Like most Americans, I found myself frequently watching the news for more information about the shooting involving Congresswoman Giffords. As I searched various media outlets, I wasn’t surprised to see that the Huffington Post was the first I came across which had made the willful choice to sink so low as to exploit this tragic event for political gain. With this post, HuffPo contributor and USC Professor Marty Kaplan, somehow managed to attribute the blame for the Congresswoman’s shooting on Sarah Palin. Using similar logic as those who would attribute the warming of our planet on the gaseous emissions of cows, Mr. Kaplan and the HuffPo’s editors seemingly furthered their track record of turning a blind eye to the fact that Leftists attempt to commit acts of violence in support of a political agenda just as frequently as all other extremists.

From my vantage point, having spent several years working undercover with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on issues related to both domestic and international terrorism, I know that political violence is a human problem. It is an issue which transcends Left or Right, race, or any other confine or label we as Americans might try to place upon the age old problem. However, I also have another vantage point regarding political violence. This is, to put it simply, the personal experience of being burned by the discrepancy in how the predominantly Left oriented Mainstream Media portrays the political violence of the Left in comparison with that of the Right.

This author had the honor of working undercover with the FBI during the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. Several Left-of-Center activists made firebombs which they had intended to use on law-enforcement personnel and on Republican delegates. The FBI thwarted the plans. However, rather than express concern over the intended violence, the New York Times and the Huffington Post (among many others) immediately set out to control the narrative and to “minimize” any political damage from such Leftist extremism. The MSM decided to focus on the so called peace activists feeling betrayed and threatened by the government for having infiltrated their efforts, rather than the fact that such efforts spawned such violence. Never once did the MSM use the term “Leftwing Extremist” or even acknowledge that such violence was wrong. Never once did they mention that the FBI had prevented violence. They even went as far as promoting the erroneous claim that the government was to blame for the violence. Once the Leftist would-be bombers admitted their guilt, the MSM dropped the story and never denounced the intended violence.

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My tears are flowing, and I am stunned and angered that Gabby Giffords was savagely gunned down while performing her congressional duties. I am praying for Gabby, and my thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathy go out to her family, as well as the families of each of the victims.

Gabby Giffords governed with integrity and wisdom. We came to Congress together and I had the privilege of knowing her as a friend and colleague.

It is my hope and expectation that the coward who carried out this horrific act of violence will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I extend my hand of friendship to her family and staff and will keep them in my prayers.

From the Associated Press:

President Barack Obama’s statement about the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in Tucson on Saturday:

This morning, in an unspeakable tragedy, a number of Americans were shot in Tucson, Arizona, at a constituent meeting with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And while we are continuing to receive information, we know that some have passed away, and that Representative Giffords is gravely wounded.

We do not yet have all the answers. What we do know is that such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society. I ask all Americans to join me and Michelle in keeping Representative Giffords, the victims of this tragedy, and their families in our prayers.

UPDATE: Initial reports said that the Congresswoman had died.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head Saturday when an assailant opened fire outside a grocery store during a meeting with constituents, killing at least five people and wounding several others in a rampage that rattled the nation.

Giffords was among at least 10 people wounded, and the hospital said her outlook was “optimistic” and that she was responding to commands from doctors. The hospital said a 9-year-old child was among the killed, and a U.S. Marshal said a federal judge was also fatally shot in the attack.

Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin said an unspecified number of her staff members were injured in the shooting. Congressional officials said an aide to the Democrat was killed, and President Barack Obama said five people died in all. (more…)

Grousing about the GOP’s timidity in the battle against big government will probably become an ongoing theme over the next few months, and  let’s start with two items that don’t bode well for fiscal discipline.

First, it appears that Republicans didn’t really mean it when they promised to cut $100 billion of so-called discretionary spending as part of their pledge. According to the New York Times,

As they prepare to take power on Wednesday, Republican leaders are scaling back that number by as much as half, aides say, because the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, will be nearly half over before spending cuts could become law.

This is hardly good news, particularly since the discretionary portion of the budget contains entire departments, such as Housing and Urban Development, that should be immediately abolished.

That being said, I don’t think this necessarily means the GOP has thrown in the towel. The real key is to reverse the Bush-Obama spending binge and put the government on some sort of diet so that the federal budget grows slower than the private economy. I explain in this video, for instance, that it is simple to balance the budget and maintain tax cuts so long as government spending grows by only 2 percent each year.

