Sleeping Dogs

New Horizons
Emboldened by a brighter fiscal horizon, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday recommitted himself to two ambitious projects, a high-speed rail line and a huge water tunnel system, in an optimistic State of the State speech that sought to secure California’s long-term future as well as the three-term governor’s legacy.
...
In November, Mr. Brown surprised many by winning a hard-fought campaign to pass Proposition 30, a temporary tax surcharge that will pour $6 billion a year into the state treasury for the next seven years. (NYT, 1/24/2013)

So California - declared a fiscal basket case mere months ago - is now just fine. And all because of a "temporary" $6 billion tax, not one cent of which has yet been collected. Two predictions: La La Land Liberals will use the windfall not to shore up the state's finances for the long term (e.g. public pensions), but for moonbat projects (e.g. high-speed rails!) and the temporary tax will not be temporary.


Hard Sell
Movies about a New Jersey pornography addict, an abused adult film star, a lesbian housewife-turned-prostitute and a British smut kingpin all generated strong offers from distributors at this year's Sundance Film Festival, proving once again—if it needed to be proven—that sex sells. (WSJ, 1/24/2013)

Repeat to yourself: there is nothing wrong with cultural values in America, there is nothing wrong with cultural values in America, there is nothing wrong....

But if we could only pass that high capacity gun magazine ban our children would be safe.

And while we are at it, the name of the new Sylvester Stallone movie? Bullet to the Head.


OPM
The moral hazard embedded in the explosion of social-welfare programs is plain. Transfers funded by other people's money tend to foster a pernicious "something for nothing" mentality—especially when those transfers seem to be progressively and relentlessly growing, year by year. This "taker" mentality can only weaken civil society—even as it places ever-heavier burdens on taxpayers.

Generosity is a virtue, on that we can all agree with President Obama. But being generous with other people's money is not the same thing. (Nicholas Eberstadt, WSJ, 1/24/2013)

Of the many sins of Democrats we can think of none so grievous as their utter disregard for the economic unsustainability of entitlement programs. Because they have used Republican attempts at reform as the crucible with which to demonize the opposition, they are locked into a path that leads only to ruin.


Abstract Thinking
His emphasis is always on what one abstract group owes another in the service of a larger concept. "You didn't build that" are the defining words of his presidency. (Peggy Noonan, WSJ, 1/24/2013)

The real Obama Doctrine.


Technicalities
A federal appeals court panel unanimously agreed that President Obama violated the Constitution last year by appointing three members to the National Labor Relations Board while the Senate was not technically in recess, circumventing Senate Republicans who had held up his picks for months. (Washington Post, 1/25/2013)

Expect to hear cheers shortly from those defenders of the Constitution who were so critical of many of Bush's actions. Just kidding!