Monthly Archives: July 2013
July 25, 2013 — John Hinderaker
America’s renewable fuels policy is a fiasco that drives up the cost of both fuel and groceries, to no purpose. Well, there is a purpose: lots of people are making money off the renewable scam. But probably not you. This short video from Smarter Fuel Future is a good, short introduction to the topic:
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July 25, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Will Lois Lerner cooperate with investigations into the IRS scandal or will she stonewall? My friend Ray Hartwell, writing for the American Spectator, argues that Lerner is unlikely to cooperate as long as she has her “ace in the hole,” namely Eric Holder. Hartwell, who has vast experience defending clients under investigation by the Justice Department, believes that, absent Holder, Lerner might well cooperate with a Justice Department investigation in
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July 25, 2013 — Steven Hayward
Since opinion polling on public approval of presidents began in the late 1940s, there’s only been one president who never fell below the 50 percent public approval mark: Dwight Eisenhower. Remember that this is the president that “all thinking people” (as Adlai Stevenson arrogated to himself the right to represent) regarded as a do-nothing dummy. “Heard about the Eisenhower doll?”, went a joke at the time; “You wind it up
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July 25, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
That thought is prompted by this report from Bill Gertz called “Edward Snowden Seeking to Join KGB Veterans Group.” Renegade National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has applied to join a group of former Russian intelligence and security officials, according to the group’s director. Participation in a union of former KGB security, intelligence, and police officials, would likely change Snowden’s status from that of a whistleblower seeking to expose wrongdoing,
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July 25, 2013 — Steven Hayward
Legend has it that someone (William F. Buckley Jr. is suggested) included an index entry in a book that read: “Mailer, Norman—Hi Norman!” That tale comes to mind in connection with the hubbub about the new Mark Leibovich book, This Town, which offers syrupy dish on the insider mentality of Washington DC. The book has no index, so that all the marks in it will have to read through it
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July 25, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Huma Abedin doesn’t just provide moral support for her immoral husband. According to the Washington Post, she provides his campaign with financial support by appealing to wealthy Democrats: Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton, has continued to aggressively work Clinton’s circle — to the annoyance of some — seeking support and financial contributions for Weiner’s mayoral bid. “People like Huma, but they saw her trading on the Hillary
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July 25, 2013 — Scott Johnson
The Star Tribune loves stories of what it deems to be achievements by state and local government, but so far it seems to have overlooked the news of Minnesota’s $1.2 million bonus award for achievement in enrolling beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. Our friend Tom Steward explores the Minnesota angle of the food-stamps story that lies somewhere near the heart of the Age of Obama: Congratulations, Minnesota, on
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July 25, 2013 — Scott Johnson
In the New York mayoral doings, the New York Post has moved beyond Carlos Danger, but in this case it does not mean it is attending to the other candidates. It has moved on from Carlos Danger to flash the spotlight on Señora Danger. The online version of the Post features the graphic below. The Post gives the story the kind of flood-the-zone coverage reflective of an episode reaching a
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July 24, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
My conservative cousin from New York, a sober-minded fellow, looks past Carlos Danger and identifies the real scandal in New York — the disastrous policies being peddled by all leading Democratic candidates for mayor. He writes: Lately the New York City Mayoral race has taken on an ominous tone. The carnival atmosphere created by the candidates pathetic pandering to municipal unions and Weiner’s peccadillos is rapidly yielding to disastrous proposals
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July 24, 2013 — John Hinderaker
I have always been deeply suspicious of claims that Republicans need to get behind amnesty and mass low-skilled immigration for political reasons. Apart from the fact that political gain is a bad reason to sign on to any massive change in social policy, the polls that amnesty advocates rely on are consistently suspect. Today’s example comes from Politico, where reporter Seung Min Kim seizes on a poll of Congressman Steve
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July 24, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Secret Agent Man Carlos Danger has entered the popular culture, and we will be hearing about him for a long time to come. Already, the t-shirts are beginning to proliferate. A few examples: Unfortunately, I don’t think we will have Anthony Weiner to kick around much longer. Democrats are going to hustle him off the stage if they have to kidnap him to do it. But his alter ego, Carlos
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July 24, 2013 — Scott Johnson
Steve wrote here about his appearance last week at the event promoting the northern California launch for the Manhattan Institute’s new collection of City Journal California articles entitled The Beholden State: California’s Lost Promise and How to Recapture It. Steve spoke on a panel at the City Club along with City Journal editors and authors Brian Anderson, Steve Malanga, and Ben Boychuk. Steve noted that the book covers the entire
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July 24, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Today President Obama “pivoted” back to the economy for something like the 11th time. Paul set out the embarrassing history of Obama’s pirouettes here: “Obama Pivots to Jobs Tour at End of Scandal Filled Week” (ABC News, 5/18/13) “Obama’s Texas Trip An Attempt To Refocus On Jobs, Economy” (Washington Times, 5/8/13) “Obama: State Of The Union To Focus On Jobs” (USA Today, 2/8/13) “Obama Turns To Congress For Jobs Help”
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July 24, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
I’ve written below about some of the deception in the testimony today of Cornelia Pillard, President Obama’s nominee to serve on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The pattern continued as the nominee answered questions by Republican Senators about her past positions. Because Pillard has never been a judge, the questions necessarily focused on her writings as a law professor and, to a lesser extent, as an advocate in legal
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July 24, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Cornelia Pillard, whom President Obama nominated to serve on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning. Her testimony was articulate, polished, and at times charming. She presented herself as moderate, measured, and non-partisan. Unfortunately, Pillard also struck me as astonishingly disingenuous, even by the modern standards of the judicial confirmation process. When Pillard sought to ingratiate herself by fondly referring to the Virginia
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July 24, 2013 — Steven Hayward
Let it never be said that I can’t say anything nice about Jimmy Carter. It’s very nice that he’s an ex-president, for example. (Though the attack submarine is a little much.) I look forward to being able to say the same thing about Obama some day. But lo and behold, it turns out that Jimmy Carter didn’t just de-regulate airlines and trucking: he also de-regulated beer. I believe it was
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July 24, 2013 — Scott Johnson
I thought that Anthony Weiner was a repulsive human being when he only appeared to be an ambitious congressman on the make and a seemingly permanent fixture on MSNBC. Yet the latest revelations of his post-scandal exhibitionism place him in a category beyond repulsive. In addition to his other vices, he is a little lacking in self-perception. A college professor of mine once speculated that monarchy might be a more
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