House Republicans Have No Leadership

If a Speaker of the House is going to go before the press with a grand tax plan he needs to make sure he has the votes in his own Caucus to pass it. Current Speaker John Boehner went before the press on Monday declaring he was going with “Plan B” in the fiscal cliff fiasco. Unfortunately Boehner didn’t have the votes in his own Caucus and by Thursday night the plan was pulled. Nothing will happen until next week, which gives the nation less than a week to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff. While Obama opposed Plan B and the Senate Democrats were unlikely to pass it, we had a better chance of avoiding the cliff with this plan than with any of the Democrat plans.

The disinterested observer must be wondering who this strange orange clown is leading the House Republicans. How can Boehner be so foolish as to announce Plan B without having the votes for it in his own Caucus? Boehner has been a mediocre speaker since the GOP won the 2010 mid-term elections. His latest disaster has to be the worst. It’s been a very long time since we’ve had a Speaker of the House with less control over his Caucus than Boehner has. Part of it is a fractured Caucus but the real problem is that Boehner doesn’t know how to lead or manage.

It’s becoming apparent that we will be heading over the fiscal cliff on January 1st. If Boehner can’t get his Caucus to vote on Plan B, he won’t get them to go for anything Obama offers. If Boehner goes along with an Obama plan and passes it with House Democrats and a handful of liberal House Republicans, odds are he loses his job on January 4th. In other words, the nation is facing financial calamity, the socialist President wants massive tax increases, unlimited deficit spending and limited to no cuts while the Republicans can’t agree on anything and have no leadership.

Let’s be perfectly honest here, we have the Republicans to thank for this problem. It was the GOP Congress during the Bush administration that foolishly gave the tax cuts a time limit. If the tax cuts were permanent, then none of this would be an issue. Those fools set up the Democrats and they’ve exploited it to the point of taking the country down the path of financial ruin. The Republican Party seems to be perpetually plagued by bad leadership and by people who seem to have no idea what the consequences of their actions might be or who simply don’t care. The GOP creates its own destruction on a regular basis.

John Boehner is another in a long line of fools who seem hellbent on destroying their own party. If Boehner can’t work out an acceptable fiscal cliff deal, he needs to resign. At this point, we’re looking at a Speaker who cannot control his Caucus and who might be looking to the Democrats to pass something. That is unacceptable and conservatives in the GOP Caucus shouldn’t tolerate that. The conservatives in the GOP Caucus must think that at some point Obama is going to blink. That seems to be quite a stretch at this point. It’s pretty clear Boehner is blinking, if not silently sobbing in his office. While Obama is strutting around and Boehner is weeping, the House Republicans have no leadership and taxes are set to rise because of it.

The Idiocy Of Secession

Apparently citizens in 30 states have signed petitions demanding their state secede from the union. The lunacy doesn’t end there, they’re sending their secession requests to the White House. Good move guys, go tell Obama who wants to commit treason against the United States so he can round you all up. This sort of silly happens after every Presidential election, there’s always a group of nuts who want to move to Canada, secede from the union or pick your crazy outcome. This election is no different. Demanding secession from the union fails to understand history and it fails to recognize the importance of the 2014 election which is just two years away.

While crazy people across the country are trying to secede from the union because, presumably, they aren’t happy with Obama’s re-election they have lost touched with our history. Mind you these are the same people flying historic ‘don’t tread on me’ flags and engaging in claims of patriotism and love of American history. The secession issue was decided once and for all in 1865 after over 600,000 Americans died in the Civil War. That war decided once and for all that the Federal government was supreme and the states were mere instrumentalities of the Federal government.

So the notion that Texas or some other state is going to somehow skirt the results of the Civil War seems just a little bit on the ludicrous side. We can debate until we’re blue in the face the wisdom or the reasons behind that war. But we cannot deny the result. The Federal government won the war, the states were subjected to its will. We cannot now pretend like that war didn’t happen and the states suddenly have the right to secede. Let’s pretend for a moment that a state tried to leave the union. What do you suppose the result would be? We all know that Obama, Bush or any other President would crush the treasonous rebellion of that state. Don’t fool yourself into thinking otherwise.

