policy

Stalin’s Five-Year Plan Reincarnated

With farm incomes on the rise in recent years, what is Big Ag supposed to do?  How can they justify more subsidies?  Well, for one thing, they can spend more time demanding an endless flow of cheap labor to which they can pay below market wages.  But that would require the passage of an amnesty bill, something that many House members are not excited to | Read More »

Reforming The Republic V: Fixing The American City

I would argue Baltimore is not a statistical outlier, but rather a predictable precursor – a canary in the coalmine if you will that indicates what American cities will increasingly degenerate towards going forward if our nation does not significantly reform how we handle them. Cities in Post-Modern Amerika suffer from an interlocking directory of failure modes which retard their economic and social development. This scares many productive and worthwhile people out of setting foot on one of their streets unless necessity brooks no other course of action. A typical American City will usually be worse than the surrounding countryside in crime, illegitimacy, educational outcomes, and economic opportunity. This is precisely opposite of how it was originally intended to work.

So just what does America do about murder as lifestyle in Baltimorgue, bankruptcy in Detroit, or the perception at least of deliberate Apartheid in new Haven, CT? Here’s what I think should be a reasonable to-do list.

Senate Judiciary Committee Seals the Fate of the Gang Immigration Bill

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee began its markup of the gang of 8 immigration deform bill (s.744). The striking thing about the markup is that any casual observer would think we were living in 1965 or 1986, when there was either relatively low legal immigration or no failed amnesty to look back upon. To most of the senators sitting around the table, the border is more secure than ever (despite the sharp rise in crossings), our record levels of immigration don’t exist, and there is no reason to implement the enforcement before the legalization.

Reforming the Republic IV: Educate; Do Not Enstupidate[*]

To make American Secondary Schools worth a monkey’s butt-wipe again, we are just going to have to leave some children behind. Right now, they are yet another precursor of the impending Big Government Chernobyl that could very well destroy American Society as we now enjoy living in it. Implementing a new Common Core of unenforceable and utterly ignored standards is not going to fix this difficulty. While the Obama Administration’s ideal of “fewer, higher and clearer” standards sounds like one of the smarter ideas that this man’s administration has come up with, it will not do the job because it addresses the wrong problem. It is not the content of the standards that is the biggest problem with our schools. The problem is that we lack the institutional courage to actually enforce any standards at all.

What American Secondary Schools need to enact is what I’ll call the Tyler Durden reforms. This is based on the line from the novel Fight Club where Tyler Durden teaches his followers that they are not unique and beautiful snowflakes. If we continue to tell our children that they are special and immune from consequence, they will eventually become seduced into holding that ultimately self-defeating belief. This fatal conceit will lead these children to have an overweening sense of entitlement and a minimal skill-set of abilities that any logical employer would want to hire.

Here’s what my proposed Tyler Durden Standards would look like.

Restoring The Republic III – Curing The Sickness Known As Healthcare

Don’t get me wrong. I like O-Care about as much as I like getting a prostate exam. The bill is typical of unthinking, boilerplate socialism’s response to the negative externalities that result from market failure. We should therefore trash Obamacare, but let’s just make that the warm-up set. The real heavy lifting required to fix our healthcare system involves addressing the causes of a market failure so catastrophic that something as obviously stupid as Obamacare seemed like a palatable solution.

Karl Denninger explains why poor people often can’t afford health insurance. The care provided is so badly overpriced that health plans are paying out more vastly more than the goods and services provided can possibly be worth. He describes the price mark-up of a common chemotherapy drug below.

The Debt Ceiling is all About Obamacare

There is nothing more odious in a free society than politicians using the boot of government to make the most basic goods and services unaffordable for the majority of the country, thereby engendering a need for subsidization.  In one fell swoop, representatives who deviate from the Constitution have the ability to destroy the self-respect and quality of life for all but the top 1% – | Read More »

How The GOP Must Restore The Republic

Sometimes the first step in building a thing of beauty is to dynamite the ugly, dying strip mall that occupies the real estate you want to build upon. We, the American Conservative Movement can rebuild once the junk gets cleared away. We just have to be ready, and we just have to avoid bailing the Progressives out of their own state-fueled death spiral of non-sustainability.

Brett Stevens of Amerika.org shows us how our society currently fulfills Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity.

Currently, our society is chasing its own tail into the abyss. The books give us certain rules and facts, and we follow those; when that doesn’t work out, we redouble our efforts using the same rules and facts. Like robots, we cannot deviate from our programming because we’ve eliminated the people who can think outside the box.