It is a good idea to get as many savings as possible for the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year, to be sure, but the real key is the long-run trajectory of federal spending.

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Well, one thing is now clear. Barack Obama very much wants to be re-elected, and he is willing to do whatever it takes.

As I have already pointed out in anticipatory posts – first  here, then here – he could not hire William M. Daley as his new White House Chief of Staff without eating a substantial helping of crow. Among Democrats, no one was as critical in public of the course chosen by Obama, Nancy Pelois, and Harry Reid in 2009 as was Daley. The op-ed he published in The Washington Post on Chrismas Eve, 2009 – just a few hours after Harry Reid jammed through the Senate a bill burdened with provisions known as the Cornhusker Kickback, the Connecticut Compromise, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Florida Flim-Flam – predicted that, if the Democratic Party followed through on what it had already done, it would not only be routed at the midterm elections in November, 2010; it would lay the foundations for “electoral disaster . . . in many elections to come.” I doubt that President Obama will step forward and publicly admit fault. That, as far as I can tell, he does not have in him. But before Daley took the job, he must have heard the President whisper the familiar words that this son of one Chicago mayor and brother of another first learned as an altar boy: “Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.”

In practice, this means that Daley will wield far more authority than was ever accorded to Rahm Emanuel. There are signs the he is already doing so. Reports indicate that Robert Gibbs’ departure is Daley’s doing and that Valerie Jarrett’s wings will be clipped. In these matters, Obama is utterly cold-blooded.  As William Ayers and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright learned not so long ago, when circumstances change, this would-be Messiah is not loath to dispense with those hitherto near and dear. One aide is quoted as describing him as “the most unsentimental man I’ve ever met.”

Daley’s arrival at the helm also means that Obama has decided to pivot and reposition himself as a budget-cutter and a friend to big business. The left within the Democratic Party is now in an uproar, which will help the President far more than it will hurt him. If he is to present himself as the Comeback Kid, he will have to ditch his party in much the same manner as Slick Willie from Arkansas. John Boehner and Mitch McConnell will have to be ready to do business with one hand – while they are investigating malfeasance on the part of the administration with the other. Politically, we are in for a battle royal.

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Today, in 1835, for the first, and only, time the U.S. Federal Debt is $0.

Oh, and today in 1935, Elvis Presley, and in 1947, David Bowie, were born.

The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has begun the process of repealing the Healthcare law. Some have argued that, because the Senate may not repeal it as well, and the President will likely veto it, the House’s repeal is purely “symbolic.”

Just as the reading of the Constitution on the floor of the House, on Wednesday, was symbolic of a “return to constitutionalism,” as Charles Krauthammer writes, the repeal of the Healthcare law in the House will be symbolic not just of the fact that Republicans have heard the will of the American people, but also that they fully understand that the new law is, only superficially, a jumbled and thoughtless mess of rules about how healthcare should be delivered and paid for in this country. In reality, the Healthcare law is a liberal power grab that is gradually permitting the federal government to control more of our lives, making more people dependent upon the government and continuing the culture of dependency among minority groups who, up until now, have mostly voted liberals into power. The symbolism of the repeal will ring loud and clear.

Liberal Democrats will be launching a big campaign over the next few days, doing what they always accuse Republicans and conservatives of doing- “fear-mongering.”  They will be telling their constituents that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the repeal of the Healthcare law will increase debt, that Republicans don’t want people with pre-existing conditions to have access to health insurance, and that Republicans want to defund Medicare, new chairman of the House Budget Committee, Congressman Paul Ryan, has set out why these claims are wrong.

However, one of the features of the new Healthcare law, already in effect, is the extension of healthcare coverage to adult children (up until 26 years old), a hallmark of the true intention of this law- to make more people dependent, while it raises premiums on private health insurers who need more money to meet this new requirement.

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This week, National Journal asked a rather interesting question this that implied it head has been fully tucked in the sand when it comes to recognizing the long term implications of Obama’s environmental policy.

As the EPA readies itself to enforce a handful of rules limiting carbon emissions – a backdoor Cap and Trade policy known as the “Tailoring Rule,” which severely and arbitrarily limits the amount of greenhouse gas emissions many industries are now allowed to produce – the National Journal sleepily wonders what the effect these rules will have on the affected industries.

