We missed out on an unprecedented opportunity to deliver a death blow to the United Auto Workers in early 2009; if we had a Republican president or Congress I can’t help but think we would have, rightfully, let GM collapse.

The stimulus of early 2009 provided a lifeline to all of the public union employees as well. But how will Obama swing these union bailouts when John Boehner is Speaker of the House?

While this has been one of the worse recessions of all time (note: we are not in a recession right now), Democrats have made sure that unions and public employees have not had to suffer as much as the rest of us. Why are they exempt?

Another recession in addition to a Republican Congress will mean a drying up of this perpetual, debt-based lifeline for Democrat allies. Hopefully it comes sooner than later.

Caitlin Flanagan, Idiot of the Week

discussed whether or not marriage works anymore. Almost any columnist that NPR invites on their programming would probably agree that it doesn’t, but a discussion of family values is for another article entirely.

As the discussion progressed, eventually Mr. Ashbrook and his guests took up the topic of teenage mothers. On this point, Caitlin Flanagan had this to say:

“They’re not having these babies to get a welfare check, that’s a nasty evil conservative thing to say.”

What a glib generalization of conservatism, Ms. Flanagan. Perhaps you can point me to the strain of conservatism that espouses this? Or a quote from someone who you feel collectively represents all strains of conservatism? Oh wait – you can’t. That’s why I’m nominating you my Idiot of the Week.

Robin Young, NPR’s premiere mouthpiece for the Democrat Party, decided to tackle the issue head on in today’s Here and Now.

Her guest, Anthony Shadid of the New York Times, had this to say:

You know what strikes me is how much 2003 echoes 2010… as the administration marks what it calls a moment in this seven year conflict what I think is more notable in Iraq at least is the sense of the recurrent of the cyclical… the Americans put a baseline in 2006 and it is safer than 2006, there is far less violence. But I think Iraqis will often remember what President Bush said before the war and that’s the lives of the Iraqis would be dramatically better after the invasion and, you know, the simple fact is that they’re not.

Thank you, Mr. Shadid. Very encouraging for the families of those who lost their lives liberating Iraq. I wonder how many secret killings there have been under the new Iraqi government? Most estimates surround Saddam’s regime there were about 200,000.

Mr. Shadid and Robin Young go on to fantasize about how nice it would be in the Middle East if Iraq was still going. Among the conclusions they make is that Iraq would be counterbalancing Iran, thus making the Middle East a safer place to be.

Judge Walker’s decision basically ignored any argument from the supporters of Prop. 8 and gave a sweeping, albeit arbitrary, approval of the opponents’ agenda. Here are some of his 80 enumerated findings:

• Marriage is a civil, not religious, matter. (Finding of Fact (FF) #19)
• How the State defines civil marriage (FF #34)
• The benefits of civil marriage (to the State and the individuals). (FF #35-41)
• A definition of sexual orientation. (FF #43)
• Individuals do not generally choose their sexual orientation. (FF #46, p. 75)
• No credible evidence supports a finding that an individual may, through conscious decision, therapeutic intervention or any other method, change sexual orientation. (FF #46)
• The State has no interest in asking gays and lesbians to change their orientation or in reducing the number of gays and lesbians in California. (FF #47)
• Marrying a person of the opposite sex is an unrealistic option for gays and lesbians. (FF #51, p. 79)
• Domestic partnerships lack the social meaning associated with marriage. (FF #52, p. 80)
• The costs and harm (to the State and to lesbians and gays) resulting from denial of marriage to same-sex couples. (FF #64-68, 77-78)
• Gays and lesbians have a long history of being victims of discrimination. (FF #74, p. 96)
• Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians. (FF #77, p. 101)

As Albert Mohler pointed out, this essentially means that there is no valid argument in public policy but a secular argument. The fundamental problem with this is that questions of public policy often times deal with moral issues. Considering the majority of people derive their moral convictions from religious or spiritual beliefs, it is hard for me to understand why we should substitute the moral reasoning of the majority in exchange for an acceptance of the secular minority’s “correct” morality.

Hope remains, however, that Proposition 8 will stand. This case will move to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, one of the most liberal courts in the country that is based in San Francisco, who will likely uphold the decision. It’s no secret that this case will wind up at the Supreme Court’s doorstep. Should they choose to hear the case, we will have a final answer that will define marriage for decades to come.

We can’t expect campaigns and candidates to prioritize the communities they promise to serve as long as candidates must count on special interests rather than voters to pay most of their way to Lansing.  Michigan has some of the lowest caps on individual giving, the excitement around Mark’s campaign has resulted in his raising more from individuals in this state than any other candidate for state House or Senate.  Nonetheless, Michigan law allows virtually unlimited special interest and political party contributions to a campaign.  Our current rules muffle the people’s voice and amplify the special interests, and that is wrong.  We need to close the gap between individual and special interest contributions by placing meaningful caps on special interest and Party giving while exploring ways to increase the ability of individuals to give to both a primary and general election fund.

Mark is right about this and should be commended for being brave enough to incorporate it in his platform.

On that point, I’d like to note that it is my earnest belief that the election of Robert Jones is the worse possible outcome for the people of the 20th district. If you haven’t seen my short video about him, here it is again:

Robert Jones is also bad for WMU students. His bill to hack up the Colony Farm Orchard and sell it off to private businesses is going to cost WMU students nearly $1 million. You can read my list of reasons not to vote for him here.

