Liberals: Romney, too rich; Rubio, not rich enough; Hillary, just right!

Fully
With the release of the 2005-06 statements, there is now a full public accounting of Mr. Rubio’s expenses for the four years he had a Republican Party credit card in his capacity as head of campaign operations for Florida House Republicans. His opponents and news outlets had long asked that they be disclosed. (New York Times, 11/8/2015)

Still not disclosed? Where exactly was President Obama the night that Ambassador Stevens was murdered in Benghazi? Sadly, the media has not asked.


Killer
President Obama personally killed the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, dismissing the project as a mere “symbol” that “has occupied what I, frankly, consider an overinflated role in our political discourse.” The irony is that the pipeline’s benefits would be tangible, while the symbolism and overinflation are entirely political. (Wall Street Journal, 11/8/2015)

When is a job, not a job? When it is an XL pipeline job. Will union toadies continue to support Hillary and Democrats? Probably.


Star
During the many months she spent in immigration detention centers and a county jail, Estrella Sánchez, who is seeking asylum, became used to mockery from guards, taunts from fellow inmates and a deep sense of isolation.
...
In some cases, though, the best solution is to keep transgender people out of correctional facilities. Wherever possible, authorities should seek alternatives to detention, like community-based monitoring.
...
The Justice Department ruled in April that policies barring transgender inmates from beginning new hormone treatment are unconstitutional, and most states allow the treatment for prisoners in principle. However, 44 percent of transgender prison inmates in a 2014 survey reported being denied hormones.
...
Last month, California announced it would begin covering sex reassignment surgery for some inmates. So far, it is the only state to do so. (New York Times editorial, 11/9/2015)

Meet the New York Times Victim of the Day: Estrella Sanchez. An illegal immigrant. 

The Times believes that 1) She should not be in prison, 2) She should receive hormone therapy while she is in prison (even though she really should not be in prison) and, 3) America should pay for his/her sex reassignment surgery.

Not kidding!

On the Vine

Bad Science
Twenty-nine of the nation’s top scientists — including Nobel laureates, veteran makers of nuclear arms and former White House science advisers — wrote to President Obama on Saturday to praise the Iran deal, calling it innovative and stringent. (New York Times, 8/9/2015)

Which inevitably recalls the column written a while back by George Will who quoted Albert Einstein's comments when Nazi Germany announced "100 scientists against Einstein." Einstein said: "If I was wrong, they would need only one."


Far Away
Even as support for ending marijuana prohibition is building around the country, Congress and the Obama administration remain far too timid about the need for change. (New York Times editorial, 8/9/2015)

New York Times editors want to legalize marijuana...and outlaw plastic water bottles. 


Hands Off
“What this campaign is doing is sending a loud and clear message to the billionaire class: And that is that their greed is destroying the United States of America,” Mr. Sanders, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, shouted above the roar of the crowd. “This country belongs to all of us — and not just a handful of billionaires.” (New York Times, 8/9/2015)

"And by 'billionaires' I mean George Soros, Tom Steyer and Jeffrey Katzenberg."


Lapsed
Against the backdrop of other current government computer security lapses, notably the large-scale theft of files from the Office of Personnel Management, most specialists believe the occasional appearance of classified information in the Clinton account was probably of marginal consequence. (New York Times, 8/9/2015)

Correction (we would like to see):
Against the backdrop of other current government computer security lapses, notably the large-scale theft of files from the Office of Personnel Management, most specialists who plan to vote for Hillary Clinton believe the occasional appearance of classified information in the Clinton account was probably of marginal consequence.


White Privilege
At a Saturday afternoon rally in Seattle, Washington, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Sen. Bernie Sanders was shut down by screeching Black Lives Matters protestors. As Sanders was speaking, two women surrounded his podium and said they would shut the event down if they were not allowed to speak. When an attempt was made to ask the women to “be reasonable,” they began shouting. Soon, avowed socialist Sanders was forced to leave the stage where he shook hands with many white well-wishers in the audience. (Breitbart.com, 8/9/2015)

Trust us, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing Liberals confronted....by even crazier Liberals!

