First Principles

So a couple of things I would have liked to have added to my RGJ column about the contrast between Governor Sandoval’s State of the State and President Obama’s State of the Union addresses, but didn’t fit for space or flow reasons: ~~~ I didn’t actually watch either speech.  I’ve always preferred to listen to […]

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In defending the President against his responsibility for his scandals, liberals undermine their governing philosophy.  We should support these efforts! It’s been incredibly interesting to watch supporters of the President try to defend his actions – or lack thereof – in his various swirling scandals these days.  First there was a lot of silence – […]

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Pretty much every pundit – and every one with at least a brain stem – acknowledges that Romney won this debate decisively.  But what most of them are missing is why it was such a blowout. It’s the format, stupid – the best political debate format I’ve ever seen. And contrary to a lot of […]

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Last month, the Obama Administration issued an “Information Memorandum” that broadly reinterprets federal “welfare to work” programs, and encourages states to seek waivers of employment requirements for people on federally subsidized welfare benefits.  While the Memorandum claims that waivers won’t be granted if they violate the spirit of that welfare reform, the reinterpretation of the […]

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Things have been a little quiet around here, I know.  I’ve been gone for some work travel, had some family obligations, and honestly, just wanted a break from the silliest of the silly in the political season.  (Chick-Fil-A?  Really?  We’re $16,000,000,000,000.00 in debt and we have time to give a steaming pile that a regional […]

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A few months ago, I was seriously considering Newt Gingrich for my caucus vote.  But then he came out with his absurd and dangerous suggestion that the political branches of government have the power to haul federal judges before boards of inquiry, and that they be subject to impeachment if we don’t like their legal […]

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I tweeted out this Big Journalism story on the trap Republicans were falling into on this whole birth control mandate issue, with the added commentary, “Focus, people.  Focus.”  It drew several questions and comments both on Twitter and Facebook that I felt were worth discussing. The issue is an important one, but it is important […]

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Steve Sebelius wrote a nice piece – from the left, no less – which correctly points out the tremendous danger of President Obama’s completely lawless non-recess recess appointment of Richard Cordray to be the Director of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  But then Sebelius tries to find a Constitutional fig leaf for the […]

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Ron Anderson at Local So-and-So explains why he’s still in Paul’s camp, in spite of The Newsletters.  Ace of Spades explains why he is not.  (Hint:  It’s much, much, much more than newsletters.) I respect where Ron (Anderson) is coming from, but I’m with Ace. 

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When Bill Clinton was being impeached for perjury, I was beyond annoyed with the whole spectacle.  It’s not that I don’t think perjury should be taken seriously – it should.  And it wasn’t that I was a Bill Clinton fan – far from it. But the sanctimony and obvious political hackery at the heart of […]

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The liberal Nevada View had a post in support of President Obama’s “American Jobs Act,” arguing that it’s going to be especially good for Nevada.  That’s not in and of itself isn’t surprising.  But when I read it, I had to wonder – if it’s so good for Nevada, why hasn’t a single member of […]

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WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!  That’s thought one.  GOOD.  It’s nice when justice is served.  That’s thought two.  But this great moment is worth more comment and thought than that.  There are important political and policy lessons to be learned from this as the election to choose our next Commander in Chief heats up.  So, in no particular order… […]

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I couldn’t live blog tonight, as I had a class to teach.  But I listened to most of it on the radio, and watched the rest on DVR when I got home. I wish the entire nation could have seen Governor Sandoval’s speech last night, in order to contrast it with this one.  Sandoval gave […]

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So Obama vowed earlier this week to “fight” Republicans.  Oh, you post-partisan uniter, you!  Sigh.  OK, there’s lots of this kind of rhetoric in politics, with military terminology so ingrained in the process that people now forget “campaign” used to bring soldiers instead of brochures to people’s minds. But as I read the article and […]

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Two years ago, on the eve of another historical election, I wrote about my hopes for the election results and the next several years.  I said that my desires, in order of preference, were 1) that John McCain won, and was successful, 2) that Barack Obama won, and was successful, or, failing those two outcomes, […]

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But when he’s done in court, he should get rid of the policy altogether.

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Well, no big surprises.  He made the same promises that he made a year ago, and the only difference is that now we can be even more sure he won’t keep any of them. The big takeaway from me on this was just how unserious this speech was. 

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When I heard that President Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, my first reaction was just to laugh.  It represents a level of absurdity beyond which no other reaction is frankly possible.  Is there anyone out there who honestly can take this seriously?

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Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently sat down with ABC’s Jake Tapper, and the discussion inevitably turned to health care.  From that short discussion, the Prime Minister revealed two important things for us to keep in mind – one intentional, and one probably not so much. Most important was the accident.  When asked if Canadian […]

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Obama has declared the program a “success.” But what does that mean?  Consider: Congress authorized $1 Billion for the program, and expected it to last until November.  It didn’t make it past the first week of August.  This is an important thing to consider when considering the President’s own spending and deficit projections. That first […]

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