As Good As It Gets... Maybe

James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal points out that candidate Obama was against a federal mandate requiring citizens to buy health insurance. His opponent, Hillary Clinton, was in favor of a mandate and so Obama opposed it.

At a debate in February 2008 Senator O said:

"Sen. Clinton believes the only way to achieve universal health care is to force everybody to purchase it. And my belief is, the reason that people don't have it is not because they don't want it but because they can't afford it."

Of course when the House ramrodded the Senate version of Obamacare through in the dead of night it contained the mandate. Obama cheered the bill and the outrageous Pelosi maneuver that would eventually cost his party 63 seats and control of the House.

And now it's clear that the mandate may be the undoing of the whole miserable law. Republicans don't seem particularly cheerful these days, but just think of what their opponents have done. They passed a bill so wildly unpopular it gave Republicans an electoral tidal wave that was unimaginable in 2008. And, even better, the law they passed may very well be Dead On Arrival.

The tired phrase WIN-WIN leaps to mind.

Then... Can We Have Our Money Back?

A little look at why we love Nikki Haley.

DeMint Says NO

"I’m glad the President recognizes that tax increases hurt the economy. I mean, I guess that’s progress... most of us who ran this election said we were not going to vote for anything that increased the deficit. This does. It raises taxes, it raises the death tax. I don’t think we needed to negotiate that aspect of this thing away. I don’t think we need to extend unemployment any further without paying for it, and without making some modifications such as turning it into a loan at some point."
-Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) on The Hugh Hewitt Show

Our favorite Senator points out how lacking the tax compromise with Obama is. He won't vote for cloture and he won't vote for the bill should it make it past filibuster.

The Morning After O's Hostage Tape

Reviewing this morning's TV/Radio chatter, news sites, and the more important twitter activity, it's clear that Republicans are generally happy this morning regarding the tax deal President Obama announced last night. As best as I can tell the happiness stems mainly from the fact that the Democrats are furious with Obama for "caving in" to the Republicans. If Dems are spittin' mad, the center-right should be happy I guess.

That seems like a pretty poor line of reasoning. I admit it's fun to see the party of the left ripping apart, but that doesn't mean we should be excited about the "deal" as it has been portrayed.

Here are a few reasons why I think this way...

1. The idea that the current tax rates are being extended for two years promotes the ridiculous notion that there are some normal tax rates and that those normal rates are higher than the current rates. In my lifetime I can't count how many different federal tax rates have existed. The "correct" rate is the lowest possible, paid by everyone at an equal percentage, that covers the legitimate revenue needs of Washington DC. I assure you, the rates that are being extended aren't "correct". Not even close.

2. Currently there is no federal estate tax. Rather than leave this as it is the Republicans have apparently agreed to a return of the death tax, albeit at rates better than what they would have been January 1st if no action was taken. This misses the point entirely-- a federal estate tax is immoral. Bringing this immorality back at any rate is simply wrong. By what right does any government raid the purse of a dead woman or man? To applaud that it will tax every penny beyond $5M at a 35% rate rather than every penny beyond $1M at a 55% rate is just sick. What happened to "No Taxation Without Respiration" ?

3. The language has been a disaster from the very beginning for the right. Even the supposedly conservative FOX News has consistently portrayed this as an "extension of the Bush tax cuts." Republicans seldom corrected this misnomer. In fact when one pointed out to Clueless Bob on "Face The Nation" this past Sunday that there was no tax cutting on the table it actually became news. But the horrible language issue for Republicans didn't stop there. R's stood on the Senate floor arguing forcefully one after another that when the economy is struggling it's no time to allow tax rates to go up. Of course this assumes that when unemployment is under 5% and GDP is growing at 4% annually it's A-OK to jack up tax rates. Republicans really need to get their language straight.

Now I know that Republicans got something done here despite the fact that Dems control the House, Senate, and White House. My point is that if they think this dog's breakfast of a deal is something to throw a parade over they will be leaving DC in January of 2013 by the carload.

2010 Census Will Change The House...

... and the electoral college.

Twelve seats are expected to change from one state to another. Interestingly, the states that will gain seats are lower tax/ right-to-work states while the states losing seats are higher tax/ union control states. Who could have seen that coming?

Here are the latest projections:

Gainers

Texas will add 4 seats, Florida gets 2 more, while one each will be added to Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington.

Losers

New York and Ohio will both lose 2 seats while these states will each shed 1: Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Smilin' Faces, Beautiful Places

Governor-elect Nikki Haley

Congressman-elect Mick Mulvaney (R-SC05)

Fearless

On election eve, we predict:

--Republicans will gain 74 seats in the House of Representatives-- the biggest such win since the 1920's

--Republicans will gain 10 seats in the Senate to narrowly take control 51-49

Close to home, the SACK SPRATT signs come true and Mick Mulvaney wins by 8 points

--------------------
UPDATE:
Looks like the Republicans will have 65 plus pick-ups in the House and 6,7, or 8 pick-ups in the Senate. Ten governorships flip to the R's and many state legislatures. What a massive change.

Here at home, ol' John Spratt was indeed sacked by a 10 point margin, 55-45, by Mick Mulvaney.

Republicans won every single race on the statewide ballot, most notably Nikki Haley our great new Governor.

The Congressional delegation now consists of 2 Republican Senators, 5 Republican Representatives, and 1 lone Democrat, Jim Clyburn. Even our state Representative, the longest serving legislator in Columbia, lost re-election to his Republican opponent.

