IN THE MAIL: From Kevin Williamson, The Dependency Agenda. “Each year, the United States spends $65,000 per poor family to ‘fight poverty’ – in a country in which the average family income is just under $50,000. Meanwhile, most of that money goes to middle-class and upper-middle-class families, and the current U.S. poverty rate is higher than it was before the government began spending trillions of dollars on anti-poverty programs.”
Archive for 2012
May 24, 2012
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Europe: The World’s Worst Dentist With The World’s Dullest Drill.
A LAUGH LINE FROM THE PRESIDENT: “Well, those of us who’ve spent time in the real world …”
Nice to see you putting down Mitt Romney from the vantage point of your massive private-sector experience, Prez.
HAS THE RECALL ELECTION MADE SCOTT WALKER A GOP HERO? “I don’t watch all the TV shows, but this week, I’ve watched ‘American Idol’ and part of a couple Brewers games, and I’ve seen ad after ad for Walker. I saw one ad against Walker, and it was a confusing complaint about how Walker is a ‘rock star.’ Idiots! They made him a rock star.”
SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: Colombia Scandal Was An Isolated Incident. They always are.
But actually, as InstaPundit readers know, the Secret Service has had problems with poor management and toxic internal politics for quite a while.
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Left Targets Chief Justice Roberts To Save ObamaCare.
I doubt they’ll be able to bully Roberts into supporting ObamaCare, particularly since such a move would look like a surrender to political pressure, undermining the Court. And since ObamaCare is deeply and increasingly unpopular with the public, overturning it is hardly going to delegitimize the Court with the public.
I have to say, though, that I’ve lost respect for the participants in this shaming effort. It’s so transparent.
FAST AND FURIOUS: Bumbling Concealment At DOJ. “You would think the DOJ would be particularly responsive to our FOIA requests considering that PJ Media sued Eric Holder in federal court to obtain documents DOJ wanted to conceal. We eventually got them. Today I renewed my request to DOJ. We’ll see if this time DOJ complies with the law.”
THE HILL: Rocky Path For Obama In Colorado. “President Obama on Wednesday swept through Colorado, where he faces serious headwinds in his effort to retain an evenly split battleground state that went Republican in 2000 and 2004 but heavily supported the president’s 2008 campaign. The conventional wisdom since then has been that the ever-rising Hispanic population in Colorado has made it more likely that Obama can keep its nine electoral votes in his column. But political observers say Colorado is very much in play given the state’s slight rise in unemployment last month and Obama’s low approval ratings among voters focused on the economy.” In other words, it’s pretty much like the rest of the country.
AT AMAZON, Father’s Day gift ideas.
Plus, today only: HP 32 GB Class 10 SDHC Flash Memory Card, $22.49.
LEGAL INSURRECTION: Is conservative blogger in Georgia another victim of “lawfare”? I’d never heard of Rashad Richey or his felony conviction, but his lawsuit against a blogger pretty much ensures I’ll be hearing more about him. Key bit:
Richey had a series of misdemeanor convictions for criminal trespass and simple battery. Channel 2 Action News has now learned Richey also had a felony conviction for aggravated assault in 1998 but was sentenced as a first-time offender. When he completed his sentence, the felony was wiped from his record.
That doesn’t mean it never happened, though, and suing people is no way to keep it from being mentioned. I’ve warned people about this kind of thing. More than once.
UPDATE: Eugene Volokh is unimpressed with Richey’s complaint.
So Richey’s only argument seems to be that calling someone with several misdemeanor conviction and one felony conviction that was expunged (just because it was a first offense, and not on the grounds that Richey had been exonerated) a “recidivist” is recklessly or knowingly false because “recidivist” is reserved for people with multiple felony convictions. But I don’t think that the term is limited to felonies in ordinary language, and I don’t think reasonable readers of the blog would have so understood the word; rather, a typical lay reader would likely see it as simply accusation of multiple criminal offenses — an accusation that appears to be true.
And that is being talked about more, thanks to Richey’s suit. Criminal record aside, this kind of obvious PR stupidity ought to disqualify him for a political-director slot on its own, I’d think.
POLL: Joe Biden Losing His Appeal. Is Hillary waiting in the wings?
CHANGE: Charlie Rangel’s Career Might Be In Peril. “There is a growing sense among New York political insiders that next month’s primary could mark the end of 81-year-old Rep. Charlie Rangel’s storied Congressional career. Rangel, the third-most-senior House Member, has been weakened by health, the weight of an ethics rebuke and redistricting. Moreover, he is battling a message, being delivered on multiple fronts, that it’s time for a change and new leadership.” It was time 20 years ago.
SECRET SERVICE SCANDAL UPDATE: Did agency cut corners in rush to handle embarrassing incident?
MICKEY KAUS: If Facebook’s a scandal, what about GM?
Facebook’s IPO launched at $38 a share, and the stock is now trading at $32, and the company and its bankers stand accused of having “hyped up” the stock.** There are lawsuits and hearings.
GM’s post-bailout IPO launched at $33 a share, and the stock is now trading at $22, after being repeatedly touted by the highest officials of the U.S. government. Yet the
suckersinvestors who bought it aren’t having a cow.
It’s different when the government bilks you.
UPDATE: Lanny Davis: Cory Booker Got It Right.
Private equity firms often invest in distressed companies by putting in cash and cutting expenses in order to save a company that is already close to bankruptcy. Sometimes the investment works and the company and jobs are saved. And sometimes, to save the company, jobs need to be cut or wages and benefits reduced.
Does that sound familiar? It should. It’s called the General Motors bailout, widely touted by President Obama and Democrats as a success story.
Hmm. This defense is almost making me change my mind. Lanny, you sneaky bastard . . . .
#MEDIAMATTERSFAIL: Too bad, Limbaugh ratings not plunging.
ORTHODOX JEWS RALLY to keep the Internet kosher.
WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE so upset over Citizens United?
BRYAN PRESTON: Brett Kimberlin May Not Have A Soul, But He Has A Lengthy Internet Trail.
And an increasingly high Internet profile.
PUBLIC EDUCATION: Nurse refuses student inhaler during asthma attack: School says medical release form lacked parent’s signature.
School leaders called Sue Rudi when her son started having trouble breathing. She rushed to the office and was taken back to the nurse’s office by school administrators and they discovered the teen on the floor.
“As soon as we opened up the door, we saw my son collapsing against the wall on the floor of the nurse’s office while she was standing in the window of the locked door looking down at my son, who was in full-blown asthma attack,” Rudi said.
Michael Rudi said when he started to pass out from his attack, the nurse locked the door.
You know, I’m beginning to think that sending your kids to public schools is starting to look like parental malpractice.
NEW CIVILITY: Alec Baldwin mocks Andrew Breitbart’s death. “Though it’s foolish to expect civility from a man who offends the families of 9/11 victims and calls his own 11-year old daughter a ‘thoughtless pig,’ Alec’s comments show an unrepentant disrespect for the wife and children who survived Andrew Breitbart.”