Byron York: Don't Fear a Shutdown

Byron York has some prescient words for the GOP: don't fear a government shutdown.

One, if shutting down the government in 1995 was such a catastrophe, how come the GOP not only kept control of the House in the 1996 elections but remained the majority party in the House for a decade to come? The voter revenge predicted at the time did not happen.

Two, even if the '95 shutdown hurt the GOP -- and there's no doubt the party suffered wounds inflicted not only by Clinton but also by themselves -- today's voters are in a different mood. "We have fiscal crises at the federal, state, and local level, and voters understand that," says Bill Paxon, a former Republican lawmaker and veteran of the shutdown. "Back in '95, we were whistling into the wind -- we were trying to preach fiscal discipline when voters were saying, 'Hey, there's not a problem.' "

Three, Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner have learned from their mistakes. "Our goal is to cut spending and reduce the size of government, not to shut it down," Boehner said recently -- a statement he has repeated many times. Contrast that to '95, when, Paxon recalls, "We said we wanted to shut down the government, that it was a good thing, that it would get people's attention, that it would advance our cause." Now, it's Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats who seem itching for a shutdown.

Fourth, today's media environment is substantially different. "In '95 there was no Internet, no bloggers, no Facebook, no Fox News," says Dick Armey, who was House majority leader during the shutdown. "The discourse of politics today is carried out in a media world that didn't exist in 1995." That doesn't mean there wouldn't be negative coverage of Republicans if a shutdown occurs, just that the overall media picture would be more balanced.

The fifth reason: Barack Obama is no Bill Clinton. "In '95, Clinton was at the table working hard, sleeves rolled up, everybody knew we were having meetings at the White House and the president was engaged," says Armey. "This president is seen as disengaged and aloof from the process. Barack Obama is a rank amateur compared to Bill Clinton."

Wisconsin House Passes Walker Bill

Sounds like it was close - 51-17 - only 75% of lawmakers voted in favor of it. They still have to wait for the Senate to come out of hiding to vote on it as well.

One of the consequences of November's elections was that state legislatures voted overwhelmingly Republican. This is one of those consequences - a "teachable moment" if you will.

President Obama should be pround that the pay gap between higher income public workers and private workers will now narrow.

Why Must All Taxpayers Fund Democrats Via Unions?

Michael Barone lays it out plainly, which more Americans are catching onto every day:

Unions, most of whose members are public employees, gave Democrats some $400 million in the 2008 election cycle. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the biggest public-employee union, gave Democrats $90 million in the 2010 cycle.

The money in this case comes from taxpayers, present and future, who are the source of every penny of dues paid to public-employee unions — who in turn spend much of that money on politics, almost all of it for Democrats. In effect, public-employee unions are a mechanism by which every taxpayer is forced to fund the Democratic party.

It's not hard why Democrats want union thugs to "bloody up" their opposition.

Obama Perfectly Happy With $100+ Oil?

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Obama is not disappointed with $100 or perhaps even $200 oil per barrel. Throughout the campaign, Obama has said that Americans need to reduce their carbon footprint and the only real way to do that is to jack energy prices through the roof. He said that under his plans, energy prices would "necessarily skyrocket." Now that Obama has a huge investment in GM and Chrysler and has pushed them to smaller cars, he is incentivized to see an increase in demand for smaller cars, which Americans generally hate. And expensive gas is just the catalyst he needs.

Finally, as the WSJ points out, the Obama administration is in contempt of a federal judge's ruling on drilling and it refuses to acknowledge the law. It is, of course, a constitutional crisis that the media refuses to recognize - and it is only going to add to Obama's oil crisis.

Federal Judge Martin Feldman ordered the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to act on five pending deep water permit applications within 30 days.

...Since finally lifting its blanket ban in October, the Administration has failed to issue a single permit, blaming strained resources and new regulations...

Judge Feldman wrote that permits had been approved within two weeks prior to the spill, and he dismissed the notion that Interior lacks the ability to issue permits expeditiously. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, he wrote, is up and running, the spill well has been contained, the new regulations "are no longer new," and the threat of rigs leaving Gulf waters becomes "more forceful each day"—all of which means that "nearly a year after the spill occurred, delays, particularly those of the length at issue here, become increasingly unreasonable."

Dem Rep. Capuano Regrets Words

Dem. Rep. Michael Capuano regrets his statements that union thugs need to get out there and get "bloody," just a month after he decried the use of such language in the new age of Obama civility.

Do as I say, not as I do.

Obama DOJ Intends to Block Redistricting

Obama's DOJ intends on using the Voting Rights Act to block states' attempts to redistrict that would favor of Republicans.

