Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has a theory about the easy availability of birth control that is...interesting, to say the least.
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan says white people are promoting birth control for black women because they fear becoming a minority in the United States.
Farrakhan spoke Saturday at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, invited by the Grand Rapids Community College Black Student Union.
He says white Americans will lose their majority by 2050 and says they've introduced birth control to black women "because they don't want no more black babies."
MLive.com reports Farrakhan says he opposes same-sex relationships. He says he isn't "homophobic" and isn't "afraid of people who choose a lifestyle that's different" but rather is afraid for them.
The Chicago-based Farrakhan says women's role is to stay home and raise children with strong moral values.
He also says he isn't anti-Semitic.
A short article but loaded with provocative, racially-motivated statements and accusations made by a prominent religious leader about birth control, same-sex marriage, the homosexual lifestyle and a woman's role in society. His sermon was delivered on Saturday. As of late Monday night I haven't been able to find a single article or press release from NARAL, NOW, the Establishment Media, the Left blogosphere or Planned Parenthood condemning his statements. Where's Sandra Fluke? This isn't exactly a new departure for Farrakhan and the NOI, either.
Now compare that with this and ask yourself why it is that some groups get targeted while others don't. Why do some groups generate banner headlines while others scarcely get a mention? Is it cowardice? After all, the Nation of Islam, unlike the Catholic Church for instance, would not hesitate to protect itself and strike back, perhaps violently. Being glitter-bombed is not something Farrakhan has to worry about.
And what about on college campuses? On February 20th, the University of New Mexico student government organization, the Associated Students of UNM, passed a resolution which recommended removing Chick-fil-A from the student union due to the "company’s divisive history of contributions." Chick-fil-A must be shunned, apparently, because Dan Cathy exercises his First Amendment rights.
Last Wednesday, UNM's Student Union Building (SUB) board, which is comprised of administrators, alumni, and student representatives, voted 8-3, in favor of keeping the restaurant. Prior to the vote, LGBT student activists insisted that the mere presence of Chick-fil-A on campus made them feel "unsafe."
A group of liberal students at the University of New Mexico tried their best to get Chick-fil-A kicked off campus because they claimed the eatery made them feel "unsafe." The students even took to theatrics, such as crying and hyperventilating, before a vote was held on whether the restaurant could stay or not- despite a majority of students having no problem with them on campus. Gay students claimed that they even felt threatened by the mere sight of students and faculty carrying bags with the Chick-fil-A logo on them.
This is becoming a popular tactic of LGBT activists: linking the reality of anti-gay violence and bullying with mere opposition to aspects of the LGBT agenda, in this case same-sex marriage. It's a deliberate attempt to equate gay-bashing with the exercising of one's First Amendment rights. As far as they are concerned, there's no difference between a predator who attacks gays in a park and a man like Dan Cathy, which means that Dan Cathy, in their opinion, deserves the same kind of treatment as a violent criminal. It's obscene. But that didn't stop activists from continuing the charade.
"Students started expressing to me they felt unsafe to go into their own campus union building," Sen. Miquela Ortiz of the Associated Students of UNM said. "When they said they felt uncomfortable on campus, I felt it was an issue that I should bring up."
"Please look at this from a moral standpoint," said Brittany Arneson, a student against having Chick-fil-A on campus. "Look at the kids that are here that are telling you, 'I do not feel safe on this campus anymore.'"
Think about what they are trying to do here. They're claiming that a business, by its mere presence, is making them "feel unsafe" and therefore should be driven off campus. They "feel" unsafe... I'm sorry, but while there are plenty of crimes being committed on college campuses that would make all kinds of students feel unsafe, the mere physical presence of a fast-food franchise is not one of them.
All you have to do to realize how silly and, indeed, harmful these kinds of accusations are, just apply the same "I feel unsafe" argument to groups of people rather than a business. What if white students started protesting and complaining that the presence of black people on campus made them "feel unsafe" and that said black people should be driven off campus. Or if Asian students claimed that Latinos on campus made them "feel unsafe" and should therefore be banned.
Or what if hetero students claimed that the mere presence of LGBT students on campus made them "feel unsafe" and that they should be removed. How would that complaint be received? We all know the answer to that one. And we also know that suppressing First Amendment rights is wrong. So is scapegoating entire groups of people in order to silence them or have them removed.
