Why Not?

Democrats think this woman, who is trying to gain weight and become the largest woman ever, deserves free health care funded by taxpayers. She should be the poster child for the bill currently before Congress.

Christie 2016

Any politician who prides himself on being honest with the people—and I mean actually honest, not just “honest” as a pose, reputation, or image (”Straight Talk Express”)—needs to read or watch this speech by new New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie on the state’s fiscal woes. It’s about 25 minutes. He’s candid, honest, and, frankly, blunt. Is America ready for a chubby president?

[W]e need to get honest with each other. In this instance, the political class…is lagging behind the public on this. The public is ready to hear that tough choices have to be made. They’re not going to like it. Don’t confuse the two. But they are ready to hear the truth.

In fact, they find it refreshing to hear the truth.

They are tired of hearing, don’t worry I can spare you from the pain, because they have been hearing that for a decade, as we have borrowed and spent and taxed our way into oblivion.

We need to understand we are all in this together….And you know, all of you know in your heart, what I am saying is true. You all know that these raises that are being given to public employees of all stripes, we cannot afford. You all know the state cannot continue to spend money it does not have. And you all know that the appetite for tax increases among our constituents has come to an end.

And so the path to reform and success is clear. We know what it is. We just have to have the courage to go there… What we are doing is showing people that government can work again for them, not for us. Government has worked for the political class for much too long….

There’s no time left. We have no room left to borrow. We have no room left to tax….

Forget about the next election. Forget about the next editorial in the newspaper, and forget about the next angry letter or phone call you are going to get from someone who wants something for nothing. It won’t be easy. But it is the path we must walk in the time we have chosen to lead.

The Congressional Toyota Follies

Oh! What a feeling (sorry, couldn’t resist) I had about the Toyota hearings when I read that Michigan congressman Bart Stupak would be chairing the hearings. At least his district doesn’t actually contain Detroit, but the collapse of the American auto industry has hurt the entire state of Michigan, and with Stupak reportedly eyeing a run for governor, the temptation to grandstand must be immense.

But nothing I’ve read about Stupak’s performance at the hearings compares to the comments made today by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, as related by Megan McArdle. Mark Souder of Indiana’s 3rd District had some questions regarding the tradeoffs between safety and other concerns:
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Ellsworth In

Democratic congressman Brad Ellsworth announced yesterday he will seek the Senate seat being vacated by Evan Bayh. Ellsworth is the former sheriff of Vanderburgh County and represents Indiana in the eighth district. He’s the first Democrat to officially join the race since Bayh’s surprise retirement earlier this week.

Bye, Bye, Mr. Evan Bayh

The Associated Press is reporting that Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is retiring from the Senate rather than seek re-election this year. Bayh blamed partisanship in Congress for his departure. “To put it in the words most Hoosiers can understand [nice condescension there--DMD]: I love working for the people of Indiana, I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress,” he said.

The deadline for filing for the Democratic primary is this Friday, though the party can have until June 30th to find a candidate.

Green Police

While we’re talking Super Bowl ads, what’s one to make of this:

Before the Audi appears, you’d think this was a spot from the RNC or some Ayn Rand Appreciation Society. I don’t think I’ve seen a stronger satirical indictment of the environmentalist movement.

Used Coats

Politico and 538.com are reporting that former Senator Dan Coats is planning a comeback against Senator Evan Bayh this year. Coats was Indiana’s Senator from 1989 to 1999, first having replaced Dan Quayle as senator when the latter became vice president. Coats has worked as ambassador to Germany under George W. Bush and as a lobbyist in the meantime. The lobbying job might get him in a bit of a pickle, as Coats has been registered to vote here in northern Virginia for most of the past decade, not Indiana. But we’ll see how forgiving Hoosiers are.

If he makes the ballot, Politico considers Coats the GOP frontrunner against John Hostettler and Marlin Stutzman.

The Intellectual Divisions of the Right

Responding to another author, Jonah Goldberg celebrates divisions on the Right:

My own view is that the Right is intellectually healthier and more creative because its dogma remains unsettled (yes, I’ve written about this a zillion times). The Right is divided between those who are (in Irving Kristol’s formulation) anti-left and those who are anti-State. Those who believe that the government is bad because it’s working from leftist assumptions, and those who believe that the government is bad because it is the government. (Most conservatives share both outlooks to one extent or another, but usually fit more into one camp than the other. If you’re wholly in the government-is-bad camp you’re more properly a libertarian, but still on the right). There are those who believe that liberty is an end and those who believe that liberty is a means. For more than a half century now, modern conservatives have been debating and redebating the question of where to the draw the lines between freedom and order, liberty and virtue. And because that line continually needs to be redrawn given the evolution of attitudes, changes in technology, etc, conservative intellectuals (though not necessarily conservative activists, politicians and the like) are constantly revisiting first principles and philosophical assumptions or are at least capable of acknowledging the good faith of their philosophical opponents). I do not think you can say the same thing about liberals (again, as a wild generalization). What unites most, if not all, factions of the Left, from socialists to DLC moderates is a dogmatic acceptance that the government should do good when it can and where it can. Hence the debates on the left tend to be procedural, wonkish, and technical or rankly political. The Right has such arguments as well, of course. But they do not define and dominate political discussions the way they do on the left. And that’s because our dogma is still unsettled.

Sounds about right.

Ugh

In a nutshell, this is why I can’t vote for Sarah Palin.

Obama Speak

Let us be clear about one thing – Obama offers plenty of rhetorical tricks which are designed to deceive.