Victims of government health-care speak out in this video from Conservatives for Patients Rights:
May 14, 2009
Conor Friedersdorf vs. Rush Limbaugh
“At his core [Rush Limbaugh] is an opportunistic rhetorician: if an opportunity to skewer a liberal arises he’ll take it, never mind the underlying principles, or even whether he defended a conservative for a similar sin two months prior; when loyalty to the GOP conflicts with adherence to conservative principles (e.g., 2000 to 2008) he generally sides with his party; he prefers capitalistic ‘creative destruction’ to community preservation, which is fine and defensible but isn’t particularly conservative; often when he flouts political correctness, his purpose isn’t to speak unpopular truths . . . but to rile his critics and make himself seem daring to an adolescent segment of his listeners.”
— Conor Friedersdorf
Rush Limbaugh has an audience of 20 million. He has been the No. 1 national talk radio host for 20 years and, for his efforts, was recognized as an honorary member of the freshman class of the 104th Congress.
Friedersdorf’s biggest contribution to the conservative cause? “A Case for Gay Marriage.”
Sorry, Conor: I’m with Rush, and Carrie Prejean, and Sarah Palin, and Ann Coulter . . . Nothing personal, but good luck with that Perez Hilton Coalition idea.
(H/T: Hot Air Headlines.)
May 14, 2009
The Road to Weimar America
Saw this yesterday and didn’t blog about it, but what if Treasury notes become junk bonds?
The US government has had a triple A credit rating since 1917, but it is unclear how long this will continue to be the case.
Hat tip to Ed Morrissey via Ace of Spades, who has a very good round-up of the harbingers of a fiscal/monetary apocalypse. I’ve been warning about this for months, as in February:
Go talk to some people who know a bit about the bond market, and see how they think the global investor class — U.S. debt is a commodity traded globally — will react to the prospect of still more deficit spending piled on top of all the deficit spending for the $152 billion “stimulus” in May, $350 billion for TARP I, and now $789 billion for more “stimulus.” Another $350 billion for TARP II? Oh, they’re going to love that.
If the world’s investor class believes that your Keynesian pump-priming will work, they’ll be happy to buy up all those Treasury notes, just like they’ll be happy to buy stock in U.S.-based corporations. Do you think those people are stupid, sir?
It Won’t Work, The Fundamentals Still Suck, and Economics Is Not a Popularity Contest.
Back in 2007, I was talking to economists who were worried about the impact that the housing bubble collapse (which began in 2006) would have on the economy. And the same economists are now muttering dark forebodings about the impact of this multi-trillion-dollar deficit spending spree.
Well, when the Dow Jones bounced up above 8,000 — after falling below 6,700 in March — some people were saying the worst was over. We had hit the bottom, and now the recovery would begin. Two words: “Sucker’s rally.” The Dow hit 8,575 on Friday and, though I’m no financial guru. my hunch is we’re now beginning another slide downward. Pessimists tell me they don’t think we’ll hit bottom above 4,000.
Why? Well, how about the idiotic noises about health care emerging from Washington? The liberal suggestion that we will actually save money by implementing universal health care is, as Megan McArdle says, “gibberish in a prom dress.”
Unemployment is surging. The Obama administration is meddling with mortage rates and Treasury wants to take over the derivatives market. Liberals are pushing for a “global warming tax.” Government is ripping off investors. The rule of law is trampled underfoot. All the signals from government now point toward more deficits, more taxes, more inflation, more regulatory restrictions to impede the private sector.
Hello, Weimar America.
(Cross-posted at Hot Air Green Room.)
UPDATE: Linked at Kuru Lounge and Creative Minority Report. Meanwhile, Mary Katharine Ham observes:
With utterly unprecedented spending and build-ups in deficits with utterly no attempt to control either, despite promises to do so from Obama on the trail, the American people may be looking for anti-establishment comfort in 2010. By then, it won’t be about being Republican, but about being responsible. Democrats have been so deliberately, demonstrably irresponsible in just four months, that making the argument for Republicans (fiscally conservative ones) becomes easier and easier by the day.
“Fiscally responsible Republicans” = Not Charlie Crist. More like Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn.
Tigerhawk wonders if Team Obama believes they’ll be able to blame Bush forever. But how will they blame Bush for Obama’s job-killing tax plans?
(Graphic by Heritage Foundation.) More commentary at Memeorandum.
The New York Times is trying to cover up Democrats’ blame for the mortgage crisis.
UPDATE II: Obama demagogues credit cards:
People are “getting ripped off by anytime, any reason rate hikes… all kinds of harsh penalties and fees that you never knew about,” Obama said. “Enough is enough, it’s time for strong protections for our consumers.”
And his audience cheered.
Good God. If you don’t like the rate, don’t use the card. How simple is that? Caveat emptor. But by limiting rates, you would necessarily limit the availability of credit, since banks have to calculate the likelihood of default into their rates.
Ergo, limiting rates means less credit for the poor, which is certainly going to hinder economic recovery. And yet Obama’s audience cheered his nonsense!
May 14, 2009
Sarah Palin on Carrie Prejean: ‘I can relate’
Say hello to the Hotness Coalition:
I can relate as a liberal target myself. What I find so remarkable is that these politically-motivated attacks fail to show that what Carrie and I believe is also what President Obama and Secretary Clinton believe – marriage is between a man and a woman.I applaud Donald Trump for standing with Carrie during this time. And I respect Carrie for standing strong and staying true to herself, and for not letting those who disagree with her deny her protection under the nation’s First Amendment Rights.Our Constitution protects us all – not just those who agree with the far left.