The Root of All Evil

Sordid
A hidden-camera video released last week purported to show that Planned Parenthood illegally sells tissue from aborted fetuses. It shows nothing of the sort. But it is the latest in a series of unrelenting attacks on Planned Parenthood, which offers health care services to millions of people every year. The politicians howling to defund Planned Parenthood care nothing about the truth here, being perfectly willing to undermine women’s reproductive rights any way they can. (New York Times editorial, 7/22/2015)

Abortion holds a special place in the Liberal canon and so it must be protected at all costs, including with lies, deception and omissions. It is a "choice," a matter of "privacy," and even a critical component of "women's health." When the ugly truths about abortion crop up such as Dr. Kermit Gosnell's abortion house of horrors, these are largely ignored. Here the New York Times editors purposefully ignore the Planned Parenthood rep talking about altering the abortion procedure to preserve more fetal body parts. Oh, and also the part where she says: "I want a Lamborghini." It is similarly ignored in a 'news' article that the Times runs today on the story.

Guess they thought those comments were not relevant. The New York Times is a dishonest enterprise. 


Loser
After two presidential victories, Mr. Obama presides over a Democratic Party that has lost 13 seats in the U.S. Senate and 69 in the House during his tenure, a net loss unmatched by any modern U.S. president.

Democrats have also lost 11 governorships, four state attorneys general, 910 legislative seats, as well as the majorities in 30 state legislative chambers. In 23 states, Republicans control the governor’s office and the legislature; Democrats, only seven. (Wall Street Journal, 7/20/2015)

What a nice reminder!


Hamburger Hell
A panel appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is scheduled to meet in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon to recommend that the minimum wage be raised for employees of fast-food chain restaurants throughout the state. The three-man panel has indicated that it favored increasing the wage, in stages, to $15 an hour — the amount the protesters have been demanding. (New York Times, 7/22/2015)

The college students who work at McDonalds are elated. 

The college students who buy Big Macs are dejected. 

Meanwhile, fast-food restaurants ramp up automation efforts. 

Elbows and Backs

Let the Liberal media feeding frenzy on Ted Cruz begin now that he has announced for president. Here are some facts you should know first:

- He graduated cum laude from Princeton.

- He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law.

- Harvard's Alan Dershowitz (no great friend of conservatives) said about him: "Cruz was off-the-charts brilliant." (Wikipedia)

Liberals are enamored of people who are smart. Or in the case of Barack Obama, people who they think are smart, even though those same people never released their academic transcripts. What will they say about Cruz?


Suspended
The police here said Monday that they had found no evidence that a woman was gang raped at a University of Virginia fraternity house in 2012, and they were suspending their investigation, after a lengthy inquiry in which the alleged victim refused to cooperate. (New York Times, 3/23/2015)

Prediction: This will have absolutely no effect. Feminists will continue to scream ad nauseum about the "culture of rape" on American college campuses.


Avoidance
To avoid a future built on the unsustainable ground of permanent Israeli military subjugation of the Palestinians, the question now is what Palestinians, Americans and the rest of the world should do next to keep the hope of peace alive. (New York Times editorial, 3/24/2015)

What can Palestinians do to "keep the hope of peace alive?" That's a tough one. We do not have any good ideas there. Oh wait! How about this idea: stop building tunnels into Israeli territory in order to launch terror attacks on Israeli civilians. Maybe, just maybe if Palestinians stopped doing that they could keep the hope of peace alive.


Extra Extra
Vermont had a very small uninsured population and paid out extra subsidies that made its program extremely attractive... (New York Times, 3/24/2015)

Wait, not only is Vermont subsidizing eighty percent of its insured population, but it also paid "extra subsidies?"

How did we not know about this before now? Get Shumlin on the line!

Most Important Thing on Television Tonight: Bruins Face-Off at 8:30pm

Let Down
The start of 2015 finds no letup in the attacks on a woman’s constitutionally protected right to make her own childbearing decisions. Republican lawmakers and organizations devoted to dismantling reproductive freedom have succeeded in shrinking the already inadequate number of abortion providers, making it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for women — especially young and poor women — to obtain safe and legal abortion services in large swaths Texas and other parts of the country. (New York Times editorial. 1/20/2015)

The editors at the New York Times bemoan the fact that there are not more abortion doctors. Why is that we wonder? Perhaps President Obama could announce a new initiative: free tuition for those students who enroll in Abortion Studies. Free medical school tuition - or loan forgiveness - for those residents who specialize in Abortion. As a country, we simply cannot fall behind the rest of the world in turning out first class abortionists.


Cookie Monsters
The lunatics of the hard left are losing their cookies because they think American Sniper will singlehandedly undo a decade of anti-Bush, anti-Iraq War propaganda.... (John Hayward, Breitbart.com, 1/20/2015)

Ain't it the truth! Liberals just hate anything that smacks of patriotism. It undermines their narrative that America is the source of all evil in the world. 


