Monday, March 7, 2011

Romney Can't Withstand Obama's Kiss of Death

American Enterprise Institute "If Romney can't make that case, his road to the Republican nomination will make an Everest climb look like a Sunday stroll. The facts suggest he has a steep path ahead of him.
"Romney's 2006 remake of health care in Massachusetts represented an attempt to provide universal health coverage without a full government takeover of the industry. Its central feature is an individual mandate, requiring all citizens to purchase health insurance if they can afford it. Those who don't face steep fines. Sound familiar?"
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/jerryholbert



$61 billion in cuts in perspective

CATO  "I recently put the $61 billion in cuts in perspective by comparing it to this year's projections for total federal spending, the deficit, and interest on the debt. Cato's Multimedia Producer, Caleb Brown, turned my chart into a slick video:"




From Baghdad to Benghazi

Charles Krauthammer  "For Libyans, the effect of the Iraq war is even more concrete. However much bloodshed they face, they have been spared the threat of genocide. Gaddafi was so terrified by what we did to Saddam & Sons that he plea-bargained away his weapons of mass destruction. For a rebel in Benghazi, that is no small matter.
"Yet we have been told incessantly how Iraq poisoned the Arab mind against America. Really? Where is the rampant anti-Americanism in any of these revolutions? In fact, notes Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes, the United States has been "conspicuously absent from the sloganeering." "
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/michaelramirez

Multitude of Fools

Prager Zeitung  "The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool.
"It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."
Hat tip to John Uhrig, Texas. 
Also here.

The latest in high-tech security - a mouse

ISRAEL21c ""The mice rarely make an error, and the entire procedure is far less invasive or intimidating than the alternatives, like using dogs or X-ray machines," says Lumbroso. "There's no radiation, and no concern about being seen naked," he adds."


Some Very Bad American Habits

Victor Davis Hanson  "The wealthier and more leisured American society has become, the more it has developed some terrible habits that will have to end if we are going to return to fiscal sobriety and a unified culture. I am pessimistic on that count, but here are a few examples:"...


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



Judge Vinson calls out Justice on its ObamaCare dishonesty.

Wall Street Journal  "Normally, when courts void an entire statute, it is considered a de facto injunction and the government files a motion for an immediate stay. The Obama Administration decided to ignore the order for nearly a month and continued with implementation as if nothing had happened, and then played dumb in Judge Vinson's courtroom." Via InvestorVillage.com

Political Ignorance and Obamacare Repeal  "Only 49% of Republicans and 50% of independents know that the law has not been repealed, compared to 64% of Democrats. Ironically, the uneven distribution of ignorance about repeal might actually help Democratic supporters of the law. To the extent that many Republicans and pro-repeal independents think that the law has already been repealed (30% of Republicans and 25% of independents, respectively), they are unlikely to press their representatives in Congress to make repeal a priority or focus on it as a major electoral issue."

Oil at 2.5-year high as European stocks up

Reuters  "Crude oil prices jumped to a 2-1/2-year peak on Monday as worries about supply disruption increased due to widening clashes in Libya..."
Rich Terrell captures the concept well:
What are Republicans Waiting for, $10 a Gallon at the Pump?  "A day should not go by on which Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner aren’t giving a press conference about how Obama’s energy policies are to blame for the soaring price at the pump and for killing domestic energy jobs at home.
"Here are some suggestions. Take note, gentlemen."...

Drilling Here, Drilling Now: It’s Just Common Sense "The noose we allowed foreign oil producers to place around our necks is tightening.
"And the worst part of all this is neither the per gallon gasoline price nor the per barrel price of oil, but rather the fact that it doesn’t have to be this way. We could be pumping enough oil here at home to offset the ramifications of the upheaval in Libya, but our president, various members of his administration, and the majority of Democrats in the Senate remain unwilling to budge on the idea. Therefore, we’ve literally turned our backs on billions upon billions of barrels of oil that we could be extracting and using right here at home."

Transcript: Secretary Gates Speech at the United States Air Force Academy

GlobalSecurity.org  " In fact, as you may know, the Air Force and Navy have been working together on an Air Sea battle concept that has the potential to do for America’s military deterrent power at the beginning of the 21st century what Air Land Battle did near the end of the 20th."

Secretary Gates Looks Ahead   "The contemporary buildup in Afghanistan, somewhat following the Iraq model, has made very significant progress toward pacification of that country. This Secretary of Defense shares in the credit for these successes.
"The era of confrontations between large armies, Mr. Gates asserts, is over, and what is more likely is the projection of powers of interdiction from the air and sea, with an amphibious-insertion capacity of more modest and less heavily armored manpower levels."

Get the Facts at FamilyFacts.org

Morning Bell   "That is why The Heritage Foundation is launching a redesigned FamilyFacts.org filled with hundreds of charts, issue briefs, and reports demonstrating the effects that parental involvement and religious observance have on teen development, family stability, and academic achievement. Since our founding in 1973, The Heritage Foundation has sought “to build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.” The research at FamilyFacts.org documents how enduring family relationships, anchored by healthy marriages, are the foundation for everything else we try to accomplish."

Related: Fathers Who Are Husbands Spare Children from Poverty  "A wedding ring on Dad’s finger is more than a symbol of his commitment to Mom. It also proves to be the ultimate anti-poverty weapon for their children. Now that’s something to celebrate and encourage this Father’s Day. It’s fitting on Sunday to honor all the fathers who strive to keep that commitment, even when they grow weary."

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Helping the Poor

Kerby Anderson  "What is the reason for this reduction in poverty? The biggest factor is the emergence of middle classes in previously poverty-stricken China and India. And as capitalism has spread to other countries, there has been a similar impact."


Rumsfeld’s Rebuttal

Victor Davis Hanson  "What the book does not leave in question is Rumsfeld’s life before age 68, which at long last is made clear to the reading public. Only a dozen or so Americans in the latter twentieth century saw more, did more, and thought more about the advancement of American society at home and the interests of the United States abroad than did Donald Rumsfeld, and fewer still had more success and satisfaction doing it, and ruffled so many feathers in the process."