Heavy-Handed Politics: January 27, 2008

Thomas Sowell

Economist and syndicated columnist Thomas Sowell was interviewed recently and had this to say:

Q: Do you have any wisdom to share with us about what the politicians should or shouldn’t be doing about our current economic troubles?

A: Well, they’re two fundamentally different questions. The first is, "Is there something that the government could do that might make things better?" The second is, "Is there anything the government is likely to do that will make things better?" The second question is much easier to answer: The answer is “No.”

Q: From what they’ve done so far, are you encouraged or frightened?

A: I think I’m stoically braced for whatever disaster they create. (My emphasis -HH)

To read the entire column and interview with Bill Steigerwald and to see his answer to this question: "Do you have any wisdom to share with us about what the politicians should or shouldn’t be doing about our current economic troubles?" -- go here.

Kathryn Jean Lopez:
Follow the 11th commandment

It's long past time we got a political grip. Americans, Republicans especially, need a little perspective. In the days before Super Tuesday, as the race for the GOP nomination became John McCain's to lose, McCain continued his dishonest and dishonorable attacks against Mitt Romney.

Bush and Romney

Bush has remained neutral in the GOP presidential nominee process so far, and probably correctly so. But, it is being reported that privately, to his friends, Bush is frustrated and even to the point of being exasperated with Romney.

In what area of policy is it that Bush doesn't think Romney 'gets it' and which has left him so discouraged?

Why, it's his illegal immigration position, silly. Romney's too uncompromising.

McCain and Bush are of the same mind when it comes to ~~immigration~~ illegal crossing of our borders.

"The-more-the-merrier" they say.

BILL CLINTON: ROGUE CO-PRESIDENT IN WAITING

By DICK MORRIS
EILEEN MCGANN

Make no mistake about it: If Hillary Clinton is elected president, her husband will be her rogue co-president, causing constant chaos, crises and conflicts for her new administration.

And sometimes, that will be exactly what Hillary wants.

Chaos is Bill Clinton’s signature style and he’s not about to suddenly change. No way.

Nor does Hillary necessarily want him to be a new Bill. In many ways, his divisive role in her campaign has been carefully crafted by Hillary and her team. It might come in useful in the White House, too.

Throughout Hillary’s campaign, Bill has given us an unfortunate preview of what we can expect of him in the White House. And, it’s not a pretty picture.

Forget about the elder statesman, the international philanthropist, the charming idealist. Those veneers, carefully created and promoted........

Obama Ranked Most Liberal Senator in 2007

Barack Obama ranked as the most liberal senator of 2007, according to newly released National Journal ratings.

Democrats Say McCain Considered Leaving GOP

-The Hill-

Reverend Al ...... no ..... not Sharpton .....

Reverend Algore says global warming is a 'spiritual' issue. Read more at the Baptist Press.

World's Richest Man, Bill Gates, Speaking in Davos, Trashes Capitalism

Gates said he was "impatient" with capitalism. Gates said in a speech last week to business and economic leaders. " He also called for making changes to capitalism so that corporations and governments devote more time and money to doing work that "eases the world's inequities" - and bringing science and technology to everyone.

Gates also said: ".... the great advances in the world have often aggravated the inequities in the world. The least needy see the most improvement, and the most needy see the least. The world is getting better, but it is not getting better fast enough, and it is not getting better for everyone. We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well. I like to call this idea creative capitalism."

Interestingly enough .......

The Democrats are decrying the national debt, and lamenting the fact that Americans are paying record interest on that debt ..... but at the same time are upset over Pres. Bush's budget which has funding cuts for many federal programs.

Obamania:

What Europeans Are Saying About American Democracy

The outcome of the US presidential election will affect the lives of millions of people around the world. So it’s probably not surprising that many Europeans are resentful that only Americans will have a say in it. European media are saturated with election coverage that is heavily biased in favor of the Democrats. And, as in past elections, European elites are also demanding the right to help choose the next occupant of the White House. What follows is a brief survey of what some Europeans are saying about the American way of democracy.

Will France Abolish Itself Next Monday?

