ThinkProgress compiles a collection of Republicans who can’t quite name just what it is in the dread federal government that they’d cut. Another one that should see national airtime, but won’t.
Month: October 2010
National DNC ad You Will Never See
Voice: South Fulton firefighters from Obion, Tennessee, last week stood by and watched as a family’s home burned down because their services were available by subscription only, and the family had not paid the $75 fee. Outrageous? That’s not what conservatives think.
Kevin Williamson: …for their trouble, the South Fulton fire department is being treated as though it has done something wrong, rather than having gone out of its way to make services available to people who did not have them before. The world is full of jerks, freeloaders, and ingrates — and the problems they create for themselves are their own. These free-riders have no more right to South Fulton’s firefighting services than people in Muleshoe, Texas, have to those of NYPD detectives.
Jonah Goldberg: letting the house burn […] will probably save more houses over the long haul. I know that if I opted out of the program before, I would be more likely to opt-in now. No solace to the homeowner, but an important lesson for compassionate conservatives like our own Dan Foster [who came out for saving the house anyway] (Zing!).
John Derbyshire: I am entirely with the South Fulton fire department here. In the terms of Nico Colchester’s great 1996 essay, they are being crunchy rather than soggy […] One of the duties of conservatives in this soggy fallen world is to stand up for crunchiness. For the fire department to have extinguished the Cranicks’ fire would have been soggy, even aside from the considerable degree of sogginess it would have left on the property.
Voice: “Compassionate” conservatism means core serivices like police and fire departments are only for the wealthy. “Compassionate” conservatism means letting your house burn down over a $75 fee. Ask your representatives where they stand on “compassionate” conservatism.
The Umlaut and the Pound Sign
Those poor squares at the New Yorker…
I remember he had these beer glasses that said ‘pound include beer dot H.’
Snort. The joke only works if it’s told properly:
I remember he had these beer glasses that said ‘#include <beer.h>’
or the radically less funny:
I remember he had these beer glasses that said ‘#include “beer.h"’
Here endeth the lesson.
I think the hug lacked dignity. It did not send a message of American power and forcefulness. So I fret about the reaction around the world to this kind of fraternity-like emotionalism in full public view.
Why not just a dignified, stand-up, serious handshake? That’s what Reagan would have done. A strong handshake shows friendship, respect, and even affection. But a big fat hug seems to go over the line.
Larry Kudlow, reacting to the Obama-Rahm-a hug. No, I am not kidding.
The Narrative Is the Narrative
Assuming big Republican gains this November, the media narrative will claim Democrats overreached and governed too liberally. Yet actual progressive policies polled well and continue to poll well. If anything, it’s been failure to act on popular legislation that helped put them in this hole.
–Markos “The Orange Menace” Moulitsas
Not sure how many times we’re going to have to cover this one, but let’s have at it again:
- GOP landslide, Senate and House change hands: Democrats overreached and governed too liberally. The only solution is a far-right governing philosophy. Obama is a seat-warmer for the next GOP president, nothing more, nothing less. He is not even entitled to his Constitutionally mandated veto power and the GOP exhibits this by shutting down the government every time he uses it and investigating the composting patterns of the WH garden when he’s not.
- GOP gains, Senate Democratic, House barely or even marginally GOP-held: Democrats overreached and governed too liberally. The only solution is a far-right governing philosophy. Obama is a seat-warmer for the next GOP president, nothing more, nothing less. He is not even entitled to his Constitutionally mandated veto power; Democratic Senate pressured to cooperate with whatever inane policy the GOP House wants in name of “bipartisanship,” this pressure is then extended against Obama: “why won’t he work across the aisle??!?!” Obama vetoes said bill: The Democrat just can’t govern/circular firing squad! Signs it: Another Democrat failure that is destroying the country. This, by the way, would be the best possible outcome for the GOP (as it is currently figured) heading into 2012. Just sayin’.
