County News Online Blogs

Redstate... Do Republicans Care About the Deficit or Not? Posted by Daniel Horowitz
Thursday, February 16th - Republicans who seek our support during an election cycle declare emphatically that they will deal with the deficit upon being elected. Once elected, however, they far too often evince nothing but apathy towards efforts to solve our budget crisis. Worse yet, they even work assiduously to create new deficits. Ever since Republicans won control of the House in 2010, instead of looking for spending cuts to offset existing deficits, they are constantly looking for ways... read more

Human Events... President Fundraiser is on the move, by John Hayward
8 million-dollar events in 3 days - 02/17/2012 - The Oval Office sits empty, as President Obama invests most of his time in running for re-election. Even his “2013 budget proposal” was nothing more than a campaign document. Any resemblance between that proposal and a serious attempt to perform the duties of governing was purely coincidental. And remember, his previous budgets were equally absurd... read more

Mail Magazine 24... Obama’s Peculiar Idea of Fairness, by Joseph Klein
President Obama is making his call for “fairness” and for “everybody to play by the same rules” the central theme of his re-election campaign. Those platitudes may sound nice on the campaign trail, but Obama’s policies are neither fair nor even-handed. For example, President Obama is taking $500 billion from the elderly via planned cuts to Medicare in order to help fund his massive new Obamacare entitlement program. A wealthy female employee will have the government-mandated right to... read more

Townhall... The New Blacklist, by Pat Buchanan
Feb 17, 2012 - My days as a political analyst at MSNBC have come to an end. After 10 enjoyable years, I am departing, after an incessant clamor from the left that to permit me continued access to the microphones of MSNBC would be an outrage against decency, and dangerous. The calls for my firing began almost immediately with the Oct. 18 publication of “Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?”... read more

Redstate... Never let it be said that Obama takes governing seriously, Posted by Soren Dayton
Thursday, February 16th - Last night President Barack Obama spoke at two “star-studded” Hollywood fundraisers. And, according to Politco, he noted to a group of people who make their quite nice livings in theatrics that “people … like … poetry” rather than the “prose” of governing. Mentioning former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo’s quip that politicians campaign in poetry and govern in prose, Obama said he’s written more of the latter than the former in his first three years in office. ”We’ve been... read more

Townhall... Rationing our Rights, by Ken Blackwell
Feb 18, 2012 - They said it would never lead to rationing. But rationing is already here. Under the latest assault by the Obama administration, they are rationing our rights. Tens of millions of Catholics—and tens of millions of the rest of us—are having our religious liberty crushed by the latest health care mandate from HHS. The legislation that President Obama signed with a flourish in 2010 was supported by not... read more

Townhall... Numbers Suggest Santorum Could Be Romney’s Worst Nightmare, by Scott Rasmussen
Feb 17, 2012 - In a campaign defined by Republican reluctance to embrace Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum has emerged as the latest not-Romney candidate to surge ahead. While it’s impossible to predict what will happen in this volatile election season, the data suggests that Santorum might be more of a challenge for Romney than earlier flavors of the month. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll of the GOP race shows that Rick Santorum leads Mitt Romney by 12 points, 39 percent to 27 percent... read more

Townhall... Taxing Medical Progress to Death, by Michelle Malkin
Feb 17, 2012 - Two years ago this month, as public debate over Obamacare raged, former President Bill Clinton rushed to the hospital because of a heart condition. He immediately underwent a procedure to place two stents in one of his coronary arteries. It was a timely reminder about the dangers of stifling private-sector medical innovation. No one listened. Stents don’t grow on trees. They were not created, developed... read more

Townhall Finance... The Price of A Gallon of Gas, by Jeff Carter
Gas prices are up over the last three years. There are economic reasons why, and it’s not demand driven. A lot goes into the price of a gallon of gas. They are talking $4 buck per gallon gas this summer. All people have to do is come to Chicago and you can pay $4 today! Most of the cost is taxes. Ironically, as the media fans the fear flames of higher gas prices, Congress is deliberating a new highway bill. Highway bills are among the most pork laden bills passed in Congress. A Christmas tree of... read more