Protect America First

When Jim DeMint delivered his farewell speech in the Senate, he touched on a salient point that is often lost in the raucous of political discourse.  The entrenchment of political interests and allegiances has often made commonsense ideas that transcend political ideology impossible to implement.   Nowhere is this more evident than with the push to hold national security hostage for mass amnesty. We have a | Read More »

NC NAACP President Compares Republicans to George Wallace (A Democrat)

On yesterday’s edition of “All In with Chris Hayes” we were greeted with narrative creation at its finest as host Chris Hayes attempted to define the arguments in favor of Voter Identification laws in North Carolina as merely the spoils of victory as opposed to any type of actual reasoned position. HAYES: If a skeptical person looks at what’s going on in north carolina and | Read More »

Gun Control: Treating The Symptoms

As the nation struggles to understand the attack at the Boston Marathon, the debate over background checks for gun buyers has received more attention from gun control advocates as a result.  The left argues that stricter gun control laws might prevent tragedies such as the Boston bombings and the Newtown shooting.  The right points out that criminals, including the Boston bombers, do not adhere to | Read More »

A Non-Ethics Problem With The Gang Of 8 Bill: It Won’t Work.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
- Einstein

Oh Good. We have Comprehensive Immigration Reform being set before the US Senate. It’s the brainchild of a Gang of 8. Perhaps I can be forgiven for wondering if that means this bill will be twice as odious as the intellectual deep thoughts of Mao Tse Tung’s Gang of Four.

Now I understand that this was catty and mean, but I’m just getting really tired of these comprehensive master plans from the desks of our elected mental midgets. Attempting to do everything at once with regards to a difficult, complex issue leads us to the type of legislation where you have to pass it first to find out what’s in it. That, I fear is what will happen with the latest Comprehensive Immigration Reform proposal.

The Obamacare-Style Waiver Authority of Immigration Bill Nullifies Talking Points

Do you want to know why this country is going to hell in a handbasket?  Do you want to know why we have a constitutional crisis with the executive branch disregarding many of our laws, particularly our immigration laws?  It’s because of those who construct the legislation. I’ve spent the past 24 hours combing through the legislation, and have only successfully grasped a few parts | Read More »

Gang Plan: Perennial De Facto Amnesty

One of the most common bromides regurgitated by Republicans in defense of ‘amnesty first, enforcement later’ proposals is that we already have de facto amnesty with Obama not enforcing the laws.  This was always a dubious argument even before the release of the gang bill.  We should not use Obama’s malevolence as a baseline from which to craft public policy.  Instead of rewarding Obama for | Read More »

Hey, Charlie Brown, Are You Ready for Some Immigration Football?

As the Gang of 8 introduces their proposal, just remember that all of your concerns are unfounded.  Unlike previous amnesties, this one will not grow the welfare state; it will not affect wages; it will not change the composition of the country.  Most importantly, it will finally ensure that we enforce the laws before people are granted amnesty.  NOT!  Although the bill keeps being leaked | Read More »

They Lied to us Then About Immigration; They are Lying Now

“First, our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually. Under the proposed bill, the present level of immigration remains substantially the same … Secondly, the ethnic mix of this country will not be upset … Contrary to the charges in some quarters, [the bill] will not inundate America with immigrants from any one country or area, or the most populated and deprived | Read More »

They Lied to us Then About Immigration; They are Lying Now

“First, our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually. Under the proposed bill, the present level of immigration remains substantially the same … Secondly, the ethnic mix of this country will not be upset … Contrary to the charges in some quarters, [the bill] will not inundate America with immigrants from any one country or area, or the most populated and deprived | Read More »

The Fundamental Flaws with Comprehensive Immigration Deform

There’s one overarching problem with all of the proposals for comprehensive immigration reform.  They are being drafted by the same La Raza/big labor/big corporate welfare coalition that blew up our immigration system and engendered this problem in the first place.  Having a couple of Republicans lend their names to the pack of wolves guarding the henhouse of “reform” will not change the fact that these | Read More »

Austerity Cuts vs. Real Entitlement Reform

In his latest attempt to cajole Republicans into raising taxes, Obama has called for a budget plan that makes some cuts to Medicare providers and subjects Social Security payments to the chained CPI.  John Boehner was correct to reject this ploy of holding entitlement savings hostage for tax increases.  However, he has come close to negotiating such a deal in the past, and there are | Read More »

EXCLUSIVE: McConnell to Filibuster Reid Gun Control Bill

Senator Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has confirmed he will filibuster new gun control legislation, spokesman Brian McGuire confirmed for me today. While nobody knows yet what Senator Reid’s plan is for the gun bill, if he chooses to file cloture on the motion to proceed to the Reid Bill (S. 649), Senator McConnell will oppose cloture on proceeding to that bill. The future of the | Read More »

The View From The Border: The Gang of 8 Offer A Failed Plan

So there’s a big push these days to reform immigration laws. Given the importance and sensitivity of this venture, maybe the eight leading lights of the US Senate putting together a grand strategy should invite over the people who actually enforce the border and hear some words of wisdom from those whose boots are on the ground. You would think. But somehow that hasn’t transpired, so the National ICE Council (a union representing about 7,000 border guards and staff) decided to opine at large. Christopher Crane offers their perspective.