While the tin foil hat crazies are signing secession petitions, they’re failing to recognize the importance of the upcoming 2014 elections. Yes, that’s right, it’s time to talk about elections again. Sixth year mid-terms are historically not very good for an incumbent President. In 2008 and 2012 Obama was able to get his coalition to the polls, he was not able to get them to the polls in 2010. (which leaves the question whether the coalition is Obama’s or the Democrats). Odds are Obama’s voters aren’t going to come out in droves in 2014.

We conservatives need to take off our tin foil hats and prepare for these elections. We need to make sure we get behind competent candidates. That means not supporting crazy witch ladies like Christine O’Donnell or people who cannot competently articulate the conservative position on abortions for rape victims. It’s time to start vetting candidates now, before they’ve secured the nomination. If we’re out signing petitions and seriously talking about secession we can’t do that. To say nothing of how insane that would be.

We conservatives need to get our head out of the clouds. We need to get over Obama’s victory. Part of that is recognizing what an awful candidate Mitt Romney was. But part of that is not playing games online with secession or another favorite pastime, alleging voter fraud. It’s time to get ready for 2014. We have a real chance at taking the Senate back, if we don’t nominate lunatics. We can gain 20+ seats in the House. It’s time for us to start vetting candidates, it’s time to get ready for the next election.

Obama Campaign Anything But Incompetent

Is the Obama campaign incompetent? It seems this has become a growing theme among Republicans, many of whom are  eyeing a return to the White House. The last two months have been brutal for Obama. From his secret whispers into the Russian President’s ear to the disastrous Obamacare oral arguments before the Supreme Court to the mediocre economic news and now to the utterly foolish gaffe about Polish death camps, Obama sure looks incompetent. But we must separate the administration from the campaign. The campaign will not be nearly as incompetent as the administration.

From all accounts the Obama administration is being run by Valerie Jarrett, a leftist ideologue and political novice. She’s chased off Obama’s Chief’s of Staff, she’s shielded him from advisers who challenge him. She’s the only advisor who has dinner with the Obama’s, the only one close with both the President and his wife. Jarrett is the one who pushed for Obamacare instead of jobs during the first year of the administration. It is Jarrett who has pushed Obama to the left, she is a major reason why Obama doesn’t speak to anyone in Congress no matter their party.

Over the last three plus years we’ve seen this administration make major public gaffes. Obama has stuck done any number of things that are unpresidential, from making comments on local criminal affairs to demanding an audience in Congress on the night of the opposition party’s Presidential debate. His administration is loaded with people who make inflammatory comments (Joe Biden), who don’t follow the law (Eric Holder) or who simply make Obama look bad. (most everyone else) Obama entered office unprepared to manage the executive branch. This is what happens when a Senator is elected President, they have no managerial experience.

But just because the administration makes a lot of mistakes doesn’t mean the campaign will. We cannot assume that Obama’s campaign is incompetent, especially considering how well it operated in 2008. Conservatives have pointed to Obama’s homosexual marriage announcement as evidence of a gaffe. While it’s clear Obama’s campaign thought it would do more for them than it did, Obama really had no choice but to make the announcement. He needs homosexual money and he can afford to alienate blacks because he knows they won’t abandon him. Considering all the factions within the Democratic base, Obama’s campaign made a calculated risk. It’s largely worked, if only within the Democrat Party. I did not create the groundswell of support they thought it would though.

If Romney has one thing going for him it’s that he’s equal with Obama on money. They’re both taking in about the same amount over the last couple of months. Obama has a lead as he didn’t have to spend much on his primary but conventional thinking is that Romney will either catch up or his Super PAC will make up the difference. Obama will not be running a billion dollar campaign. The difference is going to be seen in how the two candidates spend their money. Romney is going to spend a fortune on ads, expect to see him dominate the airwaves in October. Obama will spend a fortune on his ground game.

