[1]Welcome, one and all to the most intense nightly read on the ‘sphere…The BitsBlog Nightly Ramble.
This is the The “ChooChoo, Daddy!” Edition.
- The Honeymoon is officially over: Jennifer Rubin [2]:
The jig is up.
The stimulus is a bust. That has some serious political ramifications for Democrats who will be on the ballot in 2010.
…
[3]Jennifer Rubin
It is not surprising that the Republicans are pointing to the pork barrel program and decrying the plan as a flop. Minority Whip Eric Cantor (who organized the unanimous Republican opposition to the stimulus) explained, “In the 100 days since that misdirected bill was enacted, well over 1 million Americans have lost their jobs. … These are not the results America hoped for.”
To make their point, Republicans have put out a handy chart [4] showing the magnitude of the job losses. And they have come out with rhetorical guns blazing at the president.
Majority Leader John Boehner [5] was scathing in his assessment:
What’s most remarkable about this latest stimulus report is what’s missing: funding for a skateboard park in Rhode Island, checks to the deceased in Maryland, taxpayer money for John Murtha’s “Airport For No One” in his own backyard, and other well-chronicled examples of old-fashioned government waste. The trillion-dollar “stimulus” has fallen short of the administration’s claims, and middle-class families and small businesses are paying dearly. It hasn’t created the jobs American families hoped for, brought the transparency to government the President promised, or moved money into communities as quickly as the administration pledged. On every score, it has not lived up to the expectations set out for it, all while leaving our children and grandchildren to foot the bill.
Oh, Hopey Changitude. Jen does a wonderful job with this one. As always. Must read.
[6] Measurement beyond the pin: You’ve heard of a pinned meter? It’s an expression that makes a great deal of sense to me with the background I have, but perhaps less so to you Essentially, it’s measuring so much of whatever it’s measuring, it’s off the scale and banging on the retaining pin. It’s what I see in trying to measure what’s going on with the government and the auto industry, and how screw up it all is. I see this morning that GM is doing their bankruptcy on June 1. [7] Says John Hawkins [8]:
$70 billion in taxpayer funds down the hole. Obama choosing the company’s CEO. A government board interfering in the company’s decisions.
[9]John Hawkins
Members of Congress complaining about day to day business. The federal government trying to fix an overly bureaucratic company. The Obama Administration forcing the car companies to build politically correct, but unprofitable cars. It all adds up to disaster.Obama’s interference in the US auto industry will probably turn out to be one of the most foolish and expensive mistakes in the history of governance, not just here in the US, but in world history.
Mmmmppphff. Well, add the unions to the mix, and I think John understates the case on an order of scale. The whole thing smells even worse, though, in light of what one of Reynolds’ readers sends him:
A reader notes something about “car czar” Steven Rattner: “Rattner is married to Maureen White, the former National Finance Chair for the Democratic Party.” [10] The comment: “So one of the guys advising SecTreas on this thing is married to someone who used to be one of the people in charge of fundraising for the Democratic Party. This explains so much it’s scary.” Well, it bears a close look. ..
At least, and likely deserves far more than this. One of the questions that needs be asked: Is there a connection between that relationship and where dealerships are being closed? [11] But of course, given the party in power, it won’t get nearly what it deserves. As Ace says [12]:
The MSM will not investigate any of these claims, ever. So what is a conservative to do? If a conservatives admit that this line of inquiry seems unlikely to turn up malfeasance, the MSM uses such statements as pretexts to not bother to even check, and uses such statements against conservatives who are agitating for additional investigation — “Even conservatives think this is unlikely, so you guys are obviously crazy…”
However that subtext works out, and absent a reversal of Obama policy on this stuff, you can stick a fork in the auto industry. We’re done [13]. Ponder this for a moment; At what point in our history would something this large have ever been considered a mere subtext?
- Sotomayor again: Rick Moran makes an interesting point [14]:
[15]Rick Moran
What this really boils down to is how much political courage will Republican senators demonstrate both at her confirmation hearings and on the floor of the senate?In other words, are the principles involved in this nomination fight so important that a Republican senator should be prepared to go down to defeat rather than act pragmatically and tone down their opposition and perhaps even vote to confirm?
You’d better hope so, Rick. Republicans have felt themselves needing to be pragmatists for so long… needlessly, and foolishly, in my view… that the majority of them have forgotten what principles are, and so are going to find themselves ill equipped to fight for them. There’s no question in my mind that she’ll be confirmed. That said, however, there is much more at stake than knocking down this nomination. The entire identity politics meme, for one thing. As disastrous as Sotomayor will be for this country, at least we can kneecap the identity politic as the racist nonsense it is, thereby saving us this exposure in the future.
Even Gingrich [16]is now saying Sotomayor is a racist. Take this as an indication of how serious the situation is. A few years ago, you couldn’t get Newt to say anything negative about anyone, to save your butt.
- Still not off the hook: They’re not letting up on Joe Klein [17]on his putrid comments on Doctor Krauthammer. Good. Interestingly, even the left is having it’s say with that moron. Notice that the author is an Assistant Editor at New Republic. Not exactly a bastion of right wing thought, that place. And no, an apology won’t cut it. Klein needs to be gone.
- Speaking of which: I’ve said here often enough that Bill O’Rielly is a pompous boob. We have yet another confirmation from Hot Air [18]. Frankly, I”ve not had a great deal of use for Allahpundit of late, either, but he’s correct here, and Ed Morressy moreso. (Note his addendum)
- Another measure of the Bipartisanship of the Democrats: Bruce notes
It would be the perfect ending to Specter’s desperate attempt to hold on to his office by switching parties. TPM is reporting: [19]
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) is privately telling supporters that he intends to run for Senate, TPMDC has confirmed.
“He intends to get in the race,” says Meg Infantino, the Congressman’s sister, who works at Sestak for Congress. “In the not too distant future, he will sit down with his wife and daughter to make the final decision.”
The move would constitute a primary challenge to Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), who intends to run for re-election in 2010, after having switched parties earlier this year.
Sestak is a retired Navy Admiral in a time when that’s a very good thing to be, especially if your primary opponent is Arlen Specter. I have no idea how a state wide race would shape up for the two sides, but in a Democratic primary I can’t help but believe Sestak would trounce Specter. And deservedly so.
Agreement. But this goes a little deeper into the minds of the Democrats, though.
I would suggest that the treatment of Specter by the Democrats speaks as loudly as the treatment of Lieberman by the Democrats, to the question of what they really think of bipartisanship. Think about this the next time you hear Democrats talking about how Republicans need to be more bipartisan. Seems the Democrats know the value of going to their base, after all.
Now… do the Republicans, I wonder?.
- Green: The New Red… Matt Drudge had a headline up earlier today….GREEN QUEEN: ‘EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES MUST BE SUBJECTED TO INVENTORY’ [20] Need any more proof that these thugs are all about absolute power, and that the ‘green’ nonsense is their path to it?
- And no religion, too…… Did you see this in SanDiego [21], about the preacher doing Bible study in his house, being harassed by the county? It’s all the same power grab, folks. Think, now. Every aspect of your lives must be subject to the government, religion harassed out of existence by the government… does this sound like any political philosophy you’ve heard of previously?