There are a few responses that take a theoretical approach to the question, but National Journal and it’s guests don’t have to go far to look for a real answer, supported by research. According to a study published recently by the National Alliance of Forest Owners, the Tailoring Rules will have a definite – and immediately felt – negative impact on the economy.

A newly released economic impact study finds that the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule” jeopardizes over 130 renewable energy projects, between 11,000 and 26,000 green jobs, and $18 billion in capital investment across the country. The risk of reduced capacity also could prevent as many as 30 states from meeting national renewable energy targets.

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As reported earlier, Representative Marsha Blackburn (R, TN) introduced a bi-partisan bill to preempt the December power grab by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. This issue is not just a boring technical issue, though, as it goes right to the core of Obama’s attempt to force his agenda by regulatory fiat.

Blackburn’s bill would place all rules governing the Internet in the purview of Congress and would take the issue out of the hands of the FCC. She is reporting that 60 members support her bill to halt the FCCs efforts to take control of the Internet without legislative action.

“The FCC’s Christmas week Internet-grab points out how important it is that we pass this bill quickly,” Blackburn said in a statement to the media.

Last year, Blackburn appeared at a Heritage Foundation meeting and discussed this issue.

“What we will do is first use this as a way to show how we’re going to keep that Pledge to America,” she said yesterday at The Heritage Foundation. “We said in the Pledge that any rule or regulation that had more than $100 million impact on our nation’s economy would be subject to review. … This is an area where we can keep that Pledge. We can go ahead and start congressional review and move forward on getting this off the books.”

This issue is not one of just Internet regulations but is one more example of Obama’s tendency to use regulation to get around the legislative process, to get around the courts, and to get around the voters in order to instill his left-wing agenda by regulatory fiat.

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Carol Moseley Braun’s Chicago Mayoral bid is collapsing.

First she said she wouldn’t release her tax return because she “didn’t feel like it.”

Under intense pressure, she flip flopped, and decided to release just a little bit of her tax returns.

Questions erupted, so she released just a little more of her returns.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Now her campaign is on the verge of imploding under mounting questions about repeatedly late property tax payments and massive business losses.

Chicago Breaking News is reporting this revealing moment:

Braun said she has been transparent about her finances. When reporter questions persisted, a campaign aide put his hand over the reporter’s voice recorder as Braun walked away.

Panicked and bumbling.

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Or, how to turn a dynamic state economy into a basket case in just a few years. As you know, Illinois has raced past California to claim the mantle of most fiscally irresponsible state. Its bonds are just a tad above junk status and it has to patch up a $13 billion hole–half its general fund budget–within days, to pay a back-log of unpaid bills and cover a missed payment to the public employee pension fund. (Then they’ll have to do it all over again next year.)

Because the  state government is dominated by Democrats, the legislators in Illinois have decided to increase taxes. By a lot! Again, because they are Democrats, they plan to hike the income tax by 75% and increase cigarette taxes by $1 a pack. Business taxes would almost double.

Okay…so far, so same-old-same-old. They’re Democrats. Raising taxes is what they do.  Here is the part where Illinois’ budget gurus get into Apple Dumpling Gang territory:

The personal income-tax hike is expected to net the state roughly $6.2 billion, and a corresponding corporate income tax increase could raise an additional $1 billion…

[State Senate President] Cullerton said the state would use the income-tax hike to borrow $12.2 billion. Of that, $8.5 billion would pay overdue bills and $3.7 billion would cover a government worker pension payment lawmakers skipped when putting together the current budget

Brilliant!

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The Grand Rapids Education Association, a local affiliate of Michigan’s largest teachers’ union, is attempting to pick off one-by-one 90-some members that have refused to pay their dues.

About 18 months ago, the school board voted to no longer deduct dues from employees’ paychecks, which meant union members had to physically write a check to the union.  Many saw it as their opportunity to protest the obnoxious behavior of union leaders during a previous contract negotiation period.  The union president, Paul Helder, was particularly pompous during negotiations, claiming the union was fighting a “war on terrorism.”  He even established “War Time Committees” to organize the fight against the school board and administrators.

Marjorie Hayward objected to her president’s behavior and refused to pay up.  So the union took her to small claims court.

The judge, citing the fact that Michigan is not a right-to-work state, ruled she has to fork over the money, regardless of whether or not the union is representing her interests.

Let that marinate for a bit – because of current Michigan law, the union has the right to take a school employee to court and extract money out of her. Isn’t that grand?

