Libertarian Leanings

Shaping Up To Be A Fascinating November

Jonah Goldberg is not one to lament the demise of the "race card" strategy.

‘The race card is maxed out.”

That was the punch line for a recent hilarious exchange on The Daily Show in which Larry Wilmore, the faux news program’s “senior black correspondent,” reported that the race card is not only over its credit limit but is in fact “void during a black presidency.” This discovery came in the wake of Maxine Waters’s allegation that her political problems stem from a racially biased congressional ethics investigation.

Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters are both subject to congressional ethics investigation, and both for very good reasons, none of which have anything to do with race.  Waters used her influence to secure $12 million in TARP funds for a bank in which her husband was invested to the tune of $350,000.  Rangel, while chairman of the tax writing committee, failed to report the true extent of his income in order to avoid paying taxes on it.

But as Goldberg points out, the ethics investigations are not racially motivated.  His theory is that the blatant corruption of Waters and Rangel is the inevitable result of racial gerrymandering that had handed both congressional Democrats the cushiest lifetime jobs imaginable if they could just manage not to screw up. 

They couldn't.  But they both plan to go down fighting, and their weapon of choice is... you guessed it – the race card!

Both are demanding an immediate trial, before the November elections, which would hammer even more nails into the Democratic coffin. In effect, they’re saying, “Let us off the hook or we’ll take you all down with us in a racial spectacle.”

Oh, it's going to be a fascinating November.

With Democrats In Firm Control...

An overwhelmingly majority of voters now believe that most members of Congress have been bought with cash or campaign contributions.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 70% of U.S. voters believe most members of Congress are willing to sell their vote for cash or a campaign contribution. That’s a 14-point increase from three years ago.

Only 13% don’t think this is true, but another 17% aren’t sure.

Fifty-six percent (56%) say it’s likely that their own representative in Congress has sold his or her vote for either cash or a campaign contribution. Half as many (28%) think it’s unlikely.

It's really a beautiful arrangement.  With stimulus bills and TARP, congressman divert taxpayer dollars to their own pet special interests who, in gratitude, funnel it back in the form of campaign contributions.  Such a deal.  It's actually the Obama master plan, exemplified by the rescue of UAW (nominally GM and Chrysler).  Is there any doubt where the United Auto Workers Union is going to spend its political action money?

Phone Calls Flood Congress

Yesterday afternoon I decided to give my congressman, Democrat Paul Hodes from New Hampshire's second district, another friendly little reminder about the perils of voting in favor of the health care industry takeover bill.  I dialed his Washington office phone number again... and again... busy.  It turns out a lot of people had the same idea.

Members continued to be inundated with phone calls from constituents and interest groups Friday thanks to an impending vote on health care reform this weekend.

Calls to the House numbered close to 100,000 an hour, creating a bottleneck in a phone system only meant to handle 50,000 calls an hour. The chamber has been similarly overloaded for four consecutive days, beginning on Tuesday when radio host Rush Limbaugh told viewers to call the Capitol switchboard phone number.

Jeff Ventura, spokesman for Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard, said the problem was essentially unsolvable. The issue lies with the capacity of the cables buried underneath the Capitol complex — and even if those could be dug up and replaced, Members simply don’t have enough staff to answer so many calls, he said.

Once again, Hodes' Washington office phone number is 202-225-5206.  Give him a call and tell him how you feel.

America In The Balance

William Ward, writing in American Thinker, believes we have reached a decisive point in American politics.  Libertarians and conservatives have reached death ground, that point in the battle from which there is no retreat.

In the face of such aggressive liberal grasps for American liberties, the majority conservative base is now starting to wake up and jump off the fence.  People who once rebuked the Minuteman protesters for going to the US/Mexican border to protest lax immigration enforcement in 2004 are now themselves going to town halls and organizing Tea Party protests of their own, and public opinion polls are now taking decided shifts into traditionally conservative directions.

In short, the American conservative base has been marshaled onto the political equivalent of Sun Tzu's death ground, and the ideological pawns are finding fewer paths of retreat from the advancing onslaught of the liberal agenda. 

