A Good Republican Response in a Washington Post Letter

Rich Nugent, A Congressman from Florida, had an excellent letter published in the Post this morning:

"We were pushing for a public policy (a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut) that was universally acknowledged to be more responsible than the Senate alternative (a two-month extension). We took this course not at some expected political cost to our opponents but rather at a known political cost to ourselves.

In short, we chose to put responsible policy before callous political self-interest. I’m unclear on why that was a bad thing."

Nugent also writes a defense of the Freshman House Republicans: "Is the House above politics? Of course not. But this year, we have made an uncommon effort to get Washington to face the hard questions — even when it was not in our own political interest to do so."

I just hope that the Freshmen Republicans and the supporters that propelled them to election in 2010 will not have gotten so discouraged by the successful media/Democrat campaign to turn this issue against Republicans that they give up on trying to make the changes that this country needs.

News Quiz Results

A friend on Facebook posted a Pew Research Survey that measured one's "News IQ." It asked 13 questions and both my friend and I were among the 8% who got all the questions correct. Pew conducted this survey from September 30 to October 11 among 1,1168 adults. From the analysis: "Republicans generally outperformed Democrats on the current quiz. On 13 out of the 19 questions, Republicans score significantly higher than Democrats and there are no questions on which Democrats did better than Republicans."

No surprise to me, but it certainly doesn't fit the stereotype of Republicans as know-nothing fundamentalist idiots, does it? One of the most-missed questions, especially among Democrats, was knowing that it was only the House of Representatives that is run by Republicans. President Obama and his allies in the media have done everything they could to pretend that all of Congress -- both houses -- are dominated by Republicans. Liberals like to paint conservatives as Fox News Channel watching, Rush Limbaugh listening mind-numbed robots. Well, if that's true, then at least Fox and Rush are filling our heads with accurate information!

San Francisco - $10 an Hour Minimum Wage(!)

Well, look at this news story: "San Francisco makes history by becoming the first city in the nation to scale a $10 minimum wage. The city's hourly wage for its lowest-paid workers will hit $10.24, more than $2 above the California minimum wage and nearly $3 more than the working wage set by the federal government."

Lately, I've been thinking about my high school days and comparing them with the sons and daughters of my friends. Back then, when the minimum wage was just $2.50 an hour, just about every one of us had a part-time job in high school, usually at a restaurant. But, as far as I know, none or very few of my friends' kids are getting jobs. School is too tough these days, they say. The schedules are very rigorous. Sure, having to work was a bit of a hassle and probably hurt our grades a bit, but what an honest introduction to real life. But, who's going to hire 16 year old kids for $10 an hour to wash dishes? Maybe the local community is just not looking to hire teenagers today as they were back in the 1970s.

Sure, it's nice to get a raise if you're making minimum wage, but the reality is that fewer jobs will probably be offered to make up for the fact that each individual must now make $10.24 an hour. Or hours will be cut. One personal example -- In my own home, there are a number of menial tasks for which it would be worthwhile to pay a small hourly wage to get someone else to do. But at $10 an hour, I'd just as soon do those jobs myself.

Washington Post Gets It Right

It was nice to read in Tuesday's Washington Post (2/2/10) some common sense from liberals for a change. Lots of my conservative friends despise the Post for its liberal leanings and they are correct in their appraisal. The Post used a meaningless "macaca" comment by Sen. George Allen to skewer him day after day in the 2006 campaign. But, they do provide a good overall picture of the news of the day. With the downsizing of the Washington Times, it is sadly now the only real choice for us here in the D.C. suburbs. And every now and then they seem to get it right. They just don't wage campaigns against Democrats like they do against Republicans when they find the opportunity.

The Post editorialized in favored of the Iraq war, for example. In 2008, few were surprised when they endorsed inexperienced Democrat Barack Obama for president against John McCain. To me it made little logical sense because Obama's main campaign theme against Hillary Clinton was his opposition to the Iraq War. The Post supported the war. But, despite that, in the end they will side with the Democrat.

The 9/11 attack caused a number of Democrats to rethink their positions on the dangers of terrorism and how we should respond to it. Jewish American Democrats seemed to be particularly attuned to the dangers of terrorism. Leading Democrats like late actor Ron Silver and Senator Joe Lieberman actually supported the Republican Presidential candidate in 2004 and 2008 respectively. Tuesday, it was liberal Richard Cohen who opined "There is almost nothing the Obama administration does regarding terrorism that makes me feel safer." He continues, "more is at stake here than America's image abroad -- namely the security and peace of mind of Americans in America. "

Also, the Sally Jenkins column in Tuesday's Washington Post:"Tebow's 30-second ad hasn't even run yet, but it already has provoked "The National Organization for Women Who Only Think Like Us" to reveal something important about themselves: They aren't actually "pro-choice" so much as they are pro-abortion." And Jenkins herself is Pro-Choice.

I have no hope that Cohen or Jenkins will endorse many conservative ideas but it is clear to me that both the Pro-Life view and an aggressive war on terror are mainstream positions, and the approaches favored by liberals are as far left as a lot of us have been saying for years.

Obama's Meeting with Republicans - pt. 2

It was this side of Obama that made him seem more appealing to me as a candidate in 2008 than the rest of the Democrats. He made an effort to come across as a new kind of politician that could be above party politics. Of course, although I was hopeful he might be that kind of president, I still had to support the candidate with whom I agreed on the issues, and that was John McCain. Obama's track record showed no history of working across the aisle, so I really did not believe it would happen.