Peaceful Protests from the Left

Doesn't seem like the lefties are embracing the new and improved, more friendly, less aggressive rhetoric that they all espoused when the Congresswoman from Arizona was shot. Heck, even the Prez himself said "it was an assault on the unions!" when asked about the Wisconsin supporters, indicating how he had to support those who were "assaulted."

Greg Gutfeld from Redeye calls attention to all the peaceful protests that have happened in the past month:

Recently, protesters went to a developer's house to "peacefully" hassle him because he tried to bring a Walmart to town... Then there were protesters mobbing the Wisconsin governor's home. Scott Walker's sin? Getting teachers to accept the same financial realities as the rest of us.... And, what of the protesters hitting John Boehner's apartment? They were objecting to a GOP push to ban a needle exchange program, curtail abortion funding and other stuff.

So lefties can compare a reduction in spending to a brutal assault and they can stalk people at their homes, but....

If these were Tea Partiers, you can bet it would be front page news all over the globe.

IN Gov. Mitch Daniels Caves to Democrats

Mitch Daniels is single-handedly giving Democrats reason to believe that running away from votes is their way to achieve success. He now says that forcing a "right-to-work" vote is "not the right time."

Goodbye presidential chances, Mitch. You are no conservative and you are no leader.

Obama Approval Ratings Down

I hadn't looked at Obama's Disapproval Ratings in a while, reason being that with his so-called "move to the center" which the media has been pushing and spreading, I figured he would have had a short-term bump, and he did.

But this week something changed - his disapproval ratings are climbing again. Actually the percentage of Americans who strongly supports Obama is now at an all time low, according to Rasmussen, at 21%.

What's the reason? I guess it's just Obama being himself again. For a few weeks in December/January, he acted and spoke more centrist, even though most knew it was just all talk. But as soon as a real crisis breaks, like what's happening in Wisconsin, Obama is himself again. He came out and said Governor Walker's policy was basically "an assault on the unions."

My guess is Americans want to cut costs, rather than to support the unions.

Now Indiana Dems Flee State!

Taking their cue from Wisconsin, now Indiana Democrats fled the state to prevent votes on fiscal discipline.

The good news is that a forced government shutdown would show Americans that a government shutdown is no big deal. Let's have a shutdown if that's what they want.

San Francisco to Outlaw Circumcision?

San Francisco is apparently preparing a vote to ban circumcision, saying that the risks outweigh the benefits.

That would be interesting - abortion is a God-given right in San Francisco, but circumcision is a big no-no.

Obama Politburo: Credit Card Rules Successful

According to Obama's Consumer "Financial Protection" Bureau, the credit card rules they enacted were wildly successful in curbing certain fees and preventing rate increases.

What they failed to tell us is that, as the WSJ has pointed out several times, rates are dramatically higher for everyone. Further, a lot of the people who used to have access to cards are now either priced out or have to go to payday lenders or pawn shops.

Funny what their view of success is.

The AP's Interpretation to the Wisconsin Problem

The AP, like most of the Leftist media, has an interesting take on the Wisconsin problem. Instead of saying that it would take a single Democrat to return to the state for the proposed bill to pass, they say that it "could end if 3 Republican senators broke from the governor."

If only the Wisconsin voters and Republican majority in the Wisconsin senate saw it the same way as the AP...

Leftist Doctors in Wisconsin Commit Fraud

Explaining to protesters how best to make up fraudulent excuses for a sick day. Just think what doctors will be left if Obamacare were ever to get fully implemented. They would probably require proof of your Democrat voting registration prior to treating you...

House Passes Bill to Cut Obamacare Funds

The House is doing the job Americans elected them to do. Today it passed a bill to remove Obamacare implementation funds. The law has already been found to be unconstitutional, so it shouldn't be that big a deal anyway.

Specifically, the House voted to prohibit any funds be used by the Internal Revenue Service to carry out the law's mandate that Americans buy health insurance. The individual mandate, one of the law's key tenets, has been struck down by federal courts.

The House also adopted an amendment by Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., to bar the Labor and Health and Human Services Departments from spending any money for the rest of fiscal year 2011 on the health care law. Still another provision adopted today would ban the government from paying the salaries of any federal employee involved in implementing the health care law.

Judge Orders Obama to Resume Drilling

Judge Feldman, not too happy that Obama has flouted his order and is now in contempt of court (and has created a constitutional crisis, even though the media still couldn't care less), has ordered drilling to resume.

Does Obama care? Of course not - neither do his media lapdogs.

House Passes Bill to Remove Obama Czars

The House passed a bill to remove Obama's "czars" by a 249-179 margin. I wonder if Obama will now try to label the GOP as jobkillers, removing 9 of his mini dictators unaccountable to voters.