Verities & Balderdash... Politics really can make you smile
Edited by Bob Robinson - A balanced look at two potential candidates in November… Coffee Hurts I was eating lunch on the 20th of February last year with my 3-year-old granddaughter and I asked her, “What day is tomorrow?” She said, “It’s Presidents’ Day!” She is a smart kid, so I asked, “What does Presidents’ Day mean?” I was expecting something about Washington or Lincoln, etc... read more

Christian Science Monitor... Young people, post recession: Ready to launch?
Post-recession data and the government’s pro-elderly policies don’t give much hope to Millennials. Yet they remain surprisingly optimistic. By the Monitor’s Editorial Board, February 15, 2012 - It may be getting really old to be young in America. That is in large part because of the lingering aftereffects of the Great Recession on people who are between the ages of 18 and 34, according to recent data. More than a quarter of that group, for example, now live with a parent. During the recession... read more

Townhall Finance... A Case Study in Energy Regs Gone Mad, by Bob Beauprez
When Barack Obama promised that his non-energy energy policies would “bankrupt” anyone foolish enough to try to operate a coal-fired power plant, he talked as if he would only inflict pain on some inanimate structure of concrete and steel. Clever politician that he is, he depersonalized his war on fossil fuels all in the name of saving the planet. What he didn’t mention, of course, is that real people work at these... read more

Townhall... Obama’s Epic Screw-Up, by Michael Gerson
Feb 14, 2012 - WASHINGTON -- Before Barack Obama can defeat his opponents he must first be rescued from his friends. Some of them are now suggesting that his contraceptive mandate on religious institutions was a skilled political stratagem. “I’ve found by observing this president closely for years,” argues Andrew Sullivan, “that what often seem like short-term tactical blunders turn out in the long run to be strategically shrewd. And if this was a trap, the religious right walked right into it.” Religious... read more

Townhall... Budget Fiction and Failings, by Bob Beauprez
Barack Obama delivered his new budget proposal to Congress this morning. The document increases yet again the estimate for deficit spending for the current FY 2012 year - $1.33 trillion. If even close to accurate, when this fiscal year ends, Obama will have presided over four consecutive annual deficits in excess of $1 trillion – each one nearly three times larger than any previous annual deficit in U.S. history... read more

Mail Magazine 24... Dependence on Government at All-Time High
Government Dependence Surges 23% Under Obama - The 2012 Index of Dependence on Government, released today, should be a wake-up call for America. Published by The Heritage Foundation for the past 10 years, the Index tracks the growth in government dependence dating back to the early 1960s. This year’s edition shows an alarming trend. Among the most troubling facts: One in five Americans—the highest in the nation’s history—relies on the federal government for everything from housing... read more

Townhall... The Free Lunch Is Back. by Mona Charen
Feb 14, 2012 - Leaving aside the blatant assault on religious liberty that the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate represents (a number of commentators have ably elucidated the assault on free exercise), the edict ought to offend all sensible Americans for its sheer economic and moral fatuousness. In this case, “moral” refers to moral hazard, i.e., unintentionally encouraging bad behavior. But... read more

Townhall Finance... Charge!, By Charles Payne
February 12, 2012 - Half a league half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred: ‘Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns’ he said: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Charge of the Light Brigade... Alfred, Lord Tennyson. - Miscommunication in the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854 sent 600 British soldiers to their deaths during the Crimean War. Many believe the word “charge” is itself the way to self-destruction, especially when it comes... read more

Human Events... The Volt Re-Evaluated: $250,000 Per Car Behold the magic of government subsidies
by John Hayward - I’ve long been fascinated by the sad tale of the Chevy Volt, a heavily subsidized electric car nobody wants. It’s one of the purest, most perfect examples of government attempting to artificially create a marketplace, and failing miserably. At the time of the Volt’s launch, when rebates brought the consumer price down to $33,500 (which is still horribly high for such a tiny, unappealing car, and doesn’t factor in the enormous maintenance... read more

Mail Magazine 24... Are High Taxes Driving the Wealthy Out of States and Out of the Country?
by Ken Marrero - FrontPageMag.Com is reporting on what it’s dubbed “The 1% Exodus;” wealthy Americans fleeing increased taxes. Missing millionaires are also reported in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and other states raising taxes on the wealthy. Explanations have fallen along ideological and partisan lines. The one thing agreed on, however, is that there are fewer wealthy folks in states which tax them higher. It’s said the missing millionaires are: Transients – those who enjoyed a... read more