It is Obama’s ground game that ought to have Republicans nervous. It is quite true that Obama is alienating moderates by moving to the far left. But he has a purpose, he wants all of his base to come out and vote for him. He has a massive ground game in states like Ohio, they’re prepared to deliver every possible leftist vote to the polls on election day. Romney has to  hope his base and independents show up to vote, his ground game isn’t going to be as strong as Obama’s. It is here that Obama’s campaign will prove they aren’t incompetent.

Obama’s campaign is quite competent, they know exactly what they’re doing. Obama’s campaign speeches won’t be centrist, they’ll be far left. The campaign cannot control the administration but they likely don’t care what the administration is screwing up because Obama’s base voters don’t care. The key is to get every single leftist and every single member of the Democrat coalition to the polls. That is their only pathway to victory because they’ve don’t believe they can get the independent vote this year. They’re taking a calculated risk but it’s a worthwhile risk if Obama truly cannot get the independent vote. This election will be all about turnout. Don’t ever discount Obama’s campaign by calling them incompetent. They’ll get their people to the polls. Will Romney?

Inept Obama Campaign Causing Democrats To Panic

Amusements abound over in the Obama campaign. The well oiled machine of 2008 has given way to a machine that had its best days four years ago. The other day Obama claimed that the election would be “tight” because of a name like his. He’s playing the race card and it’s only May. We’ll of course pretend that he didn’t win in the biggest Democrat victory in over a generation with “a name like his.” The notion that racist America cannot handle a name like Obama as President is the sort of middle school argument that should have been dead on election night 2008.

Democrats are beginning to panic over Obama’s campaign. Recent polls haven’t looked great for Obama. He’s been well under 50% in most of them. In a CBS poll Romney had a slight lead (a statistical tie really) over Obama in support from women. The same poll found the overwhelming majority of Americans believe the President was playing pandering politics with his homosexual marriage announcement. Even those who agree with homosexual marriage. Big mean JP Morgan lost $2 billion (the government loses $6 billion daily) which the media is absurdly falling to pieces over. Meanwhile the President says JP Morgan is great and praises its CEO. Obama recently attacked Romney over Bain Capital yet is taking money from a former Bain Capital executive. Inconsistencies abound in Obama’s campaign and Democrats are rightfully nervous.

The Democrats are even panicking over the choice of Charlotte, North Carolina as the Convention site. The North Carolina Democrat Chairman is embroiled in a sex scandal and that isn’t even the biggest problem facing the Convention. It’s underfunded. Unions are being expected to pick up a lot of the tab but they’re apparently outraged that North Carolina is a right to work state and are even more outraged that Charlotte hotel’s aren’t unionized. Most amusing, especially for us non-Democrats, is that the far left is worked up over the fact that Obama’s acceptance speech will be made at Bank of America Stadium. That’s right, they’re worked up over the name of the Stadium.

While all of this is going on ole George Soros is busy sitting down with top Democrats to discuss strategy for the 2012 election. One can only imagine what he has to say. It’s an open secret that Obama’s pathway to victory is to get his base to come to the polls in large numbers. It will be Soros that funds this sort of grassroots effort. Soros funds many left-wing organizations, many of which are actively involved in the sort of community organizing that gets the vote out. Soros has in the past said that he wouldn’t mind a Romney Presidency, probably because Romney is a progressive. You wonder whether Soros will dial back the support for Obama if he thinks the Obama ship is sinking knowing that Romney will still support many of Soros’ progressive policies.

We’re in the middle of a defining period in a Presidential race. This is Obama’s chance to define Romney and so far Obama is failing miserably. The President still has a bully pulpit, many Americans don’t really know who Romney is. Obama can take that pulpit and define Romney in any way that he wants. Calling him a vulture while taking money from a fellow Bain executive and patting the back of JP Morgan’s CEO who just lost $2 billion defines Obama as a pandering political hypocrite more than it defines Romney as vulture.

Obama has had nearly two months to define Romney since the GOP nomination was largely secure and he’s utterly failed. Obama still has another three months or so to define Romney but the longer he waits or the longer he fails to define Romney the worse it will be for his campaign. If Romney has a chance to define himself it will of course be only in the most glowing terms. By being able to define himself, Romney can make himself look good but he’ll also make Obama look inept without even mentioning him. No wonder the Democrats are beginning to panic.

