The Patriot Post Chronicle 4-11-2012

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The Patriot Post Chronicle 4-11-2012
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Foundation

"The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust." --James Madison

Editorial Exegesis

"Rick Santorum dropped out of the Republican Presidential race Tuesday, having enhanced his political reputation and forced Mitt Romney to become a better candidate. Not bad for someone who few beyond his own family gave much of a chance of getting past Iowa, much less to April. Mr. Santorum outlasted everyone who was thought to be Mr. Romney's main competition to become the chief conservative alternative. He did so in large part with a forthright appeal to religious conservatives that was both a strength and weakness. ... Mr. Santorum nonetheless deserves credit for making Mr. Romney lift his performance and improve his platform. Mr. Santorum's overarching theme of restoring American freedom had more resonance than Mr. Romney's recitation of his resume, and the likely GOP nominee has since picked up some of Mr. Santorum's words if not the music. The Pennsylvanian was also by far the most effective Republican critic of RomneyCare. When he stood on stage in a debate and took apart the Massachusetts health law as a prototype for ObamaCare, Mr. Romney realized he couldn't coast to the nomination. That's when the former Massachusetts Governor came out with his own tax cut and tax reform plan to appeal to economic conservatives. ... Among the major candidates, Mr. Santorum ran the least negative campaign, and by leaving now he will let Mr. Romney focus his attention and monetary resources on Mr. Obama. Mr. Santorum also departs before the April 24 Pennsylvania primary, where a defeat in his home state would have tarnished his 2012 achievement. There are no consolation prizes in Presidential politics, but if Mr. Romney does win in November, Mr. Santorum's strong run will be part of the victory story." --The Wall Street Journal1

Upright

"Santorum's withdrawal from the campaign was a paradox: He had done too well to stay in any longer. ... It is possible that no serious candidate for President ever did more with less -- less personality, less money, a more narrow message -- than Santorum. ... Here's where I think the campaign between Romney and Obama will be decided: Who has the ability to guide the nation through the next coming worldwide economic downturn. If Americans think that class warfare is the right approach, then Barack Obama will be re-elected. If, on the other hand, Americans believe that expanding opportunities to succeed is the best way forward, then Mitt Romney will be sworn in on January 20, 2013. In mid-April, it's too close to call." --columnist Rich Galen

"Romney needs to make the case that current policy ... is leading to a crash in which government will fail to keep its promises. He needs to argue that his 'opportunity society' means vibrant economic growth that can provide, in ways that can't be precisely predicted, opportunities in which young people can find work that draws on their special talents and interests. Obama's policies, in contrast, treat individuals as just one cog in a very large machine, designed by supposed experts who don't seem to know what they're doing. ... Romney, potentially strong with the affluent, needs to figure out how to get through to the young." --political analyst Michael Barone

"Sixty-one percent of debt issued by the Treasury is bought by the Federal Reserve -- which is to say the left hand of the U.S. Government is lending money to the right hand of the US Government. ... Nonetheless, in a land where every mewling babe in the American nursery is born with a debt burden of just under $200,000, the president brags that only his party is 'compassionate' to have no plan whatsoever even to attempt to do anything about this, no way, no how, not now, not ever." --columnist Mark Steyn

"I am instinctively skeptical whenever self-proclaimed environmentalists start pontificating. In part, this is because everyone has an incentive to exaggerate. The business community will always say that a new regulation imposes astronomically high costs, while environmentalists will claim minimal costs and say that thousands of premature deaths will be averted. Since exaggeration is omnipresent in Washington, that's not what really bothers me. My main problem with environmentalists is that they want to use so-called green issues to give government more power. And if you oppose them, you're an evil person." --Cato Institute's Daniel J. Mitchell

"Last week, President Obama warned that if the Supreme Court stops Congress from forcing Americans to buy government-approved health insurance, it will be imposing restrictions on federal power of a sort not seen since the early 1930s, the late 1920s, 1905 or 1789. ... The main point is that Republicans, who want the court to overturn the health insurance mandate, are trying to undo the New Deal. Obama made a similar claim regarding the House Budget Committee's recently unveiled fiscal plan, which he called 'thinly veiled social Darwinism,' 'an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country' and 'antithetical to our entire history.' In truth, however, neither the constitutional constraints nor the budgetary tinkering advocated by the Republicans would make the federal government any smaller than it is now. I wish they were half as radical as the president portrays them." --columnist Jacob Sullum

Insight

"One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results." --economist Milton Friedman (1912-2006)

"I have no respect for the passion of equality, which seems to me merely idealizing envy -- I don't disparage envy but I don't accept it as legitimately my master." --Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935)

The Demo-gogues

The BIG Lies: "So these investments -- in things like education and research and health care -- they haven't been made as some grand scheme to redistribute wealth from one group to another. This is not some socialist dream." --Barack Obama (For the record, here's what he had to say in 2008: "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.")

"I have never been somebody who believes government can or should try to solve every problem." --Barack Obama

"I'm a firm believer that whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, that you're a patriot, you care about this country, you love this country. And so I'm not somebody who, when we're in a political contest, suggests somehow that one side or the other has a monopoly on love of country. ... My vision ... the Democratic vision is one that says that free market is the key to economic growth; that we don't need to build government just for the sake of expanding its reach." --Barack Obama

Envy-based politics: "You know, some of the people who, I guess, believe that the way to get this economy going is reduce taxes on the wealthiest people make that argument, but there's no class warfare involved. It's a question simply of fairness. And the bottom line is most wealthy people I talk to say yes, I shouldn't pay a lower rate than somebody who's my secretary. Some ... say I don't want to pay any taxes. But they're a small group, they have disproportionate influence, obviously, with the Super PACs." --Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)