Mail Magazine 24... U.S. Supreme Court Justice insults U.S. Constitution
Every Supreme Court justice is required, under Article VI of the United States Constitution, to be bound by his or her oath or affirmation “to support this Constitution.” Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has just broken this commitment by insulting, in front of a foreign audience, the very document she is sworn to support. In an interview during her visit to Cairo, which aired January 30, 2012 on... read more

Business & Media Institute... Drill There, Build Here, Now! By Dan Gainor Monday
Media buy lefty shtick on Keystone pipeline, accept Obama as pro-energy. February 06, 2012 - Four years ago, global tensions were rising and gas was on its way to a mid-July peak of $4.11 per gallon. Conservative leaders called for a nationwide push to access our energy resources - long denied by the eco-nuts. The campaign to “Drill Here, Drill Now,” was a rallying cry throughout 2008. Even martial arts tough guy Chuck Norris urged voters to “tell Congress we’re the bosses and they’re not... read more

The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register... Get School Reform Right
February 8, 2012 - Twenty percent of the young Ohioans who enter the state’s public education system don’t graduate from high school. The average is much worse - 35 percent - in urban areas. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is right to consider that a tragedy that is both unsustainable and avoidable. He also is correct in avoiding knee-jerk reactions to the problem. During his State of the State speech Tuesday in... read more

Redstate... The Frontrunner, Posted by Erick Erickson
Friday, February 10th - The other night I was having dinner and Pat Cadell, Jimmy Carter’s pollster and a very honest liberal, came up to me. He said bluntly that if his side’s front runner had lost 3 of the first 8 elections and been swept out last Tuesday, by Wednesday the Democrats would have a new candidate in the race. He is right. Yet the Republican Party has decided instead of finding a new guy to do what it can to get Romney across the finish line no matter how bad the limp... read more

Townhall... The Flaws of Mitt and Newt, by Steve Chapman
Feb 06, 2012 - Newt Gingrich has an exquisitely sensitive moral antenna, and Mitt Romney’s remark suggesting indifference to the poor sent it quivering. “I am fed up with politicians in either party dividing Americans against each other,” he said. Yes, he did. Then he fell on the floor and laughed till he cried. For Gingrich to disavow divisiveness is the equivalent of Mark Zuckerberg renouncing modern technology: Without... read more

Townhall... Who Would Jesus Tax? by Doug Giles
Feb 05, 2012 - This past Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast, Obama said that his Christian faith crafts his domestic policies—particularly his desire to rob from the rich and give to the poor. In my humble opinion, I think the president is getting Jesus and His disciples confused with Robin Hood and his Merry Men. I don’t know which White House wizard crafted that speech for him, but the verse he or she gave to our Spender in Chief to back his socialism was more twisted out of joint than... read more

Mail Magazine 24... Expect $21.7 Trillion debt by 2022 if we don’t act!, by Candice Lanier
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the national debt will rise to $21,665 trillion by 2022. In a report released last week, it was revealed that current policies, applied by the Obama administration, will result in a 50% increase in debt held by the public and a 40% increase in intra-governmental debt held in the trust funds of entitlement programs. The CBO report explains that though the economy will... read more

Townhall... CBO Study on Federal Pay, by Chris Edwards
CBO has released a study comparing the wages and benefits of private sector and federal non-military workers. The study uses statistical techniques to make comparisons with adjustments for education level, experience, and other factors. Here are the overall results: The wages of federal workers are 2 percent higher than similar private-sector workers, on average. The benefits of federal workers are 48 percent higher than similar private-sector workers, on average. The total compensation... read more

Mail Magazine 24... Mortgaging our Future, by Michael Becker
I’ve been around a long time and I’ve seen a bunch of, well, stupid things. But folks, let me tell you, there’s something in the water in Washington DC that causes a complete shutdown of one’s ability to reason or be rational. We are facing a crisis. Yawn. And, never one to let a crisis go to waste, the President is proposing to once again pile more debt on the backs of our sons and their ladies. And, if they... read more