He should have, though. Instead, he allowed the Democrats in the House and Senate to rule the roost while he agreeably acquiesced because he was fully sympathetic to their policies.

He was able to get some Republican support in 2009. Arlen Spector jumped to the Democratic Party and Olympia Snow did vote in committee in support of health care legislation. But Obama's main effort has been to push hard for legislation that can win the support of 218 House Democrats and 60 Democrats caucus Senators. He made little effort to integrate conservative policies into his legislation.

In the future, will Obama efforts to reach out be anything more than talk? That will be the big question.

Today's Topics: Global Warming and Health Care

First, I got into a bit of trouble at Facebook when I posted a link to the 1974 TIME magazine article on the coming Ice Age.  My friends uttered, "What's the point, John?" .  They were passionate in their defense of the Global Warming movement.  I chose not to debate them on my Facebook page.  I did consider personal emails, and I drafted them, but so far, I have decided to leave them unsent.  

If they ever find my blog, I refer them to this American Thinker link which discusses the misuse of science by the Global Warming movement people.  My friends seem to be shocked and astonished that there are thinking people in the world who doubt this theory.  I wish they would open their minds a bit.

On the Health Care front, the Democrats have gotten their 60th vote.  What an immense amount of power the last few holdout senators had.  Landrieu, Lieberman, Nelson of NE.  These guys would be good poker players.  They were going to vote for this thing, but they bluffed well enough to get goodies for their states or other concessions important to them.

It is sad that the mainstream news media is not launching a campaign of outrage over the way this mess is being shoved down our throats in the dead of night during Christmas week.  It goes without saying that they would not be so acquiescent in the face of similar Republican maneuvers.

Now the 2010 campaign can largely be about the repeal of this Obama-Reid-Pelosi Health Care monstrosity!  It should be fun!  Bye-Bye Liberals!

Why I'm No Longer A Democrat

1) Foreign Policy -- During the Cold War, liberal Democrats (yes, there used to be conservatives in the Democratic Party) continually sought to downplay the harshness of communism and attempted to accommodate rather than confront the Soviet Union.

Today, Democrats again seek to accommodate rather than confront terrorism.  The Ft. Hood shooting was clearly a case of Islamic jihad and yet the President and his supporters strongly resist the obvious.  

Yesterday, a friend on Facebook posted something observing the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Someone commented that the fall of the wall was probably a good thing, but that the "trillionaire" politicians needed to create a "War on Terror" to keep the military industrial complex making money.  Thankfully, my friend could write from real experience in living in Germany in the 1970s that there was terrorism and that the communist countries made their citizens terrified.  

Oh, for the clarity on the war on terror that George W. Bush had!  

2) Economic Policy -- Democrats are insistent that the free market is flawed and must have so many governmental intrusions and regulations for it to function fairly.  The health insurance debate, the "cash for clunkers" program, the $8,000 House Purchase Tax Credit are just three recent examples.

3) Social Policy -- Democrats believe that government should be intruding on most aspects of your life, except when it comes to traditional values like life ("abortion rights") and marriage ("gay marriage").  In those areas, they are eager to let everyone do whatever they want to!

The Elitists look down on us

A friend who moved from Washington DC to New York 15 years ago is on Facebook and I am really learning first hand what a New York liberal elitist attitude is.  He recently met up with a "right-winger" on a golf course.  While the guy sounded rude, I think the biggest shock to the liberals was that this guy had conservative ("Right-Wing") views.  They probably never meet such neanderthals in their circles.

Here's a recent set of comments from him and his friends:

[MY OLD FRIEND] I was punished for cutting out of work early to play golf. I was paired with a right-wing pot smoking Brooklyn psycho who started yelling at me by the third hole. I'm sorry freelance gods, I'll work hard and be good today.

Yesterday at 8:43am 

[FRIEND #1]Sort of like my friends husband yelling at me comparing the Democratic Party to the Nazis in 1933 and thinks Glenn Beck is a genius. I don't know what I did to deserve that, but I better get painting too!

Yesterday at 8:48am

[MY OLD FRIEND] A third guy with us and I decided to egg him on with his rants in the hope he would wear himself out and shut the f*** up. We started saying stuff like, "Do you think Obama is really a citizen?"

He talked himself to exhaustion and lost the will to live by the 16th hole.

[FRIEND #2]Now that's a new tactic -- and I like it. Just rant back in little pecks and nits and hope for apoplectic shock! Don't spell check that!

Yesterday at 9:11am

[FRIEND #3]Ha, sure he loved golfing with Yang too! A dang fernner....

Yesterday at 10:45am

[ME]:Thank you for providing ANOTHER reason not to ever take up golf. And to think you had to PAY for that experience with that rude Brooklynite.

I was about to leave an additional comment, but then decided not to get into a fight:  "an alternative, crazy method: Simply be direct: Tell the guy that you're there to play golf and that the others in the foursome would appreciate it if he would keep his opinions to himself. A little less fun, perhaps, but a little more grown-up too."

And if you are asking, why do I consdier this guy a friend, well I'm wondering the same thing myself.  I enjoyed his company 15-20 years ago, but I don't know if I fit in with him any more.  What if I told him I LIKED Sarah Palin!  Oh the mocking and snarky comments they would make!