Quote of the Day

WSJ's Political Diary, 4/12/11

"As Barack Obama was delivering his speech on the nation's long-term debt crisis, word came that JP Morgan has radically downgraded its projection of the nation's short-term prospects for economic growth. Morgan now thinks the economy will grow at an annual rate of 1.4 percent this year. This comes hard on the heels of Macroeconomic Advisers lowering its growth projection for 2011 from 4 percent at the beginning of the year to 1.7 percent today. These aren't just horrible numbers for the U.S. economy. They are a potential death knell for Barack Obama's presidency. There is no way tepid growth of this sort is going to make a dent in the nation's overall employment numbers -- and it stands to reason that if unemployment is higher at the time of the 2012 election than it was when he took office in 2009 (7.6 percent), he is exceedingly unlikely to win a second term" -- commentator John Podhoretz blogging on commentarymagazine.com

The Presidential Divider

Today the Wall Street Journal responds to the Obama's budget speech delivered on Wednesday. Their harsh rebuke of the President is well deserved! Follow up this article with Rep. Paul Ryan's response posted directly below.

Obama's toxic speech and even worse plan for deficits and debt.

Did someone move the 2012 election to June 1? We ask because President Obama's extraordinary response to Paul Ryan's budget yesterday—with its blistering partisanship and multiple distortions—was the kind Presidents usually outsource to some junior lieutenant. Mr. Obama's fundamentally political document would have been unusual even for a Vice President in the fervor of a campaign.

The immediate political goal was to inoculate the White House from criticism that it is not serious about the fiscal crisis, after ignoring its own deficit commission last year and tossing off a $3.73 trillion budget in February that increased spending amid a record deficit of $1.65 trillion. Mr. Obama was chased to George Washington University yesterday because Mr. Ryan and the Republicans outflanked him on fiscal discipline and are now setting the national political agenda.

Click here to read more.

Paul Ryan is very disappointed

Government Unions at Work

Labor vs. Tea Party

By pudge on April 8, 2011
Yesterday a few hundred Labor protestors went to Olympia, and there was violence and arrests. Today about 5,000 of them are expected, along with more violence and arrests.

When the Tea Party is protesting, there's no arrests, no violence. And some of them even bring pitchforks!

So, just a reminder: Labor wants stuff given to them -- taken from other people -- and breaks the law and uses violence if they can't get it. The Tea Party wants to be left alone, and asks peacefully, using the democratic process.

This pattern is seen over and over again, consistently, throughout the nation.

In sports, a team can be penalized if their fans disrupt the game. Maybe we should have a rule that if protestors break the law, legislators vote against them. But then again, this is a legislature that breaks and bends the rules all the time, anyway: whether it's introducing bills without having time for hearings, or without any text at all, or pretending things are emergencies just to avoid having to answer to the people ... none of the left respects rules, let alone the rule of law. Labor protestors are just one more example.

(Don't be fooled by their rhetoric that they are merely anti-corporate welfare: while I agree with them on that score, a. I don't want to see those cuts while unemployment is still high, but rather, phased out over time or cut when the economy is much stronger; and b., the reason they want those cuts to corporate welfare is only because they want more government cheese for themselves.)

John Boehner: 'No daylight' between tea party and me

By JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 4/7/11

There is “no daylight” between the tea party and John Boehner, the House speaker said in an interview released Thursday morning as negotiations to avert a government shutdown come down to the wire.

“Listen, there’s no daylight between the tea party and me,” the Ohio Republican said in an interview with ABC News conducted Wednesday.

“None,” he said, when questioner George Stephanopoulos pushed back. “What they want is, they want us to cut spending. They want us to deal with this crushing debt that’s going to crush the future for our kids and grandkids. There’s no daylight there.”

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Walker wins one for Wisconsin taxpayers

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has won a rare victory for taxpayers. Americans take note: the monopoly power of government unions can be broken.

How genuine were Democrats and union leaders about compromise? You decide. After the 2010 election the lame duck Democrat-controlled legislature and governor tried to ram bloated union contracts through before Governor Walker and a Republican legislature took office.

There is no excuse for union bosses who throw employees under the bus. Last year the Milwaukee teachers’ union sued the school board to keep Viagra in their health insurance plans at $800,000 a year, while teachers faced layoffs.

In the 2010 election union membership split their votes between Republican and Democrat candidates but union leadership spent 93% of their funds - $200 million - to defeat candidates half their membership voted for.

Simple truth: union bosses are apoplectic because members’ dues will not be automatically collected and plowed back into politics. Union members are free to direct their political contributions. They may also revisit their decision to unionize.

Imagine attempting to undo an election by staging protests in the Capital building, intimidation and death threats. In Wisconsin it’s a shameless tantrum against the will of the people.