As always, the Left shamelessly insists on demonizing others for activities that they themselves engage in all the time. It is called projection. It is facilitated by the cancer of political correctness.
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| Andrew J. Breitbart, 1969-2012 |
The activism of Andrew Breitbart and his good friend Bill Whittle and their focus on the societal cancer known as cultural Marxism and it's most malignant tumor - political correctness - inspired me to create this blog. Friday marked the one-year anniversary of Breitbart's untimely death. This is a collection of tributes and remembrances written by his friends and colleagues. His passing was a terrible loss. The example he set, however, and the enthusiasm and gleeful joy with which he fought the good fight lives on. I'm proud to proclaim: Breitbart Is Here!
Andrew: One Year Later - Larry Solov
"The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long." - Lao Tzu... The funny thing is, Andrew would give me an endless hard time for quoting Lao Tzu--pretentious, he’d say. But Andrew did live larger than life--which made his sudden passing so truly hard to believe and accept. He was a flame that burned twice as bright. It was in his DNA. I know. I knew him since he was less than one year old. But if Andrew’s flame burned half as long, his legacy will never burn out. To the contrary, it will only burn brighter and brighter. It is one of love and laughter, of an amazing family consisting of his widow Susie and their four extraordinary young children, and of a friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.
Meeting Some Guy Named Andrew - Ben Shapiro
When I was 17 years old, a sophomore at UCLA and the token conservative columnist at the Daily Bruin, I received an odd email. It was from some guy named Andrew, who worked at the Drudge Report. He said he’d read one of my recent columns, and suggested we get together. A few days later, I walked into a Mexican restaurant on Broxton in Westwood. There, waiting for me and fanatically tapping on his phone, was Andrew. For the next 11 years, we were close friends. He was a mentor, probably the most loyal person I ever knew. If you were in a foxhole, you wanted Andrew next to you. He knew the fight, and he knew how to fight it.
Andrew Breitbart's Last Speech to the Team: Seek, and Expose, the Left - Joel B. Pollak
Andrew gathered the editorial team in the center of our former office, a giant warehouse space with a row of desks above overlooking a recreation area below. We were just a few days from the re-launch of the website. Most of the editorial staff, scattered around the country, had flown to LA for a week of intense training in the new technology that would power the website. While we learned, we still had to work, putting up posts and videos. To the muffled sound of typing, Andrew began his pep talk.
A Walk With Andrew - John Nolte
Though we had communicated almost daily via instant message, email, and telephone since my move across the country to North Carolina, this was the first time Andrew Breitbart and I had seen one another in almost nine months. The occasion was training for the about-to-launch Breitbart News 2.0 (the platform you’re reading this article on) and that meant a two-day trip back to Los Angeles, which I almost didn't make due to the flu. Once training was over and things wound down, Andrew came up to me out of the blue and said, "Let's take a walk." And for over an hour, we walked through the neighborhood around the office and had one of those great Andrew talks (those who knew Andrew know exactly what that means).
Help Us Andrew Breitbart, You're Our Only Hope - Larry O'Connor
Help me, Andrew. I have a problem that only you can solve. I'm supposed to write something for the site and I'm past my deadline. I just can't figure out how to write it. How many times in the past were you able to help me with this problem, Andrew? I'd IM you, BoDiaz, and you would condense the topic I was wrestling with down to one, perfect headline. You were able to cut through all the distractions of a complicated topic and focus me on the real story.
Andrew Breitbart: A Leader Who Adopted a Movement - Mike Flynn
"But, why?!?" Andrew implored. "That's just crazy. Who are these people?" "These people" were the general conservative and Republican establishment, both in DC and around the country. It was late 2003 or early 2004. (As I get older, dates get fuzzier.) We were sitting around my kitchen table and Andrew, in the middle of IMing a dozen people and checking his fantasy baseball stats, was peppering me with questions about the inner workings of DC. Why weren't Republicans doing A or B? Why were conservatives doing X or Y? He seemed stunned that they didn't see the world he saw everyday.