The Disgusting Case of the Pigford Fraud

If you aren't familiar with the Pigford case and you have the stomach for a blatant case of fraud on a massive scale, aided and abetted by the federal government and further aggravated through recent Obama allowances, then you should read this National Review article. (Interestingly, it also explains why Shirley Shirrod, the USDA worker who collected $13 million from her own claim is now after Andrew Breitbart.)

It is a perfect example of the deliberate wasting billions of federal taxpayer dollars to gain political favor among blacks...and a backdoor way of granting reparations for the original sin of the U.S.

Union Thugs Come Out in Wisconsin

On the heels of Rep. Governor Walker's attempt to rein in out of control spending, Leftist union thugs come out and threaten violence.

I hope our national media will be covering Wisconsin, just a little. In the wake of the Tucson massacre, we heard from a lot of pundits that extremism and violence come from the right. (I again direct you to this page, which remembers some of that punditry.) I have a feeling that, if conservatives had staged a lunatic and thuggish rally like the one the public employees just staged in Wisconsin, it would be huge news all across the country: cover of Time, cover of Newsweek. (Do those magazines still exist?)

This must be the Left's new civility.

Madison, WI Schools Close; Teachers Walk Out

Teachers in Madison, WI, upset with Gov. Walker's proposal to balance the budget by forcing teachers to pay a portion of their pensions and health care costs, all called in sick, forcing the schools to close altogether.

This is precisely why even FDR thought the American public would never go along with public employee unions. We should expect a lot more of this from unions, particularly at the state and local levels.

Obama's Budget is RIDICULOUS!

For anyone that takes 5 minutes to look at this thing, I think the best word that comes to mind is ridiculous..... how so you ask?

For starters, how about GDP growth assumptions. The administration is assuming US GDP Real growth is +3.2%/year for the next 11 years. Are they crazy? If this happens, this will be the longest peace-time economic expansion in US history. With Obama's policies, we'd be lucky to get half of this. This is important because we need to estimate what tax revenues will be over the next 11 years. Obama assumes both individual and corporate tax revenues DOUBLE (on an inflation adjusted basis). They TRIPLE after considering inflation. I say NO CHANCE!

Next, if we look across all the cost items - yes, you'll notice, there aren't any reductions across any department.

But the bottom line is also very different from advertised. If you heard Obama take the podium yesterday, you probably heard him say that the budget would be balanced by mid decade. Ok, his math isn't perfect, but it will be in 2017. But that's only a half truth.

If you look carefully, you'll notice that the White House calculates both PRIMARY BUDGETS, and ON-BUDGETS. The difference is that the primary budget excludes interest payments on debt. This is the budget Obama is telling us will be balanced in 7 years. But the real budget includes interest payments and the forecast is for a deficit of $850 Billion dollars in 2021. So according to Obama we'll still have a deficit of almost a trillion dollars in 11 years time.

This is progress?

Obama's Budget to Americans: "Screw You All"

That's about how most people would describe (perhaps not in those words) Obama's new budget, which is supposedly focused "like a laser" on deficit reduction. Even Obam's own deficit commission chairman and fellow Dem Erskine Bowles said that "this budget goes 'nowhere near where they will have to go to resolve our fiscal nightmare.'" From the WSJ:

How unserious is this budget? Although the White House trumpets $2.18 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade, those savings are so far off in the magical "out years" that you can barely see them from here. More than 95% of the savings would happen after Mr. Obama's first term in the White House is over, and almost two-thirds of the promised deficit reduction would arrive after 2016. Pretending to cut deficits by pushing all real cuts into the future is Budget Flimflam 101.

...The Obama budget doesn't cut a penny from the deficit in the last seven months of fiscal 2011. Over the next three years—through 2013—the spending reductions in this budget add up to a paltry $20 billion net, out of a projected $3.5 trillion deficit. That's a 0.57% reduction in red ink and less than what the feds spend every two days.

...The proudest White House boast is that its budget would cap domestic discretionary spending at current levels for five years. These are programs ranging from NASA to the Washington Metro to school lunch programs to wind turbine grants, which overall and including stimulus expanded by more than 80% in Mr. Obama's first two years. This spending freeze would cut these programs from 2011-2013 by a grand total of $14 billion.

Obama needs to play more golf and leave this important work to the adults.

Senator Jeff Flake?

Conservative Jeff Flake has decided to run for the U.S. Senate to replace the resigning Jon Kyl. Kyl wasn't bad, but Flake is a great fiscal conservative who is not afraid to cut spending.