Obama A Tax and Spend Liberal

President Obama is apparently planning on doubling down on tax increases. He is holding a press conference this morning, no doubt he’ll mention private jet tax increases half a dozen times. Never mind of course that increasing private jet taxes will only net the government a few billion over a decade, while likely costing hundreds or thousands of jobs. The real hit is going to be on small businesses, which means the tax increases will end up hitting lower and middle class business owners. So much for never increasing taxes on those making less than $250,000, Obama’s long forgotten campaign pledge.

Apparently the Obama administration believes that because they broke their campaign pledge, it’s acceptable for Republicans to do the same. Obama and the Democrats offer taxes upon taxes, between $1-2 trillion depending on which proposal you look at.  Less than 2 years ago Obama said it would be foolish to raise taxes during a recession. With 9.2% unemployment and stagnate growth, this is surely a recession. Obama wants tax increases, we can only hope the Republicans stick to their campaign promises and refuse to raise them.

The Republicans have incentive to not raises taxes. Tax increases haven’t been popular for several decades, even taxes aimed at the rich. But the real incentive comes in the form of the Tea Party. Every single Republican who votes to raises taxes is likely to find himself with a primary challenger next year. Including Speaker John Boehner. The Republican Party cannot afford such an insurrection of the rank and file if they want to win the White House next year. It would behoove the GOP to vote against any tax increase and in fact it would be even better if the House refused to allow a tax increase to come up for a vote.

The problem isn’t tax revenue, the problem is spending. Tax revenue has rarely gone above 18% of GDP. Even when taxes were extremely high. Before Reagan, it wasn’t uncommon for the Federal government to have tax rates above 60%. At various times they went as high as 90%. Still, taxes never generated more than 18% of GDP. The only way to increase revenue is to have the economy take off. We’ve seen this happen four times since the income tax amendment was added to the Constitution in 1913. Taxes were cut in the 20′s, 60′s, 80′s and 2000′s and each time the economy improved and tax revenue increased. When income taxes have been increased, such as the 30′s, 40′s, 70′s and 90′s, long term the taxes never generated more than 18% of GDP and the economy never took off.

President Obama is trying to create a class conflict by pretending that tax increases are only for the rich. The fact is, we’ll all be adversely affected if taxes are increased. A stagnate economy does nothing for the poor and middle class. We will also all be adversely affected if Congress doesn’t slash spending. For this we need the Republicans to hold firm and refuse to continue funding unnecessary and wasteful government programs. So far Boehner is sticking with $2 trillion in cuts. If Obama refuses to cut a deal without tax increases any default is on him.

Obama’s Poll Numbers Drop, Americans Want Foreign Policy Alternative

Obama’s poll numbers have dropped this week. His numbers went up in the aftermath of the Rep. Giffords shooting, hitting approval in the low 50′s. Rasmussen had Obama at a high of 52 and Gallup had him at 51. Since last week Obama’s approval numbers have dropped. Today Rasmussen has Obama at 46, yesterday Gallup had him at 48.

Obama is coming back down to Earth after his decent Giffords speech. Last week’s State of the Union was largely lackluster and didn’t result in any noticeable spike for the President. That was bad news for Obama, a President should always see a spike after a State of the Union speech. Obama’s slow and inconsistent response to the Egypt situation clearly isn’t sitting well with Americans. His numbers have dropped all week.

The Obama administration was completely inconsistent about Egypt last week. Biden and Hillary made statements supporting or defending Mubarak, Obama issued a statement supporting Mubarak. By the weekend Obama and Hillary had changed their tune by suggesting Mubarak step aside. This week it’s becomes clear that Obama stabbed Mubarak in the back and supported the Islamic Socialists in the Muslim Brotherhood all along. I suspect that isn’t sitting well with most Americans, especially considering the Brotherhood wants to go to war with Israel.

Egypt is spiraling out of control and it’s looking more and more like Obama doesn’t have a handle on what’s going on. It’s clear who he’s supporting at this point but it also appears that he’s being controlled by events. As such he appears like he isn’t in control and/or he doesn’t have a firm grasp on what’s going on. That generally doesn’t sit well with the American public, most of who want the President to appear as though he knows what he’s doing.

