Today, President Obama begins a 17 day (!) vacation in Hawaii. At least we know that nothing really bad can happen over the next 17 days.

On virtually every policy issue and in most sectors of the economy, the left’s solutions call for bigger government. The clear implication of that worldview: We should trust government bureaucrats more than private individuals to innovate, create and provide prosperity and general well-being.

President Obama argued in a recent speech on the economy, for instance, that we need to “make the investments … in things like education and research and high-tech manufacturing.”

And in his blueprint for energy for coming decades, Obama says government must fund and lead the way to new energy solutions: “We can get there by creating markets for innovative clean technologies … the Federal government needs to put words into action and lead by example [my emphasis].” Others on the left agree,  even some on the right and still others go even further, insisting that government must soup up its already pronounced role, and lead the way in medical research, transportation, education and more.

Whatever Barack Obama’s latest claims to Teddy Roosevelt’s progressive mantle, though, history dismantles the notion that without paternalistic governmental guidance, the economy would be left in a morass of confusion and stagnancy. In fact, just the opposite is the case. Government often lags, and even obstructs the ingenuity of the private sector.

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When Obama talked “hope and change” on the campaign trail in 2008, he was believable enough to get elected, even though a large part of the change he promised would knowingly lead to a burgeoning government. How else could he spread the wealth around and “fundamentally transform America”?

Well do we remember his 2008 campaign rhetoric:

Generations from now we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs for the jobless. This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.

Here we are, three years later, and Obamacare threatens to uproot and destroy our entire healthcare system, unemployment is at 8.6%, and Obama’s job performance has been so poor that he’s admitted “I don’t control the weather.”

Therefore, in the end, Obama’s promise of hope and change was a nonstarter, yet he has succeeded in fundamentally changing America and as a result citizens are unsettled. Obama has given us big government on an unprecedented scale and Gallup has given us a poll showing that everyone—Democrats and Republicans alike—are tired of the big government philosophy, of the big government approach to life’s problems. Throw in Obama’s support of #OccupyWallStreet, his elevation of Union thugs like Richard Trumka and Jimmy Hoffa on the national stage, his non-stop class warfare rhetoric, and the more than 1,000 weapons still loose on the streets following Fast and Furious, and it is little wonder the American people feel as unsafe physically as they do unsure financially.

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One cannot turn on the television or radio without some talking head or so-called political analyst pontificating about how Newt Gingrich is grandiose, how Mitt Romney isn’t really a Conservative – and how they both have flipped on several issues – or how Ron Paul’s foreign policy is isolationist. Glenn Beck, to many people’s extreme disappointment, even went so far as to call Speaker Gingrich a Progressive (I guess ratings are down at GBTV). It makes for good news show content, to be sure. In certain respects there is truth to the critiques. But this hyper-critiquing and self-immolation also does two things that Conservatives and Republicans fall prey to each and every time the General Election cycle comes calling: It deflects from addressing the differences between the GOP field and the opposition; and it provides the opposition with talking points, opponent research and the luxury of hiatus.

Make no mistake, the primaries are where each party – when not in incumbency – needs to critique and evaluate their prospective candidates. A hard-fought primary, when devoid of “it’s my turn” establishment national party politics, usually results in the fielding of the best candidate, and a candidate who is sufficiently prepped to engage in the “main event.” But there is a difference between an intellectual meeting of the minds, where policy differences and a juxtaposition of experiences are proposed, examined and debated, and the childish, nonsensical “braggateering” (to coin a word); of trading insignificant insults; of executing a campaign of personality-based mudslinging.

As we approach the actual start of the primary cycle – yes, we haven’t begun the cycle just yet – this act of political stupidity is coming into play, yet again, among the front runners for the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination.

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The SEIU’s Insidious Tentacles continue to infiltrate government and politics at the expense of its own rank and file without attracting national media attention. Interestingly enough the mainstream media will not peek beneath the covers and investigate reports by employees and employers, such as those detailed in The Devil at My Doorstep, who have been abused by the SEIU’s ruthless tactics and/or the reports of corrupt political connections , government infiltration and pay-to-play ties to the current administration. Several interesting stories have surfaced during the past month, yet not one has received the national attention it deserves through investigative journalism by the national mainstream media.

Among the events:

1. )  On November 10, 2011 a Washington Examiner article reported on SEIU activities in Michigan, a state desperately attempting to pass a RTW bill to stop big labor from usurping employee rights and money, involving the SEIU’s infiltration of state government and how the SEIU Siphons ‘Dues’ from Mich. Medicaid Payments.

2. )  On November 16, Michelle Malkin revealed that  former SEIU President Andy Stern utilized his membership on the board for a California pharmaceutical company to facilitate a half billion dollar drug deal for the company.  See the article: Obama’s Half-Million-Dollar Crony Drug Deal; Related non-shocker: SEIU endorses Obama.