The Brussels Journal

Mufti Wants Moratorium on French Law Separating Church and State

The Brussels Journal

The mufti of the Paris mosque, Dalil Boubakeur, has dropped what amounts to a political and religious bomb. He proposes a moratorium on the French law of 1905 separating Church and State, because not enough mosques are being built in France......

Democracy died in Europe at the end of 2007.

Paul Belien writes:

Last December, governments leaders of the 27 European Union member states convened in Lisbon to sign the EU Reform Treaty. This treaty of 76,250 words is a rewrite of the EU Constitutional Treaty, which was rejected in 2005 by referendums in major European countries.

European leaders carefully avoid to call the reform treaty a "constitution," however, because they do not want to submit it to their peoples in a referendum. French President Nicolas Sarkozy conceded in November that the treaty would be rejected "in all member states if they have a referendum."

Politicians like Mr. Sarkozy and Germany's Mrs. Merkel are the driving forces of this process because it enhances their powers. Today's EU's governmental bodies - the European Commission and the European Council - are unelected; they are appointed by the national governments.

As the British author John Laughland explains: "The EU is a cartel of governments, engaged in a permanent conspiracy against their own electorates and parliaments."

THE CLINTONS WILL DESTROY JOHN MCCAIN

According to Dr. Jack Wheeler :

The number of fellow Senators who think John McCain is psychologically unstable is large. Some will admit it publicly, like Thad Cochran who says, "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine."

Others relate times when McCain screamed four-letter obscenities right in their faces in the Senate cloak room, like Dick Shelby, Rick Santorum, or Jim Inhofe. "The man is unhinged," one Senator told me. "He is frighteningly unfit to be Commander-in-Chief."

That John McCain is clinically nuts is scary enough. What worries a small group of GOP Senators and Congressmen even more is a deep and dark skeletal secret in McCain's glorified past to which they are privy, and which the Clintons will use to blackmail him.

David Limbaugh:
McCain, the Anti-Conservative

It's true that McCain is unpopular with Reagan conservatives because he decidedly is not, on far too many issues, a Reagan conservative. But it's more than that. He is the anti-conservative.

Oliver North:
The Man Behind the Curtain

Moscow is not quite the Emerald City, but Vladimir Putin certainly is acting like the wizard, and he seems intent on trying to recreate the Iron Curtain................

Thomas Sowell:
McCain's Straight Lies

We have been hearing for years that Senator John McCain gives "straight talk" and his bus has been endlessly referred to as the "straight talk express." But endless repetition does not make something true...........

John Hawkins:
Why You're Going To Vote For John McCain In November And Like It!

Admittedly the title is a wee bit of an exaggeration. Let me tell you, I understand where people are coming from with McCain, I really do............

“Some Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls are preaching economic doom and gloom, disappearing middle class, and failing health care industry. What’s their solution? The short answer is give them more control over our lives.” —Walter Williams

“The fact that the market is not doing what we wish it would do is no reason to automatically assume that the government would do better.” --Thomas Sowell--

WHAT IS A LIBERAL?

“A liberal is a man who will give away everything he doesn’t own.”

--Frank Dane--

Stimulus Package Nonsense
By Walter E. Williams

"To head off a recession, politicians, including President Bush, are calling for a stimulus package. The White House proposal is to give individuals and households tax rebates ranging from $800 to $1,600 respectively. Congressional Democrats, in addition to tax rebates, want a stimulus package that targets the poor through increases in food stamps and greater unemployment benefits. If we are headed into a recession, these proposed stimulus packages will make little difference. A far more important measure that Congress can take towards a healthy economy is to insure that the 2003 tax cuts don’t expire in 2010 as scheduled…"

Washington Times:
'Change'-hungry voters shun Washington 'outsiders'

My Way/AP:
Democratic Race Will Last Past Tuesday

No Tax Rebates for Illegal Immigrants, House Leaders Say

House leaders want to set the record straight on the economic stimulus package the House passed on Tuesday: It “would not allow any taxpayer funds to be distributed to illegal immigrants,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader John Boeher said on Thursday...

Atheists Assail Bill Recognizing America’s Religious History

A resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives that recognizes America’s “rich spiritual and religious history” is drawing fire from some of America’s most prominent atheists...

