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« on: January 31, 2011, 05:03:22 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Brief 1-31-2011
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Foundation
"Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful; but we have many friends, determining to be free, and heaven and earth will aid the resolution. On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important question, on which rest the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves." --Joseph Warren
For the Record
"We face a crushing burden of debt. The debt will soon eclipse our entire economy, and grow to catastrophic levels in the years ahead. ... Our debt is the product of acts by many presidents and many Congresses over many years. No one person or party is responsible for it. There is no doubt the president came into office facing a severe fiscal and economic situation. Unfortunately, instead of restoring the fundamentals of economic growth, he engaged in a stimulus spending spree that not only failed to deliver on its promise to create jobs, but also plunged us even deeper into debt. The facts are clear: Since taking office, President Obama has signed into law spending increases of nearly 25 percent for domestic government agencies -- an 84 percent increase when you include the failed stimulus. All of this new government spending was sold as 'investment.' Yet after two years, the unemployment rate remains above 9 percent and government has added over $3 trillion to our debt. Then the president and his party made matters even worse, by creating a new open-ended health care entitlement. ... Our debt is out of control. What was a fiscal challenge is now a fiscal crisis. We cannot deny it; instead we must, as Americans, confront it responsibly. And that is exactly what Republicans pledge to do." --Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)1, chairman of the House Budget Committee, with the official GOP rebuttal to the State of the Union2
Opinion in Brief
"The curse of Bobby Jindal had no power over Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as he delivered the official Republican response Tuesday night to President Obama's State of the Union speech. Unlike the youthful governor of Louisiana -- whose hapless rebuttal of Obama's February 2009 address to Congress eroded his prospects for national office (and prompted wags to compare him to Kenneth the Page from 30 Rock) -- the 40-year-old Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, projected himself as a serious-minded leader who is going places.... Ryan promised that his party will offer 'a better choice and different vision' involving a 'vital and limited' government. It all sounded fabulous, but he only had 10 minutes, so there was very little time to get into specifics. The likely impact of Ryan's speech will be not so much to persuade the general population but more to elevate Ryan into the top tier of GOP presidential and vice-presidential prospects -- despite (and possibly because of) Ryan's persistent claims that he has zero interest in national office." --columnist Lloyd Grove3
Political Futures
"The November election sent a clear message to Washington: less government, less debt, less spending. President Obama certainly heard it, but judging from his State of the Union address, he doesn't believe a word of it. The people say they want cuts? Sure they do -- in the abstract. But any party that actually dares carry them out will be punished severely. On that, Obama stakes his reelection. No other conclusion can be drawn from a speech that didn't even address the debt issue until 35 minutes in. And then what did he offer? A freeze on domestic discretionary spending that he himself admitted would affect a mere one-eighth of the budget. Obama seemed impressed, however, that it would produce $400 billion in savings over 10 years. That's an average of $40 billion a year. The deficit for last year alone was more than 30 times as much. And total federal spending was more than 85 times that amount. A $40 billion annual savings for a government that just racked up $3 trillion in new debt over the past two years is deeply unserious. It's spillage, a rounding error. As for entitlements, which are where the real money is, Obama said practically nothing. He is happy to discuss, but if Republicans dare take anything from granny, he shall be Horatius at the bridge. This entire pantomime about debt reduction came after the first half of a speech devoted to, yes, new spending. One almost has to admire Obama's defiance. His 2009 stimulus and budget-busting health-care reform are precisely what stirred the popular revolt that delivered his November shellacking. And yet he's back for more." --columnist Charles Krauthammer4
Re: The Left
"If Obama intended to change course, would he be signaling his intention to call for new domestic spending on education and infrastructure under cover of the euphemism 'investment'? Even his virtual admission that he deceived the people with his promise of shovel-ready jobs hasn't led to a change in policy. Just more of the same -- with different packaging. Obama may throw business a few bones, e.g., reducing the corporate income tax rate, but until he abandons his class warfare against producers and wealth, declares a cease-fire in his war against domestic energy production, complies with the people's will not to have socialized health care, gets serious about entitlement reform, shows the slightest inkling toward meaningful spending reductions, and commits to revamping the nation's smothering tax system, for starters, we'll know that any apparent shuffling to the center is designed only to disarm the conservative opposition so that he can continue on the same leftist path." --columnist David Limbaugh5
Government
"What can the GOP and conservative voters across the country do about an administration that ranges between wrongheadedness and inconstancy? We need to be a polestar of right-headedness and constancy. Regarding the vastly damaging economic (and deeply annoying personal) effect of excessive regulation, we need to take advantage of this momentary diversion of the administration toward at least rhetorical common sense. At the congressional level ... we must identify, publicize and de-enact as many oppressive regulations as possible. This will require the Appropriations Committee to explicitly defund the enforcement of such regulations. And yes, unless the president genuinely follows through with his asserted intentions to rein in regulations, this will mean confrontation between the Republican House and the administration. But the GOP Congress must stand firm. And to help them, the conservative media and think tanks need to bring much more focus on such abusive regulations." --columnist Tony Blankley6
Liberty
"Today, we tend to think of John D. Rockefeller as just one of those famous rich people. But Rockefeller didn't just 'happen to have money.' How he got rich is the real story -- and it is a story whose implications reach far beyond that one particular individual. Before Rockefeller's innovations reduced the price of kerosene to a fraction of what it had once been, there wasn't a lot for poor people to do when nightfall came, other than go to bed. But the advent of cheap kerosene added hours of light and activity to each day for people with low or moderate incomes. ... Henry Ford's mass production methods cut in half the cost of producing the famous Model T Ford in just five years. People who had once lived their entire lives within a narrow radius of a relatively few miles could now go see places they never knew about before. ... Today we seldom even know the names of those who have made ... monumental contributions to human well-being. All we know is that some people have gotten 'rich' and that this is to be regarded as some sort of grievance. Many of the people we honor today are people who are skilled in the rhetoric of grievances and promises of new 'rights' at someone else's expense. But is that what is going to make a better America?" --economist Thomas Sowell7 |