Townhall... Planned Parenthood’s Grand Delusion, by Bill Murchison
Feb 07, 2012 - Go the website PlannedParenthood.org. You know, Planned Parenthood, around whose rippling banner enlightened opinion rallied last week when news broke that Susan G. Komen for the Cure would, in the near future, cease granting it money. PP -- just a big-hearted service organization for women, fighting breast cancer and other female afflictions with might and main. One could buy into that sales pitch on the basis of the Category 5 hurricane that PP caused to sweep across the... read more

Townhall... A Defining Moment, by Thomas Sowell
Feb 07, 2012 - Governor Mitt Romney’s statement about not worrying about the poor has been treated as a gaffe in much of the media, and those in the Republican establishment who have been rushing toward endorsing his coronation as the GOP’s nominee for president -- with 90 percent of the delegates still not yet chosen -- have been trying to sweep his statement under the rug. But Romney’s statement about not... read more

Townhall... The Fight to Reform Education, by Derek Hunter
Would any concerned parent willingly send their children to an average public school in this country if there was an option available? The word “concerned” in the question should be a tipoff that the answer is no. Still, states, localities and the federal government continue to dump billionsof our hard-earned tax dollars into a system that is rotten to its core. Don’t think things are that bad? A student in Washington state named Austin took a video camera into his school’s cafeteria and asked students.... read more

Mail Magazine 24... The Governmental Job Machine
Government is creating jobs after all… welfare offices on hiring spree, by Candice Lanier, LibertyNews
Public sector jobs, in the state of New York, increased due, according to an NBC affiliate in New York, to “economic woes” leading to the addition of more public employees in order to manage the increase in demand for public assistance. The NBC affiliate reports that the amount of people on food stamps in New York... read more

Townhall Finance... Mitt Presumes to Tell Big Government to Make Wages Fairer, by John Ransom
Obama and Romney are getting really good at this. They just wave their hand and the rest of us fall into line. Both of them recently unveiled huge new proposed government mandates aimed at making government a bigger player in the masterpiece economy that Big Government Inc. has given us, in these, the waning days of the Boomer generation. Obama’s working on solving the whole “real estate” crisis and Romney’s working on solving the whole “fairness” crisis. Obama’s mandate was to banks... read more

Townhall... Mauling the Military, by Ed Feulner
Feb 05, 2012 - “Freedom isn’t free.” We usually hear this on occasions such as Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. It’s meant to remind us of the brave American troops who put their lives on the line daily to protect our liberty and preserve our security. But that phrase also applies to matters of money. It takes dollars and cents to field a world-class military. Equipping and training the best soldiers, and providing them with the... read more

Christian Science Monitor... A CEO as US president? America is not a business, Mitt Romney.
By Walter Rodgers / January 31, 2012 - A photo of Mitt Romney splashed across the cover of a recent Economist under the title “America’s next CEO” was a bit unsettling. Not because Mr. Romney isn’t qualified to be president, but because America’s main need is for a public servant, not a corporate executive. For the most part, Americans have favored candidates with a career in public service – sometimes electing soldiers but often voting for lawyers who went on to hold public office... read more

Redstate... Sixty-Five to One: It’s Not That Complicated, Posted by Erick Erickson
Wednesday, February 1st - Political analysts have a need to sound expertly and important when it comes to elections. They have to go in depth and explain artfully and deeply why someone won and someone lost. It was the debates. It was the ground game. It was the strategies. It was the likability versus dislikability of the candidates. On and on they go. What gets danced around is the money. Money is usually why candidates win or lose. Candidates with the highest favorable name ID usually... read more

Daily Events... Thursdays with John Hayward: New Outlook a Horror Story
The Congressional Budget Office released its annual Budget and Economic Outlook this week. Last year’s was a tragedy, but the new one is a horror story. The crushing burden of government debt and persistent unemployment — which, contrary to the carefully massaged statistics released for public consumption, has really been in double digits for years, when the collapsing work force is taken into account — will conspire with... read more

