Well, the ‘barbarians’ and ’sons of bitches’ are at it again. As wildfires spread across Texas, covering over 100,000 acres so far, tea partiers are once again organizing and mobilizing, this time to help their fellow citizens.

The group Citizen Patriot Response is coordinating efforts. From its website:

Citizen Patriot Response is preparing to begin delivering cold bottles of water to firefighters in the Bastrop area in an effort to do our part. Many other organizations and individuals in Texas are doing the same. We need support, we need more efforts initiated across the state, and we need communication and collaboration between group leaders to ensure that men and women fighting the Texas wildfires have full support.

The group will also provide a shelter for those families whose homes are threatened by the fires.

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James Hoffa Jr., aka Jimmy the Lesser, joined President Obama yesterday for a rally of the rapidly-dwindling faithful. (Thanks to some heavenly playwright for setting this scene in Detroit, a city more decimated by leftist ideology than any other.) As the President sat calmly by off-stage, Jimmy the Lesser excited the crowd with an old-fashioned stemwinder of trade unionist fire-and-brimstone. (Paging Jeremiah Wright.) It is worth multiple viewings:

The “Era of Civility” is definitely over, I guess.

Most of the commentariat is arguing over whether or not Jimmy the Lesser was making threats against the tea party (read American public). The wanna-be grundoons at Media Matters spittle that somehow Hoffa’s comments were taken out of context. Such an argument takes the context out of context. I’ve learned that when a Teamster or Longshoreman says things like “war” or “army” and calls his opponents “sons of bitches” it is prudent not to fidget over the nuances of language. Best to get ready for a dust-up.

But, the “debate” over whether or not Jimmy the Lesser was making threats is kind of beside the point. I watch his speech and see only one thing…panic.

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I’m told the below ad is going wide tomorrow. That in itself is interesting. Google is already a power-house on the Internet and, in recent years, has become inextricably intertwined with the Obama Administration. They collect and retain silly-amounts of data on all of us. We know they leverage this data for ad sales, but what else could or would they use this data for?

I have no idea who is actually behind this ad. But, considering that Google is apparently moving into almost everyone’s on-line business, there is no doubt a long line of possible suspects.

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If you live in California’s 36th Congressional district or in one of the 6 state senate districts targeted by Big Labor in Wisconsin, please vote today. If you don’t live in one of these districts, but know someone who does, call them and urge them to vote today. These are important skirmishes in the battle for liberty.

In California, voters will determine the successor to retiring Representative Jane Harman. The deeply indigo district ought to be a calk-walk for Democrats, but they went with their inner crazy and nominated LA councilwoman Janice Hahn. She championed the ‘novel’ program of giving taxpayer money to gang members to…well, I’m not really sure what they were supposed to do. Not do gang stuff, I guess. What used to be called “protection money” is “gang outreach” in Democrats’ bizarro world. Of course, these gang members continued to do what gang members do. Hahn shouldn’t be in the same hemisphere as the U.S. Treasury. Please support her opponent, Craig Huey.

In Wisconsin, Big Labor has targeted 6 GOP senators for recall. (Sure, there was an election just a few months ago, but Big Labor doesn’t like those results so they want a do-over.) Today is the primary for those recalls.

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In honor of the Fourth of July holiday, Broadside Books hosted an on-line symposium asking the question, “Where and How Should Conservatives Attack Liberalism Next?” An excerpt of my answer follows:

The famous philosopher Pogo once observed, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Reviewing the greatest threat to liberty today, I offer a corollary; “We have met the enemy and we are paying for him.” Our liberty is challenged not so much by political forces as institutional ones. Until we begin dismantling the racket that is Public Sector, Inc., we will never again enjoy the liberties and freedoms our grandparents took for granted.

The current budget crisis has shined a light on the out-sized pay and benefits earned by public sector employees in state and local government. The traditional implicit bargain where government workers accepted slightly lower pay in exchange for job security and decent benefits has been up-ended, with government workers now enjoying high pay and platinum benefits in addition to life-time employment.