Proclamation
Specifically, Muslim leaders need to condemn anyone who commits these acts of violence and clearly state that these people are evil and are enemies of Islam.

It’s not enough to simply condemn violence, they must stand up and loudly proclaim that these people are not martyrs who will receive a reward in the afterlife, and rather they are murderers who are going to hell.

If they refuse to do that, then they are part of the problem.  There is no middle ground here. (Bobby Jindal, quoted on Breitbart.com, 1/20/2015)

Is Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal running for president? 

Why not?

Obama Bravely Confronts America's Biggest Problem: Cost of Community College

Fueled
Months of investigation by The New York Times, centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam. (New York Times, 1/15/2015)

We knew that The New York Times was heavily invested in Hillary Clinton for president. We just did not realize how much. The Times conducts an "investigation" and concludes that Hillary's hands are clean on Benghazi. Incredibly, absent any other excuse they revert to "the video made them do it." 

A video that no one saw. 

Of course, the Times must neutralize any potential threat to Hill. Henceforth, any time a Republican challenger brings up Benghazi, the Times will be able to refer to their own article as "proof" and accuse the Republican of deceit. This is how journalism works in a Liberal world.


Abstract Thinking
In the abstract, President Obama’s proposal for making community college tuition-free seems a reasonable response to a troublesome fact: The American work force is less educated than it needs to be at a time when most jobs in the new economy will require some college education. But for such an idea to work, states and localities that have been starving community colleges for decades will need to begin holding them to higher standards and commit to sustained financing instead of using the new federal money to dodge their own financial obligations....the preliminary plans released last week call for an estimated $60 billion in new spending over 10 years to help cover tuition and fees for full-time and half-time students who maintain a 2.5 grade point average — about a C-plus — and who make consistent progress toward completion. (New York Times editorial, 1/15/2015)

Catch the logic here! Editors at The Times demand that states need to hold community colleges to higher standards...and give them more money. Students, of course, will not be held to higher standards. A C+ will be just fine! This is accountability in a Liberal world.


Our Favorite Quotes
Two weeks ago, the economist Thomas Sowell posed a question that I can’t get out of my mind: “Has anyone asked the question, ‘How could so many people across the country spend so much time at night marching, rioting and looting, if they had to get up and go to work the next morning?’ ” (quoted by Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 1/16/2015)


We're now in a situation where the Belgians are carrying out preemptive raids against ISIS terrorists. The Belgium police are now taking a harder line than the White House. (former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, quoted on Foxnews.com, 1/16/2015)

 Yeah, liberals hate bullying all right, but they’re not opposed to using it. When they casually throw out words like ‘bigot’ and ‘racist,’ it does cow people into avoiding this debate. And if you’re doing that, you don’t get to wear the ‘Je Suis Charlie’ button, the button you should wear says, ‘Je Suis Part of the Problem.’ (Bill Maher quoted on Breitbart.com, 1/17/2015)

Hat tip to Bill Maher, someone we have been highly critical of in the past...and will be again in the future. For now, however, we will note that he has been incredibly brave in exposing both Liberal hypocrisy on the issue of free speech and on calling out Muslims on the intolerance and violence that plague their religion. 


Fruitless
Wall Street may be growing anxious about the negative impact of falling oil prices on energy producers, but the steep declines of recent weeks are delivering substantial benefits to American working-class families and retirees who have largely missed out on the fruits of the five-and-a-half-year economic recovery.

Just last week, the federal Energy Information Administration estimated that the typical American household would save $750 because of lower gasoline prices this year, $200 more than government experts predicted a month ago. People who depend on home heating oil and propane to warm their homes, as millions do in the Northeast and Midwest, should enjoy an additional savings of about $750 this winter. (New York Times, 1/18/2015)

Given lower energy prices Liberals will seek to raise taxes on oil and gas. That is basic economics in a Liberal world. 


Drop Outs
When Colorado legalized marijuana two years ago, nobody was quite ready for the problem of exploding houses.

But that is exactly what firefighters, courts and lawmakers across the state are confronting these days: amateur marijuana alchemists who are turning their kitchens and basements into “Breaking Bad”-style laboratories, using flammable chemicals to extract potent drops of a marijuana concentrate commonly called hash oil, and sometimes accidentally blowing up their homes and lighting themselves on fire in the process. (New York Times, 1/18/2015)

Coming soon to Vermont when Governor Shumlin realizes his dream of legal dope.  This is logic in a Liberal world.

