Erick Erickson's Blog, page 50

Conservatives Need to Rally to David McIntosh In Indiana 5

Folks, there are several people running for Congress in Indiana’s 5th Congressional district, but only one of them is a real conservative leader. It’s not that the others are conservative non-leaders. They are moderate to liberal pro-choice, bailout supporting candidates.

Unfortunately, they’ve decided to gang up on David McIntosh to ensure a pro-life, fiscal conservative doesn’t get elected.

The election is Tuesday.



Go here now and push David over the finish line.

The Club for Growth, RedState, GOA, National Right to LIfe, Indiana Right to Life, and so many more conservative groups are supporting David. But right now he needs money to fight a coordinated attack from the left.

If you’ve never heard of David McIntosh, you should know that he was in the House once before. He was a guy who fought Ronald Reagan staffers who tried to get Reagan to cut deals with the left. He stayed in the House and rallied conservatives when the House GOP started to capitulate. Given the way the House leaders are headed, we need a guy who will help Jim Jordan, Tom Graves, Jeff Duncan and the other conservatives.

I’m opening my checkbook for David McIntosh today. You need to do it too.

David needs money ASAP to fight these coordinated attacks from the left. Give what you can right now.

Julia Left Conway Twitty For Barack Obama

The other day we learned Barack Obama’s girlfriend in Dreams From My Father was actually a composite, much like the Boeing 787 or Katya Kasanova after Dr. Krieger rebuilt her on the television show Archer.

Now, Barack Obama is rolling out a new composite girl in his life named Julia. On Obama’s website, people can walk through Julia’s life from birth to death panel. For the duration of her sixty some odd years, President Obama remains President. We get to see how Julia benefits from President Obama’s policies.

Over at Human Events, my colleague David Harsanyi writes “Who the hell is ‘Julia,’ and why am I paying for her whole life?” It’s a fair question. According to Obama’s campaign website, someone enrolls Julia into a Head Start program. The government provides her with contraception until she decides to have a child. She has no parents. She has no husband. She suckles the teet of government her whole life, from delivery room to death panel.

By her mid-twenties, Julia is a litigious member of the workforce suing for equal wages while hard working Americans subsidize her. She has her fatherless child and for twenty years drops off the map. That’s the most curious part — that and the fact that this paragon of Obama’s liberal America has no documented abortions and was not herself aborted.

James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal points out “[t]hat period includes the typical peak earning years–the time at which, assuming Julia is gainfully employed, she will be paying the biggest price for “Obama’s” generosity.” We know nothing of her time during those key years. Perhaps they were of little consequence because her whole adult working life was spent paying for the benefits of those who came after her.

That is the key. There is no mention of cost, no mention of debt, and no mention of tax burden for Julia. She receives everything and gives nothing. What is Julia’s fair share? In retirement, Barack Obama claims social security helps her live comfortably. Really? It boggles the mind.

This is Barack Obama’s vision of America — a welfare state from cradle to grave where parents and spouses are not needed because you have a federal government there for you the whole way from the delivery room to the death panel.

Morning Briefing for May 4, 2012

[image error]

RedState Morning Briefing

May 4, 2012

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

1. Julia Left Conway Twitty For Barack Obama

2. Jill Biden: Government Oversight for Thee, Free Markets for Me

3. Devolution of Transportation Authority is Solution to Earmark Problem

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1. Julia Left Conway Twitty For Barack Obama

The other day we learned Barack Obama’s girlfriend in Dreams From My Father was actually a composite, much like the Boeing 787 or Katya Kasanova after Dr. Krieger rebuilt her on the television show Archer.

Now, Barack Obama is rolling out a new composite girl in his life named Julia. On Obama’s website, people can walk through Julia’s life from birth to death panel. For the duration of her sixty some odd years, President Obama remains President. We get to see how Julia benefits from President Obama’s policies.

Over at Human Events, my colleague David Harsanyi writes “Who the hell is ‘Julia,’ and why am I paying for her whole life?” It’s a fair question. According to Obama’s campaign website, someone enrolls Julia into a Head Start program. The government provides her with contraception until she decides to have a child. She has no parents. She has no husband. She suckles the teet of government her whole life, from delivery room to death panel.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Jill Biden: Government Oversight for Thee, Free Markets for Me

Barack Obama didn’t believe in government healthcare mandates…until he did. He didn’t think we should spike the football on Bin Laden…until it was time for reelection. Joe Biden thought Obama was ill-equipped for the job of President…until he took the job as his right hand man.