Breitbart in the World - Stephen K. Bannon
In all of today's tributes and remembrances to the late Andrew Breitbart, there is a common core, a central touch point. Andrew Breitbart was passionately doing something. Andrew Breitbart was accomplishing something. Andrew Breitbart was fighting for something, relentlessly and often in the face of incredible opposition. Andrew Breitbart was empowering somebody. Andrew Breitbart was the quintessential happy warrior. Andrew Breitbart was a man of action.
Andrew Breitbart Inspired Me With Passion - Matthew Boyle
Though I didn’t join the Breitbart News team until after the 2012 election, eight months after Andrew Breitbart passed away, I was always really close with him personally. Andrew inspired me with his passion. I had never met anyone with so much energy before, and I haven’t since I first crossed paths with him.
Andrew Understood What Republicans May Never Learn - Lee Stranahan
The world is one year into its post-Andrew Breitbart phase and I'm sitting here torn about two paths I could take in trying to connect with you about him. My first instinct is to play the pundit and pontificate on his importance and the long term impact I think Andrew Breitbart is going to have on American politics; he deserves that treatment because he was a serious person who made a deep impact. On the other hand, I knew Andrew Breitbart and loved him and don't want to reduce the man to a set of political talking points because that wasn't HIM, you dig?
A Friend In Hollywood - Lauren Veneziani
I learned about Andrew Breitbart and his "Big" sites a few years ago, after I graduated from college and started gaining an interest in politics. Ever since I was young, I loved movies and sharing my thoughts about them with friends and family. Obviously, because of my strong passion for film, Andrew's entertainment website, "Big Hollywood" popped up on my radar, and I was immediately interested in contributing.
Andrew Breitbart's Journalistic Legacy Alive and Well - Jason Stverak
Recently, I was on a flight back from Los Angeles when I noticed an old version of Wired magazine in the seat-back in front of me. As I flipped past an article on the YouTube revolution and a quiz on what type of cyborg I "want to be," I happened on a 2010 profile of Andrew. I couldn't think of a timelier reminder of his impact on journalism.
Breitbart On How Being Adopted Shaped His Views On Abortion - Lisa De Pasquale
One of my favorite speeches given by Andrew Breitbart was about an issue he had never previously talked about -- how his adoption shaped his pro-life views.
'Sure': The Andrew We Knew - Lisa De Pasquale
Like many in the Breitbart.com family, I was shocked when I heard the news. As I suspect others did, I furiously looked through my phone and email for my last communication with Andrew. It was as if seeing his words meant he was still here. The last word Andrew texted to me was "Sure." It was in response to a text from me asking if he had a moment to talk that day. That was Andrew in a nutshell. He didn't ask what it was about or if he could put it off. He just said, "Sure."
Andrew Breitbart: That Enduring 'Excitable Boy' Spirit - Liberty Chick
I'll never forget the first phone call I received from Andrew Breitbart. He just called me out of the blue, with this "excitable boy" sort of voice that caught me off guard.
"Hey. Liberty Chick?"
"Um, yes," I answered hesitantly, completely unaware of who was actually calling me by the name Liberty Chick on the other end of the phone.
"Hey, LC. Andrew Breitbart. I love your stuff. I want you to come work with me."
Andrew Breitbart, Friend to the Tea Party - Jenny Beth Martin
Sadly, I did not know Andrew Breitbart as well as some others in the Tea Party and conservative movements. Andrew and I spoke on the same Tea Party circuit and at many of the same events in the Tea Party and liberty movement over the last two years of his life. We would chat at these events and I always admired not just his work but also his vigorous and enthusiastic personality. He was never a defeatist and always took on the challenges of fighting for the causes that he championed—and that many of us now continue.
Happy Warrior's Legacy Lives On - Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
One year ago, conservatives everywhere received the shocking news that Andrew Breitbart had passed away. He was only 43 years old. I am proud to have been able to work with him and call him a friend. Andrew and I spent countless hours together tackling the big issues, and I was honored to speak at his memorial service. His kindness, enthusiasm, and passion were infectious. Andrew had a gift and a way of making us all feel like we were his best friends. We lost a dear friend and ally last year, but he won’t be forgotten.
He Ensured Conservatives Never Felt Alone - Tony Lee
Andrew Breitbart was inspired by Jackie Robinson, was proud to cheer for a Dodgers franchise that broke baseball's color barrier, and despised what the Democrat-Media Complex did to Clarence Thomas.
