Just in case you weren’t breathlessly watching coverage of being unable to see a suspect hiding under a tarp in a boat that wasn’t on fire you couldn’t see in a trailer behind a house you couldn’t see, the second Boston bombing suspect has been apprehended alive.
A few random interesting bits about the Boston Bombing suspects/events/coverage:
At least that’s how it appears now. Of course, they’re still only alleged bombers, but people with nothing to hide seldom get killed in shootouts with police.
I wonder if we’ll finally hear Obama say the words “Muslim Terrorist.” I rather doubt it…
They say that hindsight is 20/20, but when it comes to issues where the media elite disagree with actual voters, the MSM has always been at war with Eurasia.
Take a look at this Jennifer Steinhauer piece from yesterday explaining that gun control never really had a chance. “They were no match for the reason Democrats have avoided gun control fights for years: a combination of the political anxiety of vulnerable Democrats from conservative states, deep-seated Republican resistance and the enduring clout of the National Rifle Association.” That’s a long-winded way of saying “Voters.” (Hat tip: Dwight.)
Now look at this piece from December 17, 2012 by that same Jennifer Steinhauer:
Demonstrating rapidly shifting attitudes toward gun control in the aftermath of a massacre in a Connecticut school, many pro-gun Congressional Democrats — including Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader and a longstanding gun rights supporter — signaled an openness Monday to new restrictions on guns.
Snip.
The receptiveness to new gun laws from figures like Mr. Manchin suggested the National Rifle Association, long one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, would face a strong test of its influence in the coming months if it sought to fend off tougher restrictions.
Snip.
On Capitol Hill, Democrats made it clear that they were ready to consider changes after years of pointedly avoiding fights over gun laws lest they face adverse political consequences in swing states and districts.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who has the strong backing of the N.R.A., said Monday that there should be “stricter rules on the books” regarding guns, and he called the school shootings “a game changer.”
So: Victory for the Second Amendment was impossible right up until it was inevitable.
Manchin-Toomey went down in flames today, a cloture vote falling six votes short (including four Democrats (Baucus (MT), Begich (AK), Heitkamp (ND) and Pryor (AK) voting no) of the 60 it needed.
Let’s catalog what Democrats won’t be getting during the current congress, shall we?
This is one case in which the Senate’s deliberative style has worked in conservative’s favor. If Harry Reid had been able to ram through a vote days after the Sandy Hook massacre (as happened in New York), it’s very possible some sort of gun control might have passed. But with time for the knee-jerk emotional response to die down, and for the NRA and gun owners across America to mobilize, all Democrats managed to do was endanger a few senate careers, both among themselves and the RINO herd. Remember Michael Moore declaring how the NRA was doomed?
Didn’t work out that way, did it?
Instead, they got…well, let’s Mr. Wonka break it down for them:
And how about a little sad trombone?
And thanks to Senator Ted Cruz for fighting the good fight.
Shall Not Be Questioned has the blow-by-blow description of the Senate debate.
While attention was focused on the Boston bombing, Gosnell, and gay marriage, Greece just got another bailout. This is in exchange for further “austerity.”
What sort of “austerity” is Greece practicing? The sort that involves deficit spending at 10% of GDP, which is up from 9%. It was supposed to be cut to 7.5%.
So Greece wants more money because it can’t even keep to its previous promises on its fake austerity goals.
Let me explain it once again: Real austerity is cutting spending until it matches incoming receipts. Not reducing the rate of deficit spending. Not raising taxes so politicians can continue to spend.
No country in the EU (at least outside the Baltics) has practiced real austerity. That Forbes piece on the Baltic nations includes a lot of good advice that EU nations are largely ignoring:
Don’t run up big debts. It is a lot easier to manage when things go bad if you aren’t overextended to start. Observed Rosenberg: “Estonia’s experience shows that prudent policies during the boom may not avoid a bust, but they can put the country into a better position to deal with shocks.”
Don’t engage in an orgy of “stimulus” spending. That will run up big debts without generating long-term growth. When budgets eventually are cut, as they will have to be, the economic loss and political pain will be even greater.
Make tough decisions early. People typically are ready to act after the crisis hits. In the case of Latvia, argued Asmussen, by acting swiftly “most of the required painful budgetary decisions could be passed before the so-called ‘adjustment fatigue’ kicked in.”
Maintain fiscal responsibility. Otherwise any progress will be transitory. Growth is the natural result of reform. Delaying reform exacerbates the problem while prematurely terminating reform short-circuits the recovery.
Emphasize budget cuts. Expansive and irresponsible public outlays usually contribute to economic crisis. Moreover, the state as well as citizens should sacrifice after a crash. The answer is to cut expansive and irresponsible public outlays. In fact, economists Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna found that “spending cuts are much more effective than tax increases in stabilizing the debt and avoiding economic downturns. In fact, we uncover several episodes in which spending cuts adopted to reduce deficits have been associated with economic expansions rather than recessions.”
Finally, don’t rest on one’s laurels. There always is more to do. Even nations which have implemented serious reform programs, like the Baltic States, could make further improvements.
As far as I can tell, none of the core EU states (and certainly none of the PIIGS) has tried this approach since the 2008 recession hit. They keep trying Neo-Keynesian pump-priming and deficit spending to keep both the Euro and their unsustainable welfare state afloat, and they keep experiencing endless recession. Their fake austerity comes in slightly reducing the amount of their deficit spending enough to pretend they’re in compliance to keep the bailouts coming. Ireland hasn’t practiced real austerity. Neither has Portugal, Spain, or Italy (though Italy has come closest).
The shell game of bailouts and fake austerity will continue as long as the Eurocrats can keep getting away with it.
Time for another Texas vs. California update:
Alarm bells have been ringing loudly in the heads of municipal bond investors…If you’re the chief of municipal bond investing for a big bank, whether on Wall Street or in San Francisco, Los Angeles or Chicago, this gets your attention. You might hesitate to lend hundreds of millions of dollars to other cities and counties if you fear they might go the Stockton route. Even if you proceed, you might insist on higher interest rates to compensate for what now appears to be added risk. That can translate to higher local taxes.
I assume you’ve heard about the atrocity de jour. A few random points
And here’s footage of the bombing itself, just so this seems more like a real post:
Time for another Friday LinkSwarm:
ObamaOrganizing For America is using anti-gun ads to target Sen. Ted Cruz.
That’s some mighty fine political ad targeting you’ve got going on there, Lou.
The same Ted Cruz that pantsed David Dewhurst in the Republican primary runoff because Dew wasn’t conservative enough?
The same Ted Cruz who was endorsed by Gun Owners of America? (You know, the gun rights group that’s like the NRA, but not so squishy and eager to compromise.)
The same Ted Cruz who beat his opponent in the general election by 16 points?
The same Ted Cruz whose been walking point on Second Amendment Rights in the current congress?
The same Ted Cruz who isn’t up for reelection to the Senate until 2018?
Yeah, that’s a use of liberal money that I’m sure is going to be super-effective.
I hope OFA dumps all their money into ads against Cruz, since it will garner them squat and weaken their ability to place ads elsewhere.
(Hat tip: Rick Perry vs. The World)
And still more on the late, great Margaret Thatcher:
This is incredible quaintness bordering on total delusion, the notion that Thatcher invented or popularised the previously unpopular notion of selfishness is laughable. As if before Margaret Thatcher the population of Britain was a kibbutz, or British people were known for their intense altruism, tossing money out of windows in the hope that literally anyone else would have it… She was a democratically elected politician after all, she won three elections and lost none, she didn’t dictate the mood of the public, rightly or wrongly – she reflected it.