Not Ferris

We've seen the Republican Party, the Democrat Party, even a "Tea Party" but this weekend we get to see the Pity Party. It's kind of sad to see the old radicals who believed they were cooler than Bueller revealed to be as out-of-it as Dean Wormer.

Mock on.

Tuesday's coming.

What A Hoot

Everyone knows the old saw about how media lefties, when venturing from their coastal enclaves, need a visa to visit the rest of the country. A few years back this was brought to life by the internal memo warning reporters to make sure they had their shots up to date before venturing off to Alabama and North Carolina to observe those odd creatures, NASCAR fans, in their natural habitat.

Now we have a real screamer: left wing academics gathering in Berkeley, CA to figure out the "Tea Party". This is one of the most (unintentionally) amusing things I've read in a long time.

I'll offer something that may help. There is no such thing as the "Tea Party". It doesn't exist. It's like Francis Marion... a ghost... The Swamp Fox.

H/T: Maggie's Farm

Trillions

A Google gaggle gathers for Lordy O.

Don't Look Now, But...

People are saying that Barney Frank's seat isn't safe.

Apparently Barney is worried about his seat as well.

We can all agree that when Barney Frank's seat isn't safe, no Democrat's seat is safe.

Smugly Is As Smugly Does

By now you've probably heard that the "Tea Party" Republican candidate for Senate in Delaware has been mocked endlessly for correctly pointing out in a debate that the "separation of church and state" is NOT in the US Constitution or the amendments thereof.

But did you hear about the lefty pig pile on Sarah Palin about 1773? Yep, the lefties don't even know when the Boston Tea Party took place.

Smug is ugly. Idiots who are both wrong and smugly arrogant are especially offensive.

Under 2 Weeks To Go

Michael Barone writes clearly from DC about some of the races around the nation.

Somehow he sees what other Northeast political writers miss.

Marching To Oblivion

Gee, I wonder why, on a national level, we hear so much about the Senate race in Delaware and the Governor's race in New York? Partly because the Northeast based dinosaur media cares much about its own backyard. But also, these are normally safe Dem seats that will, likely, remain Democrat so it's a way to report happier news to their cocktail party pals.

But meanwhile in the bigger world... 99 Democrat held House seats are in play. So... what's the real story of the day?

Rasmussen believes 55 seats will flip to the R's... but it could get bigger. Every day a poll shows another reliably safe Dem seat is up for grabs.

Losers In The Process of Losing

The White House Enemies List is evolving.

Apparently Team Axelrod believes that the only problem Lordy O has is a lack of public focus on the nefarious schemes of Limbaugh, Cheney, Bush, Boehner, Rove, Gillespie, and... um... er... The U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

As CBS (AKA: Clueless Bob Schiefer) might say, "Is that all ya got?"

UPDATE: The POTUS has added the voters to the list. Apparently voters are too scared by the world of today to see clearly. Of course, if they were thinking straight they'd vote for Democrats. Now that's a shrewd political strategery-- telling voters they're scaredy cats.

You Say You Want A Revolution...

From The Aspen Times, Gary Hubbell writes:


Average Americans who have quietly gone about their lives, earning a paycheck, contributing to their favorite charities, going to high school football games on Friday night, spending their weekends at the beach or on hunting trips — they've gotten off the fence. They've woken up. There is a level of political activism in this country that we haven't seen since the American Revolution, and Barack Obama has been the catalyst that has sparked a restructuring of the American political and social consciousness.

Think of the crap we've slowly learned to tolerate over the past 50 years as liberalism sought to re-structure the America that was the symbol of freedom and liberty to all the people of the world. Immigration laws were ignored on the basis of compassion. Welfare policies encouraged irresponsibility, the fracturing of families, and a cycle of generations of dependency. Debt was regarded as a tonic to lubricate the economy. Our children left school having been taught that they are exceptional and special, while great numbers of them cannot perform basic functions of mathematics and literacy. Legislators decided that people could not be trusted to defend their own homes, and stripped citizens of their rights to own firearms. Productive members of society have been penalized with a heavy burden of taxes in order to support legions of do-nothings who loll around, reveling in their addictions, obesity, indolence, ignorance and “disabilities.” Criminals have been arrested and re-arrested, coddled and set free to pillage the citizenry yet again. Lawyers routinely extort fortunes from doctors, contractors and business people with dubious torts.

We slowly learned to tolerate these outrages, shaking our heads in disbelief, and we went on with our lives.

But Barack Obama has ripped the lid off a seething cauldron of dissatisfaction and unrest.

All of it is here.

Time To Bid Spratt Farewell

Our Club For Growth has a TV ad ready for SC-05, the battle to unseat John Spratt.

Meanwhile, the NRCC has been up for a few weeks with their "John Spratt is Pelosi's Rubber Stamp" ad.

Under Pressure His True Nature Is Revealed

Brian Wesbury listens to the president's speech in Wisconsin and is appalled:

Emancipation from Capitalism?

C Ya

Mr. Classy bails out of the sinking USS Obama.

Best of luck in your limited future, punk.

Different Goals

One of the mistakes Americans continually make when it comes to foreign policy is the assumption that everyone in the world has the same aspirations and goals as we do. Republicans make this mistake just as readily as Democrats. We seem to never grasp that our nation is unique. Our goals are not necessarily those of our allies, let alone our enemies.

This essay by Bruce Thornton gets to the heart of the problem very well.

h/t, Maggie's Farm