Andrew's Faith In New Media - John Sexton
In 2009 Andrew was a featured speaker at a conference held here in California. I was one of a group of bloggers who were invited to a private chat with him. The video I shot that day--October 17, 2009--captured a moment in time. It had only been a month since the release of the ACORN videos and there was a new sense that anything was possible for the conservative new media.
I Miss You, Andrew Breitbart - Jedediah Bila
I met Andrew Breitbart in person for the first time a few years ago in a Manhattan restaurant. Along with a few mutual friends, we laughed, we ate dinner, and we talked about everything from politics to education to reality television to Westwood. I loved his sense of humor; he was funny without trying to be funny. I immediately understood why he and my friend Greg Gutfeld were so close.
Joining Andrew Breitbart in the Scrum - Rebel Pundit
I remember how surreal it was to be introduced to Andrew Breitbart. I would bet that, at the time, most people who didn’t regularly follow politics wouldn’t have known who Andrew Breitbart was. But for those of us who did, he was quickly becoming larger than life.
The Art of #WAR - Meredith Dake
Many people saw Andrew Breitbart as a general, a man of vision who could see all the players on the field and inspire those around him to engage. He was that, but he also stood on the hill and rattled sabers. He was a tactician, a student, a mentor, and a motivator. Among his many talents, he had the unique ability to get his friends and his enemies to sit around with some drinks and have a good time. The way that Andrew lived his life--and make no mistake, this is not a job, it's a lifestyle--reminds me of the words of Sun Tzu, the famous military strategist.
Breitbart: Typical Grandma's Boy - Allen Covert
I met Andrew Breitbart the way most conservatives in Los Angeles meet. A friend from D.C. introduced us. After we had known each other for a few years, I invited Andrew one night to the cast and crew screening of a movie I had just finished, called Grandma’s Boy. I saw him in the lobby beforehand and he was his usual hyper-kinetic self. Bouncing around, talking to everyone, making friends with strangers. I'll never forget his reaction after the movie. He grabbed me and said, "I loved it. Thank G-d. I was so nervous that it was going to suck and I wouldn't know how to tell you." He then went on to tell me that it might be his new favorite movie.
Andrew's Politics: He Hated Bullies - Jeremy D. Boreing
I first met Andrew Breitbart sitting in a secret meeting at an undisclosed location for an organization that doesn't exist.
One Year On - Ace of Spades
The largest compliment Breitbart could give someone was, "He's a warrior." All men respect guts, and Breitbart more than most men. I think on this anniversary of his death we should honor him -- and ourselves -- by seeking to be Warriors. And not just in politics, though certainly that was where Breitbart encouraged it the most frequently. Breitbart himself lived a brave life, confident in himself, always questioning and always questing. He made himself bigger than life by living as outrageously as he could.
Ah, Andrew, We'll Always Have Mexico - Warner Todd Huston
I was never as close to Andrew as many of the others at Breitbart News, but I met him dozens of times at the events we both covered and attended and we grew close enough that he soon remembered my name. We frequently went to dinner at these events, visited each other's hotel rooms, and socialized with the same ever-growing group of bloggers, politicos and media types. Andrew was a force of nature, for sure. He was everywhere at once, attended every conservative gathering of note.
Andrew Breitbart and the Meaning of #WAR - Elena Lathrop
On March 1st, 2012, I woke up to a text message from a friend I had lost touch with over the previous year. Naturally, I was intrigued. It had to be something important. And it was not just a single text message, it was a group thread addressed to several other conservative friends of mine. It read "Andrew Breitbart died…at 43. RIP."
Enlisting in Breitbart's Culture War - Christian Toto
The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 made me a conservative. Andrew Breitbart convinced me to put on a helmet and join the culture war. My political awakening began under the gimlet eyes of conservatives like Charles Krauthammer, Rush Limbaugh and Mark Steyn. They proved invaluable in their own unique way, and slowly I saw how liberals often saw only the worst in the country. Our country. That wasn't me.
Pop Cultural Conservatism, Year One A.B. (After Breitbart) - Thaddeus G. McCotter
It's been a year since we lost Andrew Breitbart. In sorrow, we’ll reflect upon what was, what wasn't, and what is: specifically, the fate of Andrew's "Pop-Cultural Conservatism."