Yes, the ability for this administration to say one thing and do another is nothing short of astounding. Apparently this sphere protecting the executive branch from any lasting accusation of hypocrisy also extends to the executive spouses.

Take for example President Obama’s recent targeting of colleges that prey on veterans.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Devolution of Transportation Authority is Solution to Earmark Problem

It’s becoming clear that many rank-and-file members of the House Republican Conference are chomping at the bit to resurrect earmarks after a two-year moratorium. Some are complaining that earmarks cede authority to the executive branch; others are lamenting the lack of “grease” to facilitate passage of statist legislation; still others are trying to push miscellaneous tariff bills, which violate the rules of the earmark ban.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

Interviewing Julia #EERS

Tonight on the Erick Erickson Show, I’m going to have an exclusive interview with Julia, Barack Obama’s composite daughter/ward thingy from his website who was immaculately conceived by the Obama campaign.

You won’t want to miss it.

You can listen live tonight on the WSB live stream and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.

The show is live from 6 to 9pm. And then I’m off to see the Avengers.

Consider this an open thread.

Jon Bruning Loves Eric Holder. Ronald Reagan and the Boy Scouts? Not Exactly.

The candidates for U.S. Senate in Nebraska had a debate the other night. When asked to name a mistake they’ve made in their adult life, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning was the only candidate who couldn’t think of one. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes. I think if you ask my wife she could tell you that,” he said. “There’s so many it’s hard to put my finger on just one.”

Since Jon Bruning can’t think of one mistake, here’s a list so Nebraska Republicans know about the record he’s trying so hard to hide.

Bruning Supported Universal Healthcare: “The best direction for the future includes a government sponsored basic health care plan for all Americans. … Our present system borders on socialized medicine anyway, with the government paying 42 percent of all health care costs under the guise of various programs…. If we want the best, we had better be prepared to pay for it.”

Bruning Praised Obama’s Stimulus Funding: “The additional support is important to maintain the quality of life we enjoy in our state.”

Bruning Funded His Office With Obama Stimulus Money: “I would have voted against the stimulus and TARP (the bailout of financial institutions),” Bruning said during a press conference announcing the Tea Party Express’s endorsement last year. However, Bruning’s office has been awarded more than a million dollars in stimulus dollars through six grants.

Bruning Supported Higher Gas Taxes and Social Security Taxes: “A 50 cent increase in the gas tax, which would raise about $50 billion in revenue would probably cost each driver about $300 a year. … Increase the tax on Social Security benefits. Only 18 percent of those people who receive benefits would be affected if the tax were raised for individuals earning more that $25,000 or couples earning more than $32,000.”

Bruning Supported Higher Sales Taxes and Property Taxes: “Johanns said lawmakers had voted for a “double hit” to taxpayers. Not only did senators vote to raise the sales tax, he said, they in effect raised property taxes because the bill also would permit schools to exceed state spending limits to improve teacher pay.”

Bruning Lobbied the Senate to Confirm Eric Holder: Bruning signed a letter stating, “We believe that Mr. Holder has the knowledge and experience necessary to run the Department of Justice and work with us to enforce our laws.”

Bruning Lobbied the Senate to Confirm Thomas Perez: Bruning supported radical attorney Thomas Perez who is now leading the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Texas’ voter ID law. Bruning stated, “[Perez] is a nationally recognized civil rights lawyer whose breadth and depth of experience make him an ideal choice to lead the Civil Rights Division, .. [w]e are confident that Mr. Perez would be an exceptional Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division and urge you to consider his nomination.”

Bruning Requested an Earmark from Senator Ben Nelson: “In the wake of a fundraising appeal by Attorney General Jon Bruning attacking Sen. Ben Nelson for his support of appropriations earmarks, Nelson promptly pointed to a $500,000 federal earmark that he said Bruning requested and accepted in fiscal 2009.”

Bruning Supported Abortion: “I think a woman should have a right to choose. I’m not saying I personally believe in abortion, but I think a woman has a right to decide what to do with her own body. Personally, I think life begins in the tenth week of gestation upon the inception of brain waves in the fetus. Regardless, I don’t want the government making this decision for women.”