CA Teacher Retirees Earning $100K Up 76% in Two Years

A recent study shows that the number of retired teachers in the state of California has increased 76% since 2009. Unfortunately, this is exactly what's happening around the country and why governments are complaining they don't have enough cash to pay their bills.

White House in Disarray Over Egypt

I have no idea if Mubarak should stay or go. Neither, apparently does Obama. As the WSJ explains, the White House is in "disarray." But one thing is certain - if you truly want to be viewed as neutral, you should not insist that an ally of decades step down immediately without any reason, only to then insist he stay, and then, well, what do you want to do?

The only thing that's clear is that Obama seems to have switched sides a couple of times, his administration thinks the Muslim Brotherhood is a peaceful, secular, white knight, and that the rest of the world seems to have no respect for anything Obama says anymore. Oh, and our CIA gets his information from watching cable news.

I'm hoping that Egypt turns out ok, without another radical Islamic regime in the Middle East. My own speculative opinion is that the Egyptian military wanted to transition to another ruler, but the only organized group seemed to be the Muslim Brotherhood, which is far worse than even a Mubarak presidency, so they'd rather stick with what they know.

But I also hope that our government has a little more information than I do...

*Update*
It looks like a good old fashioned military coup. And the Left in the U.S. is giddy; if only they felt this good about the U.S. military...

Obama's DNI Chief: Muslim Brotherhood Peaceful, Secular

Obama's administration is living in Fantasyland. His Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said at a hearing today that the Muslim Brotherhood is basically secular and has "eschewed violence."

With the exception of the fact that they are Islamic and want to destroy all non-Muslims, he is basically right.

Saudi King, Furious With Obama, Turns to Iran

Call it the Obama Age of Diplomacy - after ditching Egypt, a U.S. ally for decades, the Saudi King, furious at Obama's actions, appears to be cozying up to Iran.

And of course, no one in the Obama administration has a clue how this is all going to turn out...

Is It Surprising that Dems Can't Filibuster Obamacare Repeal?

Karl Rove makes the case in the WSJ that the GOP can repeal Obamacare with just 51 votes and avoid a Democrat filibuster through the budget process of reconciliation.

Will this 51-vote strategy work? One long-time GOP budget whiz, embarrassed he hadn't thought of this, told me it would. Another Republican veteran of the budget wars agreed, though she had some concerns that certain elements of ObamaCare, such as some insurance provisions, might be beyond the reach of reconciliation.

Huh? Really? Republicans hadn't thought of this? This is how the whole freakin' Obamacare bill got passed in the first place! I like Karl Rove, but if he is really surprised about this revelation, then he's been out to lunch the past two years.

Dems Ignore Kagan; Want Thomas to Recuse Himself

The Dems must know that Obamacare is in real trouble. Rather than mention any of the conflicts of Kagan, where she very likely had a role to play in Obamacare while solicitor general, they are pre-empting calls of her recusal by arguing the same ridiculous conflict charges about Clarence Thomas.

VA Sen. Jim Webb to Retire

The rumor is that Dem Sen. Jim Webb (VA) is going to retire after one term rather than lose his re-election battle. Figures - run as a conservative, vote as a liberal and then run away rather than face the voters again.

Record Low Approval for Obama on Deficit

Obama has achieved an all-time low approval rating for his handling of the deficit.

Still, what 27% of the population approves of his deficit handling?

Woops...No Regime Change in Egypt

It appears that Mubarak's departure is no longer imminent. And Obama's view on the subject has covered just about every opposing angle, from immediate resignation to insistence that he stay.

I don't know if this is good news or not (hey, it's better than the terrorists taking over the asylum), but it would be nice to have a coherent statement from the administration.

Obama: "I Didn't Raise Taxes Once"

Obama said in an interview with Bill O'Reilly that "he didn't raise taxes once." Technically, he's correct - he raised taxes often, so it was more than once.

And if you ignore the $618 billion in tax increases, he didn't raise taxes at all...

EPA To Regulate Dairy Milk Spills?

Obama's EPA is now going to regulate dairy milk spills the way that do oil spills? About as insane as regulating cow flatulence, which is likely coming next.

Obama Sells Out Britain to Sign Arms Treaty with Russia?

It's almost too hard to believe, even for Obama. But it appears that he sold out some of Britain's nuclear secrets to Russia in exchange for Russia's signing a treaty with him. How ridiculous.

Although the treaty was not supposed to have any impact on Britain, the leaked cables show that Russia used the talks to demand more information about the UK’s Trident missiles, which are manufactured and maintained in the US.

Washington lobbied London in 2009 for permission to supply Moscow with detailed data about the performance of UK missiles. The UK refused, but the US agreed to hand over the serial numbers of Trident missiles it transfers to Britain.

