Rep. Paul Ryan on Saving the American Idea

Heritage  "Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is mighty disappointed with President Obama. The chairman of the House Budget Committee, who has bested Obama in head-to-head policy showdowns, blames the president for failing to outline a solution to the debt crisis while dividing America with talk of class warfare.
"Ryan’s speech (below) at Heritage yesterday made news for its strong critique of Obama. He sat down for an interview afterward to outline why he’s so disheartened by Obama. Ryan also redefined how Americans should look at class warfare, taking aim at crony capitalism and the politically connected who drive American further into debt.

Heritage   " In a speech today at The Heritage Foundation, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke about Saving the American Idea. The full text transcript of his remarks as prepared for delivery are below:"

And yet, nearly three years into his presidency, look at where we are now:
•Petty and trivial? Just last week, the President told a crowd in North Carolina that Republicans are in favor of, quote, “dirtier air, dirtier water, and less people with health insurance.” Can you think of a pettier way to describe sincere disagreements between the two parties on regulation and health care?
•Chronic avoidance of tough decisions? The President still has not put forward a credible plan to tackle the threat of ever-rising spending and debt, and it’s been over 900 days since his party passed a budget in the Senate.
•A preference for scoring cheap political points instead of consensus-building? This is the same President who is currently campaigning against a do-nothing Congress, when in fact, the House of Representatives has passed over a dozen bills to help get the economy moving and deal with the debt, only to see the President’s party kill those bills in the do-nothing Senate.

How Sen. Dick Durbin caused the debit fee mess (Updated with CATO report)

The CATO Institute: The Dangerous Experiment of the Durbin Amendment (PDF)
The Durbin Amendment’s regulation of debit interchange represents a radical effort to extend price regulation to areas in which it has never been attempted before. That effort was undertaken in response to strong factional industry pressures, but without any serious examination of how payment systems operate.
WSJ: The Dick Durbin Bank Fees "Citing the negative impact of the Durbin amendment and other regulations on customer profitability, Texas-based IBC bank recently announced its decision to close 55 supermarket-based branches, eliminating 500 jobs, rather than increasing banking fees. Other banks will inevitably follow suit."
Mr. Zywicki is professor of law at George Mason University and a senior scholar of the Mercatus Center.

Thanks, Dick

Big Government:  Durbin’s Amendment: Handout to Retailers Is Why Banks Are Charging You More  "The overall point is that whether the banks overcharge now or just make up the losses in these new fees, the Durbin amendment is a big hit for the consumer at a time where they are squeezed enough."

What the Durbin Amendment Means for You  "Those who cannot qualify for, or want to avoid, credit cards will be forced to pay more for checking accounts or resort to high-fee prepaid debit cards. Even assuming that merchants pass on all of the savings from lower debit interchange fees onto their customers, those who rely on checking accounts will have difficulty recouping their losses. The effect will be strongest for those who struggle to make minimum balance requirements on their checking accounts. While the effect on consumers as a whole is uncertain, it is likely that the poor will bear the brunt of the Durbin Amendment’s ill effects."

Durbin Amendment impact will devastate small businesses

The Contemptible Left:Obama’s Labor Sec, Hilda Solis Blasts “Teabaggers” In Speech Before FL Dems

Nice Deb  "While speaking at the Florida Democratic Party State Convention over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis pointedly insulted members of the Tea Party, referring to them as “teabaggers.” As most of you already know, “teabagger” is a vile pejorative that refers to a sexual act."

Human Events: Solis: Obama Administration Will Take On "Teabaggers"
"If Barack Obama wants to lecture us about civility, his first order of business today will be to fire Solis. If he does not then we'll assume he approves of her comments. It's not as if it was a one-time occurrence.
""I'll be darned if I'm going to set that aside now because a few tea baggers want to somehow muzzle my voice," she said, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
"Meanwhile, the always charming Democrat leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz​ echoed these ludicrous comments."

Carrying Water for Obama, Hilda Solis Picks a Fight with the Tea Party "Besides attempting to sell the Obama jobs plan, Solis took aim at the Republicans. She attacked Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s labor policies, arguing that he is looking to take away collective bargaining and other rights from public-sector employees."