American Thinker... Media Blackout in Obama Georgia Ballot Eligibility Case, By Cindy Simpson
January 30, 2012 - Last week, I noted that Obama turned his back not just on Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer, but also on the laws of the State of Georgia. I closed my column, “Georgia Ballot Challenge: Obama Walks on By,” with the observation: “And most of the media has followed along right behind him.” At the time, I had just witnessed an historic hearing that actually discussed the eligibility of the sitting president of the United States to run for a second term. The president had been... read more

Daily Events... Fridays with Erick Erickson: Unemployment has fallen? By Erick Erickson
The household survey says unemployment has fallen. Jobs are being created. A few days after American Airlines announced it would lay off 15,000 employees and other companies are laying off as well, the unemployment rate fell with new hires. It is good news for Barack Obama, except not really. The unemployment rate fell, but so did the number of people participating in the workforce. If those people were... read more

Redstate... NLRB To Force Companies To Turn Over Employee Telephone Numbers & E-Mail Addresses To Unions? Union-backed NLRB Chairman: “We keep our eye on the prize.” Posted by LaborUnionReport - Thursday, January 26th - Undaunted by the constitutionally-questionable appointment of three members to Barack Obama’s National Labor Relations Board, union attorney and current NLRB chairman Mark Pearce declared in an Associated Press interview that he and his union comrades are continuing their assault on the 93% of private-sector employees who are... read more

Townhall... Do Government Programs Ever ‘Fail’ by Austin Hill
Jan 29, 2012 - “Too big to fail.” Americans have come to loath the idea that some business enterprises are so important and so “big,” that they can’t be allowed to fail - especially as it regards large corporations that “need” government bailouts. But have we developed a similar disdain for government programs that are treated as though they can’t possibly be failures? After last week’s State of the Union Address... read more

Wall Street Journal... No Need to Panic About Global Warming
There’s no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to ‘decarbonize’ the world’s economy. WSJ Editor’s Note: The following has been signed by the 16 scientists listed at the end of the article: A candidate for public office in any contemporary democracy may have to consider what, if anything, to do about “global warming.” Candidates should understand that the oft-repeated claim that nearly all scientists demand that something dramatic be done to stop global warming is not true. In fact... read more

What I like about Blogs, By Bob Robinson
Want to know what I like about blogs? Nothing. We have two “real blogs” on local web sites where people can comment anonymously… in other words, they can say whatever they want without taking responsibility for their comments. I don’t read them. I always recommend to people who are in the news don’t read them. Nine times out of ten, they are being hammered unfairly; they get upset, hurt and end up feeling... read more

Townhall Finance... Should Everyone Be Required to Have Health Insurance? by Michael F. Cannon
When Washington begins penalizing people for not purchasing health insurance in 2014, it will mark the first time in history the federal government has required nearly all Americans to buy a private product as a condition of lawful residence in the U.S. No part of the health-care law is less popular, or more essential to preventing it from crumbling like a house of cards, than this individual mandate. Even if the mandate were popular and constitutional, it would still be a bad idea. It will increase... read more

Mail Magazine 24... You Owe $52.5K to Uncle Sam, by Ken Marrero for Liberty News
$52.5K Now Owed by Every American - Debt Ceiling Increase Votes a Sham by Irresponsible Congress - I have 5 children and 1 grandchild. At the moment, I will be leaving them a bill for almost $315,000. Actually, I won’t be. Barack Obama and Congress will be. The Senate just voted to increase the debt ceiling by another $1.2 TRILLION on the heels of last August’s $2.1 TRILLION increase... read more

Investors.com... Who’s Vetting Muslim Chaplains On College Campuses?
Homeland Security: To please Muslim-rights groups, more and more colleges are hiring Muslim chaplains, only to watch them radicalize students. Campuses need tougher background checks. Alarmingly, some chaplains have actively supported al-Qaida and called for violent jihad against “kaffirs,” or infidels. And yet they still have access to students, and remain on the university payroll. Take Imam Abdullah Faaruuq, Muslim chaplain at Northeastern University in Boston. He has urged.... read more

Redstate... And We Should Hate Newt Gingrich for This? Posted by Erick Erickson
Thursday, January 26th - All the members of the Republican Party who have been complicit and collaborative in the destruction of our nation in the past few decades always talking about smaller government while never fighting against the tide of creeping socialism have now come out against Newt Gingrich. Yesterday, at National Review, Elliot Abrams attacked Newt Gingrich for attacking Ronald Reagan from the right. Today, it is Bob Dole’s turn. Bob Dole, you will remember from... read more

