With his annual year in review. This year’s theme (ever so appropriate for the Obama Administration): “The Festival of Sleaze.” Some highlights:
Not that I need to tell you, but read the whole thing.
Federal Judge Stays EPA Cross-Border Rules
January 2nd, 2012In all the pre-New Year’s Eve excitement, I missed Friday’s news that D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals enjoined the EPA from implementing its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) until the court completed its review of the legal challenges against the rule.
This is good news, especially if the rules is invalidated, since that would prevent Texans from dying, as might well happen should older power plants that can’t meet the new rules be unavailable to provide power during peak summer days. (And remember that a 2003 heatwave killed more than 14,000 people in France.
Thanks to the Texas Public Policy Foundation (which has been following the story closely) for the heads-up.
I Would TOTALLY Kick Mike Tyson’s ASS (if he hadn’t left this bar five minutes ago)
January 1st, 2012Insta linked to this Taylor Marsh piece about how she, as a liberal, is Totally Fed Up with Obama and the Democratic Party. I’m a bit less impressed with its significance (or sincerity) than he was, even ignoring the usual parade of liberal straw-man conservatives, mainly because of the sheer cringing cowardice of the timing. It’s like a scrawny guy at a bar going “Did you hear Mike Tyson call that woman a bitch? If he were here right now, I’d totally kick his ass!” five minutes after Tyson left.
Sure you would, champ.
Obama and other top Democrats have proven that their main priority is increasing the size and scope of the federal government, and using the benefits of that increased size and scope to rake off profits and pay off their cronies and interest groups. They’ve been doing that for three years, just like they’ve been ignoring that progressive wish list (closing Gitmo, ending predator drone strikes, ending the Bush tax cuts, etc.) for the same period of time, and now is when you’re finally fed up?
Right.
You know when your cries of outrage might have had an actual effect? Three to six months ago, when it was still possible for Obama to face a serious primary challenge from the left. But for all their theatrical outrage over “secret Republican” Obama, not a single high profile liberal Democrat stepped up to challenge him in the Democratic Presidential Primary. Not one. And now that it’s absolutely too late for that to happen, Taylor Marsh makes high-minded, ego-flattering noises about how she’s willing to leave the Democratic Party.
Sure she is.
You know why the Republican establishment had to take the Tea Party seriously? They took scalps. Marco Rubio kicked Charlie Crist to the curb, Christine O’Donnell knocked off Mike Castle, and Joe Miller forced Lisa Murkowski to run as an independent. That’s when the GOP establishment knew the Tea Party was too dangerous to take for granted. Micky Kaus noted that those challenges are what probably killed the illegal alien amnesty DREAM act: “By my count, Miller’s primary coup may have helped gain around ten votes by terrifying GOP incumbents who might otherwise have been tempted by the prospect of a feel-good, bipartisan, MSM-approved pro-DREAM stand.”
Until liberals are willing to mount real primary challenges to big-name Democrats, all their talk of disenchantment with the party is just so much vainglorious posturing. And as for their votes being “up for grabs” in November? Please. Not a single one of them will be pulling the lever for Rick Perry or Mitt Romney to spite Obama. They know it, we know it, and Obama knows it.
Maybe at some point down the line liberals really will become fed up with being taken for granted by the Democratic Party (not to mention the endemic crony capitalism corruption), and put some actual skin in the game. Until then, they’re just lap dog Chihuahuas pretending they’re Dobermans.
LinkSwarm for December 26, 2011
December 26th, 2011Still getting back up to speed after Christmas, so here are a few links that I’ve been squirreling away like nuts for winter:
Additional hat tips to Insta and Ace.
Dropping Like Flies
December 25th, 2011On December 19, I reported two additional Democrats, Eric Roberson and John Morton, joining the Senate race because their names appeared on the official list of Democratic candidates, bringing the total of Democratic candidates to seven.
However, the next day, Eric Roberson would be off the list, having filed for another race.
