Pith 'n Vinegar

Chuck Schumer: Out of touch windbag

2009-02-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

Chuck says the people don't care. The polls say the people do.

Cutting California

2009-01-22T17:48:00.000-08:00

The Democrats in the California legislature want the people to cut carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels, yet they can't cut the budget to 2003 levels. Where's the leading by example?

A Tale of Two Senators

2009-01-05T17:28:00.000-08:00

One senator is legally appointed but politically inconvenient. The other is declaring victory in a contested race rife with irregularities. Which one do you think Democrats are trying to keep out of the Senate?

Obama's Holiday Special: 3 million jobs for the low, low price of 24 million jobs!

2008-12-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

Caroline Baum writes about the faulty arithmetic of Barack Obama's jobs plan (via Instapundit):We know money buys influence. Now we find out it can buy jobs as well.If only it were that simple.Obama has been working with his advisers so that the proposed $750-billion-and-counting package of tax breaks and spending on infrastructure, education, health care and unemployment insurance is ready to go

Thank You

2008-11-11T13:34:00.000-08:00

At a ceremony this morning commemorating Veterans Day, an anonymous note was read, which I will do my best to relay to you:On a recent airline flight, a man saw a uniformed group of soldiers talking about whether to spend the five dollars on lunch. When he heard several of the men decide not to, he promptly walked back to the galley and gave the flight attendant fifty dollars and asked that she

Congratulations Mr. Obama

2008-11-04T21:57:00.000-08:00

As much as a critic of Barack Obama as I have been, and will continue to be, I want to commend him for his victory in the race for President.And if I may be so bold, let me offer the new president some advice...- The most important information on the course to take in Iraq comes from the ground. Your plans should take a back seat to the reality on the ground. You owe it to the troops who have

Barack Obama Will Never Be My President

2008-11-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

On this day when the nation elects the leaders of its government, I feel the need to make something very clear--no elected official presides over me. I am a free citizen of the United States. George W. Bush is not my President. Bill Clinton was not my President. Ronald Reagan was not my President. They were all legitimately elected leaders of the government that exists to protect my liberty.

Am I the only one...

2008-11-02T08:53:00.000-08:00

...who pictures Barack Obama's Civilian National Security Force running around in brown shirts?

Dare to Dream? Not in Obama's America

2008-10-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

I've been stunned this last week watching the treatment Democrats have piled on Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher. Just stunned. I would never have believed anyone in this country could be so vicious towards someone whose dream was to be a successful small business owner. But then, there is a new breed of American--the Obamaniac. The Obamaniac cares only for getting Barack Obama into the White House

Get ready for another Great Depression

2008-10-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal Opinion section contains a serious look at what the government the polls indicate is coming upon us would look like. Ladies and gentlemen, it ain't pretty:If the current polls hold, Barack Obama will win the White House on November 4 and Democrats will consolidate their Congressional majorities, probably with a filibuster-proof Senate or very close to it. Without the

20 times is fine, 21 is a problem

2008-10-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

For your Saturday Morning enjoyment, the one and only Jackie Mason on Obama's relationships:

Keep 'em down!

2008-10-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama is a Democrat. No one questions this. The thing I don't understand is why people believe, against all evidence, that the Democrats want to help them rise out of poverty. Take, as an example, Barack Obama's tax plan:There's another catch: Because Mr. Obama's tax credits are phased out as incomes rise, they impose a huge "marginal" tax rate increase on low-income workers. The

Maybe we do live in two Americas

2008-10-08T22:56:00.000-07:00

John Edwards may have been on to something when he said we lived in "two Americas"--he just got the divide wrong. One America takes things at face value, looking at the actual meaning of the words and the intent of the speaker while the other attempts to shoehorn everything a person says to fit a predetermined narrative.Take this quote: Palin told a group of donors in Colorado that "This is not

A Letter to the Next President

2008-09-02T22:56:00.000-07:00

There's a site where you can compose a letter to the next president. I wrote one:...and invite you to do the same.

Anyone still wanna tell me Obama believes in the Constitution?

2008-08-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Not to keep piling it on the Democratic nominee for President, but where in the constitution is the power to mandate 50 hours of community service for high schoolers and 100 hours for college students?

Barack Obama believes in the Constitution?

2008-08-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well, they say you learn something every day. Apparently, I was under the mistaken impression that Barack Obama believed in himself and the goodness of presidential power in his hands, but twice today I've heard otherwise:Swan did throw libertarians one bone regarding the coming Democratic hegemony. “There’s more openness now after watching the violation of civil liberties,” he said. “True

Just more proof...

2008-08-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

That Barack Obama is anti-liberty.

Liberty sacrifices efficiency

2008-08-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama has just said we were falling behind China in the infrastructure department. Aside from the fact that schools here in the US don't crumble during earthquakes, Obama's quote reveals quite a bit about how he views the American people.From the Economist, via Dan Rhiel, we have this quote:Chinese official Xu Li said, Once a plan is made, it is executed. “Democracy”, she says, “

Revealing or totally obvious?

2008-08-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

Andrew Revkin writes the following in the NY Times "Dot Earth" blog:I had a passing thought that these changes might reflect the broader prospect that — when pushed by economic forces, at least — human behavior can shift in ways that can consume resources more parsimoniously even as life improves.Let's rephrase that to take the five-dollar words and false sense of revelation out:People use less

Who is Alan Smithee?

2008-08-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

There is a candidate for President of the United States who hates liberty. Severely hates liberty, in fact. His entire platform is built upon robbing you for your liberty for the common good. But, this candidate has the people wrapped up in his persona and empty promises of a better future that nobody except those of us on the political fringe can see it. His friends laud his grand promises

Would you believe...

2008-08-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

...that the recession has nothing to do with energy? Fortune doesn't, and has the chutzpah to tell us why falling oil prices are bad:No doubt the drop, down to $120 by mid-day Monday, gives strapped consumers relief at the gas pump. Prices have dropped below $4 a gallon and could be headed toward $3.50, going by trading in wholesale futures markets. Any decline will be welcomed by Americans

California: Where property rights come to die

2008-06-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it's official, the voters of California got royally fooled again. Proposition 98, the real protection of property rights, was defeated in favor of Proposition 99, a blatant sham proposition designed to maintain the status quo.Proposition 99 only protects property if the government's stated purpose is to transfer non-blighted residential property from the owner-occupant to another

Proposition 98: Good for Californians, even renters

2008-05-15T18:06:00.000-07:00

Proposition 98, on this June's primary election is about two things--property rights and the free market. The proposition, put simply, bans the taking of private property by government for anything other than public use. Can the state take private property to build a much-needed highway? Yes. Can the state take private property and give it to WalMart? No. This is unequivocally a good

It's the dollar, stupid

2008-04-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

So, GWB and San Fran Nancy have been sniping at each other over the nation's economic malaise. Who's to blame? He says inaction by a Democratic congress is to blame, while she says his administration's incompetence is to blame. Well, as entertaining as this tussle is, they're both wrong.Fabius Maximus has a good post about rising commodity prices, in which he reminds me about this truism from

BBC tells truth about US

2008-04-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

While the Beeb's North American editor can't completely duck the reflexive "America is violent" meme that was no doubt beaten into him at BBC Boot Camp, he does manage this startling revelation:It is a paradox. Along with the guns there is a tranquillity and civility about American life of which most British people can only dream.While it's not really a paradox, it is more truth than I'd expect