Human Events... Debt ceiling skyrockets to $16 trillion, by Audrey Hudson
01/26/2012 - The Senate on Thursday refused to side with House Republicans and block President Barack Obama’s request to raise the debt limit $1.2 trillion, clearing the way for an automatic increase that will bring the national liability to $16 trillion. The procedural vote to block the debt increase was supported by Senate Republicans and opposed by Democrats in a mostly party-line vote of 44-52... read more

Verities & Balderdash... A Brief Management Course, Edited by Bob Robinson
Here is another tidbit sent by a CNO reader… I don’t know who thinks these things up, but it would seem to me that if some of these folks put their time and talents to a more profitable use, the ranks of the “1 percenters” could easily swell to become “2 percenters” or even “5 percenters.” Not complaining, mind you. A couple of these are darn funny... and all teach a good lesson. They added a couple minutes... read more

Columbus Dispatch... Unstated
The big fact missing in President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday was this one: 13 million Americans remain unemployed. About 10 million remain underemployed. That this fact was left out is no surprise. No president who has been in charge for three years and who hopes for re-election is going to draw attention to a failure of this magnitude. But the president is now well past the point in his term when he can expect to get any more mileage out of the excuse that he... read more

Human Events... A few words in defense of negative campaigning, by Michael Barone
01/23/2012 - Those who take a certain pleasure in denouncing the evils negative political advertising should have spent the last week in South Carolina. They could have plunked down in front of TV sets, especially during morning, early evening and late evening news programs, and by adroit use of the remote control seen one negative spot after another. They could have watched again and again the Ron Paul... read more

Cleveland Plain Dealer... Obama dumps the Constitution for contraception, by Kevin O’Brien
Thousands of people spent Monday in Washington, D.C., protesting 39 years of legalized murder and commemorating more than 50 million American children lost to abortion. The protesters come every year, correctly refusing to drop the subject. But thanks to serial instances of President Barack Obama shredding the Constitution over the last couple of weeks, they had something new to talk about this year. An administration that has made it abundantly clear -- in ways that grow ever more brazen... read more

Daily Events... Saying good-bye to a hero, Adam Tragone, Managing Editor
01.27.12 - When envisioning the atypical hero, every one of us has a prototype in mind. Whether it’s an athlete, a scientist or a family member, we all have someone we look up to for inspiration, someone to provide an example on how to live a fruitful and meaningful life. This past week, many of us lost a hero in one of the arguably cruelest ways possible. Joe Paterno wasn’t just a football coach. He was a mentor for hundreds upon... read more

Townhall Finance... Obama Proposes Mortgage Bailouts, Handouts, Copouts, by Mike Shedlock
Inquiring minds are reading the complete text of President Obama’s State of the Union Address to see what distortions, lies, and hypocrisy it contains. I found a nice Orwellian set of paragraphs smack in the middle of his speech. And while Government can’t fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn’t have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief. That’s why I’m sending this Congress a plan that gives every... read more

Townhall Finance... Who’s On Unemployment, By Bob Beauprez
Barack Obama spent considerable time during the State of the Union address on jobs and the economy – both of which are in a sorry state. As a result of the smoke-and-mirrors Obama-spin, the following little exercise might be a good review. Credit is due to Barry Levinson, the famed Academy Award winning director, screenwriter, and producer who created and first published this two months ago in the Huffington Post... read more

Human Events Book Promotion... David Limbaugh’s “Crimes Against Liberty”
In Crimes Against Liberty, David Limbaugh has compiled the most comprehensive and devastating indictment of what is turning out to be the most destructive presidency in American history. From exploiting the financial crisis for political gain, to restricting our personal freedoms through invasive healthcare and “green” policies, to endangering America with his feckless diplomacy and reckless dismantlement of our national... read more