Winding Down

Lonely
Michael G. Grimm, the Republican Party’s lone congressional representative in New York City, announced late Monday night that he would resign effective Jan. 5, two weeks after he pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion. (New York Times, 12/30/2014)

When Republican politicians misbehave they are forced to resign. Not so with Democrats (see Rangel, Charlie). Sometimes these Democrats even become the revered senior statesmen of their party (see Clinton, William).


Squandered, Defaced & Shredded
Mr. de Blasio isn’t going to say it, but somebody has to: With these acts of passive-aggressive contempt and self-pity, many New York police officers, led by their union, are squandering the department’s credibility, defacing its reputation, shredding its hard-earned respect. (New York Times editorial. 12/30/2014)

The New York Times editors never once explain in this editorial exactly why the NYPD is angry with Mayor de Blasio, so we are left to wonder. What did the mayor say or do? Readers with any information are urged to comment so that we can get to the bottom of this perplexing mystery. 

Cutting Spending For Education: Something We All Can Agree On

Profiles in Courage
Racial profiling will still be allowed at airports, along border despite new policy (Washington Post, 12/5/2014)

And American lives will be saved because of it.


Bad
 “...every time something bad happens in the black community, we can’t bring up slavery.” (Charles Barkley, 12/5/2014)

Sir Charles is not backing down! Good for him.


Per Cent
Ms. Landrieu, 59, earned a reputation as one of the most conservative Democrats in Washington in her 18 years there, particularly with her vigorous support of the oil and gas industry, a position that often put her at odds with the party’s environmentalists. (New York Times, 12/6/2014)

...Ms. Landrieu had voted with Mr. Obama 97 percent of the time. (New York Times, 12/7/2014)

According to the New York Times, Mary Landrieu who voted with Obama 97%, of the time is a conservative Democrat. 

Also according to the New York Times: those who voted with Obama 98-99% of the time are moderate Democrats; those who voted with him 100% of the time are Democrats; those who voted with him over 100% of the time are liberal Democrats. 


Trans Parent
Last September, a brief mention in a welter of bureaucratic announcements caught the eye of Steven Aftergood, an advocate for government transparency at the Federation of American Scientists. He investigated and discovered that the Central Intelligence Agency was proposing to eventually destroy the email of all but a small number of its thousands of employees, from covert operatives to counterterrorism officers. (New York Times editorial, 12/7/2014)

Of no concern to the editorial board at the New York Times: the disappearance of Lois Lerner's e-mails.


Linked In
A long-awaited Senate report condemning torture by the Central Intelligence Agency has not even been made public yet, but former President George W. Bush’s team has decided to link arms with former intelligence officials and challenge its conclusions.

The report is said to assert that the C.I.A. misled Mr. Bush and his White House about the nature, extent and results of brutal techniques like waterboarding, and some of his former administration officials privately suggested seizing on that to distance themselves from the controversial program, according to people involved in the discussion. But Mr. Bush and his closest advisers decided that “we’re going to want to stand behind these guys,” as one former official put it. (New York Times, 12/8/2014)

In the wake of the disaster that has been the Obama presidency, George W. Bush's presidency is already being reevaluated....to the upside. And it is no wonder. As Senate Democrats prepare to issue a report which will result in the death of Americans, Bush - given the opportunity to sell out the CIA - stands with them and defends his actions to protect Americans. 

That is how it is in America: Republicans defend the country and Democrats weaken it. 

Stay The Course

Lesser
Less than 48 hours after President Obama nominated Antonio F. Weiss, a longtime adviser on mergers at the investment bank Lazard and a Democratic supporter, to become the under secretary of Treasury for domestic finance, Senator Elizabeth Warren denounced the appointment and said that she would vote against his confirmation.
...
Yet Ms. Warren’s wrath is misdirected, and her understanding of the so-called inversion deal on which she bases much of her opposition appears misinformed...Ms. Warren is, to put it politely, mistaken. (New York Times, 11/24/2014)

Why do we have to put it politely? Can't we just say that 1%er Elizabeth Warren is a complete and utter fraud? The new hero of the Democrat party - like the current president, and former hero of the Democrats - does not have the vaguest idea of how capitalism works. When you are a Democrat and the New York Times corrects you, you know that you screwed up.


Blown
“Unfortunately, Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them. We took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem: health-care reform.” (Senator Chuck Schumer, quoted in the Wall Street Journal, 11/25/2014)

So how do you spin this if you are Democrat?


Lies
But he (Hagel) was not the core of the Obama administration’s military problem. That lies with the president and a national security policy that has too often been incoherent and shifting at a time of mounting international challenges, especially in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. (New York Times editorial, 11/25/2014)

When you are a Democrat and the New York Times says your policy is "incoherent", you know that you screwed up.