The showdowns in Wisconsin, Ohio, New Jersey and other states have shown how difficult it will be to reverse course on this. But even getting public sector pay and benefits back to historic averages is just the tip of the iceberg, or, rather, treatment of a minor symptom of a virulent disease. Balancing government employee pay with resources is a fiscal challenge; balancing our liberties against ever-expanding government is a herculean fight against a massive institutional infrastructure.

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Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn is locked in a surprisingly close race in the special election for California’s 36th District. The special election is Tuesday, as in 5 days from now.

Back in the early part of the last decade, America, and especially California, was living high on a speculative real estate bubble. Local and state governments were absolutely awash in tax receipts and felt, you know, we can probably afford just about any crazy idea you can come up with. Councilwoman Hahn became a cheerleader for just about the craziest idea since we decided to turn food into fuel; paying gang members to be ‘gang intervention specialists.’ What could go wrong?

As the above local news report shows, quite a lot, actually. Supporting this program was a dumb move. But, hey, politicians were on something of a spending bender back then, so maybe we can just chalk it up to a ‘youthful indiscretion.’ Dumber, though, and harder to explain away, was Hahn walking out of an interview when first confronted about the program in 2008.

Dumbest of all, though, is Hahn firing up her lawyers to go after the news organization reporting on the story. These Clarence Darrows actually tried to use a “Cease and Desist” threat against a news station…over a news story. This isn’t just dumb, this is a terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad-day kind of dumb.

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This morning, Erick Erickson at RedState issued a much needed salvo against the latest wave of ‘this-time-we-really-mean-it” pledges to cut spending. He focused his ire on the many DC-based institutions and individuals who are peddling this new magic elixir, but I think the problem actually goes much deeper than that. Of course, he is already experiencing significant blowback and complaints. And, also, of course, Erickson is being urged to ‘be reasonable.’ That is always the last line of defense for those without the stomach for a fight.

I stand with Erickson on this one; the time for pledges is over.

For the past several decades we’ve had pledges, commitments, frameworks, understandings, ‘down-payments’ on reform and countless ‘baby-steps’ towards fiscal sanity. And, yet, here we are on the edge of an existential crisis. In addition to a looming fiscal collapse, our government has taken over auto companies, bailed out Wall Street banks, set in motion a government take-over of health care and so overburdened the economy with regulatory red tape that the private sector job engine is permanently stalled.

All these pledges have gotten us what, exactly?

This raises a question that has puzzled me for the last few years. What has the conservative movement been good for?

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MSNBC is reporting that, this afternoon, Rep. Weiner will offer interviews to two TV Networks. Presumably, he doesn’t want a repeat of yesterday’s disastrous press conference. Also, presumably, he’s realized that he can’t simply “choose” to not talk about this incident. So, maybe, having exhausted all other options, he has simply decided to answer the questions directly.

There really aren’t that many that need answering. In the interest of being helpful, I’ve put together my own list of nagging questions:

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The most popular parlor game among the cool kids these days is “Find the Apostasy.” You just fire up The Google, type in a potential candidate’s name and pick from a list of current ‘third rail’ conservative policy positions, e.g. cap and trade, earmarks, individual health insurance mandate, or amnesty. Within a nano-second you’ll have a host of quotes from five, ten or even twenty years ago with something far less than a full-throttled opposition to these policies. You may even hit the jack-pot and find a potential GOP nominee downright supporting one of those ‘third rail’ positions. Fire up a short blog post, toss in a couple “RINOs” and…presto…comment crack.

Don’t get me wrong; I am absolutely opposed to those positions and have been for the 20+ years I’ve been in this game. I also absolutely believe that the GOP nominee in 2012 must also be opposed to these positions going forward. However, I think we have to be careful about firing up the way back machine unless we recognize that, even 5 years ago, the political climate was very, very different.

