The Patriot Post Chronicle 9-22-2010

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The Patriot Post Chronicle 9-22-2010
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Foundation

"The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our own money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the dispensation of the public moneys." --Thomas Jefferson

Editorial Exegesis

"They're making a bundle inside the Beltway, while across the country it takes $2 million to create a pothole-filling job. Never has Washington spent so much to get so little real work. When the Democrats are in charge, the rich just get richer. Wait -- isn't that what we're supposed to say about Republicans? Not so when federal stimulus funds are being spent. Washington has taken trickle-down economics to a whole new level of inefficiency. Those closest -- literally -- to the seat of federal power get the most. By the time the funds make their long journey to paychecks for people doing productive work, there's not a whole lot left. Take the example, revealed this past week, of how $111 million in stimulus money has so far funded a paltry 55 public-works jobs in Los Angeles. City Controller Wendy Gruel says two municipal departments, Public Works and Transportation, plan eventually to create or retain 264 jobs with that money, but the contracting process is so slow that most of the money is still waiting to be spent. So the price tag per job is $2 million at this point. Even if the city departments meet their target of 264, it will drop to only $420,000. This is still several times what workers will actually get paid. So where does all the money go in cases such as this? In part it goes to the capital costs and profit of the contractors. But much of it also gets absorbed into the normal process of government contracting, in which public employees are paid to ensure (ideally) that the taxpayers are getting the most for their money and aren't being cheated by favoritism. Of course, bureaucrats typically feel no need to rush things along. They don't get paid any less if a street gets repaved a few months late." --Investor's Business Daily1

Insight

"The history of government management of money has, except for a few short happy periods, been one of incessant fraud and deception." --economist Fredrich August von Hayek (1899-1992)

"It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error." --Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954)

Upright

"The establishment hates people it can't control and who are not beholden to those who run it. Conservative candidates who are scoring well understand this is a contest between the Washington establishment and the rest of the country. The establishment has one set of interests and the country has another. The conservatives are beholden to the people. The establishment is beholden only to itself and those it chooses to admit to the inside-the-beltway inner circle." --columnist Cal Thomas

"Americans are fed up with voting for the lesser of two evils. What is the epitome of a lesser evil? A 'Me First' politician masquerading him or herself as a loyal member of a political party. As a conservative, I'll leave Democrats to deal with their own phonies. On the Republican side, despite all the hysteria emanating from those who think they know better, the electorate was three-for-three: a trio of GOP Me Firsters -- Lisa Murkowski, Mike Castle and Charlie Crist -- have all been given the heave-ho. As evidenced by their actions, it couldn't have happened to a 'nicer' group of duplicitous hacks." --columnist Arnold Ahlert

"'Politically correct' views all derive from anti-Western, secular ideologies such as anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, utilitarianism, feminism, multiculturalism and environmentalism. These all share the aim of overturning the established order in the West. So any groups who have power within that order can never be offended or hurt because they are themselves offensive and hurtful, while 'powerless' groups can never be other than victims. This obsession with power is, of course, a Marxist position; indeed, 'political correctness' is a form of cultural Marxism." --columnist Melanie Phillips

"Why ... is President Barack Obama pursuing an international nuclear disarmament agreement? It cannot be because he thinks it will work. Even if he were foolish enough to believe that, virtually anybody in the Pentagon can tell him why it won't. His political advisors, however, can tell him how great that can be for him personally -- if he doesn't already know that. It would be 'historic' and an 'achievement,' just like ObamaCare. His political base -- the young, the left and the thoughtless -- would be thrilled and energized. That can translate into money donated to his campaign coffers and people willing to walk the precincts to get out the vote for him in the 2012 elections. It is by no means an irrational thing to do, from Obama's self-centered perspective." --economist Thomas Sowell

Dezinformatsia

Pot and kettle: "In the long run, a healthy democracy needs qualified and able people of every party to function effectively. The tea party movement's failure to support candidates who meet that standard may help Democrats avert disaster, but it's hardly a recipe for a strong political system." --Fox News' Susan Estrich (Ironically, it's the Democrats' failure to meet that standard in their presidential nominee in 2008 that gave birth to the Tea Party movement.)

Clueless: "One of the things President Obama, I would say, would put on his greatest accomplishments list, of the early stage of his presidency is health care reform. It's something that he fought hard for and he went around the country singing its praises. Now here we are six weeks before a midterm election and Democrats are running in races all across the country and very, very few are talking about that accomplishment of health care reform. Why?" --NBC's Matt Lauer

Elitist snobbery: "There's no mistaking the public mood, and the truth is that it makes no sense. In the punditry business, it's considered bad form to question the essential wisdom of the American people. But at this point, it's impossible to ignore the obvious: The American people are acting like a bunch of spoiled brats." --Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day: "I have one small tweak to make to what the president said today -- he should stop saying that giving people tax cuts is giving people money. It's their money! A tax cut is when the government doesn't take our money. It's an important distinction." --MSNBC's Chris Matthews

Newspulper Headlines:

The Inspirational Leadership of Barack Obama: "Dems to Voters: You May Hate Us, but GOP Is Worse" --Associated Press

We Blame Global Warming: "'As the World Turns' Stops Spinning After 54 Years" --Associated Press

Oh, They Were Just Dandy: "Foreclosures Swell in Area in August" --Richmond Times-Dispatch

Questions Nobody Is Asking: "Who Is the 'Christian Osama bin Laden'?" --TheWeek.com

It's Always in the Last Place You Look: "Taliban Commander Found Hiding in Oven" --CNN.com

News of the Tautological: "Many Say Poverty Rate Is a Poor Measure" --MSNBC.com

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: "Obama Makes Rare Church Appearance" --ChristianityToday.com

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto2)