So how do you spin this if you are Democrat?


Evidence-Free
Truthfully, the angry and sullen reactions of those who wanted Wilson tried are understandable. They’re understandable because most Americans live in the evidence-free narrative created by malicious media liars, and the politicians they enable. They live in the evidence-free world of the political left, which maintains that America remains deeply racist, that every white cop is Bull Connor, and that every black man shot by police is a Selma marcher. So long as they live in that world, racial reconciliation will remain a dream, and racial polarization will remain a tool of the political and media elite to sell papers, raise cash, and drive votes. (Ben Shapiro, Breitbart.com, 11/24/2014)

Ben Shapiro at Breitbart never disappoints. Think he is wrong? Recall what the despicable Mary Landrieu said about race on the eve of the recent election.


Razor Sharp
Scenario A -- A secretly racist cop sees two unarmed black teenagers (one of whom is six feet five inches tall and weighs 250 pounds) and decides to provoke a fight with them for no apparent reason. The cop decides to shoot the teenager knowing full well that any weapons discharge would be fully investigated. 

Scenario B -- A six foot five inch, 250 pound black teenager - who recently smoked marijuana and who had just minutes before robbed a convenience store - attacks a cop who had asked him to move to the sidewalk from the middle of the street. The teenager is shot during the struggle. 

Occam's razor posits that the simplest or most obvious solution to a problem is most often the correct one.


Refrain
They headed toward City Hall, chanting familiar refrains calling for justice. When they got there, several revelers rushed a police cruiser and smashed the windows with bricks. They then rocked it until it flipped over, and bystanders cheered.

They eventually flipped it back over and tried to set it on fire. Small flames flared up, but the car was not engulfed.

“I thought it was exciting,” said Sherrelle Primm, 26, a protester who watched as the car was vandalized. (New York Times, 11/27/2014)

Even the storefront office of Antonio French, a local politician who was an outspoken leader amid the protests over the shooting, has been destroyed. (New York Times, 11/27/2014)

We have written before about dysfunctional cultures, most notably the Palestinians for whom child suicide bombers are celebrated and sweet treats are passed around to motorists after Jewish rabbis are slaughtered while praying in a synagogue. Cultures which act in such complete opposition to accepted norms of civilization are doomed to failure. Similarly it is with the poor urban underclass wherein burning down their own neighborhood - even the office of one of their own - is celebrated and "exciting."

If Al Sharpton truly wanted to help his people he would teach black youths not to resist the police and would stand in front of the beauty shop, the convenience store and the community center in these neighborhoods and use his powers of persuasion to prevent violence. 

Defeated, Democrats Urge Compromise

Darkness
The next Senate was just elected on the greatest wave of secret, special-interest money ever raised in a congressional election. (New York Times editorial, Dark Money Helped Win the Senate, 11/9/2014)

Republicans defeated Democrats and won the Senate. Ergo, it was "dark money" that did it. When Democrats win elections it is because of their superior "ground game."  


RedStateVT Poll
Who were you most happy to see defeated in the recent election?
a) Martha Coakley, perennial loser
b) Sandra Fluke, destitute former law student unable to afford condoms
c) Wendy Davis, partial birth abortion advocate


Topped Off
Four years ago, Arkansas had a congressional delegation that was five-sixths Democratic, a Democratic governor, a Democratic-controlled legislature and an all-Democratic slate of statewide officials. It will now be Republican from top to bottom. (New York Times, 11/6/2014)

Great to see the home state of Mitt Romney back in Republican hands. What? Not Mitt Romney's home state? Oh, that's right, Bill Clinton's home state. 


Allegations
On Friday the U.S. Supreme Court issued a writ of certiorari in King v. Burwell, one of several cases in which plaintiffs allege that the Internal Revenue Service violated the PPACA when it issued a directive making ObamaCare subsidies available for insurance policies purchased on the federal exchange. That is counter to a provision of the law limiting the subsidies to policies purchased “through an Exchange established by the State.” Most states have not established exchanges. (Wall Street Journal, 11/10/2014)

True story...listening to a Liberal dingbat today on NPR talking about this very issue. Her contention is that "state" means the same thing as "federal." It is impossible to argue with these people. 