The Year After Breitbart - Andrew Klavan
For a few weeks after Andrew Breitbart's death, I allowed my personal sorrow to color my worldview. All around me, I heard brave voices saying that Andrew's spirit would never die, that fresh hands would pick up the torch that had fallen with his passing, and that "Breitbart is here," as long as we all stand up together for the truth. In my sadness, I did not believe any of it.
Unmasking the Left With Andrew - David Bossie
It's almost impossible for me to believe that it's been a year since we lost Andrew Breitbart. He was a conservative leader, larger-than-life personality, a husband, a father of young children, and a dear friend of mine for over 15 years. The conservative movement feels his loss deeply and his absence is noticed every day. Even in death he still has a lasting impact on the blogosphere as an innovator and champion of "trickle-up journalism."
Breitbart Is Here - Andrew Marcus
In the course of making the documentary Hating Breitbart, I had the rare opportunity to travel the country with Andrew, bearing witness to some of the most dramatic moments during the last few years of his life. When Andrew was in the early stages of launching Big Government with the release of the now-famous ACORN tapes, my cameras were there. When Andrew rushed to the defense of the Tea Party and offered $100,000 for any shred of evidence to back up the race libel told by the Congressional Black Caucus that the N-word had been hurled at Congressmen John Lewis and Andre Carson, my cameras were there. When Harry Reid's henchmen of the Las Vegas IBEW hurled eggs at a Tea Party Express bus and then made false claims to police blaming Andrew for throwing the eggs, my cameras were there.
Fearless: The Art of Andrew Breitbart - Jimmy Arone
Andrew Breitbart was a force of nature. A merry prankster, who loved life, lived it passionately; each day to the max. A man who truly was FEARLESS. When I heard the news on that fateful morning, I was in shock. I didn't know what to do. It took a few days for reality to set in. He was gone. It wasn't until about a week later, while sitting there alongside his family, with so many of his friends, at his memorial service that it came to me. Listening to their stories, one minute laughing, the next filled with tears in my eyes. I know what I can do...I can make art. Andrew would love that.
Original Song: I Can't Stand To Say Goodbye - John Ondrasik
I see Andrew every day. When I fire up my buddy list there is Bodiaz bringing his dose of happy-sad. Thanks, someone, for not turning his computer off. On the one-year anniversary of his death, many folks will speak of Andrew’s loss to the cause. Go ahead and cube that vacuum a few times. It's true, in some measure he lives on in all of us. When I was out campaigning for Romney last year, all my tough decisions were decided by a simple What Would Andrew Do?
TRIBUTES AND REMEMBERANCES OF ANDREW BREITBART FROM AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE
RIP, Andrew Breitbart, the Ultimate Happy Warrior - Ed Driscoll, PJM
We Have Failed Andrew - For God and Liberty
Andrew Breitbart, RIP - Joshuapundit
Remembering Breitbart - Guy Benson, Townhall
One Year Later: Remembering Andrew Breitbart - Kristina Ribali, Freedom Works
Breitbart Awards 2013: Celebrating Andrew's Legacy, Honoring the Next Warriors - Rob Bluey, Erik Telford, Heritage
Breitbart From the Outside - Liz Harrison (GoldwaterGal), CDN
One Year Ago Today, Andrew Breitbart Died - William A. Jacobson, Legal Insurrection
Remembering Andrew Breitbart, One Year Later - Breeanne Howe, Red State
The Man in the Arena: Remembering Andrew Breitbart - Sarah Rumpf, Sunshine State Sarah
Remembering Breitbart: "Conservatives used to take it, and we're not taking it anymore!" - Sara Marie Brenner, The Brenner Brief
One Year Later - Dana Loesch, The Dana Show
The Legacy of Andrew Breitbart: A Warrior and a Friend - Andrew Darby, via Elizabeth Meinecke, Townhall
Andrew Breitbart: Lessons Learned - Tami Jackson, The Black Sphere
Andrew Breitbart Was My Friend - Jason Weisberger
Reflections On Missing Andrew Breitbart - Shifra, Tammy Bruce website
There was plenty of quality material in the Wall Street Journal the past couple of days.