Mark Totten is the only candidate running for the state senate seat who isn’t a career politician. Wenke and Schuitmaker are both “victims” of term limits. Jones and DeShazor are both career politicians looking to stay in power a bit longer. I’m not endorsing Mr. Totten by any means, but he is certainly better than Jones by any objective standard.

Mr. Populist Himself!

immigration rally in Los Angeles should raise an alarm with the average person. Then, he makes the egregious comparison to Nazi Germany as reported in the L.A. Times:

Mahony compared Arizona to Nazi Germany after the state passed a strict new law that allows police to check the legal status of anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant.

Apparently being concerned with border security, national sovereignty, drug cartel violence, and the depression of the American standard of living are comparable to fascism. Wow. Where’s NPR, NBC or any other liberal media outlet when you need it? I guess they only show up when the occasional crazed Tea Partier makes the comparison, not a Cardinal of the Catholic Church.

What was perhaps even more disturbing was that the L.A. Times reported the Cardinal to be glad about the legislation in a way, because it distracts from the child sex abuse scandal:

“When we have internal problems, we have to deal with them, but this allows us to continue our outreach,” Mahony said. “This is an important part of moving on.”

The Cardinal is also excited because federal legislation on the issue can finally move forward. On that note, I was a bit giddy when I read the Washington Post headline, “Senate Democrats’ plan highlights nation’s shift to the right on immigration.” I was even happier when I actually read the article, which highlighted some of the key points of the Democrat reform:

The Democrats’ legislative “framework” includes a slew of new immigration enforcement measures aimed at U.S. borders and workplaces. It would further expand the 20,000-member Border Patrol; triple fines against U.S. employers that hire illegal immigrants; and, most controversially, require all American workers — citizens and non-citizens alike — to get new Social Security cards linked to their fingerprints to ease work eligibility checks.

It looks like the Democrats are keeping up with their not-so-progressive agenda, leaving the progressive voice off the table again. As the Cardinal put it to a Hispanic supporter of his, “Sí se puede – Yes, we can.”  Well, at least Bush isn’t president (even though he supported amnesty)!

Rob Krentz was a lifelong rancher in Southeastern Arizona, 12 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border and 25 miles northeast of the city of Douglas. He was the father of three children. The ranch has been in his family for three generations, more than 100 years – since 1907, and sits on about 35,000 acres with 1,000 head of cattle. Running a ranch is hard work and with the influx of illegal aliens increasing, Rob was at ground zero of the stampede that is destroying the fragile desert landscape.

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Umm… because the deficits during the Bush Administration weren’t so massive until the bank bailouts (which Obama readily supported as well).  The underlying implication is that Tea Partiers are really just GOP henchmen (and racists of course). The fact is, however, that deficits were declining until the bailouts which, as I recall, were largely opposed by Republicans in the House.

This is probably why they're upset... probably.

The argument made by Democrats that the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq (both of which I’m opposed to personally) were too costly lacked credibility the minute Obama, on the eve of his election, voted to hand over $700 billion to the biggest, most crooked banks in the country. The bailouts trumped the cost of both occupations at the time.

Which leads me to the point of this post: where are all of the war protesters? If Garofalo sees a problem with the Tea Partiers, certainly there ought to be a problem with the complete lack of war protests with regard to the escalation of violence in Afghanistan. This suggests that the peace movement is just a partisan, Democrat, effectively fake movement as well.

This is what former Congresswoman and 2008 Green Party presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney had to say about the issue:

However, while the so-called left is obsessed over supporting a very crappy Democratic health care plan, people in far away countries are being deprived of their health and very lives by the Obama Regime’s continuation of Bush’s ruinous foreign policy.

I was never dismayed when the so-called right attacked me and called me names for protesting Bush. However, something inside me gets a little sick when I hear people who claim to be peace activists supporting the Obama Administration’s foreign policy, a policy that is not like Bush’s in the fact that it’s much worse.

I have been called a “racist” from the so-called left. In these people’s opinion, I was totally justified in protesting Bush, but I am a racist for protesting the same policies under Obama. When I opposed Bush’s policies, I was called traitor, anti-American, anti-Semitic, and other names I cannot print. Name-calling is a great way to shut down critical thinking and discussion. And, not to mention, I think the murder of innocent life in the Iraq-Af-Pak regions is racist and morally corrupt.

A Democrat apologist on the website Newsbuster derided Cindy Sheehan, who gained notoriety for protesting the Iraq occupation during the Bush Administration, for protesting the Iraq occupation during the Obama Administration:

Yeah, enough already, Cindy. Thanks for helping us get Obama in the White House. Now shut up.

Still, it would seem that both sides are more partisan than either would like to admit.

The Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation wants to commemorate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by leading a collaborative funding, design, and construction process in the creation of a memorial to honor his national and international contributions to world peace through non-violent social change..

You Can help “Build the Dream” by supporting the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation and make a $5.00 donation today through text messaging.

There is a simple process to follow:

STEP 1: Text MLK to 20222

A one-time charge of $5 will be added to your mobile phone bill. Message & Data Rates May Apply. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. Full disclosure at: http://mcommons.com/t. Offer available to US Subscribers only.
Thank you for supporting us with your donation . (www.buildthedream.org/give)