The current President looks like he’s trying to hide something. He’s become distant and inconsistent. As such his poll numbers are dropping. Whether this means anything or not is going to depend on the Republican response. Will the Republicans oppose Obama’s support for the faux democracy, pro-islamic socialists in the Muslim Brotherhood or will they side with Obama. This may become the key foreign policy issue in the upcoming election.

The Republicans have to make it clear that we support democracy movements when they are real. We’ve supported democracy movements historically in Eastern Europe and currently in Iran. Obama did not support the true democracy protesters in Iran last year, the Republicans must make it clear that they did. The GOP must support a true democracy movement in Egypt. But they must also make clear that the Muslim Brotherhood does not favor true democracy. They want to prevent women from voting and they want to prevent non-Muslims from participating. They want to go to war with Israel and break the long standing peace between those two nations. Obama on the other hand supports these Islamic Socialists.

The Republican Presidential candidates are being given a terrific opportunity to oppose Obama’s foreign policy and set up a clear alternative for the American people. The Republican Party must support true democracy movements like the one in Iran but they must also make clear they don’t support faux democracy movements or democracy language used by terrorists who want war and bondage for their people. Obama’s falling poll numbers suggest the American people are open to a foreign policy alternative. It’s up to the GOP to give the people what they’re asking for.

The Filibuster Lives On!

The filibuster lives on after the Senate rejected Democrat attempts to eliminate it. The compromise reached in the Senate is a huge victory for the Republicans. Gone are anonymous hold’s that Senators place on bills or nominees. Now those holds will have to be done in public by whichever Senate desires to hold a bill or nominee. I can’t think of a bigger victory for the GOP over the first month of the new Congress.

The filibuster is an important part of the Senate rules. While the Democrats love to claim that Republicans have ‘abused’ the rule, the fact is the Democrats have done the same thing over the years. For the next two years it’s important for the Republicans because it now gives our party the chance to fight back on some of Obama’s judicial nominees. We need to prevent as many liberals from entering the Court of Appeals as possible. Particularly in the 9th circuit. If the filibuster prevents only one liberal from joining the court, the fight will have been worth it.

We = Big Government; Investments = Stimulus II

President Obama gave his State of the Union speech last night. I woke up to read little more than glowing reviews of it in the Mainstream press. Now that the big mean Republicans are in control of the House the media can go back to fawning over Obama. The President’s speech was full of feel good optimism but at the end of the day he’s proposing more spending that this nation cannot afford.

What struck me most about the President’s speech is that while he’s attempting to appear more moderate he continues to use phrases like ‘we need to.’ The we is always government, the need to is always spend more money.  This nation has a President who truly believes that innovation and prosperity are something that is created in Washington by bureaucrats. There is no better example of Obama’s socialist tendencies than the endless number of times he used the term we last night.

Washington is not what made the United States an economic power. Our nation became an economic power because of the innovations of people like Henry Ford, Carnegie Mellon, the Vanderbilt’s, the Rockefeller’s etc.  Their innovations led to prosperity for everyone in this country. Government didn’t set their companies up, government didn’t create the innovations that created wealth and prosperity for millions. It took hard work in the private sector for our nation to innovate and become prosperous.

Obama doesn’t think that way though. He’s a true believer in the idea that the economy can be run from Washington. He truly believes that bureaucrat ‘experts’ can manage the economy from DC better than the free market can manage the economy. His speech last night proved that once again only this time he’s trying to couch his socialism in the most positive sounding rhetoric possible.

President Obama offered so much new spending last night that he might as well have called it Stimulus II. Instead he called it ‘investments.’ Apparently the American public would hate another Stimulus but if the President calls the same thing an investment folks will support it. I suspect the President has some focus group or polling which shows this. As such, the Republicans have to hammer home that investments equal Stimulus II. Otherwise, they will be woefully defeated in the budget battle coming up.