Here are links and excerpts from three articles that are well worth the read:
OBAMA IS PLAYING A NEW GAME
How's the president's game going? What's new is that almost everyone does seem to understand he's playing games. He used to get more credit. His threats of coming mayhem and his lack of interest in easing it have dimmed his luster.
Certainly in the past few weeks he's become more aggressive and gameful. A crisis is coming—a series of crises actually, with more ceilings and the threat of a government shutdown—and he is not engaging or taking ownership. The "We're not speaking" thing with Congress is more amazing and historic than we appreciate. Only a president can stop that kind of thing, and he doesn't. He doesn't even seem to think he owes the speaker of the House—the highest elected official of a party representing roughly half the country—even the appearance of laying down his arms for a moment and holding serious talks. He journeys into America making speeches, he goes on TV but only for interviews the White House is confident will be soft.
He doesn't have time for Congress, but he has time to go on Al Sharpton's radio show and say Republicans care only about protecting the rich from taxes. Which is the kind of thing that embitters, that makes foes dig in more deeply.
But here's what seems really new. Past presidents, certainly since Ronald Reagan, went over the heads of the media to win over the people, to get them to contact Congress and push Congress to deal. Fine, and fair enough. But Mr. Obama goes to the people to get them to enhance his position by hating Republicans. He's playing only to the polls, not to Congress, not to get the other side to the bargaining table. He doesn't even like the bargaining table. He doesn't like bargaining.
Where does that get us? We are in new territory. There is a strange kind of nihilism in the president's approach. It's a closed, self-referential loop. And it's guaranteed to keep agreement from happening.
WORLD DOESN'T END, OBAMA HARDEST HIT
Normal Americans awoke Friday to find that the veneer of civilization had not fallen away. If the federal government does end up spending $44.8 trillion over the next decade instead of $46 trillion, they may not notice at all. This may explain Mr. Obama's morning-after concession that "what's important to understand is that not everyone will feel the pain of these cuts right away," and that the gruesome cuts that the President had been invoking are now merely "a slow grind that will intensify with each passing day."
One reason the grind may intensify is that Mr. Obama spurned GOP offers Friday morning to grant him even more executive discretion than he already has to prioritize federal spending. Or as his own Simpson-Bowles commission put it, he could always choose among the "patchwork of thousands of duplicative programs, nearly impossible to track and even harder to evaluate for effective outcomes." This he does not want to do.
What he is trying to do instead is implement the sequester as rudely as possible so that he can extract another tax increase. As the President put it, the problem is that Republicans have adopted "an iron-clad rule that we will not accept an extra dime's worth of revenue."
But not so iron clad that the GOP didn't reluctantly consent to 6.2 trillion dimes in tax increases only this January in return for zero dimes of spending restraint. Mr. Obama wants Republicans to commit political harikiri by doing it again. Asking the other party to commit suicide is not typically a good basis for bipartisan accord.
Mr. Obama pitches his tax increase as "tax reform" and merely cutting "tax loopholes" and "tax breaks for the well off and well connected." He also said he doesn't want to "raise tax rates." But the Senate Democratic bill he endorsed on Thursday included the "Buffett rule" that is effectively a minimum tax of 30%, which means another increase in the tax rate on capital gains and dividends. Real tax reform means reducing rates in return for closing loopholes. Mr. Obama wants to raise rates instead.
THE DEMOCRAT MAJORITY IS DOOMED
But the primary reason today's liberal Democratic coalition will fade is because the very policies it pushes sow the seeds of its own destruction. The coalition can survive over time only by allocating slices of our nation's economic pie in a way that favors and placates its constituent members. But people, being human, will continually want larger slices of our economic resources, so continued success in placating those members, while at the same time adding the necessary new members, requires a continuing and ever-growing economy. A flat or shrinking economy will never generate the resources needed to feed the coalition.
Yet the White House and congressional Democrats are working to stifle economic growth. From their views on taxes and redistribution, to their policies on energy and regulation, liberal Democrats are standing in the way of the strong economy their coalition needs.
Instead of pushing policies that spur innovation and risk-taking, the left advances policies that discourage them. Instead of lower marginal tax rates and less complication in the federal tax code, we see higher rates and more complication. We see new taxes in ObamaCare and the partial expiration of the Bush cuts. California's new tax on millionaires brings the state rate to more than 13%, and the combined federal and state rate to almost 52%. The high rates are discouraging at least some wealthy taxpayers from staying in or moving to the state. As federal rates increase, such economic discouragement will be found across the nation.
