May 5, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
We’ve been saying for some time that Obamacare will be a central issue in the 2014 election, and that it offers Republicans the hope, if they nominate solid candidates, of taking control of the Senate. Now, Senate Democrats have figured this out, as well. Ron Wyden is latest example. He frets: There is reason to be very concerned about what’s going to happen with young people. If their (insurance) premiums
»
May 5, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
In the aftermath of Israel’s attacks on Syrian weapons facilities, I’ve seen reports that Israel fears a response from the Assad regime. In such a response, Syria would target nearby areas in Northern Israel — the same ones that were pounded in the 2006 Lebanese War. But according to the Jerusalem Post, residents of Northern Israel are not worried that Assad will bomb them. They see Assad as too weak
»
May 4, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Everton and Liverpool last met in late October, when the teams produced an eventful 2-2 draw at Goodison Park That result left Everton in fifth place, 8 places ahead of their cross-park rivals. Looking ahead, I wrote that “there’s a good chance [the two teams] will be close together in the Table when the Derby is played at Liverpool in early May.” Sure enough, with the Derby set for Sunday,
»
May 4, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
It turns out that those Israeli air strikes inside Syria were directed at a shipment of advanced surface-to-surface missiles from Iran that was intended for Hezbollah. Iran and Hezbollah both back Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war. But the weapons shipment may have been as much or more about strengthening Hezbollah in a post-Assad Syria as about helping Assad retain power. In any event, Israel was not about to
»
May 4, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Outgoing South Carolina Democratic Chairman Dick Harpootlian told a Democratic rally that next year his party will win the gubernatorial election and “send Nikki Haley back to wherever the hell she came from.” Haley is an Indian-American who was raised in South Carolina. Her parents are Sikh immigrants. Harpootlian claims he meant the election results would send Gov. Haley back to Lexington County where she used to live. Last year,
»
May 3, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Israeli planes reportedly entered Syrian air space today and bombed Syrian targets. The targets are said to be one or more weapons facility. It isn’t clear whether, assuming the veracity of the reports, the targets were chemical weapons facilities. But if the Syrian government has used chemical weapons, bombing chemical weapons facilities is an appropriate response, for it diminishes the chemical weapons capability of both the Assad regime and its
»
May 3, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
A new Associated Press-GfK national survey finds that 79 percent of the public believe the Washington Redskins name should not be changed. Only 11 percent think it should be changed. Some Redskins fans have criticized the Washington Post — which has championed a name-change — for delaying its posting of this result on its website, and then putting up a story that seems to bury the poll results. However, the
»
May 3, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Byron York challenges the idea that supposedly is driving the Republican Party’s cave-in on amnesty — the notion that the Hispanic vote was a key element in Mitt Romney’s defeat. Byron shows that President Obama would have won the election even if Romney had captured a majority of the Hispanic vote. Republicans are barking up the wrong tree in pandering to Hispanic voters. First, as Byron indicates, they don’t seem
»
May 2, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Please dont’t miss John Fonte’s piece on NRO about provisions in the Gang of Eight bill (see pages 370-94) that will funnel federal dollars to left-wing activists so they can organize illegal aliens who obtain amnesty. The money is cleverly earmarked as intended to help integrate immigrants. Thus, it is designated for programs that will promote “linguistic, economic, and civic integration.” But who will get the money? According to the
»
May 2, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
President Obama told fellow leftists yesterday to put aside concerns over the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill. He assured them that once Congress locks an overarching plan into place, his administration will be able to revisit the specifics and figure out how to address them. It’s natural that both Obama and Marco Rubio are holding out the prospect of “fixes” to the immigration bill; they need to assuage nervous constituent
»
May 2, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that he doesn’t think his immigration bill can pass in the House. “It will have to be adjusted,” he told radio talk show host Mike Gallagher, “because people are very suspicious about the willingness of the government to enforce the law now.” Rubio didn’t stop with this interesting prediction. He went on to agree that his bill needs to be improved. The Senator described suspicion
»
May 1, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Strip away the pro-illegal alien rhetoric and name-calling in this piece by NBC Latino contributor Stephen Nuno and you will find an important truth — the immigration reform game is dominated by money, and the pro-amnesty side has nearly all of it. Nuno points out that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has put together a coalition of like-minded billionaires to sell Schumer-Rubio style immigration reform to Republicans. Michael Bloomberg has been
»
May 1, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Steve’s post about the controversy over the Washington Redskins’ name made me think about the nicknames of European soccer teams and their supporters. Followers of Dundee United, a decent team in a poor league, call themselves the Arabs. The name has no political content, although in recent times Scotland turned strongly against Israel. Supporters of Ajax, a Dutch superpower and until about 15 years ago a European superpower too, are
»
May 1, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Republicans think they have a deep bench of potential presidential candidates for 2016. It consists, by most reckonings, of Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal, and an assortment of other governors. But for me, the bench looks more problematic today than it did six months ago. I have never been fond of Rand Paul because, among other concerns, of his views on foreign and defense policy. Rubio lost
»
April 30, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
At his press conference today, President Obama took the same position on Syria that his spokesmen have previewed. It’s a lawyerly, two-part position. First, we don’t know for sure that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons. Second, even if it has, this is just one factor in our analysis of what to do (or not do). The first part may be true, and after Iraq we should have less
»
April 30, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Politico suggests that our friend Rep. Tom Cotton is “the last, best Hope for GOP hawks.” The idea is that, with even conservatives moving away from an interventionist mindset, Tom now carries the banner for those like Bill Kristol who hold out for the post-9/11 Republican consensus on foreign and national security policy. There is some truth to this narrative. But the story’s author, Alex Burns, falls into the Washington
»
April 30, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
My friend Bill Otis, who sometimes contributes to Power Line, is scheduled to appear on Piers Morgan’s show on CNN tonight some time after 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Bill will discuss Arsenal’s amazing unbeaten streak since Morgan trashed the team on television. NOT — Bill actually will debate Alan Dershowitz about whether The Boston Bomber should face the possibility of the death penalty. Bill’s article about the subject in Forbes
»