Bruning Backed Gun Control: “I believe in gun control. … Many types of handguns and ammunition, however, need to be regulated.”

Bruning Wanted to Force the Boy Scouts to Accept Homosexuals: “I believe homosexuals should have the same rights as everyone else. They ought to be able to be Boy Scout leaders, soldiers and anything else they want to be.”

Bruning Opposed Reagan’s Economic Policy and Personally Attacked Him: “I would love to persuade you that trickle-down economics was a farce or that Ronald Reagan was incapable of understanding complex policy arguments.”

Bruning Supported Affirmative Action: “I believe in affirmative action. If a woman or a black person takes the place of a white male in a law school entering class, we’re all better off.”

Bruning Supported Massive Increases in Education Spending: Buying into the canard that public schools fail because they don’t have enough money, during his 2000 campaign for the Unicameral Bruning pledged to: “Increase state funds for professional development of public school teachers and administrators. Increase state funds for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure). Increase state funds for hiring additional teachers. Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.”

Bruning Supported Race-based Admissions at Colleges and Universities: When he was running for the Unicameral, Project Vote Smart asked “Which of the following state agencies should take race and sex into account when making employment decisions?” Bruning only replied NO for “Public Employment” and “State Contracting” leaving “College and University Admissions” blank indicating his continued support for race based admissions in Nebraska.

Bruning Supported a Two Dollar Increase in Car Taxes: “Bruning is asking the Legislature for a $2 increase in vehicle title fees to replace federal grant funds for drug prosecution that are in jeopardy and help fund seven additional methamphetamine prosecutors in the Attorney General’s office.”

Bruning Waived a Company’s Settlement, Accepted Their Campaign Contributions, and Then Bought a Vacation Home With the Company’s President: “According to OpenSecrets.org, Nelnet employees have contributed $12,900 to Bruning’s Senate campaign, making the company his ninth largest contributor.” … “In the summer of 2007, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning waived a $1 million settlement reached with a student loan company accused of improper business practices. … A year after the controversy, Bruning and two top Nelnet executives purchased a $675,000 house together near the Platte River.”

This list of Jon Bruning’s mistakes is just the beginning. There are many more.

The May 15 primary is less than two weeks away. It’s time for conservatives to unite behind Don Stenberg.

Morning Briefing for May 3, 2012

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RedState Morning Briefing

May 3, 2012

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

1. Since SEAL Team 6 Can’t Rescue the Economy, Don’t Get Distracted

2. Some intellectual honesty on voter ID laws

3. Social Victory Center and the GOP’s Tech Advantage

4. Jon Bruning Loves Eric Holder. Ronald Reagan and the Boy Scouts? Not Exactly.

5. Eric Cantor’s Cage Is Rattled so I’m Giving $100.00 to Scott Keadle

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1. Since SEAL Team 6 Can’t Rescue the Economy, Don’t Get Distracted

It’s hard to combat Barack Obama going to Afghanistan — his first war zone visit in 17 months — when our guy flew in a fighter jet, landed on an aircraft carrier, and gave a speech in front of a “Mission Accomplished” sign. We may know the differences, but the average voter does not. It’s not worth our time and effort trying to set the record straight because it is all a distraction anyway.

What the average voter does know that we can use are two things that are not distractions.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Some intellectual honesty on voter ID laws

The United States is a Republic. We use some tools of democracy in our Republic. The best known tool we use is voting. We vote in referendums. We vote on sales tax increases. We vote for local and state officials. And we vote for congressmen, senators and, in a roundabout way, for President.

To prevent fraud in elections, some states have enacted laws that require residents to present photo identification in order to vote. One of these states is the one I live in, Georgia. Some people are challenging the Constitutionality of this law and the laws in other states. Opponents argue that the law is discriminatory against minorities and poor people. It violates their “right to vote”.

What these opponents of the vote ID laws never tell you is striking: There is no right to vote.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Social Victory Center and the GOP’s Tech Advantage

More than in any past election, online digital technology will be essential to a winning 2012 campaign. For the Republican National Committee, it is not enough simply to imitate the standard practices of the day. We want to raise the bar—identifying and developing new technology to compete in the digital sphere.

That entrepreneurial spirit led us to create the GOP Social Victory Center, a first of its kind online application that revolutionizes the way volunteers and activists take part in elections. The SVC, which launched yesterday, puts all the important tools in one place, breaks down geographic barriers, and instantly connects users with our grassroots network across the country. And it’s all right on Facebook.