Former Mexican Statesman Joins McCain Camp
Juan Hernandez, the man who served in Vicente Fox's cabinet when the latter was president of Mexico, is now advising Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on how to reach out to Hispanics as part of his presidential bid...

Attorney General Edwards?

Illinois Democrats close to Sen. Barack Obama are quietly passing the word that John Edwards will be named attorney general in an Obama administration.

The New Axis of Evil

HUMAN EVENTS

Who Hijacked the Primaries?
by Brett Winterble

With John McCain’s all-too-easy road to the nomination paved through Florida and now nearly complete one thing is clear: The Republican Party has been hijacked. Over the past month a new Axis of Evil has emerged -- not one based in Damascus, Tehran or Pyongyang -- but instead in Cedar Rapids, Charleston, South Carolina, Derry, New Hampshire and Boca Raton, Florida. It is the liberal and “independent” voters in these 4 states that have nearly completed a deed that makes Kim Jong Il envious -- the near crippling of the American Electoral System. These four states have combined their native liberal populism with an imported liberal electorate and have forced the GOP to accept a nominee so distasteful that in more than one poll -- the numbers of voters choosing not to vote and those choosing to vote third party actually exceed those who will hold their nose and vote for Maverick, War Hero, Amnesty Supporter, John McCain. Read more.

Just don't teach it in school......

"It is the duty of every good citizen to use all the opportunities which occur to him, for preserving documents relating to the history of our country."

-- Thomas Jefferson

McCain Evolving

By David Keene

To suggest that Arizona senator and serial GOP presidential wannabe John McCain enjoys a favorable relationship with what we conservatives call the “mainstream media” is to state the obvious. He is almost universally portrayed in print and over the airwaves as an unfailingly honest, courageous maverick devoid of the hypocrisy and word-parsing so common among Washington politicians....... Read more.

Crisis of Big Government

By Paul Weyrich

Conservatives may be surprised to hear that for over 50 years they have been somewhat successful in stopping the growth of big government. Going all the way to the early 1950s Federal spending has hovered in a fairly narrow band around 20% of GDP.

But even that limited success is soon to be swamped by reality. For the Federal Government’s long-term projections show a radical change over the next 40 years, with Federal spending soaring close to 40% of GDP or more. This is due to our nation’s big entitlement programs – Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Counting state and local spending, total government spending in the U.S. would be over 50% of GDP.

If anything even close were to occur it would be a crushing defeat for conservatives and the end of any notion of limited government.

McCain's No Threat to the Left

By Terence P. Jeffrey

John McCain is the liberal elite's go-to guy in the GOP. They believe he'll be there for them when they need him.

The New York Times:

"With a record of working across the aisle to develop sound bipartisan legislation, he would offer a choice to a broader range of Americans than the rest of the Republican field.We have shuddered at McCain's occasional, tactical pander to the right because he has demonstrated that he has the character to stand on principle."

What the Times is saying here is that it does not take McCain's conservative campaign-season rhetoric seriously. No, they're convinced the man on the Straight Talk Express is railroading Republican primary voters. Read on.

Deficit spending is bad (when I say it's bad.) But it can be good (but only when I say it's good.)

Democrat Leaders Say Deficit Spending Needed to Boost Economy
The $146-billion economic stimulus package passed by the U.S. House Tuesday is funded with borrowed money, but such deficit spending is necessary “to grow” the economy, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Also on Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) criticized the Bush administration for the federal deficit but admitted that deficit spending is sometimes necessary...

Romney Expects to Pull Conservative Support in A Two-Man Race
“In a two-person race, I like my chances,” former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told Fox News Wednesday morning. Romney said from this point forward, people will have to decide if they want to John McCain to be the party’s nominee – “or do they want to vote for me, who does his best to bring together the Republican coalition that Ronald Reagan built.”

The Economy Is Fine (Really)

From Wall Street Journal:
By BRIAN WESBURY

It is hard to imagine any time in history when such rampant pessimism about the economy has existed with so little evidence of serious trouble......

COMMENTARY

Which Candidate Will Pay the Most for My Vote?

Media encourage people to view themselves as victims of the economy, looking for handouts from the next president......