President Obama To Propose New Spending Increases

There is going to be a showdown this year over spending in DC. Earlier in the week Republicans announced $2.5 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years. Next week President Obama is planning to call for billions in spending on infrastructure, education and research in his State of the Union address. For those who believe that Obama has decided to treat the second half of his term like Clinton treated his, with middle of the road moderation, it’s clear that won’t be the case. President Obama is doubling down on his left-wing agenda.

This country is $14 trillion in debt. Last year we had a deficit of well over $1 trillion. We cannot afford to continue spending money like drunken sailors. Yet Obama is planning to offer us more of the same. His calls for additional infrastructure spending will no doubt sound exactly like his call for the failed Stimulus bill back in 2009. Remember his declaration that there were shovel ready jobs available? That was all on infrastructure spending, none of which improved infrastructure or the economy. Education is the sacred cow of politics. When Obama calls on more education spending, he’s really calling for more spending for one of his biggest supports: Teachers unions. No doubt the research he’ll call for will aid liberals in so-called green sectors of the economy. Or perhaps it will aid his supporters at big corporations like General Electric.

The country can’t afford all of this spending. Our debt is out of control, which is why the Republicans were elected last year. We need the GOP to stand firm and demand cuts in spending. They need to stand firm and not allow President Obama to spend money on new projects that our nation cannot afford. The Republicans have to do their job and check the President if they want any chance of winning in 2012.

President Obama has no choice but to demand new spending. He’s at risk of losing his liberal base to a primary challenge next year. If Obama moves to close to the center there is a good chance that he’ll be challenged in the Democrat primary. The problem for Obama is that if he doesn’t move to the center, his odds of winning the 2012 election decrease dramatically. Which puts Obama in the position of demanding spending increases. The question is whether he’ll cave in the end and accept the Republicans spending cuts. I’m not sure he can afford not to but if he does so he’ll look very weak and he must know that.

For those of us on the right, we have to let our Congressmen know that we demand spending cuts. We cannot afford new spending. We need to hold our Congressman’s feet to the fire but we also must let them know that we have their backs come election time if they make the right decision. If the Republicans hold firm on spending cuts, they will sweep the 2012 elections. If they don’t, they’ll be punished by the very people who put them in power in the first place. There is a lot on the line this year. I hope John Boehner is up to the task.

Idaho Attempts to Nullify Obamacare

It’s been a big week in politics. First House Republicans put the pressure on Senate Democrats, where 23 face re-election in 2012, by passing a repeal of Obamacare. Yesterday the Republicans proposed $2.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. Earlier in the week President Obama met with the Chinese President and signed an absurd executive order meant to fool people into believing he’s actually pro-business.

The most interesting story of the week comes out of Idaho of all places. Republicans in Idaho are threatening to invoke the nullification doctrine of the 18th and 19th century and nullify Obamacare. Before the Civil War states believed they had the right to nullify acts of the Federal government. Perhaps the most famous nullification attempts occurred when South Carolina tried to nullify a number of anti-slavery laws. Most of the original states at one time or another nullified Federal laws and thus prevented their enforcement in their state.

I would have thought that the doctrine of nullification died when the north won the civil war and thus made the Federal government supreme over the states. That apparently isn’t going to stop Idaho from attempting to nullify Obamacare. The odds of them winning this battle are slim to none. There is almost no question that the Supreme Court will invalidate Idaho’s nullification of Obamacare.

This presents an interesting question though. Should states be allowed to opt out of Federal programs that they want no part of? Or should the people of those states be forced into subjugation to the whims of the Federal powers in DC? The Constitution does protect states and the people from Federal power where the Constitution does not provide the Federal government with a particular power. I dare say the Constitution does not give the Feds the authority to force people to buy health insurance, or anything for that matter.

With the Feds declaring this power, should the states be allowed to nullify this portion of Obamacare that is clearly unconstitutional? Or should it be left to the courts to determine what is and what isn’t Constitutional. My first thought is that there is nothing in the Constitution making the Supreme Court the sole and final arbiter of what is or isn’t Constitutional. I think there may be a place for nullification at the state level. The problem with nullification is that it comes with a negative racial history, at least in the minds of folks who aren’t aware that nullification extends beyond South Carolina.

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