Palestinefeld, the Sequel: Jason “Costanza” Alexander Pimps Israel for Palestinian State

Debbie Schlussel  "And I mentioned that Costanza believes that Israel should negotiate and make peace with these HAMAS terrorists, which he was forced to admit. Then, I asked him if he believes the U.S. should negotiate with Al-Qaeda, which he admitted he believes in, too. This is the idiocy that happens when people whose only skill is playing an unemployed New York loser think that they actually know something about the Middle East and national security. By the way, I had fun making Alexander mad by continuing to call him Costanza. But maybe that’s an insult to the fictional character he played, since I think even George Costanza wouldn’t be this stupid and naive."

Herman Cain

Althouse:  On Greta Van Susteren's show, Herman Cain spoke of an employee in her late 30s or early 40s who accused him of sexual harassment.
"Supposedly, the woman and her lawyer asked for a "huge" settlement, but she got very little, just enough to induce her to terminate the lawsuit."

Here is a pair from Neal Boortz that I hope will open for you. He's having stack overflow issues and his links take some time to open. If you choose to wait it out, Mr. Boortz is an excellent read:
It's just beginning for Herman Cain  "Well now the Democrats sense a threat to their control of the black vote; and that threat is Herman Cain.  Here is a black man with a black dialect who dedicated himself to education and hard work and became successful in the business world without race-based preferences or advantages like affirmative discrimination pushing him along.  Herman Cain sends a message to millions of black Americans that the government and the political party to which they have pledged their undying support just may be holding them back from the threshold of true success and self-realization.  This is a message that simply cannot be allowed to reach loyal black Democrat voters"

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/

The fallout for Herman Cain   "First, it could be a bad thing. People could be unenthused by the way Herman and his campaign handled the story. More details, if there are any, could come to light. People could start to question Herman’s character. Some, like this article from Business Insider, have declared Herman’s campaign to be over in light of the allegations. The ObamaMedia morning shows were all quick to jump on the story as a “bombshell” without any sourcing of their own.
"Or it could turn out to be a good thing."...More...

From  Legal Insurrection:  Herman Cain – The First Real Test  "How should we react? The instinct to defend a conservative is a good instinct. We’ve seen too many times, with Sarah Palin and recently with Rick Perry, how the MSM will give every benefit of the doubt to those who make accusations. We must fight against the use of mere accusations as evidence of actual misconduct." William A. Jacobson Associate Clinical Professor, Cornell Law School

Toure'

From Weasel Zippers:   MSNBC Accuses Herman Cain of Having “Moments of Minstrelsy” To Appease White Conservatives…  "Toure (one word), MSNBC’s resident expert on race once again used airtime to delegitimize Herman Cain as a black man and dismissed him as a member of black American culture in an appearance on “The Last Word” with host Lawrence O’Donnell. [...]
"After accusing Herman Cain of having “moments of minstrelsy” to appease white conservatives, Toure then praises Obama. Toure claims that Obama, someone who he says is intellectual and brilliant, paved the way for a Herman Cain, and without a black Alpha like Obama there would be no Herman Cain."

MSNBC being MSNBC: GOP would support 'psycho-killer' Cain " "We could find out that he was some kind of psycho-killer and a large number of his supporters would say, 'That's great, at least he wasn't in government.'" Milbank said sardonically.
""He's plainly, unequivocally, lying here," said Democratic strategist Bob Shrum, calling for the National Restaurant Association to release the records with the womens' names redacted."
 "However, we are not going to rush to judgement!"  Thanks, Reverend.

Mark Steyn: Let’s hear what these gestures were. Then we can mandate sensitivity training to eliminate them. Which will stimulate the vital sensitivity-training sector of the economy.  ...."Because, if you’re going to destroy a man’s life over it, it ought to mean something. A “gesture” that is not “sexual” but that makes women “uncomfortable” enough to threaten sexual harrassment?"  Via NRO.

Another ‘Borking’? "The accusations against Clarence Thomas, following what liberal commentator Juan Williams called a “search for dirt” by liberal activists, deepened the disgust conservatives felt. There have been any number of conservatives who’ve been “borked” since."  Mona Charen