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More from the Mickey Mouse Club known as the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

[Madison, Wisc...] The same employee who admitted the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board would deem all recall signatures valid, even if they were signed Mickey Mouse or Adolf Hitler, has engaged in online activity that could lead some to question his impartiality.

David Buerger, an elections specialist with the GAB used his Twitter account to praise a blog postingwherein Republican State Senator Mary Lazich was called “Crazy Mary.”

“OMG! Headline winner…” Buerger tweeted last month, and then included a link to the blog post.

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Christopher Hitchens died yesterday.

In 2007, Christopher Hitchens headlined Reason’s “Very Secular Christmas Party” in Washington, D.C. by providing a dramatic reading of Tom Lehrer’s “Christmas Song.” Click above to watch.

Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie has written an obituary:

I’m saddened to write that the great essayist and writer Christopher Hitchens is dead at the age of 62. He had been weakened by the cancer of the esophagus that he disclosed publicly in 2010 and the treatments he had undertaken to fight his illness. Reason extends its condolences to his wife, family, and friends.

As is clear to anyone who has read even a sentence of his staggeringly prolific output, Hitchens was the sort of stylist who could turn even a casual digression into a tutorial on all aspects of history, literature, and art. As a writer, you gaze upon his words and despair because there’s just no way you’re going to touch that. But far more important than the wit and panache and erudition with which he expressed himself was the method through which he engaged the world.

Throughout his life, he remained a man of the left, but he had no patience for orthodoxy and groupthink (the first night I met him in person, we ended up bonding over a softness for the early Oliver Cromwell, of all people). Not surprisingly, his biggest rows came among his political and ideological compatriots. A devout atheist, he abjured abortion and was no fan of Martin Luther King, Jr. He made a huge break with the supporters of Bill and Hillary Clinton in the book-length indictment No One Left to Lie To: The Values of the Worst Family. In the years leading up to but especially in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, he had nothing but righteous contempt for those he perceived as soft on religious terrorism and ended up leaving his longtime perch at The Nation partly as a result.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss how MF Global went bankrupt, why the CPI is an inaccurate reflection of life for an average American, and what the real financial situation is for many families today.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Ex-MF Global CEO Jon Corzine denies allegations
Why MF Global Really Went Bankrupt
Inflation holds steady in November
Accelerating Health Care Costs Wiping Out Much of Americans’ Income Gains
Japan mulls relaxing beef import restrictions

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Last night the leading GOP candidates for President held their final debate before voting starts in Iowa next month. Below are reactions from two more Breitbart editors.

Joel Pollak, EIC Breitbart.com:

I thought each of the candidates did well tonight. I was particularly impressed by Rep. Michele Bachmann–though I don’t care for her attacks on other candidates, she showed the poise that earned her frontrunner status early in the campaign. I was somewhat disappointed with Gov. John Huntsman, who is surging in New Hampshire and could have been expected to deliver a more effective performance.

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Boiled down to the essentials, union backing of leftist politicians is good business: Democrats push policies that benefit union bosses at the expense of employers, customers, and often the unions’ own members. This is doubly true of public unions; of course someone who gets rich taking money from government workers wants bigger government!

The case for union reform is tough to make due to Big Labor’s dishonestly political nature. Claiming to speak for all teachers/mechanics/factory workers/Middle Class Americans, unions have a rhetorical curtain thick enough to hide tens of millions in partisan spending. Democrats gain loyal constituents, union bosses get to make unsustainable promises, and corporations take the blame when jobs are cut or shipped overseas.

Take a look at this Center for Responsive Politics chart of top campaign contributors (view PDF screencap):

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From Bloomberg:

Daniel Mudd, the former chief executive officer of Fannie Mae, andRichard Syron, ex-CEO of Freddie Mac, were sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for understating by hundreds of billions of dollars the subprime loans held by the agencies.

The lawsuits filed today in Manhattan federal court were followed by an SEC statement that it had entered into non- prosecution agreements with each lender. Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprise which issues almost half of all mortgage-backed securities, and Freddie Mac, the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage-finance company, had “agreed to accept responsibility” for their conduct, the SEC said.

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From the Associated Press:

A deal on the $1 trillion-plus spending bill was reached after Republicans agreed to drop language that would have blocked President Barack Obama’s liberalized rules on people who visit and send money to relatives in Cuba. But a GOP provision will stay in the bill thwarting an Obama administration rule on energy efficiency standards that critics argued would make it hard for people to purchase inexpensive incandescent light bulbs.

A senior White House official said the administration supported the two-month plan.

Bargainers were considering the two-month extension of this year’s payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits bill because so far, they haven’t agreed how a yearlong extension would be paid for, said a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks.

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Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech this week declaring that vote fraud is “uncommon.”  He also said in an interview to The Washington Post, “You constantly hear about voter fraud … but you don’t see huge amounts of vote fraud out there.” Eric Holder, along with others on the left, is worried that the truth will get out.  Vote fraud denial is a project of the radical left to associate voter ID and other electoral reforms with racism of the past like Jim Crow, poll taxes, the KKK. Even comparisons to torturing and killing children have been made.