[See how your candidate stacks up. - HH]

ElectionWatch: Hey Big Spender! Media Fail to Report Cost of Campaign Promises

How much does universal health care cost? What about bailing out troubled homeowners? Presidential candidates have promised hundreds of programs you haven’t even heard about, thanks to the media. Working with the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, we reveal what your favorite candidate could cost...... (read on)

Bill Clinton

“I wrote not long ago about Bill as the ‘Clinton Albatross,’ but now it is more apt to compare him to an attack dog unleashed. His (not her) victory speech in Nevada was quite extraordinary: He went on and on, while she stood next to him, mute. He gloated over her comeback, took digs at the other candidates, referenced himself of course, and was reluctant to give up his iron grip on the microphone...Bill s ubiquity on the campaign—sharp partisan attacks and caricatures, misinformation about his own record, fiery outbursts to reporters—is quite unprecedented for an emeritus president, especially one who had so carefully cultivated his image as a global insider and international humanitarian. If between 2001 and 2008 the Clinton legacy was something to be defended by all Democrats, Hillary s candidacy and Bill s unseemly behavior are calling it into question. Who knows—soon Democrats themselves, either Obama supporters or disillusioned Clintonites, may grudgingly concede to critics, ‘Yeah, you were right about that guy all along.’ If Bill keeps up the attack on Obama, he may become the first unblack president.”

—Victor Davis Hanson

Supreme Court

“Looking forward to the next presidency, we see that Justice Stevens is 87, Justice Ginsburg 74, Justices Kennedy and Scalia 71, Justice Breyer 69 and Justice Souter 68. Perhaps all will be sitting in January 2013. Perhaps all will be retired. Voters who care about the Supreme Court ought to assume that the next president will have an impact on the future course of the Supreme Court greater than any president in modern times. The Court of course affects every aspect of American life, from the conduct of the war to the protection of the unborn, the right to worship and speak freely, the right to bear arms and the right to be free from intrusive governmental oversight. The Court can chose to protect private property or, as has been the case for decades, almost completely ignore this foundational right. The Court is the country’s future in many respects, and the president is the keeper of the court.”

—Hugh Hewitt

The collective will of the people

“Once the government gains control over energy decisions, do we really think they will relinquish it after man-made global warming is realized to be a false alarm? It has been said that whoever controls energy, controls life. Right now, the free market (which means you) controls those decisions. Do we need to remind ourselves how well things went in the former Soviet Union when the bureaucrats made the economic decisions, rather than letting the collective will of the people, expressed though a free market, govern the economy?... What will people do when they realize that going along with the 56-percent scientific majority has resulted in them giving up much of their personal freedom in the process? I wouldn’t trade that freedom for any presidential candidate.”

—climatologist Roy Spencer

Leadership

“Speech delivery counts for little on the world stage unless you have convictions and, yes, the vision to see beyond the front row seats. The Democrats may remember their lines, but how quickly they forget the lessons of the past. I have witnessed five major wars in my lifetime, and I know how swiftly storm clouds can gather on a peaceful horizon. The next time a Saddam Hussein takes over a Kuwait, or North Korea brandishes a nuclear weapon, will we be ready to respond? In the end, it all comes down to leadership. That is what this country is looking for now. It was leadership here at home that gave us strong American influence abroad and the collapse of imperial Communism. Great nations have responsibilities to lead, and we should always be cautious of those who would lower our profile because they might just wind up lowering our flag.”

—Ronald Reagan

John McCain

“Because [John] McCain is a ‘maverick’ —the media encomium reserved for Republicans who reject important Republican principles—he would be a conciliatory president. He has indeed worked with Ted Kennedy on immigration reform, with Russ Feingold on restricting political speech (McCain-Feingold) and with Kennedy and John Edwards—a trial lawyer drawn to an enlargement of opportunities for litigation—on the ‘patients’ bill of rights.’ McCain is, however, an unlikely conciliator because he is quick to denigrate the motives, and hence the characters, of those who oppose him. He promiscuously accuses others of ‘corruption,’ the ubiquity of which he says justifies McCain-Feingold’s expansive government regulation of the quantity, timing and content of campaign speech. McCain says he would nominate Supreme Court justices similar to Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Sam Alito. But how likely is he to nominate jurists who resemble those four: They consider his signature achievement constitutionally dubious.”