Obama didn’t invent deficit spending, burgeoning debt, new entitlements or wasteful government boondoggles. Those have all been around for decades. Obama just found a V-8 booster we didn’t know our fiscal engine had. He seized a rare moment to implement almost the entire Progressive wish list and failed so spectacularly and exposed its false assumptions so clearly that even the most wishy-washy “independent” could recognize it was a false religion.

So, today, the American public, and especially the average GOP primary voter,  is in the mood for a policy rumble. They want to dramatically cut spending, reform entitlements and, to varying degrees, scrap the tax code and start over. They are more aware of the challenges we face and better educated on the policy implications than I’ve seen in my lifetime. They are ready for a very adult conversation on the tough choices our nation has to make.

But, this wasn’t always so.

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So, with Mitch Daniels out of the Presidential race, what do we make of the GOP field? Daniels, despite some possible quibbles, had a very compelling argument for his candidacy. First and foremost was his solid record as Governor. He cut government, curtailed the power of public sector unions and, just in the last few weeks, won groundbreaking education reform. Sure, he was a bit boring and something of a technocrat, but after 3+ years of flim-flammy flash and dash, a little adult supervision seemed in order.

A more compelling case, I believed, was where Daniels was from. Indiana sits in that great swath of the industrial heartland of America. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, among many other cities and towns are the bed-rock of America’s industrial might. The West Coast may have the glitz and the East Coast may have the financial power, but neither is possible without the hard toil of the lunchbox crowd in the Midwest. It is the “America that works.” Unfortunately, the Midwest is also the region that has been most battered by the failed policies of the last few decades. Look no further than Detroit to see what happens when progressivism’s “best intentions” crash upon the rocks of economic reality.

It has been a long time since America had a President who knew and understand our industrial heartland. (Yes, I realize Barack Obama is from Illinois, but c’mon…is there any evidence his presidency-as-academic-symposium understands the first thing about how the private sector works?) A candidate from this region would not only have an innate understanding of the proverbial “Joe Six Pack”, he or she would also appreciate how over-taxation and over-regulation can stifle an economic engine. A candidate who has lived among abandoned factories and shuttered steel mills would understand that the policy whims of the mandarins in DC have real-world consequences.

Daniels understood this world. But, he’s out. However, based on growing on-line chatter, someone else from America’s shop-floor may be about to enter the race: Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, from Michigan.

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On Sunday the world was again reminded that the American military, when given a clear and specific mission, is the most potent force in history. The daring mission, conducted deep inside Pakistan was the culmination of a decade-long manhunt. While the brave men on the ground enjoyed the satisfaction of killing the world’s most wanted terrorist, hundreds of other military and intelligence personnel were also rewarded for countless hours of intense and stressful work.

They all have the earned their place among the country’s heroes.

All Americans are grateful for their dedication, professionalism and commitment to protecting our nation and her people.  So, it was no surprise that the United States Senate took time on Tuesday to honor these men and women by discussing and passing a resolution expressing the nation’s thanks for a job well done.

It was also no surprise that similar resolutions were introduced in the U.S. House, the “peoples’ chamber.” Although slightly different, resolutions from Reps. Thaddeus McCotter, Sheila Jackson Lee and Bill Owens also expressed the nation’s deep appreciation of the men and women who played a role in this dangerous mission.

But, a funny thing happened on the way to passage; House GOP leadership decided not to pass ANY resolution honoring our service personnel. They simply went about their normal business and then left town yesterday, ignoring all of the resolutions. It is unlikely the House will ever get around to, you know, saying thanks for doing such a great job.

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Rather than accept a few billion in budget cuts (read rounding error), President Obama has signaled his willingness to shut down the federal government. (Yah!) For those keeping score at home, any government shutdown that happens is on Obama’s plate. He is the President. All on him.

The worst part of this whole debate is the Obama Administration’s decision to hold military pay hostage to the budget debate. For the last few decades, government shutdowns have been guided by an OMB directive issued during the Reagan Administration. Under this directive, military personnel would continue to receive the paychecks while politicians argued about the budget. The Clinton Administration, during the last government shutdown, kept the paychecks flowing.