At least, we have some reasonable people of the progressive persuasion, like former Alabama Congressman Artur Davis and current Rhode Island state Senator Harold Metts, who both recognize that vote fraud occurs and support voter ID.  There is not only fraud committed by one party against another.

Democrats have committed fraud against members of their own party in primaries.  While Holder is focusing on trying to explain how Fast and Furious could have happened, people like Senator Metts has said, “For decades many of us have heard complaints about voter fraud … There have been numerous anecdotal complaints that have spanned the last two decades that have been ignored.”

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Across the United States, Idaho is typically known for two things: Potatoes, and its conservative political tendencies.

Indeed, in 2010, only Wyoming bested the Gem State in terms of “redness.” So, suffice to say, Idaho is no Maryland.

However, it turns out the two states do have something in common: Both are looking at potential big increases in their respective cigarette taxes as legislators get ready for the 2012 session.

As previously noted here, a push is being made in Maryland to raise the state’s tobacco tax by $1 per pack.

Now, Idaho Rep. Dennis Lake, who is the Chair of Idaho’s House Revenue and Taxation Committee, is planning to try again for a cigarette tax hike he pushed last year — with no success. Lake is reportedly looking to raise the state cigarette tax by $1.25 per pack. Proponents claim the proposed tax hike could bring in more than $50 million a year in new revenue, though other states have not always met revenue targets associated with cigarette tax increases.

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The family of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry wants answers, and they are growing impatient. Terry is apparently the sole American among countless victims of Mexico’s violent, ongoing drug wars. Drug gangs in that country received a major boost in firepower by way of a disastrously flawed and arguably illegal U.S. program that authorities now say should never have been implemented.

The now infamous “Operation Fast and Furious” was concocted and carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a division under the direct control of Eric Holder’s Department of Justice. The operation’s stated purpose was to allow illegal buyers to purchase firearms with the hope of tracking the weapons to Mexican narco-terrorist drug gangs. Agents say they lost track of hundreds of guns, some of which also surfaced later at horrific crime scenes in Mexico and at the scene of the murder of Brian Terry in Arizona. Recently uncovered e-mails now show a more nefarious motivation behind the operation: The Obama Administration’s desire to further clamp down on Second Amendment rights via a new law requiring strict reporting of the sale of long guns.

The buck stops at Holder’s desk. That’s what more than fifty lawmakers and four Presidential candidates insist as they call for the Attorney General to resign. While some insist that the operation was ”botched”, ATF whistle blowers say it basically went as planned: The only thing that went wrong is that it was exposed. While Holder has testified, under oath, that neither he nor his Justice Department colleagues were aware of the “gun-walking” tactics involved in Fast and Furious, many lawmakers find it hard to believe that the the nation’s top law enforcement official would be out of the loop in such a potentially deadly trans-national operation.

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Are you ready for the “Occupy Iowa Caucus” headed by a would-be Iowa governor?

On Tuesday, December 27, at 7 P.M. the attention-seeking Occupiers are rolling into Iowa, throwing their own caucus just two days after Christmas.

Allegedly ill-served by the political process, Ed Fallon, former failed Democratic candidate for governor, is helping to organize the first caucus in the nation to defeat the attention given to that other first in the nation caucus. (That, by the way, is what the Occupy Movement is all about. Getting attention!)

Ed Fallon is a long-term Democratic party hack. He served 14 years in the assembly where he had such legislative gems as this: a proposed law banning candy cigarettes because he says youths couldn’t be trusted to know the difference between a real cigarette and a sweet.

Now that he’s out of office, he’s into the county jail. He’s disturbing the peace, getting arrested, and going behind bars. Fallon was one of three dozen protestors who refused to vacate statehouse grounds at 11 p.m. on October 9.

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Today, in 1773, activists pulled off the ultimate grass-roots action:

From Vanity Fair:

Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died today at the age of 62. Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the spring of 2010, just after the publication of his memoir, Hitch-22, and began chemotherapy soon after. His matchless prose has appeared in Vanity Fair since 1992, when he was named contributing editor.

“Cancer victimhood contains a permanent temptation to be self-centered and even solipsistic,” Hitchens wrote nearly a year ago in Vanity Fair, but his own final labors were anything but: in the last 12 months, he produced for this magazine a piece on U.S.-Pakistani relations in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, a portrait of Joan Didion, an essay on the Private Eye retrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum, a prediction about the future of democracy in Egypt, a meditation on the legacy of progressivism in Wisconsin, and a series of frank, graceful, and exquisitely written essays in which he chronicled the physical and spiritual effects of his disease. At the end, Hitchens was more engaged, relentless, hilarious, observant, and intelligent than just about everyone else—just as he had been for the last four decades.

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