—George Will

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”

—Albert Einstein

Phyllis Schlafly:
History Shows Joe McCarthy's Reputation is Undeserved

M. Stanton Evans, journalism professor and board member of the American Conservative Union, has enacted a transformation for the most reviled American in modern U.S. history, Sen. Joseph McCarthy....

David Limbaugh:
The Clintons' Possible Political Demise -- a Bittersweet Pill

It's a good thing for Hillary Clinton that she and her political-bodyguard husband aren't Republicans. She'd be out on her ear for race-baiting alone.....

Thomas Sowell:
"Billary" Versus Obama

Whatever one may think about Barack Obama as a candidate or as a potential President, his candidacy has brought something new to the American political scene.......

GOOD RIDDANCE TO THE CLINTONS' POLITICS OF PERSONAL DESTRUCTION?

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

What does Ted Kennedy’s endorsement of Barack Obama really mean?

In addition to seriously boosting Obama’s chances for the Democratic nomination by anointing him as the generational heir to John F. Kennedy, there’s something else that’s just as important for the body politic: Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama, and the voters of South Carolina may have personally tolled the death knell for the Clintons’ reprehensible politics of personal destruction.

It’s about time.

For more than thirty years, no one has been able to stop Bill and Hillary Clinton from routinely acting on their shared base instinct: to annihilate anyone who gets in their way, in whatever way it takes, however long it takes, whatever it costs And then to enjoy watching their targets suffer.

Throughout their..... (continue reading)

Bush Urges Econ Action, Iraq Patience

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, standing before Congress one last time, urged the nation Monday night to persevere against gnawing fears of recession and stay patient with the long, grinding war in Iraq. He pressed Congress to quickly pass a plan to rescue the economy......

Bush: US will 'confront' Iran if necessary

US President George W. Bush warned Iran Monday that the United States will "confront those who threaten our troops" and defend its allies and interests in the Gulf.

Doug Wilson: No Freedom Without Economic Freedom

Ultimately, true economic freedom stands in stark contrast to the populist instinct to encourage government meddling in the economy.

Chicago Sun-Times:
Chicago Church Giving Sanctuary to Another Illegal Alien

BBC:
Chavez calls for anti-US alliance

Obama takes big risk on driver's license issue

Supports Driver's Licenses for Illegal Immigrants

UN Still a Management Mess, Government Reports Say

The Problem with Government Health Care

What happens when treatment is expensive?

What happens when government cannot afford the rising costs of health care?

Who decides who gets treatment? Not the patient.

Who decides what kind of treatment (if any) you get. Not the patient.

Don't treat the old and unhealthy, say doctors - Telegraph
Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.......

Rasmussen Reports™:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Florida shows former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney earning 33% of the vote while Arizona Senator John McCain attracts 27%. The poll was conducted Saturday afternoon (1/26) before Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced his endorsement of McCain and the race is fluid enough that both men have a realistic chance of winning on Tuesday. Rasmussen Markets data showed that expectations for a McCain victory rose following the Crist announcement.

Islamists planned attacks across Europe

Reuters

MADRID (Reuters) - Islamist extremists were planning attacks across Europe, especially against public transport, before their arrests in Barcelona last weekend, a Spanish paper reported on Saturday, citing a would-be attacker's testimony....

Ed Morrissey properly points out despite Spain, Portugal, France, and Germany not being part of the fight in Iraq (only Spain ever was ... but pulled out after the Madrid bombings) and not contributing combat troops to the hot zones in Afghanistan ... are still targeted by Islamist extremists.

Once again, proving that appeasement and retreating does not work; but provides encouragement to those extremists to continue on.

Iraq moves troops and tanks to northern city Mosul

Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi tanks and helicopters are being sent to the northern city of Mosul and troop reinforcements should arrive later on Sunday for a big offensive against al Qaeda militants, Iraqi security officials said......

California universal health care plan in doubt

Reuters

McCain & Immigration

McCain says he has learned his lesson on the border and illegal immigration - that he heard the American people loud and clear last summer.

So has he? Or is this just typical political-speak...pandering... hoping the American people swallow his newly crafted (but disingenuous) rhetoric?

Well if you look at McCain's top advisers to his 2008 campaign for President, you will find a man who believes in "Think Mexico First."