RIP? And here I thought it was doing so well.
I Respond To Rory Cooper
…over at The Corner, to rebut his piece this morning.
Ahmadinejad’s Apocalyptic Address
Somehow, just walking out on him seems insufficient. He wants death and destruction.
Barack Obama, Social Democrat
Thoughts from Stanley Kurtz and Charles Krauthammer. The mask has come off for all to see, I think.
Obama’s NASA
More revisionist history, over at National Review. I’ll have to see if I can do a rebuttal.
“The Greatest Generation”
…and the one it spawned (of which I’m a member).
Not Only Is Sandy Adams A Moron
…but apparently her staffers are, too.
Elizabeth Warren
Why her “argument” isn’t as compelling as the state schtuppers want to imagine it is. Lots of good stuff in comments over there, too.
“Essential” Air Service
Here’s just one more example of why we have trillion-dollar deficits:
…the EAS program has mushroomed into a airline routing program based on political favors. And the subsidy doesn’t go to the traveling public; it goes to the air carriers. The $3,700 per passenger subsidy, for example, has been championed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who fought and won the earmark for keeping open air service for Ely, Nevada (population: 4,000).
How inefficient is the EAS program? While the Feds pay out $3,700 per passenger to airlines to fly from Ely to Las Vegas, Southwest Airlines sells tickets for Las Vegas to Chicago nonstop for as little as $153 one-way — about 10 cents per mile.
And no matter how much they claim to be in favor of small government, you can always find someone who will defend their own pet program:
Faye Malarkey Black, a vice president for the Regional Airline Association, said she believes few federal programs are worth it.
“They call it essential for a reason,” she told the Associated Press. She said her industry group supports “common sense adjustments” for eligibility, but added that rural communities already face many struggles to keep people from leaving.”If you take away air service, who wants to live in those communities?” she asked.
How and when did it become the responsibility of the federal taxpayer to ensure that rural communities don’t die? The American west is dotted with towns that came, and then, when there was no longer any economic justification for them, went. What is the benefit to someone in Florida to make sure that Muskegon, Michigan has air service, or that it exist at all (not that Muskegon is likely to go away for the lack of it — as the article notes, it’s only forty miles from Grand Rapids)? If we are going to solve our fiscal problems, we need to completely rethink the role of the federal government. That is the core of what next year’s election, now barely thirteen months away, should be about.
Some Constitutional Questions For Mitt Romney
From Andy McCarthy:
Do you think Social Security is constitutional?
Do you think Social Security is consistent with an originalist interpretation of the Constitution?
Do you think the Supreme Court of the New Deal era was correct to reject James Madison’s interpretation of the General Welfare Clause?
Do you agree with the Supreme Court’s assertion in the Helvering case that the meaning of the General Welfare Clause changes with the times?
If the General Welfare power gives Congress authority to set up a compulsory retirement insurance system, and a compulsory disability insurance system, would it not also give Congress the authority to set up a national healthcare system?
Are there any limits to what Congress may do under its power to provide for the general welfare?
The answers would give us useful insight into what kind of a president he would be.