If there is ever an opportunity to make Michigan a right-to-work state, this is it.

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In today’s New York Times:

Federal regulators are investigating whether California violated securities laws and failed to provide adequate disclosure about its giant public pension fund, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission normally polices companies, but last year it brought its first enforcement action ever against a state, accusing New Jersey of securities fraud for misleading bond investors about the condition of its pension fund. The commission signaled, in its settlement with New Jersey, that it was going to look more broadly at the pension disclosures of states and cities.

The fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, known as Calpers, lost about a quarter of its total investment portfolio during the financial crisis, leaving the state responsible for replacing billions of dollars each year and contributing to its huge deficit. The question is whether California adequately disclosed in the preceding years how risky the pension investments were and how much money it might need to cover any shortfall.

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When the Washington D.C. City Council loosened the rules governing food trucks back in 2007, it led to a culinary explosion in the nation’s capital, enabling District lunch-goers to chow down on bulgogi tacos, pork banh mi, gourmet pizza, and more.

Never known as a place for retail innovation, D.C.’s roving lunch scene is starting to compare favorably with such culinary hotspots as New York and Los Angeles, which has been cracking down on its legendary food trucks via a bevy of arbitrary regulations.

D.C.’s bricks-and-mortar restaurants have done their part to lobby for rules that would hobble the new competition, including pushing for a law that would keep food trucks out of entire neighborhoods.

In December 2010, Reason.tv grabbed lunch from the Red Hook Lobster Pound, one of the District’s best-known food truck, to find out why customers were willing to stand in line for an hour in 30-degree weather and fork over $15 for lobster rolls.

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Newly-elected House Speaker John Boehner is a leader in delivering educational options for American kids.  National School Choice Week will be an opportunity to highlight the critical need for school choice and giving parents options out of our failing public schools.

The Media is aflutter these days about the imminent return of the economy.   Of course, it marks a stark contrast to the manner in which they covered the Bush economy.  In the months leading up to the 2008 election, the Media was talking the economy down.  Now they are attempting to talk it up.  No amount of Media optimism, however, will change some basic dynamics which will keep the economy in its weakened state or worse for years to come.  As you go through these reasons, keep in mind that consumer spending makes up, and has for years, approximately 70% of the US economy.

1.  Historically High Unemployment.  The unemployment rate remains historically very high.  History also tells us that unemployment takes longer to recover than other economic indicators.  That certainly applies to our current economic troubles.  Despite Pelosi’s claims about how unemployment checks create jobs, the magnitude of our unemployment translates directly into a historically high lack of consumer purchasing power.  That’s true for the 9.8% of unemployed Americans and their families – not to mention those affected by the much higher underemployment rate of  17+%  – and those dependent on consumers.  No one expects unemployment to fall rapidly and therefore this will continue to hurt the US economy for years.

2. The Foreclosure/Mortgage Crisis.  The magnitude of the continuing foreclosure/mortgage crisis continues to be grossly under-reported by the press. (Surprise).  Many believe that foreclosures will actually increase in 2011 over the approximately 1.2 million that occurred in 2010.  Combined with the 2009 numbers, that means over 3 million foreclosures in a three year period.  That depresses housing prices and hurts the housing industry overall which, historically, has led the way in past recoveries.  Worse yet, estimates of the number of mortgages “under water,”  (homes whose mortgage is higher than the value of the home) continues to rise – not to mention those homes which have less equity than the costs of sale.

Looking at it another way, the Federal Reserve believes Americans have lost $6 trillion in home equity since 2006.  All of that translates into nervous homeowners with much lower – if not lost – purchasing power.   That won’t turn around in time for Obama either given his policies.

3. Rising Gas Prices.

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A new Congress. Enjoy the weekend.

Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post:

In a five-page letter, Smith notes that there has been “little oversight” as to how the civil rights division has used its budget increases ($22 million in FYI 2010 and $17 million requested in FYI 2011) and why the need for some 164 new positions.

He then gets to the heart of the matter. As I and other outlets have reported, he notes that in the New Black Panther Party case investigation, it came to light that a political appointee, Julie Fernandes, directed Justice Department attorneys “not to bring cases against black defendants for the benefit of white victims.”

Smith then details allegations by former Justice Department attorney J. Christian Adams that the department declined to enforce the National Voter Registration Act and its provisions relating to “voter integrity.”

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