(H/T: Hot Air Headlines.) We’ve got Sarah Palin, Carrie Prejean and Ann Coulter. They’ve got Perez Hilton, Keith Olbermann and Barney Frank. Game. Set. Match.
As with the accusation of “racism” against Rush Limbaugh, the accusation of “homophobia” against opponents of same-sex marriage is an attempt to prohibit opposition to the Left’s policy agenda by accusations of mala fides (bad faith).
It’s like Jeff Goldstein says, if you allow your opponent to dictate the terms of discourse, you can be sure that the rules will be established to favor your opponent. You’ll spend all your time defending yourself against idiotic accusations — being “mean-spirited” and “divisive,” at a minimum — and the Left will never be compelled to defend their policy agenda on its merits.
Notice, BTW, how ABC News portrays Palin as “ginning up conservatives.” A favorite tactic of the MSM is to imply that only right-wing Republicans support a particular policy position — e.g., low taxes, gun ownership, prayer in school — so as to set up the debate as a conflict between these alleged “extremists” and everyone else.
The media politicizes the issue in this way so as to isolate opposition to the liberal agenda, and to rally Democrats in support of that agenda. It’s a species of bandwagon psychology, to depict the conservative side of any argument as a partisan minority, no matter what the actual election results or poll numbers show.
There are plenty of Democrats who oppose same-sex marriage, and if Democratic leaders wish to establish themselves as The Gay Party, they ought to do so openly and stop this closet-case passive-aggressive game.
May 14, 2009
Best Read of the Day
by Smitty
The Dead Hand has a link to Mark Steyn’s “Live Free or Die” essay.
TDH says:
Steyn has hit the nail squarely on the thumb: Citizenship is what we DO, not a stamp on our birth certificates. And the larger Government grows, the fewer Citizens there are in any meaningful sense, as those who remain are transformed into wrinkly, post-adolescent wards of the State.
This is not 1789 or 1917. There is no La Fayette or Lenin storming the gates of our civil society. Rather, the destruction of our liberty and national character is proceeding one tiny step at a time, and it MUST be opposed as such. Otherwise, the BIG steps–like the nationalizations of giant swathes of the automotive and banking industries (in the past three months) or the health care industry (later this year) will have far too much momentum to stop.
Steyn has a immigrant’s passion for his adopted land. Avail yourself of a motivational read.
May 14, 2009
DNA-Based Decision Making is Racism
by Smitty (h/t Insty)
Yes, Advice Goddess, the “Empowerment Experiment” people are behaving in a racist fashion. However, they are certainly within their rights to express themselves in this fashion, for all it is boorish.
Affirmative Action, too, is racist. The argument on the table is that there was sufficient historical unfairness that government intervention was justified. Two wrongs don’t make a right, for all two (w)rights did make an airplane. It’s done.
That said, the time for anything besides pure meritocracy is long past.
Perpetuating racism in any form, whether it’s tossing the term around liberally at political opponents, or crassly choosing for/against vendors based upon race, has got to be booed in public.
BOOOOOOOO!
Update:
HotMES has related thoughts.
May 14, 2009
Miss December 2001 decides she can no longer associate with Miss USA pageant
Shanna Moakler, whose erstwhile career as a Playboy centerfold has been previously noted here, considers Carrie Prejean a disgrace:
“I cannot with a clear conscious move forward supporting and promoting the Miss Universe Organization when I no longer believe in it, or the contracts I signed committing myself as a youth,” she continues. “I want to be a role model for young women with high hopes of pageantry, but now feel it more important to be a role model for my children.”
Thank you, Miss December 2001 and divorced mom. As “a role model for young women,” your quest for another reality-TV contract and friendship with Perez Hilton will surely be an inspiration to millions.
P.S.: You misspelled “conscience.”
(H/T: Memeorandum.)
UPDATE: Let’s hear from someone who has never appeared nude in Playboy:
Christians are supposed to be fat, balding sweaty little men with bad complexions. It’s liberals who are supposed to be the sexy ones. (I know that from watching “The West Wing” and all movies starring Julia Roberts.) But sadly for liberals, in real life, the fat, balding sweaty little guy with the bad complexion is Perez Hilton and the smoking-hot babe is Carrie Prejean.
Yes, it’s our own adorable Ann Coulter, and you should read the whole thing.
BTW, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the hateful opportunists who attempted to destroy Miss California by leaking those Carrie Prejean nude photos, and thereby drove this blog to previously unimaginable peaks of traffic. Of course, I was the only conservative blogger with the capitalistic foresight to lock down both “Carrie Prejean jailbait” and “Carrie Prejean sideboob” with a single post, but I couldn’t have done it without the assistance of unscrupulous photographers and gay gossip bloggers.
Speaking of naked gay video, Keith Olbermann:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
(H/T: Hot Air.)
UPDATE II: Welcome Instapundit readers! Remember Professor Reynold’s famous words:
“Personally, I think the more topless photos, the better. But as a straight male, what do I know about beauty pageants?”
More commentary at Jules Crittenden, Pundit & Pundette, Sister Toldjah, and Right View from the Left Coast.
UPDATE III: Perez Hilton plays the “homophobia” card:
(H/T: Townhall) No Perez, Miss Prejean doesn’t hate all gay people. She only hates you.
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