Strangely enough, today the name of John Morton is no longer found on the official list of Democratic candidates. No explanation for his disappearance, though I have sent a query to the Texas Democratic Party for clarification.
That leaves five democratic candidates: Sean Hubbard, Daniel Boone, Jason Gibson, Paul Sadler, and Addie Dainell Allen.
At the current rate, all Democratic candidates will be off the ballot by mid-January…
From The Nanotechnological Violins Department
December 21st, 2011
“Your liberal organization isn’t sustainable!”
MoveOn.org says it needs $400,000 or it will have to close its doors.
Of course, this is probably just a fundraising ploy. Surely the organization born with the express purpose of sweeping Bill Clinton’s perjury under the rug can depend on Bubba leaning on a few cronies to throw them some scratch, And there’s always George Soros, assuming he’s not tapped out from helping other arms of the Democratic Party like Media Matters, Barack Obama, and The Texas Tribune.
But it would be quite satisfying to see Nutroots Patient Zero (as far as I know; feel free to offer better candidates in the comments) go the way of Geocities and John Edwards’ political career…
(Hat tip: Sipsey Street.)
Texas Senate Race Update for December 20, 2011
December 20th, 2011With all the coming and the going and the filing and the GLAVEN, it’s been a crazy few days keeping up with the Texas senate race. I even went back today to see if their were any stragglers who hadn’t been updated on the Republican and Democratic candidate websites yesterday. There were no additions but, interestingly, there was one subtraction (see below).
Of course, there may be another scramble when the filing period opens up again next year after a Supreme Court decision on redistricting. Keep watching the skies…
A Few Words With Republican Senate Candidate Dr. Joe Agris
December 20th, 2011I spent a few minutes on the phone yesterday and today with Dr. Joe Agris, who recently filed as a Republican for the Texas Senate race.
As previously mentioned, Dr. Agris is a plastic surgeon who has done numerous good works, many in association with late Houston broadcasting legend Marvin Zindler (who frequently made use of Dr. Agris services). Dr. Agris waged a campaign for Texas House District 134 in 2008, losing in the general election. “That was Obama’s year. All Republicans in Harris County lost.”
I asked why he was running. He said that voters will “trust a doctor” more than politicians, who he accused of having “constipation of thought and diarrhea of words.” He said his biggest issue was the budget deficit. “The federal government needs a balanced budget amendment.”
ObamaCare was also a particular target of the doctor’s ire: “This Obama medical bill is just an atrocity. We have to get rid of it. The medical care in this country is just going downhill.”
He also had some stinging criticisms of the current state of American healthcare, noting how rules might require a patient to undergo an increasingly expensive series of tests, when only the first and last may be necessary. “If you don’t do things step by step, Medicare and insurance won’t pay for it. 50% of the doctors in my hospital don’t take Medicare. If these cuts go through in February, it will be closer to 100%.”
Dr. Agris also complained about the short-sighted nature of the federal government. “China is our biggest threat. They have plans out to 100 years, and we can’t plan out two weeks. We just have knee-jerk responses. We need 1-year, 2-year, 5- or 10-year plans.”
Given his concern over the deficit, I asked him which programs would he cut. That gave him pause. He finally named foreign aid and military deployments overseas.
He was particularly critical of our efforts in an area he’s visited many times. “I just got back from Afghanistan and Pakistan. We’re not doing any good over there. They just want to take our money.”
Dr. Agris said he had the financial resources to wage a serious senate campaign. “I’ll self-fund some, and we’ll raise some.”
Dr. Agris sounds like an interesting guy, and might have more resources to campaign with than some other longshots. But he’s entered the race very late indeed, he’s virtually unknown outside of Houston, he’s facing three well-organized, well-funded candidates who have been running hard most of the year (plus a fourth, Craig James, who has much higher name recognition than Dr. Agris), and so far it does not sound like he’s thought through the intellectual and organizational demands it takes to run a serious Senate campaign in state as large as Texas. And the good doctor’s Brooklyn accent may not play well statewide.
But I do thank Dr. Agris, both for his many previous good works and for taking the time to speak with me.