But, not Obama.

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As readers of Big Government know, an impasse over a few billion dollars in proposed spending cuts threatens to shutdown the federal government. (And, by a few billion dollars I mean, rounding error.) As regular readers should also know, I’ve come to embrace a shutdown, rather than fear it.

As this recent Congressional Research Service report explains, if the government were to shutdown, an OMB Directive issued in the 1980s (along with a handful of legal opinions) guide what parts of government continue to function and what parts must close down.  Short story, all of the important functions of government, i.e national security, the military, air traffic control, border security, Social Security payments, etc., will continue to function. The parts that have to shut down…well, lets just say they are candidates for permanent cuts. I mean, if the country functions for several weeks without a few hundred thousand ‘non-essential’ employees, couldn’t we probably function without them forever? I’m not saying every one of these jobs should necessarily be eliminated…but it isn’t a good place to start?

Sensing the potential PR nightmare from this, it seems the Obama Administration may have decided to raise the stakes on a shutdown. According to draft guidance from the Pentagon, the Obama Administration will require military personnel to report to work…but, will hold their paychecks until the impasse is resolved. As Government Executive explained in a March 15th article:

Military personnel and exempt Defense Department civilian employees are required to continue working without pay during a government shutdown, according to guidance from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

In a memo prepared earlier this month, Defense officials noted that service members and some civilian workers, including those involved in national security and the protection of life and property, still must report for duty but will not be paid until Congress appropriates funds to reimburse them for that period of service. All other employees will be furloughed, the memo stated.

Military personnel are not subject to furlough.

This is new.

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The Kabuki theater that is the debate over the federal budget took a weird turn this afternoon. The GOP-led House of Representatives passed HR 1255, the “Government Shutdown Prevention Act.” The measure is largely symbolic…it states that if the Democrat-led Senate and President Obama don’t act on $61 billion in cuts passed earlier this year by the House, those cuts would be ‘law of the land.’ Which, obviously, doesn’t hold any water. This isn’t too far away from when Democrats proposed “deeming” ObamaCare passed.

The House GOP Leadership, however, did add something to their legislation that should give pause to all conservatives. They grafted onto their bill a Democrat proposal to suspend pay for members of Congress if there is a government shutdown. So, if members believe that the budget cuts “negotiated” by GOP Leadership are too small or think we should finally face up to the inevitable tough choices, they potentially could lose their pay.

I think Rep. McCotter summed it up best:

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Yesterday, I noted that AARP’s main ‘business’ is renting its name to insurance companies selling policies to senior citizens. It’s a robust business that has grown rapidly over the last few years. In 2002, AARP collected around $240 million renting its name. By 2009, that figure had almost tripled to $657 million a year. (Nice work if you can get it.)

At least, AARP, Inc., who sells the naming rights could use this windfall to further their important charitable work, right?

Um, not so much.

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Ever since the passage of ObamaCare, I’ve been perplexed by a lingering question: Why did AARP so aggressively lobby for passage of the law? After all, the plan was built on $500 billion in cuts to Medicare. Even in Washington, half a trillion dollars is still a ton of money. Medicare is sacrosanct among America’s senior citizens. It was unfathomable to me that the nation’s largest membership association of seniors would, not just not oppose the cuts, but would actively lobby for them. It didn’t make any sense.

Mostly, I just chalked up AARP’s actions to its general leftist, partisan leanings. Medicare cuts by Republicans are bad, but cuts by Democrats to increase government involvement in health care are okay. Boy, was I wrong.

According to this blockbuster report, released today by the House Ways and Means Committee, AARP’s support of ObamaCare and, specifically, the Medicare cuts was entirely rational and self-serving. The Committee found, after an 18 month investigation, that AARP stands to reap an extra billion dollars in profits from ObamaCare. (Yes, that is billion with a B.) Worse, this extra profit is largely BECAUSE of the Medicare cuts.

