSU (an affiliate of the United Food & Commercial Workers) in Williamson, New York were out on strike for 112 days against their employer Mott's, which is owned by Dr. Pepper Snapple.
Andrew Cuomo (son of Mario) is running to fill his father's shoes as governor in New York against Carl Paladino. In so doing, Cuomo is relying on the union vote in order to win.
When Andrew Cuomo took a campaign contribution from Mott's during the strike, his campaign said it would go to the union to aide the strikers. It was a lie.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Union Militants Storm New Haven City Hall
New Haven, Connecticut, like so many other cities, is contending with public union contracts in the face of declining tax revenues. As a result, as is happening throughout the country, the mayor of New Haven is trying to re-negotiate those contracts. The public employee unions don't like that.
On Tuesday, members of the AFSCME and UNITE-HERE stormed New Haven's City Hall to protest.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Discovery Company Hopes to Make James Lee Happy
James Lee is the man who stormed the Discovery Channel's offices in Maryland and threatened to kill everybody there because the channel wasn't doing enough to help the environment. One of the crticisms was apparently that Discovery doesn't advocate abortion enough.
Well, Discovery is trying to make up for that.
Their environmental website Treehugger is promoting what it calls the "coolest environmental advertising." One of the ads chosen as "coolest" is from ACT-Responsible, which depicts a school age girl in school girl outfit hanging from a noose. Dead.
They call it a "creative challenge".
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. John Tierney's (D, MA-06) wife to plead guilty to tax fraud.
It's bad enough when Democratic politicians commit tax fraud on their own: now they're having it show up among family members. What is this, contagious or something? Maybe we should make them start wearing face masks. Or biohazard suits.
The executive summary of this story is that Tierney's wife is going to plead guilty to "four counts of aiding and abetting the filing of false tax returns by her brother." She's apparently gone with a plea bargain - because not being able to use one's status as the wife of a seven-term Congressman to get probation for your tax cheating requires skill - and, of course, none of this is her fault, according to her husband. I suppose that it would be a bit unfair of me to expect him to say anything else.
October 6, 2010
Discovery Company Hopes to Make James Lee Happy
James Lee is the man who stormed the Discovery Channel's offices in Maryland and threatened to kill everybody there because the channel wasn't doing enough to help the environment. One of the crticisms was apparently that Discovery doesn't advocate abortion enough.
Well, Discovery is trying to make up for that.
Their environmental website Treehugger is promoting what it calls the "coolest environmental advertising." One of the ads chosen as "coolest" is from ACT-Responsible, which depicts a school age girl in school girl outfit hanging from a noose. Dead.
They call it a "creative challenge".
So, to recap, we have now both Brits and American mainstream environmental groups depicting school children being murdered in the name of global warming.
Is this how Discovery intends to redeem itself in the dead eyes of James Lee?
(H/t Adam Baldwin)
Morning Briefing for October 6, 2010
RedState Morning Briefing
For October 5, 2010
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1. The Socialist
2. The NRA is Helping Preserve the Anti Gun Democrat Majority
3. Punish the Democrats: Judge Melanie Cross Plays Dirty for Jim Marshall
4. Democratic Death Panel Watch, 10/05/2010.
5. McMahon wins debate - Blumenthal stumped on how to create a job
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1. The Socialist
Every age seeks visionaries to leave, in the wake of their genius, a changed world - but rarely are they found without a few strikeout also-rans getting a crack first. In 2008, millions of Americans thought they had found the real thing.
Over the subsequent two years the nation moved inexorably - though rarely without battle - toward European-style socialism. Through the warring perspectives of a few powerful, deluded men and women who claim to know what's best for you, we reached a national drama rife with both bureaucracy-creation and wealth destruction.
The Socialist moved from the halls of academia to the offices of ACORN to a pew in Chicago, and eventually all the way to the Oval Office, all the while spurred on by the heady early days of a culture-changing phenomenon in the making. In the midst of the chaos and mounting disasters, average American citizens began to object, eventually adding up to more than the sum of their parts in what has become a multi-front, 21st century clash of worldviews.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. The NRA is Helping Preserve the Anti Gun Democrat Majority
Believe it or not, the only ones who might help Nancy Pelosi save her House majority are those who run legislative affairs at the NRA. So called Blue Dog Democrats across the nation are campaigning as red meat conservatives in their home districts, while running deceptive ads about their Republican opponents. They campaign as if they have nothing to do with the Democrat Party that they propelled to power and which passed all of the nefarious legislation that they purport to oppose. The sick irony is that the more successful these liars are in distancing themselves from Pelosi, the more likely it will be that Pelosi will remain Speaker.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Punish the Democrats: Judge Melanie Cross Plays Dirty for Jim Marshall
Judge Melanie Cross is a Tift County Superior Court Judge in Georgia.
Congressman Jim Marshall, through his proxies at the Georgia Democratic Party, has demanded Judge Cross unseal Austin Scott's divorce records — Scott is Marshall's Republican opponent.
Marshall, of course, denies he has any connection. However, Amy Morton (who I actually know and like), a local Democratic activist who is involved with the Democratic Party in Georgia, filed the request.
Judge Melanie Cross set the hearing for the week before the election.
Guess what? Melanie Cross is a Jim Marshall campaign donor. She gave Marshall $1,000.00 in 2006. Her husband, Ray Cross, gave Marshall $1,000.00 earlier this year now that Judge Cross cannot give campaign donations as a judge.
After setting the hearing for the week before the election, Judge Cross recused herself and a different judge will hear the matter.
A week before the election.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Democratic Death Panel Watch, 10/05/2010.
Reports are in that the following three districts have been abandoned by the DCCC. Well, technically, all that's happening is one week's worth of ad purchases have been canceled by the DCCC. Then again, there's only four weeks left - and it's not like any of them are considered safe retentions at this point.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. McMahon wins debate - Blumenthal stumped on how to create a job
Left-leaning main stream media pundits called last night's debate between Linda McMahon and Dick Blumenthal a draw. It wasn't. Political neophyte McMahon not only held her own against career politician Blumenthal. She whipped Connecticut's longtime attorney general.
The decisive moment in last night's debate between Connecticut's U.S. Senatorial candidates Linda McMahon and Dick Blumenthal came when McMahon asked Blumenthal a simple question:
"How do you create a job?"
Please click here for the rest of the post.
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