Socialism in Stages

NRO "If the hard socialism of Communism produces economic and societal collapse quickly, Mises theorized, the soft, incremental socialism of the West ...would produce poverty in stages. Every bureaucratic intervention in the market reduces long-term wealth creation, even if it provides a temporary boost to the economy. In time, this reduction of wealth is blamed on the inefficiencies of the remaining “unfettered” market, which provokes calls for greater intervention, ad infinitum."

Senate Health Care Bill Would Force Some Middle Class Families to Pay $15,200 Yearly Insurance Fee, According to CBO Analysis

CNS News "A family of four—two parents and two children—earning $88,200 would be at 400 percent of the poverty level this year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A family of four earning $88,201, therefore, would not be eligible for a federal subsidy to buy insurance under the Senate health-care bill."

"Law & Order" trashes ACORN videos

Big Hollywood "Perhaps 20 years is too long for any series, but “Law and Order” has devolved into the cheapest form of left-wing paranoid delusion. It is so obvious, it gives left-wing propaganda a bad name. Maybe Karl Rove planted a mole. I now watch it for its comedic satirical value, as one would watch “Saturday Night Live.”"...."But the real action is how “conservatives” are portrayed and characterized. As implied above, the show makes more sense as a parody of the left-wing view of the right than it is effective propaganda for the left."

Massachusetts Second-Grader Suspended, Ordered to Under Psychological Evaluation Because He Drew a Picture of Jesus on the Cross

Weasel Zippers "Being Massachusetts, if the boy drew a picture of [gay sex] it would be celebrated as a model of diversity.... "

THE DEBT LIMIT: When Is Enough Enough?

Heritage "Government borrowing reduces resources available for private investment, leading to lower productivity, wages, and economic growth."

Obama team picks Illinois jail

Politico "The Obama administration has settled on the Thomson Correction Center in Illinois as a destination for a "limited number" of Guantanamo detainees, an administration official confirmed Tuesday."

FIGURES LIE AND LIARS FIGURE

Neal Boortz "The left is getting desperate. This "hundreds of thousands of people" dying shows just how desperate. How did the statists come up with that number? Glad you asked. I just happen to have the answer. Well .. .Michelle Malkin actually did the work here, I'm just going to summarize it for you:" More here. "Oh ... and don't expect to read any of this in The New York Times or see it anywhere on television other than on the Fox News Channel. "

Political Cartoons by Glenn Foden

Townhall

Jobs or Snow Jobs?

Thomas Sowell "But government creates no wealth. Ignoring that plain and simple fact enables politicians to claim to be able to do all sorts of miraculous things that they cannot do in fact. Without creating wealth, how can they create jobs? By taking wealth from others, whether by taxation, selling bonds or imposing mandates."

Has War Really Changed?

Victor Davis Hanson "If our leaders today could consult great generals like the Roman Scipio Africanus or William Tecumseh Sherman — who won what were once near-hopeless wars — they might receive the following advice: Prepare the public to shoulder human and financial costs. Be candid about why enduring the horrors of war now is preferable to risking even costlier violence later. Talk always of winning, never leaving or quitting a war. Have no apologies for crushing the enemy. The quicker the enemy loses, the fewer get killed on both sides. Inform the public of the other side's losses just as you do your own. And be magnanimous to the defeated -- after the war, not during the fighting."

Is America a Deer in the Headlights?

Pajamas Media "I haven’t a clue who will win in 2012. But millions will never again vote for a Chicago politician and his coterie of insiders like Emanuel, Axlerod, Jarrett, etc. They will value experience at governance, not gimmicky hopey/changey bromides. The voters want a Truman/Eisenhower sort of figure to talk no-nonsense, be tough with our enemies, supportive of our allies, and one who will pay down not expand the national debt."

"Smoking gun" Iranian document proves military component to nuke program

Rick Moran , AT "This is very, very bad. I won't say that Iran has duped western countries. The fact is, the US and others have fooled themselves. They substituted political calculation and wishful thinking for honest, hard headed, realistic analysis.And the price we may pay for that stupidity could be incalculable."