Verities & Balderdash... What We’ve Lost, Edited by Bob Robinson
Jay Leno’s quote is not verified, but I’ve seen his show often enough to know it is something he could have said... along with a dozen other comedians I can think of. I expressed my concern a week or two ago that I had to think twice about offering a kid a ride on a cold, blistery day. The student was walking home from school and obviously freezing… small wonder. A hoody, no matter how tight it is wrapped around you... read more

Townhall... State of Dependency, by Dan Holler
Jan 23, 2012 - The media, the occupiers, and others engaging in “the bitter politics of envy” have it all wrong. If they were concerned with anything other than dividing Americans and punishing success, their full attention would be on the 21%, not the 1%. Who are the 21%? They are the Americans who, according to The Heritage Foundation, “rely on government subsidies for their existence.” Read that again: rely on government subsidies for their existence. That is a fundamentally un-American idea... read more

Townhall... Legalizing Drugs Is Constitutional, by Katie Kieffer
Jan 23, 2012 - I believe that states have the constitutional right to legalize drugs. For, the Constitution is silent on the federal government’s ability to regulate or ban substances that adults choose to digest at their own peril—or medical relief. The Constitution is so silent on this matter of individual liberty (choosing to digest or use drugs) that in order to ban the sale of alcohol during the Prohibition era, we passed the... read more

Townhall Finance... Obama Proposes New Department of Corporate Welfare by Tad DeHaven
Contrary to what various news outlets are reporting, President Obama is NOT proposing to cut government. The administration is proposing to take four independent federal agencies that specialize in corporate welfare – along with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative – and combine them with corporate welfare programs at the Department of Commerce to form what would I would argue should be called the Department of Corporate Welfare. According to reports, ... read more

Daily Events... Weird Race Fridays with Erick Erickson
01.20.12 - Editor: By the time you read this the votes have been counted with Gingrich winning South Carolina, but Erickson’s points are still worth noting. What a weird race. Rick Santorum is now the winner in Iowa by 34 votes. But eight precincts cannot now show us their votes. Mitt Romney won New Hampshire. Last night at the CNN debate, it would not surprise me if Newt Gingrich locked in a win in South Carolina. John King... read more

Townhall Finance... Do The Rich Pay More Taxes? by Jeff Carter
The short answer is sure they do. They have more income so they pay more taxes. Statistically, the upper income earners pay almost 100% of the taxes to the federal government. The tax debate is so skewed with misinformation that it’s hard to make sense. When it’s hard to make sense, it’s easier to drive home fallacious points about income gap’s, a smaller middle class, salary and wage discrepancies and the rest of the class warfare arguments you see popping up all over the media... read more

Daily Events... Congress plots new moves to sidestep Obama on Keystone pipeline
by Audrey Hudson - 01/20/2012 - Key Congressional leaders are determined to find a legislative end-run around President Barack Obama’s decision this week to kill the Keystone XL pipeline project. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, will begin hearings next week and has asked State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton to testify. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) says... read more

Mail Magazine 24... President Obama Forgets – Policy Reminder #4
President Obama Forgets he said he would never raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year. But AFP activists want to remind him that he has already signed several bills that include tax hikes on middle-income Americans. On the campaign trail, candidate Obama stated “if you are a family making less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes go up.” As president, however, Obama proposed and passed at least 21 tax hikes. These included a 156 percent increase in the... read more

Redstate... Newt Gingrich Wins. What It Means. Posted by Erick Erickson
Saturday, January 21 - Mitt and Newt will both have trouble beating Barack Obama. Mitt’s trouble will come from Obama. Newt’s trouble from himself. But right now, the base doesn’t care. “The base is revolting because they swept the GOP back into relevance in Washington just under two years ago and they have been thanked with contempt ever since.” No candidate has won the GOP nomination for President without... read more

Townhall... A Question of Priorities, by Jonah Goldberg
Jan 20, 2012 - “In the Treasury we do not speak of tons of silver. Our unit is the troy ounce.” That was the response from some bureaucrat when Leslie Groves, the man who oversaw the Manhattan Project, sought thousands of tons of silver to be turned into electrical wires. Groves got his silver. Why? Because completing the Manhattan Project -- and winning the war -- was America’s top priority. For three years, the Obama administration and its cheerleaders have tried to claim that they stand... read more