AARP’s members may face uncertainty over their future health care because of the cuts, but AARP faces certain windfall profits for itself.

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This weekend we learned which 4 teams will meet in the finals of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. For many players, coaches and fans, this weekend was the culmination of life-long dreams. This weekend, however, we also learned that Delaware state officials thought it was prudent to dispatch resources and manpower to remove a number of curbside basketball hops from a local cul de sac.

So much for their dreams.

The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) deployed heavy equipment and over a dozen staff to tackle the scourge of curbside basketball. When a local resident complained about the heavy-handedness of the state’s response, they even brought in law enforcement.

Behold, your Republic, 2011 Edition:

Well.

Look…I admit, I don’t know the particulars of this situation. Perhaps these basketball hoops were “illegal.” Perhaps, as one government official states, DelDOT does own the “rights of way” in this cul de sac (let’s set aside that weirdness for a moment) and somehow it really felt the need to flex its sovereign muscle and better police its curbs.

But, is this really the best use of government resources? Delaware faces a budget shortfall equal to over 6% of its budget. The tiny state is #12 in the NATION in its level of debt. And yet, it feels it is vital to dispatch a bunch of fully-pensioned and health benefited state employees to remove basketball hoops. Really? When we hear from state employees that they can’t possibly accept any more cuts in funding, is it because we’ll lose the basketball-hoop-removal-sqauds. Cause, I might be willing to stomach that cut.

And yes, I really think this is a big deal.

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Just a few weeks ago, the national media wrung its hands about the need for greater civility in our political dialogue. Almost within minutes of that sanctimonious plea, the institutional left launched an assault against any and all perceived opponents. No matter how many videos of leftist hate surfaced, nor instances of leftist violence, the national media has ignored it all.

So, what do we make of this threat on Ann Althouse:

50869881-Op-countertroll-Vs-Althouse-and-Meade-1

Professor Althouse is not a card-carrying member of the vast right-wing conspiracy. She is a law professor whose views are not easily categorized. She is both more conservative than some on the right and more liberal than some on the left, depending on the issue. Above all, she reports truths, as she sees it.

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Japan is suffering from a natural disaster that threatens to turn into an existential crisis. Colonel Q-ball has unleashed a blistering assault on pro-democracy rebel forces.  Large swaths of the Middle East are in turmoil. The federal government is bleeding red ink, with absolutely no end in site. The economy sucks and is getting battered by skyrocketing commodity prices and a volatile oil market. Near-record numbers of Americans are leaving the work force. If the world isn’t quite on fire…it is at least approaching a slow burn.

But, what’s all that against a little MARCH MADNESS!

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This thirty second video will show you everything that is wrong with public sector unions.

The budget debate in Wisconsin has forced a long-overdue discussion about public sector unions. Always a questionable proposition, unionization of the public sector, for a period, seemed a luxury we could afford. Yeah, public workers had job security and great benefits, but their pay was lower, so it seemed a fair trade-off. Over the last couple decades that implicit understanding was upended…public sector pay moved much higher and those great benefits were jacked up on steroids. Worse, we’ve recently learned that the benefits aren’t actually ‘paid for.’ As a result, we face the prospect of far higher taxes to meet these past promises.

At the same time, globalization and the natural forces of competition changed the economic equation for many of us in the private sector. We have had to become more productive, shoulder a greater share of our benefits and assume greater responsibility over our retirement. We’ve also realized that past politicians’ promises about Social Security were checks that couldn’t be cashed.

For the past couple of years, we’ve stayed awake at night wondering whether we would keep our job or whether our employer would stay in business. We saw our take-home pay eroded by higher state and local taxes and higher contributions to our own benefits. We watched in December as politicians of both parties congratulated themselves that they weren’t going to take even more of our earnings–well, for at least a couple more years. After that, who knows…

But, that isn’t the worst of it.

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