Progressives know we're there.  Consider Bill Clinton's words to the Netroots in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago.

“We have entered a new era of progressive politics which, if we do it right, can last 30 or 40 years,” Clinton said.

Doing it right means getting full control now.  This is the crucial moment.  If the libertarian and conservative voices demanding the preservation of our liberties can be overwhelmed now, they'll never heard from again.  Read the entire essay.  It's a good one.

Update:  Per Drudge, Clinton knows what's at stake.

“We need to pass a bill this year. Doing nothing is not only the worst thing we can do for the economy, it’s the worst thing we can do for the country. It’s also the worst thing we can do for the Democrats,” Clinton said, because Americans expect Democrats to deliver when they elect them. (My emphasis).

He's wrong about one thing.  This mess of a health care reform bill is not what Americans ever wanted or expected Democrats to deliver once they got into office.  Passing this health care bill is unlikely to do anything good for the economy, and it will be the worst thing for a great many elderly Americans.  If there are any savings to be had from health care reform they will be brought about by limiting treatment for seniors.  If there are beneficiaries of passing this trillion dollar travesty, they are Democrats salivating at the opportunity to dole out money and benefits as they strive for a permanent grip on political power.

My Sentiments, Exactly

Thomas Sowell writes, "If the worst that Barack Obama does is ruin the economy, I will breathe a sigh of relief." 

'This is a president on a mission to remake American society in every aspect, by whatever means are necessary and available. That requires taking all kinds of decisions out of the hands of ordinary Americans and transferring them to Washington elites — and ultimately the number one elite, Barack Obama himself.

Like so many before him who have ruined countries around the world, Obama has a greatly inflated idea of his own capabilities and of what can be accomplished by rhetoric or even by political power. Often this has been accompanied by an ignorance of history, including the history of how many people before him have tried similar things with disastrous results.

During a recent TV interview, when President Obama was asked about the prospects of victory in Afghanistan, he replied that it would not be victory like in World War II, with “Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur.” In reality, it was not Emperor Hirohito who surrendered on the battleship Missouri. American troops were already occupying Japan before Hirohito met Gen. Douglas MacArthur for the first time.

This is not the first betrayal of his ignorance by Obama, nor the first overlooked by the media. Moreover, ignorance by itself is not nearly as bad as charging full steam ahead, pretending to know.'

He certainly thinks he has all the answers.  Combine that with the Democrats' historic disregard for the truth and their insatiable thirst for power, and we have the potential destruction of America in the making.

Friends in Congress

As is pretty well known, Senators Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad received very favorable mortgage terms from Countrywide Financial because of their "friendship" with former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo. Republican Congressman Darrell Issa of California wants to know what other "Friends of Angelo" might be sitting in Congress.

'A March report by Congressman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) highlighted internal Countrywide emails in which executives debated whether the mayor of Billings, Montana, was influential enough to warrant a waiving of his mortgage insurance premium. The company ultimately decided that he was. We can only imagine what Countrywide's internal emails might say about the benefits of "friendship" with Mr. Dodd, who chairs the Banking Committee of the U.S. Senate, or about others who benefited from the program.

Mr. Issa doesn't want to imagine; he wants to discover the facts. He's asked Rep. Edolphus Towns (D., N.Y.), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to subpoena records of the "Friends of Angelo" loan program from Bank of America, which bought the failed subprime lender last year. So far, Mr. Towns is noncommittal, and perhaps he is hoping that the issue will fade into the background during the long August recess.'

This was supposed to be the most ethical Congress in history, if we take Democratic Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi at her word.  Unfortunately, she has never shown any appetite for investigating corruption among Democrats, and since she has the final say in the matter subpoenas, we can expect she will do what she can to make this issue fade away.

Disbarment

The Obama Justice Department continues to stir the pot on "harsh interrogation techniques."  Former Bush administration lawyers who wrote opinions supporting the legality of those methods have been under investigation by the Obama Justice Department.  As part of those harsh techniques, terrorists who murdered and beheaded Americans had water poured on their faces, causing them temporary breathing difficulties.  For this the Obama administration may seek to have those lawyers disbarred.

