The Rant

Bob: I love left wingers..no joke. There are some inaccuracies but eat the rich anyway. The Great Tax Con Job by Thom Hartmann Republicans are using the T-word - taxes - to attack the Obama healthcare program. It's a strategy based in a lie. A very small niche of America's uber-wealthy have pulled off what may well be the biggest con job in the history of our republic, and they did it in a startlingly brief 30 or so years. True, they spent over three billion dollars to make it happen, but the reward to them was in the hundreds of billions - and will continue to be. As my friend and colleague Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks pointed out in a Daily Kos blog recently , billionaire Rupert Murdoch loses $50 million a year on the NY Post, billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife loses $2 to $3 million a year on the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, billionaire Philip Anschutz loses around $5 million a year on The Weekly Standard, and billionaire Sun Myung Moon has lost $2 to $3 billion on The Washi...

I have this book and am trying to read it but it is painful to me. His reasoning is not persuasive. His style is too stiff and serious. I prefer Mark Steyn. I do not worship the constitution as a sacred book. Besides, that argument was lost fifty years ago. The world of 1776 is 250 years gone. Things change. But some things do not really change . . . like human nature. There are consequences for everything. People act in accordance with how society structures rewards and punishments. My belief is that we live in a democratic country and people get what they vote for. In other words, the majority will get what it asks for. I'll get by no matter who is in charge.

Bob: I am about a third of the way through Mark Levin's book and I am having a hard time putting my disappointment into words. There are no well reasoned arguments. While not stating it, he wants to roll back all federal government to pre -New Deal levels. Even though the federal government and power has grown dramatically as a percentage of the economy during the ascendancy of the US economy, all positive things came from unfettered free enterprise, all bad things came from government regulation. He doesn't try to create a strong "straw man" to knock down. Name an issue, free markets are always best, regulation is always bad. I will give you a more well reasoned review of this political manifesto after I have listened to it twice. If you are a true believer, put a copy of this little red book in your back pocket.

It is a fact that every great historical empire has had its day, and then gone into decline . . . Greece, Rome, England flourished for a time and then became weak and corrupt, losing the courage and character that made them great. The United States may be coming upon its time of decline. Whether the Democrats or Republicans have power seems no longer to matter in the least. George Bush increased the size of government more than Bill Clinton. Obama is increasing the government now as never before in American history. Even Reagan increased the size of government, contrary to what Republicans would like you to believe. The idea that the Nanny State will take care of you, guarantee that you have food, shelter, health care, is popular with young people these days who hold the boring details of economics and business in contempt, and with old people worrying about paying the mounting medical bills. Both political parties have gradually, incrementally increased the size of government, so that...

Some wise pundit observed: "Those that oppose the progressive agenda are pulling out all the stops to prevent a democratic majority for ruling the country. Let's hope the strong democratice majority does not shirk from the power it finally has obtained." Who is to stop the Democrat majority from doing whatever it wants? The Democrats have already put all their wish lists into the economic stimulus plan. Now they can pass a single provider health care plan. They can Pass the Carbon Dioxide taxation plan. They can even nationalize private companies like GM. Who is to stop them? Until 2010 they can do whatever they like. Down with capitalism. Up with whatever you call the Democratic vision: socialism, fascism, the era of Big Government returned. If their plans work, then American will become Heaven and all will be right with the world. The Democrats can brag "I told you so." I hope everything works out dandy. The proof will be in the pudding an...

What's Next, Mr. President -- Cardigans? By Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie Sunday, July 19, 2009 Barely six months into his presidency, Barack Obama seems to be driving south into that political speed trap known as Carter Country: a sad-sack landscape in which every major initiative meets not just with failure but with scorn from political allies and foes alike. According to a July 13 CBS News poll, the once-unassailable president's approval rating now stands at 57 percent, down 11 points from April. Half of Americans think the recession will last an additional two years or more, 52 percent think Obama is trying to "accomplish too much," and 57 percent think the country is on the "wrong track." From a lousy cap-and-trade bill awaiting death in the Senate to a health-care reform agenda already weak in the knees to the failure of the stimulus to deliver promised jobs and economic activity, what once looked like a hope-tastic juggernaut is showing all the horsep...