The Iron Gates of Time

Tea For One
And what a picture it is, a philosophy oriented around shrinking the role of the federal government in every imaginable way, by slashing spending, cutting taxes and halting or rescinding regulations. Their mantra is repeal and retrenchment, devoid of new initiatives or a positive agenda. (Steven Rattner, NYT, 8/15/2011)


Rattner doesn't like the Tea Party.  With enemies like Rattner, the Tea Party should be just fine:

Former Obama administration official Steven Rattner was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Thursday for his role in a pay-to-play scheme involving New York's pension fund. 


Rattner, the former auto czar, agreed to pay $6.2 million and to a two-year ban from associating with any investment adviser or broker-dealer to settle the SEC allegations, the SEC said Thursday. (New York Post, 11/18/2010)

Wave Goodbye

So what does the president have to offer the Midwest? The idea that the wave of the future is an ever-larger public sector financed by a more or less stagnant private sector looks increasingly absurd. (Michael Barone, WSJ, 8/16/2011)


We struggle to comprehend why this is not obvious to all.  Until, that is, you realize that if you are on the other side - the beneficiary of the largess - you will do whatever it takes to preserve the status quo.


Dip Down
President Obama's Gallup approval rating has dipped below 40%--or, as the White House prefers to put it, the president has saved or created 39 approval points. (James Taranto, WSJ, 8/16/2011)

Good one from Taranto!