'WASHINGTON – Justice Department investigators say Bush administration lawyers who approved harsh interrogation techniques of terror suspects should not face criminal charges, according to a draft report that also recommends two of the three attorneys face possible professional sanctions.

The Obama administration decided last month to make public legal memos authorizing the use of harsh interrogation methods but not to prosecute CIA interrogators who followed the advice outlined in the memos.

[...]

The letter did not indicate what the findings of the final report would be. Bybee, Yoo and Steven Bradbury worked in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and played key roles in crafting the legal justification for techniques critics call torture.

The memos were written as the Bush administration grappled with the fear and uncertainty following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Over the years that followed, lawyers re-examined and rewrote much of the legal advice.

In the memos released by the Obama administration, the Bush lawyers authorized methods including waterboarding, throwing subjects against walls and forced nudity.

In releasing the documents, Obama declared that CIA interrogators who followed the memos would not be prosecuted. The president left it to Holder to decide whether those who authorized or approved the methods should face charges.

When that inquiry neared completion last year, investigators recommended seeking professional sanctions against Bybee and Yoo, but not Bradbury, according to the person familiar with the matter. Those would come in the form of recommendations to state bar associations, where the most severe possible punishment is disbarment.

Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, called the decision not to seek criminal charges "inconceivable, given all that we know about the twisted logic of these memos."

Warren argued the only reason for such a decision "is to provide political cover for people inside the Obama White House so they don't have to pursue what needs to be done."'

Obama's cavalier claim that the information we extracted from the terrorists could have been gotten in other ways is empty speculation.  The rarity with which waterboarding was used argues convincingly that if information could have been gotten in other ways, it would have been.  The effectiveness of the interrogations is confirmed by the Obama administration's refusal to honor former Vice President Cheney's request to declassify memos that spell out the results those interrogations.  This entire controversy is nothing more than political calculation by congressional Democrats and the Obama administration.

I once considered Vincent Warren's of the world merely tiresome, but I now find them utterly contemptible.  So certain they are of their moral superiority, prizing self image over American lives.  Their egotistical moral posturing is sickening.

Saving our "free" press

Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat from Maryland, proposes to "rescue" the newspaper industry.  He wants to do it by making newspapers more like NPR.  Non-profit and taxpayer supported, NPR has been a reliable agent for liberal public relations since its inception.   Senator Cardin candidly offers this piece of reasoning in support of his idea in today's Washington Post.

'The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism reports that a typical metropolitan paper runs 70 stories a day, counting the national, local and business sections. In contrast, a half-hour of television news includes only 10 to 12 stories. Research shows that broadcast news follows the agenda set by newspapers, often repeating the same items with less detail. And newspaper reporters forge relationships with people; they build a network, which creates avenues to information.'

Unquestionably, the agenda that newspapers set over the last eight years has been very, very good to Democrats, and Senator Cardin would like to keep it that way.  They've done very well with the big papers setting the agenda.  Unfortunately for many newspapers, their blatantly biased message has turned off so many advertisers and subscribers that they are going bankrupt.  The Senator's plan to remedy this offers no federal subsidies, but it does offer the next best thing -- non-profit tax-exempt status.  That is, provided that newspapers abide by a few simple rules. 

'My goal is to save local coverage by reporters who know their communities, work their beats and dig up the stories that are important to our daily lives. Today, newspapers do that job; all other outlets -- TV, radio, blogs -- feed off that base. My bill would allow newspapers -- if they choose -- to operate under 501(c)(3) status for educational purposes, similar to public broadcasters.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would not be allowed to make political endorsements but would be permitted to freely report on all issues, including political campaigns. They would be able to editorialize and take positions on issues affecting their communities. Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax-exempt, and contributions to support coverage or operations could be tax-deductible.'

Our "free press" would remain free -- free from market forces, and free from those punishing consumers who have away of voting down commercial enterprises that don't offer useful and dependable products.

