Nov 27, 2011 | Politics
Richard Salsman on GOP Conservatives - Not Romney - Are the Real Flip-Floppers - Forbes:
In that answer Gingrich was directing his remarks about faith and
politics at Romney. Yet consider the hubris of Gingrich believing some
deity hears his prayers and responds with sound public policy advice.
The man can’t imagine an alternative to judgment apart from faith, even
though it is, obviously, judgment based on the facts of reality, using
reason and logic. The man says he cannot trust political leaders who
don’t pray, whereas in fact we should distrust those who don’t think. In
viewing candidates like Gingrich, one might be excused for uttering one
worthy prayer, as was spray-painted on a wall in D.C., in the wake of
9/11, a day Americans could not live free from religion: “God please
save us from all those people who believe in you.”
Mr. Romney spelled out his view of religion and politics in a speech, “Faith in America,” in December 2007:
“We separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good
reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state
interfere with the free practice of religion.” I am an American running
for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person
should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected
because of his faith.” “As governor, I tried to do the right as best I
knew it, serving the law and answering to the Constitution. I did not
confuse the particular teachings of my church with the obligations of
the office and of the Constitution — and of course, I would not do so as
President.” I believe in what Abraham Lincoln called America’s
‘political religion’ — the commitment to defend the rule of law and the
Constitution.”
At this stage in America’s history, as it seems to be hurtling toward
bigger and bigger government, voters can probably ask nothing more from
a candidate than his plain pledge to at least try and abide by the U.S.
Constitution. In this regard it’s worth reminding both the religious
right and religious left among us that the Constitution never once
mentions a deity or Christianity and that in Article VI it specifically
requires officers of government in America “to support this
Constitution” and says “no religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
Conservatives should grow up, cease their promiscuity in the GOP
primaries, and take Article VI seriously.
Nov 23, 2011 | Business, Politics
The failure of the "Super Committee" to reach an agreement concerning spending reductions of at least $1.2 trillion over ten years seems to symbolize the growing philosophical divide in America. Despite the "marriage" between Grover Norquist and the Republican party, the Democratic party remains more consistent in their beliefs of expanding the size and scope of government than their Republican counterparts are about diminishing it. A recent Wall Street Journal editorial by the Committee's co-chair, Representative Jeb Hensarling, reveals the mindset of his Democratic counterparts:"President Obama summed up our debt crisis best when he told Republican members of the House in January 2010 that "The major driver of our long-term liabilities . . . is Medicare and Medicaid and our health-care spending." A few months later, however, Mr. Obama and his party's leaders in Congress added trillions of dollars in new health-care spending to the government's balance sheet.""Democrats on the committee made it clear that the new spending called for in the president's health law was off the table. Still, committee Republicans offered to negotiate a plan on the other two health-care entitlements—Medicare and Medicaid—based upon the reforms included in the budget the House passed earlier this year.""The Medicare reforms would make no changes for those in or near retirement. Beginning in 2022, beneficiaries would be guaranteed a choice of Medicare-approved private health coverage options and guaranteed a premium-support payment to help pay for the plan they choose.""Democrats rejected this approach but assured us on numerous occasions they would offer a "structural" or "architectural" Medicare reform plan of their own. While I do not question their good faith effort to do so, they never did.""Republicans on the committee also offered to negotiate a plan based on the bipartisan "Protect Medicare Act" authored by Alice Rivlin, one of President Bill Clinton's budget directors, and Pete Domenici, a former Republican senator from New Mexico. Rivlin-Domenici offered financial support to seniors to purchase quality, affordable health coverage in Medicare-approved plans. These seniors would be able to choose from a list of Medicare-guaranteed coverage options, similar to the House budget's approach—except that Rivlin-Domenici would continue to include a traditional Medicare fee-for-service plan among the options.""This approach was also rejected by committee Democrats."This article contains two unique components. First, Democrats refuse to alter the manner in which their beloved programs operate--despite the looming fiscal peril. Second, and likely in the hopes of sounding bipartisan, Mr. Hensarling does not challenge the merits of the entitlement state. Essentially, Republicans agree that an individual's rights end where someone else's needs begins. In attempting to promote the concept of the mixed economy, Mr. Hensarling continues:"In the midst of persistent 9% unemployment, the committee could have enacted fundamental tax reform to simplify the tax code, help create jobs, and bring in over time the higher revenues that come with economic growth. Republicans put such a plan on the table...""Republicans were willing to agree to additional tax revenue, but only in the context of fundamental pro-growth tax reform that would broaden the base, lower rates, and maintain current levels of progressivity. This is the approach to tax reform used by recent bipartisan deficit reduction efforts such as the Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission and the Rivlin-Domenici plan.""The Democrats said no. They were unwilling to agree to anything less than $1 trillion in tax hikes—and unwilling to offer any structural reforms to put our health-care entitlements on a permanently sustainable basis."Republicans fail these debates because, fundamentally, they concur with their Democratic colleagues; the entitlement state is a moral priority. The matter on which the two parties disagree is the method for funding the entitlement programs. As Mr. Hensarling argues, lower tax rates help "broaden the base, create jobs, and bring higher revenues." He does not say that wealth is created and earned as a result of production. He does not argue that, in a capitalist system, all wealth is earned.Instead of defending the utility of liberal economics in terms of funding entitlements, the politicians who want to stand against the socialist/liberals need to address the immorality of redistributing other peoples' money.Nov 11, 2011 | Politics
From New York Post reporter spends night with Occupy Wall Street protesters in Zuccotti Park - NYPOST.com:
“I just talked to two gentlemen who were raped last night, and they don’t want to press charges because [authorities] wanted to take them in an ambulance and . . . do a rape kit,” she said. She passed on their account to the security force, while encouraging them to press charges.“There was another girl raped by the same man,” she said from a table in the McDonald’s, which has become the headquarters of the revolution. It’s a place to meet, to get warm, to scarf down dollar-menu grub and to use the bathroom that becomes increasingly vile as the night goes on.
Nov 9, 2011 | Politics
Writes David S. Addington over at Heritage on Obama's Christmas Tree Tax:
President Obama’s Agriculture Department today announced that it will impose a new 15-cent charge on all fresh Christmas trees—the Christmas Tree Tax—to support a new Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.In the Federal Register of November 8, 2011, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing David R. Shipman announced that the Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board. The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees; and to carry out programs, plans, and projects designed to provide maximum benefits to the Christmas tree industry” (7 CFR 1214.46(n)). And the program of “information” is to include efforts to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States” (7 CFR 1214.10).
To pay for the new Federal Christmas tree image improvement and marketing program, the Department of Agriculture imposed a 15-cent fee on all sales of fresh Christmas trees by sellers of more than 500 trees per year (7 CFR 1214.52). And, of course, the Christmas tree sellers are free to pass along the 15-cent Federal fee to consumers who buy their Christmas trees.
[...] The economy is barely growing and nine percent of the American people have no jobs. Is a new tax on Christmas trees the best President Obama can do?And, by the way, the American Christmas tree has a great image that doesn’t need any help from the government. [Obama Couldn't Wait: His New Christmas Tree Tax]