No other campaign or committee—neither the Obama campaign nor the DNC—has done what we have: leveraged the popularity of Facebook to empower Americans to be directly involved in the political process.

Welcome to the new frontier of digital activism.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Jon Bruning Loves Eric Holder. Ronald Reagan and the Boy Scouts? Not Exactly.

The candidates for U.S. Senate in Nebraska had a debate the other night. When asked to name a mistake they’ve made in their adult life, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning was the only candidate who couldn’t think of one. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes. I think if you ask my wife she could tell you that,” he said. “There’s so many it’s hard to put my finger on just one.”

Since Jon Bruning can’t think of one mistake, here’s a list so Nebraska Republicans know about the record he’s trying so hard to hide.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Eric Cantor’s Cage Is Rattled so I’m Giving $100.00 to Scott Keadle

The tea party is rattling Eric Cantor’s cage today. In response to this post this morning and the outcry from conservatives, Eric Cantor has decided to flood the zone in North Carolina to help congressional staffer Richard Hudson beat back local doctor Scott Keadle.

Today, Cantor’s Young Guns PAC threw $53,000.00 into the race for a media buy.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

And don’t forget Caleb’s Daily Links of stories from around the web.

Name the Party #EERS

We’re introducing a new game on the show tonight: Name the Party, for those frequent news articles where the party of the criminal politician is never mentioned.

Tune in tonight till 9pm. You can listen live tonight on the WSB live stream and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.

Consider this an open thread.

Eric Cantor’s Cage Is Rattled so I’m Giving $100.00 to Scott Keadle.

The tea party is rattling Eric Cantor’s cage today. In response to this post this morning and the outcry from conservatives, Eric Cantor has decided to flood the zone in North Carolina to help congressional staffer Richard Hudson beat back local doctor Scott Keadle.

Today, Cantor’s Young Guns PAC threw $53,000.00 into the race for a media buy. See the 24 hour notice:

YG ACTION FUND – C00504761

View Download FEC-781387 Form F24N – filed 05/02/2012 – 24 HOUR NOTICE

1. Supports Candidate: RICHARD LANE HUDSON, Jr. (H2NC08185)

Office Sought: House of Representatives, North Carolina District 08

Payee: NATIONAL MEDIA RESEARCH, PLANNING & PLA

Date Expended = 05/02/2012 Amount Expended = $53000.00

Purpose: MEDIA PLACEMENT AND PRODUCTION

Folks, Cantor must be scared. He’s gone after Scott Keadle and conservatives. We can’t let him outspend us here.

I just gave $100.00 to Scott Keadle to help him fight off Eric Cantor’s desperate attacks. Give what you can. If you’ve maxed out to Keadle, give to the Club for Growth or the Madison Project.

Since SEAL Team 6 Can’t Rescue the Economy, Don’t Get Distracted

A week ago I wrote:

Like the Great Oz, the Democrats prefer no one pay attention to the economic disaster behind the curtains. I have run a great many campaigns. Each has a real narrative focus. The goal of the campaign is to try to stay on that narrative focus and not get distracted by the team worried about losing. The Democrats’ antics reveal they are deeply worried about losing. They cannot fight on the issue that is singularly at play in this election — Barack Obama’s bungling of the economy, so they must try to force Mitt Romney to play elsewhere.

Now Mr. Obama has gone to Afghanistan to address the nation for seven minutes.

It’s hard to combat Barack Obama going to Afghanistan — his first war zone visit in 17 months — when our guy flew in a fighter jet, landed on an aircraft carrier, and gave a speech in front of a “Mission Accomplished” sign. We may know the differences, but the average voter does not. It’s not worth our time and effort trying to set the record straight because it is all a distraction anyway.

What the average voter does know that we can use are two things that are not distractions.

First, Barack Obama made it all about himself. His repeated spiking the football and his Tourette’s Syndrome like need to throw out the words “I”, “me”, and “my” about every moment of his Presidency grate on most Americans, not just Republicans. Even some of his supporters have suggested his dragging Osama Bin Laden’s metaphorical corpse through the town square these past few days was a bit much.

Second, it’s the economy and it remains the economy.

The Romney campaign, you, and me must keep bring it back to the economy.