“The plan of the Gang of Eight appears to be legalization, or amnesty first, and then enforcement. That is a big problem for us,”… “If we don’t take care of the enforcement part of this first, it will never happen. The only thing that will happen will be that 11 million illegal aliens will be legalized, and 10 to 20 years from now the nation will again be facing the influx of another 10-20 million illegal aliens,” he said. “And all the problems and expenses associated with that we will be right back to where we are right now, with a failed immigration system.”

The only gun infographic you’ll ever need.

Via Stephen Gutowski, aka @CollegePolitico. Gun Facts You Need To Know | Infographics

The Power of Disability

I spent the last eight days or so sick with the flu bug from Hell. I had a slightly better Good Friday than my savior; didn’t do as well on Easter. On the bright side of life, I did manage to lose 8 pounds without a single visit to the dreaded squat rack. But the whole thing had me asking some very fundamental questions… Why | Read More »

Expediting Amnesty and a Case Study in GOP Complacency and Treachery

Liberals despise a legislative process that is open and conducted under regular order.  That is why they seek to pass the most sweeping, consequential, and onerous pieces of legislation through expedited means.  Their plan to rush through an ‘amnesty now, enforcement never’ bill is the latest example of their aversion to a transparent legislative process. In an effort to prevent Senate Democrats from jamming through | Read More »

Illegal Immigration and the Pesky GOP Base

When Lucy kept tricking Charlie Brown with the football, at least she pretended to place the football on the ground each time he kicked it.  Obama has never even pretended to start enforcing our immigration laws, yet one Republican after another is committing to amnesty – I mean pathway to citizenship – I mean – never mind.  In fact, as Republicans are committing to legalization | Read More »

Delaying the Great, Green Luxury Tax

Despite many improvements in air and water quality, the planetary environment on Earth remains less than perfect. Skeptics disbelieving this statement are inclined to point out the flawed and dishonest science of Michael Mann and his happy band of chic climate agonists. They then remind us all of the baronial arrogance behind such monstrous legislation as The Warmer-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act. Defending my statement against these mockers is as easy as googling “China, drinking water, dead pigs.” The Tragedy of The Commons described by Garrett Hardin has truly come to pass in much of the Modern World.

So the knee-jerk reaction to all of this is to assume the Left is right and that we have no hope of salvation without an industry-crippling carbon tax. One way to test the truth of this hypothesis would be to examine the actions of powerful, Left-leaning political figures empowered to work their will on environmental policy in the face of ineffective opposition. If they really had the answer, and the field was clear for Red Grange to run wild, then they would be off to the end zone with the latest Carbon Tax or regulatory ukase. Yet in both Europe and in America, such is not the case, and therein lies an interesting tale.

A Ted Cruz Missile Strikes Dianne Feinstein

If Ted Cruz keeps this up in the Senate, Democrats might try to impose gun control on his Cruz missile strikes. Earlier today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on guns, Ted Cruz directly challenges Dianne Feinstein to answer how her gun bans are constitutional if the same language protecting the right to bear arms (“the right of the people”) is used for the First | Read More »

The Williamsburg Accord: A Conservative Folly

Do you want to know why the Ryan budget is a waste of time?  Worse, do you want to know why the entire House majority is a waste of time?  Look no further than John Boehner’s comments to Sean Hannity regarding fighting Obamacare in the debt ceiling: “There will be opportunities ahead, but do you want to risk the full faith and credit of the | Read More »

Defunding Obamacare is This Easy

After the House caved on funding Obamacare in the CR, the fight moves to the Senate.  Senator Ted Cruz has taken the lead in fighting Obamacare.  For the first time in almost two years we are actually having a discussion about the rising cost of health insurance engendered by Obamacare.  Cruz is proposing an amendment to the CR, which is already full of Barbara Mikulski’s | Read More »

Vulnerable Incumbent Democrats Leery of Budget. McConnell Vows “They’re Not Getting Another Tax Hike”

After neglecting to pass a budget for almost 1,500 days, Democrats finally started revealing tidbits about how they intend to run the nation’s finances. With huge deficits and mounting debt, questions of fiscal discipline and balanced budgets abound in DC, and this morning Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) revealed the Democrat’s “new” plan: raise taxes. Sen. Patty Murray’s new budget plan will raise tax revenues by | Read More »

Ryan Budget: Balancing with More Taxes

Paul Ryan released his budget proposal for FY 2014 today, and as expected, it will balance within 10 years.  Let me first say that this budget would be superior to the status quo a million times over.  Medicaid and Food Stamps would be block granted to the states and Medicare would be subject to at least some free market reforms.  Most importantly, it defunds the | Read More »

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