Rare Air

The Bear Growls
Russia signaled for the first time on Friday that it was prepared to annex the Crimea region of Ukraine, significantly intensifying its confrontation with the West over the political crisis in Ukraine and threatening to undermine a system of respect for national boundaries that has helped keep the peace in Europe and elsewhere for decades. (New York Times, 3/8/2014)

And so the effects of the Obama Doctrine are made known. The Obama Doctrine states that the U.S. will not protect its strategic interests in the world, will not curb the advance of totalitarian regimes and will abandon allies if necessary. We wonder how Poland is feeling right about now. They have seen this movie before.

Meanwhile, Obama does what he does best:

He headed to Florida for a speech on education and then a weekend off with his family, but aides promised he would be monitoring the crisis.

No doubt, he will find time for a round of golf.


The Waiting
The February unemployment rate of 6.7 percent, for example, would have been 10 percent if the 5.7 million workers who are waiting on the sidelines for job openings were included in the jobless rate. (New York Times editorial, 3/8/2014)

Too late for the 2012 elections, the New York Times admits what the conservative press reported at the time. Of course, the Times goes on to explain that high unemployment is the fault of Republicans, and not of President Executive Order.  


The Irritant
Ralph Nader is irritated with Bernie Sanders.

Sanders won’t return his calls, won’t combine forces with other progressives, and as a result, he isn’t getting as much done as he could, the frequent independent presidential candidate and consumer advocate says.

Nader detailed his grievances Thursday in a blunt two-page letter to the Vermont independent senator with the heading, “Bernie, we thought we knew ye!” Then Nader called the Burlington Free Press and shared the letter, which accuses Sanders of “speechifying” but getting nowhere, because he is a “Lone Ranger.” (Burlington Free Press, 3/6/2014)

In the world of conservative blogging, this is what is known as a wonderful gift: two moonbats at odds. 

Of course, we would disagree with Nader in his characterization of Sanders as a "Lone Ranger." To us, Sanders is more of a "Tonto" which would make him "the village idiot." 

Wind of the Plot

Predisposed
Vermont would require that retailers charge shoppers a 10-cent fee for disposable carryout bags in an attempt to streamline waste management and cut down on litter under a bill being debated in the Legislature, but not all businesses support the measure. (Burlington Free Press, 2/21/2014)

Liberals prove (once again) that there is nothing too small to tax.


Unclear
Five years later, it is clear to all fair-minded economists that the stimulus did work, and that it did enormous good for the economy and for tens of millions of people. But because it fell short of its goals, and was roundly ridiculed by Republicans and inadequately defended by Democrats, who should have trumpeted its success, the president’s stimulus plan is now widely considered a stumble. (New York Times editorial, 2/23/2014)

Proving once again that when Liberals cannot win an argument they declare the argument over: Economists agree the stimulus worked. (Dems just didn't defend it adequately).

And from the same editorial:

It improved 42,000 miles of road, fixed or replaced 2,700 bridges, and bought more than 12,000 transit vehicles. It cleaned up water supplies, created the school reforms of the Race to the Top program, and greatly expanded the use of renewable energy and broadband Internet service. (New York Times editorial, 2/23/2014)

Wow, just look at what $832 billion bought. 

That's EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO BILLION DOLLARS.


Sincerely
While I may share his feelings about the need for additional strictures on guns, having grown up in the Midwest, I know that many people come by their guns honestly and hold onto them dearly for sincere reasons.

Mr. Morgan’s approach to gun regulation was more akin to King George III, peering down his nose at the unruly colonies and wondering how to bring the savages to heel. He might have wanted to recall that part of the reason the right to bear arms is codified in the Constitution is that Britain was trying to disarm the citizenry at the time. (David Carr, New York Times, 2/24/2014)

Great column about the demise of Piers Morgan. Carr sounds like a non-conservative with whom you can have a meaningful conversation.


Inevitably
I’m not sure whether conservatives realize yet that their Plan A on health reform — wait for Obamacare’s inevitable collapse, and reap the political rewards — isn’t working. But it isn’t. (Paul Krugman, New York Times, 2/24/2014)

On the other hand, we have Paul Krugman with whom we doubt it is possible to engage in meaningful conversation.

Declaring Obamacare a success (another argument that Liberals claim has been won, all evidence to the contrary) Krugman echoes a familiar refrain: Republicans have no alternative for Obamacare. Well here is the way Republicans might respond: "You geniuses destroyed the American healthcare system and your only response is that we don't have an alternative?"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sharply
Federal health officials are reporting a sharp increase in unprotected sex among gay American men, a development that makes it harder to fight the AIDS epidemic. (NYT, 11/28/2013)

With no vaccine to prevent AIDS yet available, treatment is an effective way to slow the epidemic because it reduces the risk that an infected person will spread the virus to others. (NYT editorial, 11/27/2013)

We are not sure if the New York Times realized the unintentional irony of their article and their editorial. We will ask the simple and obvious question: What would be another way to slow the AIDS epidemic?