How's that new relationship working out for you, Britain?

*Update*
The U.S. state department is disputing this. Of course, they could not possibly confirm it or they are done. Not sure where the truth lies at this point, but nothing surprises me with Obama anymore.

36K New Jobs; Unemployment at 9.0%

Which statistic do you think Obama is more likely to emphasize - the 36K new jobs, or about 1/4 as much as expected, or that the unemployment dropped to 9.0%?

Of course, he will not mention that the drop is due to discouraged workers leaving the workforce, and that it is likely to get higher again before it gets lower.

Federal Judge: Obama in Contempt Over Drilling Ban

Judge Feldman said that the Obama administration's open defiance of the court's order to stop the drilling moratorium puts it in contempt of court.

First drilling, then Obamacare. Obama couldn't care less about federal laws or the constitution. When does the media call it the constitutional crisis that it is?

Once agin, Chavez must be proud...

Rand Paul Budget Plan: Cut $500 Billion This Year

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is getting serious. His budget proposal would cut $500 billion this year, without touching Medicare or Social Security.

For one, it nearly eliminates the Department of Education. It also guts federal HUD housing funds, upends the Department of Commerce, and chokes off funding for the Department of Energy. The Department of Health and Human Services loses $26.5 billion. Legions of big-government fiefdoms are chucked. Federal arts programs disappear. The Smithsonian is privatized.

That's a good starting point for a conversation.

SEC's Books in "Disarray"

The SEC likes to convict private companies and throw their management in jail when they don't have their books in order, but the SEC itself is having the same problem.

I suppose a $1.1 billion doesn't go as far as it used to...

Should Obama Be Impeached For Defying Federal Courts?

On Monday, a federal judge in Florida found that the individual mandate in Obamacare is unconstitutional and because it's not severable, the entire law is null and void. Without overstating the case, the Obama administration must cease and desist all implementation of the law or it is violating federal law and the constitution, thus creating a major constitutional crisis and throwing the separation of powers into chaos.

The Obama administration has already said that "it will proceed as usual" and wait for a Supreme Court decision. It cannot do this unless it is granted a stay by an appeals court, which it has not. The law is void today and no longer exists. This is why the state of Florida returned its $1 million federal check from the federal government to help with the implementation of the law since there is no longer anything to implement.

What would have happened if a Republican president openly defied a federal court order? The media would create an uproar and he would be impeached if he didn't comply immediately. If Obama does not stop implementation of Obamacare immediately, he should be impeached.

(And yes, this is the second time the administration has done this, after it openly defied a federal judge regarding the drilling moratorium last year.)

*Update*
Wisconsin's attorney general has already declared the state free of all obligations of Obamacare:

“Judge Vinson declared the health care law void and stated in his decision that a declaratory judgment is the functional equivalent of an injunction,” Hollen says in a statement. “This means that, for Wisconsin, the federal health care law is dead — unless and until it is revived by an appellate court.”

Obama Top Advisor Mistakes General for Waiter

Either top Obama advisor Valerie Jarret is incredibly dense or just believes she is so important she can snap her fingers at a general and order him to get her another glass of wine.

According to our tipster, Jarrett was seated at the head table along with several other big-name politicians and a handful of high-ranking military officials. As an officer sporting several stars walked past Jarrett, she signaled for his attention and said, “I’d like another glass of wine.”

Garçon!

White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, who was seated next to Jarret, began “cracking up nervously,” our tipster said, but no one pointed out to Jarrett that the man sporting a chestful of medals was not her waiter.

“The guy dutifully went up and got her a glass of wine, and then came back and gave it to her and took a seat at the table,” our tipster said. “Everyone is in tuxedos and gowns at this thing, but the military people are in full dress uniform.”

“There was no shortage of waiters either,” the tipster added.

Obama To Defy Court Order

If the Bush administration had stated they would defy a federal court order, we would have heard the terms "constitutional crisis" nonstop until he changed his mind. It will be interesting to see if the same pressure is applied to Obama, who says he has no intention of following the court order to cease and desist on Obamacare. Of course, he can file a stay while the law is on appeal to the Supreme Court, but he knows the risk is that the stay is not granted, in which case the bill is stopped dead until the Supreme decision.

The judge said he didn't believe an injunction to stop the health overhaul was appropriate, because it is generally understood that the executive branch will obey a federal court. The government, however, doesn't believe the ruling requires it to stop implementing the overhaul.

So there you have it - the law doesn't apply to Obama, in his mind. Meanwhile, Justice Kennedy is going to be the most important man in the country for a while.