It’s all well and good the President gave the order to get Osama Bin Laden. Perhaps he needs to send SEAL Team 6 in to rescue the economy too.

Don’t get distracted. Barack Obama wants this election to be about anything and everything except the issue voters care most about — the economy.

In 1992, President George H. W. Bush, facing a struggling economy, touted his foreign policy and national security credentials. Then Governor Bill Clinton was not afraid to acknowledge those credentials, suggesting it was a shame President Bush had not been as successful at saving the economy as he was saving Kuwait.

Then Governor Clinton became President. He did not get distracted.

Jennifer Rubin Just Can’t Stop Making Up Stories About Social Conservatives

It would not be the first time Jennifer Rubin, the Washington Post’s supposed scribe of the conservative movement, has taken liberty to smear social conservatives she loathes. It seems this time she’s being a willing mouth piece for Richard Grenell, the jerk Mitt Romney hired as a foreign policy spokesman.

And let’s put heavy emphasis on the jerk part as Rubin does not even bother mentioning it and she blows hot air into her little sad trombone.

When the story broke, I first assumed it was the Romney campaign blaming social conservatives as Jenn Rubin is the unofficial official Mouth of Romney. But the more we learn, it seems Richard Grenell metaphorically or otherwise stood over her shoulder as she typed out her screed against conservatives. Heck, she probably has an easily accessible template.

Byron York has more insightful information. Turns out the Romney campaign had not even gotten Grenell on the payroll yet. Grenell quit. The Romney campaign asked him to stay. Rubin had to keep updating her post because the facts just don’t comport to Grenell’s spin.

What’s so hilarious about the Jennifer Rubin post on this business is she and others cite social conservatives as the bad guy and, more particularly, the left has fingered Bryan Fischer. a guy most people haven’t heard of and who the Romney campaign does not exactly adore or listen to. It’s worth pointing out that the left attacked Romney for hiring Grenell in the first place because they viewed him as a misogynist before he was a gay rights martyr.

What Rubin does not mention. and the reason the left does not really like him, is that Richard Grenell had deleted more than 700 tweets of his that offended a host of people. He’d targeted the Gingrichs, Hillary Clinton, and a bunch of others. As a guy who knows a thing or two about what you probably shouldn’t tweet, even I have never deleted 700 tweets, let alone deleted tweets to get a job. But Grenell did.

Now, let’s get back to the “gay” part. Jenn Rubin and Richard Grenell want you to know that Mitt Romney hired a guy who was openly and loudly championing gay marriage, for two weeks learned about the 700 tweets Grenell decided to delete, and when Grenell decided to quit they repeatedly asked him to stay.

But wait . . . it gets better. The guy running for President of the United States would not, during those two weeks, issue any words defending the would be spokesman and so the would be spokesman quit and ran whining to Jennifer Rubin about evil, awful social conservatives. It’s like a badly acted high school drama.

(All voices delivered in a loudly delivered staccato meant to overcome any perceived monotones, much as bad high school plays are done)

Richard: “Mittens didn’t pay enough attention to me so I quit. And do you know wwhhhhyyyyyyyy he didn’t? Bryan. Yes, that’s right Bryan Fischer from Mr. Perkins’s class. Mittens is too interested in what Bryan Fischer thinks.”

Jenn: “Really?! Well, we shall have to let Sally, Sarah, and Susan know what Mittens did to you. How dare he think he can use us. Oh, I know, we can get on the internet and tell everybody our side of the story first. Of course they’ll believe us. Why would they believe those dweebs?!”

Richard: “Oh Jenn, you rock!”

Jenn: “Oh Richard, you rock too! Let’s get this done quick before General Hospital comes on.”

Richard: “Hey, if you get this out there, won’t people know it’s me telling you this?”

Jenn: “Rich, come on. Everybody knows you just say ‘sources say’ and they”ll think Mittens confirmed it. Besides, like would anyone totally believe those dweebs? By the time anyone figures it out, Mittens will totally like regret not speaking up for you.”

Boo-freaking-hoo.

Richard Grenell is a pompous jerk who deleted more than 700 tweets to take a job. The Romney camp probably should have exercised better judgment up front. The fact that Grenell and Rubin want to use this opportunity to bash social conservatives and push the narrative that the candidate they support is being held hostage by social conservatives says more about them than social conservatives.