Highly
Despite the highly touted Iranian nuclear deal announced by the Obama administration over the weekend, the two sides still can't seem to agree on what it is they agreed to. 

The aftermath of the deal struck early Sunday in Geneva has been marked by confusion. According to Iranian media, the country's Foreign Ministry is now claiming that the White House put out an invalid fact sheet about the agreement. (Foxnews.com, 11/27/2013)

After stunning success with Libya, Syria, and Russia, Obama now pivots to Iran. 

With similar results. 

To call his foreign policy efforts incompetent is an insult to incompetence. 

Free to Roam

Equations
A renowned Liberal blogger ceaselessly defends Obamacare by equating it to Romneycare in Massachusetts and to a conservative Heritage Foundation proposal involving the individual mandate. Allow RedStateVT to debunk these comparisons once and for all. 

Romneycare was a bipartisan solution enacted in a Liberal state. Of course Obamacare was passed without a single vote of support from Republicans and is a national plan. Interestingly, after Romneycare no other state chose to pass similar legislation. 

The Heritage proposal was never endorsed by the Republican party. Pinning it on Republicans would be akin to Democrats owning every kooky idea that comes from the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network. (Note to Dems: You do not want to go there.)

Democrats insist on ideological purity among Republicans, but are quick to forget that Mormon Harry Reid is pro-life. (For those who do not remember Harry Reid is the Democrat head of the U.S. Senate). All of which reminds us of something that the aforementioned Rev. Al once said about Mormons:

"As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation." 

Oh well.


Uncommon
Even as Americans struggle with the changes required by health care reform, an international survey released last week by the Commonwealth Fund, a research organization, shows why change is so necessary.

The report found that by virtually all measures of cost, access to care and ease of dealing with insurance problems, Americans fared poorly compared with people in other advanced countries. The survey covered 20,000 adults in the United States and 10 other industrial nations — Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain, all of which put in place universal or near-universal health coverage decades ago. (New York Times editorial, 11/17/2013)

This was inevitable. In the midst of an Obamacare meltdown we get a report telling us how terrible health care is in the U.S., how much better it is elsewhere and how the president's plan will raise our care to the level of (pick it) say, New Zealand. Of course the inquisitive minds on the New York Times editorial board fall for it hook, line and sinker. These reports are written by people with anti-U.S. biases and are flawed to the point of laughability. You have seen them before. "Infant Mortality in the U.S. Lags Botswana." And then you find out that Botswana does not report infant deaths in the first three weeks. 

People tend to vote with their feet and the wealthy Canadians hoofing it across the border for U.S. health care reveals plenty. When was the last time you heard about a Saudi billionaire jetting to Norway for cancer treatment?

Paint a Gold Nugget

Catch and Release
Second, the state must do more to help released prisoners get the re-entry and rehabilitation services that already exist across California. Inmates are often released with no warning to friends or family, with no money, no means of transportation and no clothes other than the jumpsuits on their backs. It is no wonder a 2012 report showed that 47 percent of California prisoners returned to prison within a year of their release, a significantly higher rate than the national average. (New York Times Editorial. 8/10/2013)

This from the Times editors on California prisons. Apparently criminals are re-incarcerated not because they commit additional crimes, but because the state did not provide them with cash, a car and a fashion-forward wardrobe when they were previously released.

Local Customs

Lost and Found
The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue. Mr. Obama is proving the truism that the executive branch will use any power it is given and very likely abuse it. That is one reason we have long argued that the Patriot Act, enacted in the heat of fear after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by members of Congress who mostly had not even read it, was reckless in its assignment of unnecessary and overbroad surveillance powers. (NYT editorial, 6/6/2013)

RedStateVT disagrees with the New York Times and agrees with.....President Obama? What is the world coming to? 

Years ago when RedStateVT toiled in the private sector an e-mail went out from an employee to others in the firm warning that cell phone companies were collecting data from subscribers for the purpose of developing more effective target marketing. Some expressed outrage, some yawned. Our favorite comment came from the friend who said: "If they want to spend money to track our phone calls to find out that my wife talks to her mother for two hours everyday, have at it!"

