Six Degrees of Separation from You to Success

As everyone knows, after passing the most important legislation of the century, Obamacare, the Administration has been spending the last year granting 1,000's of waivers from the most onerous provisions to various and sundry businesses and unions.  Now some details are coming out as to exactly who is getting those waivers.  Would you be surprised to know that a bunch of waivers were expedited for upscale restaurants, night clubs, and anybody else in San Francisco who happens to be a friend of Nancy Pelosi?

This type of stuff gives crony-capitalism a bad name. 

It is said that there are at most only 6 people connecting each of us with anyone else on earth.  If this is so, then everybody better start firming up their links to Nancy Pelosi. 

A Mixed Bag of Tea

Poll results* yesterday give us a mixed bag: the President's foreign policy has poll numbers that are positively stratospheric; but he has sunk to the bottom of the barrel on the economy.  Can we read anything in these tea leaves? This is an easy one.  Foreign policy-wise, this President has defaulted to the policies of his predecessor, from keeping Gitmo and military tribunals, to surging troops into Afghanistan, to using information derived from enhanced interrogation to take out high-value military and political targets like bin Laden.  Despite the heated political rhetoric of the Democrats - and "rhetoric" is all it was, as revealed by the post-election behavior of this President - the American people explicitly endorsed President Bush's approach to the War on Terror in 2004, and clearly have not changed their minds.  The President is the mere recipient of this long-term trend. Contrariwise, this President has uniformly and consistently rejected any and all fixes for the economy that might resemble the tax-cut, supply side, pro-growth policies of the former President.  Unlike the foreign policy sphere, President Bush did not invent this approach, but was just a further declension of the political revolution that was Ronald Reagan.  The American people overwhelmingly re-elected President Reagan in 1984 for the most part because of his economic approach, and have continued for more than 20 years to vote for this approach in that uniquely American way: by diving with gusto into the economy, and creating the boom and boon for all Americans that only a thriving economy can.  Despite this, our President insists on governing against the political tide.  It is no wonder his poll numbers are as low as the economy over which he presides. Many regard President Obama as a political genius. Hah!  He is an ideologue who happened on the right circumstances at the right time and became President.  *(h/t Jim Geraghty's indispensable Morning Jolt daily newsletter - subscribe here).

The Debt Ceiling

Easy, here is the latest argument for raising the debt ceiling, from the Washington Post's E. J. Dionne: Starting this week, the talk in our nation's capital will be dominated by whether or not Congress should raise the debt ceiling—as if we have any choice but to pay off our obligations. It will be a colossally foolish and self-destructive battle, another sign of how fanaticism and ideological obsession are rendering our country ungovernable. What drivel.  What does raising the debt ceiling have to do with paying off existing obligations?  I won't pay my mortgage unless and until I can borrow more money?  Who does this?  Everyone pays their obligations from income, not debt, unless they are insolvent. And if it is Mr. Dionne's point that we are insolvent, well, make the argument.  And then explain how an insolvent entity can get anyone to buy more debt, whatever the debt ceiling may be.  In fact, the markets and sovereign funds have been less than excited about our debt for a while now.  The only person willing to take on our questionable obligations is Ben Bernanke.  That's us borrowing from us to pay them, a situation that Mr. Dionne apparently thinks is just grand.

It's the Debt Ceiling, Stupid!

The Osama news is news, but Rep. Jeb Hensarling, just back from meeting with his constituents in Texas during the Congressional break, thinks the budget is still the issue de jour.  For those with short attention spans, here is what's happened thus far in this fast moving budget debate:

The Republicans recently triumphed, as the White House and the Senate agreed to $38 billion in cuts over the rest of the fiscal year.  Or, the Republicans triumphed were humiliated, as the White House and the Senate agreed to allowed only $38 billion $8 billion $352 million in cuts over the rest of the fiscal year.  Got it?

In truth, it's all been much ado about nothing.  The last budget debate was over what should be a relatively minor budgetary process, the so-called Continuing Resolution.  The Republicans set the terms for debate, how much to cut, and the Democrats managed to minimize the size of the cuts.  Result: a wash.

The real action is coming up on the Debt Ceiling and the 2011-2012 budget.  Paul Ryan's proposed budget, a far-reaching, bold, proposal which makes a real effort to reform our sorry finances, has been getting a lot of press of late, and some surprisingly positive comments from the Main Stream Media.  And it deserves the attention; if we can get Ryan's plan into law, it would be well-nigh revolutionary.  But the important thing is the Debt Ceiling, and here's why.

Continue......

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

And run he did right up until Sunday afternoon, yesterday.  Osama bin Laden, that scurrilous cockroach, born into untold Oil riches, who then turned those riches into a trail of bloody death, met his own bloody end - and his Maker, who I am sure will have a thing or two to tell him before his ultimate consignment to Hell.

RIP?  I think not.

Of course, 'tis odd that he was found hiding in plain sight, in a million dollar, security intensified residence, within a mile of a Pakistani military academy.  Mayhap our Pakistani friends will turn over a new leaf now that this embarrassment has gone public?  That is, assuming they are capable of embarrassment.

And beyond odd, Osama's remains were buried at sea?  What, our government wants to give the Birth Certificate brigade something to do now that our President has produced his long-form?  Expect many tedious Death Certificate conspiracies in the coming years.

All that said, this is a great day, too long in coming, and congrats are in order for our Commander in Chief.