Morning Briefing
For June 7, 2013
1. Remember When Dems Supported Obama’s Extension Of The Patriot Act?
I was stunned to see the silence from the left on the Verizon data grab. We’re talking about a broad use of a poorly-interpreted law that should never have been signed into law in the first place. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
2. Mothers: Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t
Recently RedState’s own Erick Erickson found himself at the center of a controversy over the implications of a new Pew Research study. The report stated that mothers are now the primary source of income in 40% of American households. The trouble for Erickson came when he dared to give his opinion on the findings, saying, “Having mom as primary bread winner is bad for kids and bad for marriage.” He also attempted to explain the traditional dynamic of the nuclear family in terms liberals could understand: what typically happens in the biological world. Unfortunately, he used the term “dominant,” which works as a head explosion device for many women – who immediately thought, “No one is going to dominate me!” At that point, the facts went out the window and pitchforks came out on both sides of the aisle. The question isn’t, however, was he right. Erickson was correct and the facts back him up, whether anyone likes it or not. The question is why were women so immediately incensed at him saying something that has most certainly been said before; especially women on the right. As a woman and mother I know why Erickson’s statements freaked women out – and you can thank the feminists for it. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
3. The Latest on the Farm Bill
Yesterday, the Senate invoked cloture on the 5-year farm bill, S. 954. The 1150-page Senate bill costs $955 billion over 10 years and creates a new shallow loss program covering up to 90% of a farmer’s income – on the taxpayer dime. Roughly 80% of the cost is related to food stamps. For good measure, this bill contains sugar subsidies, biofuels subsidies, and conservation programs. This mega-bill was rushed through the committee process and has only been subject to four amendments on the floor. I guess Reid is agog with enthusiasm to get to the amnesty bill.
The House bill is, more or less, the same thing; it just cuts an extra few billion of the baseline spending for food stamps, while adding more spending to socialist price support programs for Big Ag special interests. As an added bonus, it contains a Soviet-style milk productions regulatory regime and new taxes on rocks! . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
4. Bill Shuster Wants to Bring Back Earmarks
The problem of earmarking goes far beyond the actual pork projects set aside for a specific politician. The problem is not about the relatively low cost of a single earmark. It’s about the $500,000 earmark that is used to buy off a conservative vote for a $1 trillion omnibus, farm bill, bailout, or some other terrible transformational legislation. The earmarks are used as the magic “grease” to garner majority support for big-government legislation. Once we reinstate the practice of earmarking, we will never be able to mobilize a majority within the conference to oppose any big-government legislation. Most of them will be seduced into supporting bad legislation through personal earmarks for their districts. This is the “multiplying factor” of earmarks. Throw in a personal perk for each district, and you can get a majority of the House to vote for anything.
So what is the solution to earmarking? How do we avoid ceding gratuitous power to the executive? How do we deal with our transportation needs? . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
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