The larger issue - beyond that of faux privacy concerns - is that this country remains at war with Islamic fundamentalists. We love the Patriot Act and encourage the government to do everything possible to keep America safe. Note to Liberals: You cannot argue against government vigilance and then criticize that same government if the terrorists strike. See below:

Well, another day, another Washington furor. This one is over a National Security Agency phone data monitoring program, but unlike the other White House scandals there seems to be little here that is scandalous. The existence of the program was exposed years ago and such surveillance is a core part of the war on terror, if we can still use that term. (WSJ, 6/7/2013)


Friend Indeed
Assad, in contrast, has a real friend. Putin knows Obama. Having watched Obama’s retreat in Eastern Europe, his passivity at Russian obstructionism on Iran, his bended-knee “reset” policy, Putin knows he has nothing to fear from the U.S. president.

Result? The contemptuous Putin floods Syria with weapons. Iran, equally disdainful, sends Revolutionary Guards to advise and shore up Assad’s forces. Hezbollah invades Syria and seizes Qusair. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 6/6/2013)

Charles with yet another scathing indictment of Obama, a foreign policy rube if ever there was one. When Putin's henchman reported back last year that Obama had said that he would have "more flexibility after the election," Putin got the message loud and clear. 

Fence Post

Noticeable
But China’s growth in the American auto industry is drawing notice in Washington. Last year, the Obama administration filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization that China’s government was unfairly subsidizing the production of some parts shipped to America. And the country’s inroads into American-made batteries and electric vehicles have drawn scrutiny because that sector of the industry has been heavily subsidized by the United States government. (NYT, 5/12/2013)

Has so much irony ever been found in two sentences? Obama is mad at the Chinese government for subsidizing auto parts at the same time that the American government subsidizes electric car parts.


Hand Out
Republican lawmakers have become reflexive in rejecting every extended hand from the administration, even if the ideas were ones that they themselves once welcomed. Under the circumstances, Mr. Obama would be best advised to stop making peace offerings. Only when the Republican Party feels public pressure to become a serious partner can the real work of governing begin. (New York Times editorial, 5/12/2013)

Well, we found more irony. Democrats - who famously worked so well with George Bush - cannot fathom why Republicans would snub President Obama's "peace offerings." (We tried to come up with a joke about the white man bargaining with native Americans, but we couldn't get the racial components worked out.)

So one more time:
-Democrats would not work with George Bush. They despised him.

-Republicans do not trust Obama or the Democrats because of the way in which they passed Obamacare.

-Both sides are posturing (and waiting) for the mid-term elections.


Suggestion
The New York Times obtained a 12-page timeline from the inspector general’s audit on Sunday. It suggests that the effort to single out Tea Party groups goes back to March 2010 when a special Determinations Unit in the Cincinnati office of the I.R.S. began searching tax-exemption applications that focused on groups on one side of the political spectrum, rather than broadly on political groups without a social-welfare mission. (NYT, 5/12/2013)

Halfway through an article on the IRS investigation of conservative groups we get this, giving hope that the Times does remember its past ability to do investigative journalism. Perhaps the Times has finally found an Obama scandal that they can run with. There have been numerous opportunities after all....


Lean To
President Barack Obama said if any Internal Revenue Service staff targeted groups based on their political leanings, they would be held “fully accountable” for their actions.  “If in fact IRS personnel engaged in the kind of practices that have been reported on, and were intentionally targeting conservative groups, then that’s outrageous,” Mr. Obama said, in his first public remarks on the issue. (WSJ, 5/13/2013)

Obama added; "And when I say 'fully accountable' I mean just like those responsible for Fast and Furious, the collapse of Solyndra, and the debacle in Benghazi were held fully accountable." Meanwhile, Jay Carney said the IRS scandal was "old news."


Down Below
The State Department board that reviewed last year’s attack on a diplomatic outpost in Libya never questioned Hillary Rodham Clinton, the secretary of state at the time, because it had already decided responsibility lay below her level, the board’s chairman said Sunday. Thomas R. Pickering, a former ambassador who led the review, said his group discussed its findings with Mrs. Clinton but did not pose any questions because it had established the facts to its satisfaction and concluded that mistakes were made by less senior officials. Likewise, he said, the panel did not question her two deputies. (NYT, 5/12/2013)

This is precious. Why have a review if you have already determined the answer? And why not question the person who accepted responsibility? 

While we are on Benghazi-gate, we saw Rudy Guiliani a couple of nights ago make a brilliant point. The Obama/Clinton administration contends that they did not send help to the beleaguered ambassador in Libya because they would not have gotten there in time. To which Guiliani responds: "Oh really, how did Clinton/Obama know how long the attack was going to last?"