Townhall... An Open Letter to the Occupiers from Generation X, by Rachel Alexander
Jan 20, 2012 - To the Occupy movement: I know some of you mean well. I even share some of your concerns. The dismal economy has made it difficult to find a good job with benefits. Meanwhile, the government is bailing out the wealthy banks and mortgage lenders that helped precipitate this depressed economy. I hear your frustrations about student loan debt. Generation X has a lot of student loan debt too... read more

Townhall Finance... Democrats Seek to Establish “Reasonable Profits” Boards for Energy Companies
by Jeff Carter - This is truly amazing to me and gives you a clear plate glass window view of the Democratic thought process. They want to establish a “Reasonable Profits Board” for energy companies! The Democratic energy policy is stupid. There isn’t another way to say it. One can ridicule it, satire it, make fun of it, but their line of thinking is stupid. No wonder we can’t educate anyone efficiently in the public school system. What the heck are they smoking? Maybe I want some... read more

Townhall... The Land of Obama Make-Believe, by Michelle Malkin
Jan 20, 2012 - Where did President Obama go after killing off thousands of Keystone XL pipeline construction and manufacturing jobs? Why, Disney World, of course. Sabotaging work is hard work for Goofy and his pals. And where’d he head after that? Why, up to Manhattan for more high-priced campaign fundraisers charging up to $38,500 per partier. The business of wining and dining politically connected donors ain’t... read more

Mail Magazine 24... Land of the Freebies, Home of the Enslaved
We know that 47% of all Americans do not pay federal income taxes. But as a nation do we really understand what that is doing to current and future generations? More and more people are becoming dependent on government and the shocking part is our very own Congress may be doing it…by design! The information and data in this video is sure to infuriate. You may need to watch this video twice in order to fully understand the depth and scope of the problem. Also, we believe this video answers... read more

Human Events... Strongest case against Romney a few sheets short of a ream, by Ann Coulter
01/18/2012 - Mitt Romney has spent more than 20 years in private enterprise, making thousands of business decisions affecting hundreds of companies that led to more than 100,000 new jobs and billions of dollars for employees and investors. So you can see why the left despises him. Among Romney’s thousands of business decisions, the one I gather his opponents consider his absolute worst was the decision... read more

Cincinnati Enquirer... Health care users must understand reform
One thing is for certain about the world of health care: It is constantly changing. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make life easy for those who have to navigate their way through the health maze each day. It’s important for all of us to understand how all these changes affect our access to quality health care. Health reform is not a political gimmick, nor is it just about insurance companies, hospitals or clinicians. It is about us, our employers and our communities. We must ask ourselves: What are we doing to... read more

Townhall... Obama’s America, by Rich Galen
Jan 13, 2012 - This is the first of an occasional series of what I am calling “Obama’s America.” While the political elite are focused on the Republican primary fight, the rest of America is focused on looking for (or keeping) a job; hoping the kids are actually learning something at school; despairing over, while staring at, their evaporating retirement accounts; and wondering, while they watch geniuses like me verbally spar... read more

Cleveland Plain Dealer... Natural gas: cheap, clean and risky: Hal Harvey
Political leaders from both parties argue that natural gas could save our economy, the environment and promote our national security. Is this so? Or is it just a dream? It turns out that the way one develops natural gas will determine whether it is a serious help to our energy and climate problems, or a dangerous extension of bad habits. On the face of it, natural gas looks terrific. The United States -- and many other countries -- have abundant domestic supplies. The cost, per delivered unit of... read more

Townhall...US Debt Exceeds GDP; Joins Miscreants Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Portugal by Bob Beauprez
The U.S. federal debt has surpassed the total production of the entire country. According to a feature article in USA Today, total debt of $15.3 trillion now exceeds GDP. Anyone who has been paying just a little bit of attention has known for some time that at the rapid rate the debt was increasing it was... read more

Columbus Dispatch... Gaming the system
Veterans groups and churches that run bingo games need state approval. Ditto the four casinos currently under construction around Ohio, which will be closely regulated and scrutinized by the state. So why should an estimated 200 “Internet cafes” that are effectively offering gambling in Ohio today be able to operate without oversight? Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is calling on state lawmakers to approve a bill, pending since April, that would regulate these businesses that have been... read more

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