What they would not be freed from are incumbent senators and congressmen.  News articles critical of incumbents like Senator Cardin would be called "political endorsements".  News organizations daring to stray from orthodoxy would be threatened with loss of tax exempt status.  It's sad to say, but I doubt that the Washington Post would have any problem with that, although in this proposal the Post would be ineligible.  But we could look at this as a pilot program.  If incumbents can successfully muzzle the small guys there's a better than good chance the program will be expanded.

Into the darkness we go.

One Consequence of Disgraceful Political Grandstanding

Jake DeSantis, Executive Vice President of the A.I.G. - Financial Products, has submitted his resignation.  His letter to A.I.G. CEO Edward M. Liddy really puts the spotlight on the positively disgraceful behavior of the Obama administration, Congress, and the Attorneys General of New York and Connecticut.  Liddy doesn't come off looking all that well, either.

'I started at this company in 1998 as an equity trader, became the head of equity and commodity trading and, a couple of years before A.I.G.’s meltdown last September, was named the head of business development for commodities. Over this period the equity and commodity units were consistently profitable — in most years generating net profits of well over $100 million. Most recently, during the dismantling of A.I.G.-F.P., I was an integral player in the pending sale of its well-regarded commodity index business to UBS. As you know, business unit sales like this are crucial to A.I.G.’s effort to repay the American taxpayer.

The profitability of the businesses with which I was associated clearly supported my compensation. I never received any pay resulting from the credit default swaps that are now losing so much money. I did, however, like many others here, lose a significant portion of my life savings in the form of deferred compensation invested in the capital of A.I.G.-F.P. because of those losses. In this way I have personally suffered from this controversial activity — directly as well as indirectly with the rest of the taxpayers.

I have the utmost respect for the civic duty that you are now performing at A.I.G. You are as blameless for these credit default swap losses as I am. You answered your country’s call and you are taking a tremendous beating for it.

But you also are aware that most of the employees of your financial products unit had nothing to do with the large losses. And I am disappointed and frustrated over your lack of support for us. I and many others in the unit feel betrayed that you failed to stand up for us in the face of untrue and unfair accusations from certain members of Congress last Wednesday and from the press over our retention payments, and that you didn’t defend us against the baseless and reckless comments made by the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut.

[...]

I think your initial decision to honor the contracts was both ethical and financially astute, but it seems to have been politically unwise. It’s now apparent that you either misunderstood the agreements that you had made — tacit or otherwise — with the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, various members of Congress and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of New York, or were not strong enough to withstand the shifting political winds.

You’ve now asked the current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. to repay these earnings. As you can imagine, there has been a tremendous amount of serious thought and heated discussion about how we should respond to this breach of trust.

As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house.

Many of the employees have, in the past six months, turned down job offers from more stable employers, based on A.I.G.’s assurances that the contracts would be honored. They are now angry about having been misled by A.I.G.’s promises and are not inclined to return the money as a favor to you.

The only real motivation that anyone at A.I.G.-F.P. now has is fear. Mr. Cuomo has threatened to “name and shame,” and his counterpart in Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, has made similar threats — even though attorneys general are supposed to stand for due process, to conduct trials in courts and not the press.'

Mr. DeSantis will donate his after tax bonus, which amounts to $742,006.40, "directly to organizations that are helping people who are suffering from the global downturn."  Or maybe it will be only $74,200.64 if Congress passes and Obama signs that vindictively inspired ex post facto Bill of Attainder which levies a 90% tax on Jake DeSantis and a few of his colleagues.

Maryland Democrat seeks control of the press

Senator Benjamin Cardin, Democrat from Maryland, has proposed a newspaper industry rescue.  Having destroyed their own credibility and sustainability by flacking for the Democrats, financially troubled newspapers, under this bill, will become wards of the party, dependent on party goodwill for their government subsidies tax exempt status.

'By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.

A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.

Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax exempt, and contributions to support news coverage or operations could be tax deductible.'

Yippee... NPR in print.