Today’s Award for Most Delusion Democratic Optimism…

September 6th, 2012

…goes to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee for predicting that Texas will turn into a Democratic blue state “as early as 2014.”

Yeah, right.

Maybe you should, oh, I don’t know, elect a single statewide office-holder before asserting that Texas is turning blue…

Californians Can’t Even Stop Spending When They’re Actually in Bankruptcy

September 5th, 2012

The City Council of San Bernardino, California failed to pass budget cuts at their meeting Tuesday, despite the city already being in bankruptcy.

After a meeting that lasted more than nine hours and stretched past midnight, the San Bernardino City Council failed to pass a plan for drastic budget reductions, an initial step in the city’s bankruptcy proceedings.

The proposed “pre-pendency plan” included $22.4 million in cuts, achieved by measures including slashing more than 100 jobs and closing three of the four city libraries. It would not cover the entire $45.8-million budget shortfall, but city staff called the plan a necessary first step.

Proposed cuts to the Fire Department became an irreconcilable sticking point. Twenty positions in the department were slated to be eliminated without layoffs, and the plan included an option of rotating closures at fire stations.

Instead of voting on the budget plan as a whole, Councilman Chas Kelley made a proposal to vote on an alternate plan for the Fire Department that was backed by the firefighters union, and to direct staff to seek bids on a proposal to contract out some of the city’s trash services.
The vote, taken after midnight, passed 4 to 3 but was promptly vetoed by Mayor Pat Morris, who had called that plan “irresponsible” and an “almost slavish adoption of a union proposal without any analysis.”

Maybe they can delay things long enough that repo men are actually carting furniture out of the council chambers before they vote…

(Hat tip: Dwight.)

Bad Business Decisions

September 1st, 2012

Pro-Business Tip: Try not to name your store after genocidal dictators.

Unlike the people who opened a clothing store called Hitler.

(Hat tip: Mike Godwin’s Facebook page.)

Related.

Dewhurst Running for Re-Election Again in 2014

August 30th, 2012

David Dewhurst says he’s running for reelection as Lt. Governor in 2014. This puts him on collision course with Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who also announced he’s running for the office some ten minutes after Dewhurst conceded the Senate race.

Can Patterson take Dewhurst? Hard to say. The Senate race defeat proved he’s vulnerable when faced with the right candidate, but Dewhurst will start off with a considerable fundraising advantage, and big donors may be more fearful of backing Patterson knowing that Dewhurst will control the state legislative agenda for the next two years. But if Dewhurst makes the same mistakes he did in the Senate race, and the Tea Party backs Patterson as strongly as they did Cruz, then yes, Dewhurst could lose. But neither of those is a given.

What made Dewhurst decide to run again? Well, maybe Rick Perry saying he’s he’s likely to run for Governor again had something to do with it…

Ted Cruz’s RNC Speech

August 29th, 2012

If you couldn’t catch Ted Cruz’s RNC Speech, here it is:

Democrats Take 2: Oh, THAT Catholic Cardinal!

August 29th, 2012

Via Moe Lane comes word that Democrats have reconsidered their decision to reject Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s offer to lead a prayer at the Democratic National Convention.

Two days ago: Die in a fire, you dress-wearing, anti-choice freak!
Yesterday: Oh, that Cardinal! We love that guy! Can’t enough of him! Yeah, he can offer the closing prayer.

So Democratic delegates will have to spend at least a few minutes that day pretending they don’t hate Catholics.

Celebrating Neil Armstrong, the Obama Way

August 28th, 2012

Which is to say, the Iowahawk way: “In our shared moment of grief, let us also celebrate his historic accomplishment in becoming the first astronaut eulogized by me, Barack Obama, our nation’s historic first African-American president.”

Democrats Take the War on Catholics to the Next Level

August 28th, 2012

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Senior Catholic official in America, generously offered to lead a prayer at the Democratic National Convention.

The Democrats declined.

They decided that they would rather have a two hour Islamic prayer ceremony instead.

Given how heavily Catholics outnumber Muslims amidst the electorate, this is, at the very least, bad optics and worse politics. But it’s so ham-handed that it suggest Democrats are doing it out of conviction rather than political calculation.

Two thoughts:

  1. If Obama wanted to quash those “secret Muslim” rumors, this wasn’t the way to do it.
  2. The constant hostility Democrats have shown to Catholics during this Administration suggests yet again that forcing Catholics to fund abortion wasn’t a side issue for ObamaCare, but in fact the central issue. Every knee must bend.

Texas vs. California: Dog Days of August Edition

August 27th, 2012

It’s late August, and California’s slide toward insolvency continues apace.

  • How badly underwater is CalPERS? Try $884 billion.
  • Speaking of California unions, here’s how they’re trying to block reform.
  • California’s recovery is much slower than the already slow pace of the rest of the nation.
  • Things have gotten so bad that Moody’s is rexamining the outlook on all California cities.
  • What California should learn from Wisconsin.
  • CalTrans spends $22.5 million on unneeded home repairs, with a hefty side-helping of graft. (Hat tip: Dwight)
  • So what happened to all those Solyndra glass tubes? Can you say modern art?
  • Texas snags it’s lowest bond interest rate ever at 0.225%. That makes sense. Broke ass California getting a 0.43% rating doesn’t.
  • Texas has five of the ten fastest growing counties (including Williamson).
  • California’s “urban forest” offset scam.
  • To Glock or Not To Glock, That Is The Question

    August 23rd, 2012

    I got my CHL in the mail today. (When I have time I’ll try to do a post on the process of getting one for those who haven’t.) I currently have a Kimber .45, which I think is a bit heavy to use as a carry gun.

    My instructor was big on the Glock, which I know a lot of people use as a carry gun and has some improvements over the M1911. So I thought I would ask my CHL-holding rreaders: 1. What concealed carry gun do you favor, and why, and 2. What experience (if any) have you had using a Glock?

    And speaking of CHL classes, here’s Karl Rehn of KRTraining on what to bring to class to make your instructor happy.