How is it possible for one political party to come up with so many consistently appallingly bad policy ideas? This must be what it's like to be a legitimate conservative in Europe: if and when you finally manage to get a turn at the helm of some progressive overbuilt "unsinkable" Titanic--mere yards away from an iceberg, out of open water to maneuver the ship around! So far the Democrats have managed to strong-arm some 200 bills over the objections with only a unanimous GOP Senate vote able to block things.
This pig is wearing even more lipstick than the usual Democratic pig. Democrats always use a lot of spin in coming up with glitzy, misleading titles; I'm surprised they haven't dared the Republicans to vote against the "we love puppy dogs" or "no tax cuts for terrorists" acts... The oil spill legislation which barely passed the House today had the usual grab bag of tax hikes, retroactive liability changes, an Anglophobic, punitive indefinite ban on one company (BP), based in one industrial accident which hardly constitutes a pattern of behavior, from participating in future lease bids, a validation of the White House's illegal moratorium on deepwater and shallower drilling (after permits were already issued), etc.
You know, the progressive Democrats talk a good game about supporting small and middle-sized companies, but when they effectively raise the costs of liability, the only ones which can compete in this market and afford the steep increases in insurance costs will be deep-pocketed big corporations; we already know the prospective impact of reduced competition. The real effect of the legislation is to raise the costs of domestic oil exploration and production; it doesn't help our eroding domestic production and losses of well-paying American energy jobs. If, in effect, bureaucrats didn't have realistic time to properly review permits and/or liability limits have not kept up with energy costs, there was room for legitimate bipartisan agreement. But this is yet another example of Democrats pushing on a string--for instance, BP has already disbursed far more than the statutory limits. There is no real cost sharing being done by the government, but the progressive Democrats are still shaking down the private sector using the pretext of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. It's intellectually dishonest and shameful.
The Argument from Judge Susan Bolton Which Annoyed Me the Most
Rich Lowry rightly characterized Judge Bolton's preliminary injunction decision against Arizona's immigration law judicial gymnastics. But talk about things that make you go hmmmm: Bolton worries that Arizona's law will be so successful that ICE will be swamped with crackdowns on hotel maids, gardeners, and farm workers from Arizona, they won't have enough resources to keep up with the drug runners and other high-value targets. In other words, the federal government is the puppet on Arizona's strings.
This is a very curious argument on several grounds. First of all, it could be applied to any lawbreaking, not just immigration. Why go after people who run red lights or ignore road signs? It just diverts local resources from pursuing homicides... Second, it's blatantly discriminatory. Immigrants who are not from the Americas have to play by the rules. Third, does the judge not realize it's hypocritical for a Congress and Administration whom by September will have run up a $3T debt have money for everything else suddenly get budget-conscious when it comes to border protection?
Judge Bolton, first of all, when undocumented visitors are arrested or otherwise detailed by police, primarily on the basis of ancillary grounds (e.g., a traffic violation and the driver can't produce suitable identification), law enforcement already tip off ICE, without Arizona's new law. Second, it isn't your job to worry about administrative issues. That's the function of the Executive Branch. The problem, if anything, results from weak administration since the last reform was enacted in 1986. We also paid a severe price, 9/11, for failing to have reformed a convoluted intelligence system with insufficient accountability and turf battles.
Weiner: The Uncivil Behavior of a Democratic Congressman
I now have yet another nominee for this year's Jackass of the Year competition:
Political Cartoon
IBD cartoonist Michael Ramirez reminds us that the appearance on "The View" with doting progressives (except the show's token moderate/conservative Elizabeth Hasselbeck) promoting a fairly pathetic record (is it really surprising that a lopsided Democratic Congress and President can run up the score on a lot of trivial priorities?) really left the big issues that have resulted in Obama's deep plunge in approval ratings unsaid....Well, Obama easily fended off Hasselbeck's attempts to talk about Obama's misleading "saved jobs" from the stimulus bill and tried to hype his string of modest record of private sector increases; since December 2007, the economy has lost about 8 million jobs, somewhat less than half that on Obama's rush, despite his heavily promoted stimulus bill.. So a few months of small increases barely keeps up with new workers joining the labor force, never mind long-term unemployed...
Quote of the Day
The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
Walter Bagehot
Musical Interlude: The American Songbook Series. The songs I'll feature in this series are listed in a Direct Source Vintage Vaults CD compilation.
Ethel Merman, "I've Got Rhythm". I didn't find a specific standalone Youtube video (well, there is an uploaded unique disco version of the tune by Ethel Merman, but I didn't buy Pat Boone's heavy metal experiment either). However, the tune is briefly reprised in this wonderful medley from the Queen of Broadway.
