Archive for 2012
November 13, 2012
JOHN HINDERAKER: Whither The “Social Issues.” I’ll note that in 2010, the Tea Party didn’t talk about them, and did well. In 2012, Romney didn’t talk about them much — but the Dems successfully used them as a wedge issue and the GOP didn’t respond.
UPDATE: Reader Mark Pernel writes:
I think there are two things going on in that example. The first is that the Tea Party is more a fiscal-issues group and were better
positioned to ignore the social stuff. There is definitely a social-conservative wing of the movement, but they are willing to
overlook the culture wars at least to some extent in order to get the fiscal issues fixed.The second is that 2010 was a mid-term, and without the big hammer of a Presidential campaign it was harder for the Dems to use
social issues as a wedge. Trying to organize a wedge issue across ~470 Congressional races is hard, particularly when you’re already on
the defensive for your vote on a deeply divisive issue like PPACA. Having a single national race that can act as a focal point for the
wedge changes the dynamic, and it was bad news for Romney.
Especially when the press regards itself as Democratic operatives with bylines, as it so clearly did.
OH, GOOD GRIEF. Af-Pak theater commander caught in sex scandal?
KATRINA ON THE HUDSON EAST RIVER: Occupy Sandy Volunteer Sounds Alarm on ‘Humanitarian Crisis,’ Near-Complete Absence of Government Aid in Coney Island Projects. “Just three hours ago I was speaking with seniors for whom I was the first person they talked to since the storm. . . . People literally have no power, no food, no water, no bathrooms–they’re defecating in buckets. And there is no one to answer to for it.”
KEITH HENNESSEY: The President Sends Mixed Signals On The Fiscal Cliff.
TRANSPARENCY: Think tank to sue Treasury to make carbon tax proposal emails public.
A conservative Washington think tank will file suit Tuesday seeking to force Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to make public more than 7,300 internal emails circulated in recent months among senior executives in his department about a carbon tax proposal officials say taxpayers don’t need to know about.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute will file the suit in federal district court tomorrow because Treasury Department officials denied the non-profit organization’s request for a waiver of reproduction fees under the federal Freedom of Information Act.
Treasury officials also told CEI that the cost of photocopying the emails in order to make them public would not be worth the cost because doing so “would not significantly inform the public about the operations or activities of government.”
There would be no reproduction costs, however, because, according to CEI, the non-profit told Treasury it would accept an electronic version of the emails.
It’s almost like the Treasury was acting in bad faith.
CHARLIE MARTIN: What happened? One week later, nobody knows. “Don’t let anyone tell you they know why Romney lost. The evidence is inconclusive.”
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Child’s Education, but Parents’ Crushing Loans. “There are record numbers of student borrowers in financial distress, according to federal data. But millions of parents who have taken out loans to pay for their children’s college education make up a less visible generation in debt. For the most part, these parents did well enough through midlife to take on sizable loans, but some have since fallen on tough times because of the recession, health problems, job loss or lives that took a sudden hard turn.”
Unsurprising, but any other industry that caused this much misery would be getting much worse press. The solution, of course, is to make bad loans dischargeable in bankruptcy after five or ten years, and put colleges and universities on the hook.
And note where the daughter says, “I don’t really feel guilt.”
TEST-DRIVING THE 2013 VW Jetta Hybrid.
November 12, 2012
ADVICE TO THE RIGHT: Don’t Be Hasty. Remember, they want you to be depressed, and to respond stupidly and impulsively.
KATRINA ON THE HUDSON: My USA Today column.
THAT ’70S SHOW: Everything Old Is New Again:
A new Star Wars movie.
Odd-even gas rationing.
Iran is threatening us, and it’s open season on Americans in the Middle East.
The United States has a president who solves all our problems by making them worse.
What’s next, disco?
What do you mean, “next?” Upside: Now we get to see how a second Carter term would have turned out . . . .
REMEMBER, WHEN THEY INCREASE YOUR TAXES, THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THE MONEY GOES TO: Blake Hounshell: The FBI Has Some Explaining To Do.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TO REVIEW ITS DUMB DECISION NOT TO ISSUE A HURRICANE WARNING FOR SANDY.
And yes, as I’ve pointed out today and also last week, this was a dumb decision that may have caused delayed evacuations and complacency that cost lives.
A POWERFUL FORCE AGAINST EVIL: The Popehat Signal.
HOPEY-CHANGEY SMART DIPLOMACY UPDATE: Report: CIA’s Benghazi Annex a Detention, Interrogation Site. “The new reporting builds on details previously published by Fox’s Jennifer Griffin and information apparently leaked by ex-intelligence officer Paula Broadwell last month. Speaking on Fox News Monday, Griffin indicated new sources suggest the CIA annex may have been a detention site for local militia forces and even for some prisoners from other parts of Africa.”
CHILDHOOD AUTISM and assortative mating.
AFTERBURNER: Bill Whittle on Cannibals.
LAYERS OF EDITORS AND FACT CHECKERS: ABC remembers the tactics of former FBI Director Herbert Hoover.
THE DISASTER-PREPAREDNESS ECONOMY IS BOOMING: “The wives in this area don’t want jewelry for Christmas. They want generators.”
Well, here you go.
YOU KNOW, “PROFESSIONALISM” HAS REALLY TAKEN A HIT UNDER THIS ADMINISTRATION: FBI Agent In Petraeus Case Removed After Allegedly Sending Shirtless Photos To The ‘Other Woman’ Jill Kelley.
First the Secret Service, then ICE, now this. Good grief.
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