Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man's character,
give him power.
Abraham Lincoln
Christie My Next Nominee for Bad Elephant of the Year
Christie likes to pick and choose his statistics; he may be referencing the ratios on this page. The idea that the third-year junior senator in the political minority is responsible for the status quo of federal funding to his state is frankly absurd. What Christie doesn't say is that in terms of median income, New Jersey is often in the top 5 and Kentucky is more like the bottom 5. We should see more taxes raised and fewer benefits received in higher-income states. (Of course Maryland is home to a number of well-paid government workers and contractors.) I will point out that the governor of a state has a lot more influence over public funding than a single federal legislator.
But you know, Christie went out of his way to make sure he got his fair share of federal relief dollars for Hurricane Sandy. Just today he was promoting the distribution of $10K checks for non-construction costs from federal dollars. Of course, I'm sure that he sees it as only fair given net tax contributions to the federal government, but this is not the argument of a fiscal hawk.
Probably the wildest rumor I've read over the past week is Ruah Limbaugh suggesting Christie may flip parties and run as a Dem in 2016. It's not that far-fetched when you consider the last Republican posing for photo ops with Obama, Charlie Crist. Crist flipped parties last year and polls indicate that he could easily regain the governor's mansion over Gov. Scott. But Crist pandered to the teacher unions in the 2010 Senate race, and Christie has burned that bridge.
A Step Forward: Education Reform in North Carolina
North Carolina has scrapped the tenure system for limited-term contracts with higher-ranked teachers renewed for up to 4 years. States like Florida, Colorado, and Louisiana have earlier passed reforms, but last fall voters in Idaho and South Dakota overturned tenure reform while charter schools got in a boost in Georgia and Washington state.
Bootleggers and Baptists
I enjoyed this one. You can think any number of examples: consider, for example, tougher occupational licensing, exempting current licensed professionals or crony bankers and consumer reformers.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Steve Kelley and Townhall |
Remy is back with a Weiner roast....
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups Redux
The Beatles, "I Am the Walrus"