- GOP nets some gains, but The Democrat holds House and Senate: Democrats overreached and governed too liberally. Their gradually diminishing majority clearly shows that the only solution is a far-right governing philosophy. Obama is a seat-warmer for the next GOP president, nothing more, nothing less. He is not even entitled to his Constitutionally mandated veto power; clearly the fact that the Democrat held historic majorities and has essentially “won” the last four Congressional elections (in terms of the majority either switching or staying) is beside the point. America demands a far-right governing philosophy and will get it just as soon as ACORN stops stealing elections.
- Democrats win every seat, hotly contested or otherwise: Democrats overreached and governed too liberally. The only solution is a far-right governing philosophy. Obama is a seat-warmer for the next GOP president, nothing more, nothing less. He is not even entitled to his Constitutionally mandated veto power. The rise of the Tea Klan proves this; it just hasn’t shown up at the electoral polls yet, so we should ignore the electorate and govern far-right. Likewise the failure of the TARP, which I’m pretty sure was a dismal failure, right? Also: Hitler.
Indeed this election really is all about The Democrat being a secret Socialist…and, as Chait notes: the obvious cure here is a big tax cut for the top 2%. What other possible course of action is even possible with a graph like this?
We’re talking about a militant terrorist situation, which I believe isn’t a widespread thing, but it is enough that we need to address, and we have been addressing it. Dearborn, Michigan, and Frankford, Texas are on American soil, and under Constitutional law. Not Sharia law. And I don’t know how that happened in the United States. It seems to me there is something fundamentally wrong with allowing a foreign system of law to even take hold in any municipality or government situation in our United States.
Sharon Angle has the courage to speak about Sharia law and how it’s taking over various cities conveniently located in states she’s not running in.
Apart from this statement being utter gibberish (I mean, seriously, what is she even saying? That the northern reaches of the Dallas | Fort Worth metroplex are now anwering to the edicts of a mullah?), she’s also previously established her overriding concern that The Democrat is setting itself up as a god to be worshiped, in clear violation of The First Commandment. Christian God, after all, is the only Lord God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God that this country should be worshiping. And you sir, don’t seem to be worshiping quite hard enough. Don’t let it happen again.
Apart from this statement being utter gibberish (I mean, seriously, what is she even saying? That the northern reaches of the Dallas | Fort Worth metroplex are now anwering to the edicts of a mullah?), she’s also previously established her overriding concern that The Democrat is setting itself up as a god to be worshiped, in clear violation of The First Commandment. Christian God, after all, is the only Lord God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God that this country should be worshiping. And you sir, don’t seem to be worshiping quite hard enough. Don’t let it happen again.
Senate 2010 in one chart: product of 30 hour cloture motions, constant procedural delays, and a portrait of a broken confirmation system. Why does anybody below Secretary level and lifetime-bench-appointment need confirmation anyway?
Up or down vote. Remember when that was all the rage? Oh, to be young and fancy-free again.
Now, [the GOP] will say, ‘Well, we’re going to cut spending.’ So you say, ‘Okay, what are you going to cut?’ And then what they say is, ‘Well, we’ll cut education by 20 percent. We’ll eliminate 200,000 children from early childhood education programs like Head Start. We’ll cut financial aid for 8 million college students.
At a time when the education of our country’s citizens is probably the best predictor of that country’s economic success, they think it’s more important to give another tax break to folks who are on the Forbes 400 list.
Now, I want to ask my Republican friends: Do you think China is cutting back on education? Do you think South Korea is making it harder for its citizens to get a college education? These countries aren’t playing for second place. And guess what. The United States doesn’t play for second place. We play for first place.
Barack Obama, finally playing for first place himself.
I tell ya, we’ve got some new problems in Washington. Big problems. Just today, Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said people in America are not eating enough fruits and vegetables. They want to give all the power to the federal government to force you to eat more fruits and vegetables. This is what the federal, CDC, they gonna be calling you to make sure you eat fruits and vegetables, every day. This is socialism of the highest order!
Rep. Paul Broun ® of Georgia, giving you a hint of the level of discourse that is to come. Cannot wait. Might I suggest a full investigation into the WH garden?
Lemkin 