Instead of policies that lead to the available and affordable energy supplies required for a growing economy, we see onerous new regulations on coal-fired electricity plants, foot-dragging in the permitting for oil and gas drilling, and a surprising lack of interest in the hydrofracturing process that has revolutionized the extraction of natural gas and worked to lower energy costs.
Instead of thinking of the government's role in the economy as one of providing the minimum rules for fairness, ensuring those rules are enforced, and then getting out of way, we see efforts to push federal bureaucrats—and their ever-expanding government programs, regulations and mandates—into more and more facets of the world in which we live and work.
The toll on the economy is real. According to a report by Sentier Research released last fall, inflation-adjusted median household income has fallen more since the end of the recession in mid-2009 (down by 4.8%) than it did during the actual recession (2.6%).
If you're reading this it means that you weren't instantly vaporized in the cosmic catastrophe of sequester as prophesied by the Dear Leader, Barack Obama. Naturally this is disappointing to Dear Leader because if the people are not experiencing soul-crushing despair at the slight reduction in the automatic spending increase for 2013 then they won't come after the GOP with flames and pitchforks as he has intended.
In his column for National Review, Charles Krauthammer spells out what Dear Leader was hoping for and how the GOP now have the upper hand:
Hence the president's message. If the "sequestration" — automatic spending cuts — goes into effect, the skies will fall. Plane travel jeopardized, carrier groups beached, teachers furloughed. And a shortage of junk-touching TSA agents.
The Obama administration has every incentive to make the sky fall, lest we suffer that terrible calamity — cuts the nation survives. Are they threatening to pare back consultants, conferences, travel and other nonessential fluff? Hardly. It shall be air-traffic control. Meat inspection. Weather forecasting.
A 2011 Government Accountability Office report gave a sampling of the vastness of what could be cut, consolidated and rationalized in Washington: 44 overlapping job training programs, 18 for nutrition assistance, 82 (!) on teacher quality, 56 dealing with financial literacy, more than 20 for homelessness, etc. Total annual cost: $100 billion-$200 billion, about two to five times the entire domestic sequester.
Are these on the chopping block? No sir. It’s firemen first. That’s the phrase coined in 1976 by legendary Washington Monthly editor Charlie Peters to describe the way government functionaries beat back budget cuts. Dare suggest a nick in the city budget, and the mayor immediately shuts down the firehouse. The DMV back office, stacked with nepotistic incompetents, remains intact. Shrink it and no one would notice. Sell the firetruck — the people scream and the city council falls silent about any future cuts.
Krauthammer's not the only one noticing that the lack of Sequestrocalypse has made the cynical hysteria strategy quite problematic for Dear Leader. National Journal’s Michael Catalini says Obama’s political gamble on sequestration is backfiring big time:
But even as Obama proclaims dire consequences from the cuts, he is already hedging his bets.
"The impact of this policy won’t be felt overnight, but it will be real," the president said.
This was a key concession. With further skirmishes over the debt ceiling and government funding not far off, the White House finds itself in choppy political waters for the first time since Obama won reelection. Its best-case political course hinges on the economy screeching to a halt, assumes that Republicans will again cave on revenues, and relies on the public being on his side. It’s a political gamble that could go bust. …
"There's real risk in saying that the sky is falling … especially if you consider that sequestration is structured to come in slowly," said William Galston, a former adviser to President Clinton who is now with the Brookings Institution. "If after three weeks people look around and the sky is where it traditionally has been. … he has to be careful he doesn’t get too far out on that limb."
As Ed Morrissey at Hot Air points out:
With the "fireman first" approach wobbling, a bill granting Obama authority to adjust allocated funding within departments to cover higher priorities will drive a stake through its heart. If Obama vetoes it or the Senate refuses to pass it, House Republicans can rightly say that Democrats want to damage those efforts for cheap political gain. If Obama signs it, then he owns the pain that results from a "fireman first" strategy.
It's waaaaay past time for our Dear Leader to experience some real pain. He proposed the sequester. He refused to do anything to stop it and chose instead to demagogue the GOP to the max. This needs to blow up in his face because: karma.
