RedState Briefing 12/10/2013

Morning Briefing For December 10, 2013 >> Today's Sponsor 1.  The Big Spenders Return If Paul Ryan were a Peanuts character, he’d be the guy who pulls the football out of the way just as he himself is about to kick it. Over the past number of years, Congressman Ryan has come up with a few reform proposals. From his roadmap to this, he has made as his starting point for negotiations that which should be his ending point. Now, with liberal Senator Patty Murray, Congressman Ryan wants to raise spending today on the promise that Congress will restrain itself ten years from now. It’s a return to pre-sequestration Washington — spending increases today in exchange for promises of spending cuts later. I opposed sequestration at the time the GOP came up with it. I figured they’d do an end run around it. But they did not. Surprisingly, they stuck with it if only because they couldn’t figure out a way to undermine it without rocking the boat with their base. Now it’s looking like they are prepared to rock that boat. . . . please click here for the rest of the post → 2.  Emerging Ryan-Murray Deal: More Taxes to Fund Obamacare and Increased Spending James Madison was very adamant that the power of the purse be preserved in the body of government that is closest to the people – the House of Representatives – as a way to redress all grievances against harmful government interventions.  We have a law that is woefully unpopular and universally regarded as unworkable, yet Republicans have made it abundantly clear to the Democrats that Obamacare will never be part of the budget negotiations ever again.  We have a president who is illegally usurping the power of Congress on an array of issues, yet Republicans have preemptively abdicated their authority to reassert their power through the budget process. Consequently, Democrats are on the cusp of getting everything they want in the upcoming budget bill.  When Democrats are fully committed to growing government and Republicans are publicly committed to surrendering their leverage on budget bills, we are left with a one-sided deal.  It’s that simple. . . . please click here for the rest of the post → 3.  Hispanic Voters Lose Faith In Barack Obama We all know how far President Obama’s approval rating has fallen, 13 months after his re-election. Gallup had a fascinating look at who exactly has lost faith in Obama, among poll respondents who approved of him a year ago. And prominent among the groups with the biggest drop is the supposed bedrock of the Permanent Democrat Majority™ – self-identified Hispanic voters. As always, bear in mind that Gallup is only one pollster, and not the most reliable one at that, and that sub-samples tend to be smaller sample sizes than an entire poll. That said, a comparison between two polls by the same pollster at different points in time is an apples-to-apples comparison, and so of some use in tracking trends. I’d supplement this with similar data from other pollsters, but surprisingly few of the daily, weekly or monthly presidential-approval tracking polls provide this kind of breakdown on a regular basis (although a mid-November Quinnipiac poll showed Obama’s approval underwater with Hispanics, 41-47, compared to 67-18 approval a year ago). That’s precisely why Gallup’s results are so interesting.  . . . please click here for the rest of the post → 4.  Ann McLane Kuster (Democrat), 2011: Libya = Middle East. Kuster, 2013: …NO IT’S NOT! For the benefit of Democratic Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, (NH-02)… Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya. Libya is that somewhat large country in North Africa between Algeria and Egypt. That particular country, desperate apologists to the contrary*, is part of what most people call ‘the Middle East,’ – including, apparently, Ann McLane Kuster.  From March of 2011 . . . please click here for the rest of the post → 5.  The War on Misfortune It’s always wise to assume the worst when you hear politicians declaring war on a vague notion, such as “inequality.”  Inequality is replacing “injustice” as the eternal socialist crusade of choice.  ”Injustice” had too many connotations of actual law enforcement – something the Left generally dislikes.  They really hated it when their quest for cosmic, redistributive “social justice” was conflated with the mundane business of arresting thieves.  Also, the public was beginning to wonder how much unjust treatment of decent, law-abiding people they would be expected to swallow in the name of achieving centrally planned “social justice.” . . . please click here for the rest of the post → >> Today's Sponsor Sincerely yours, Erick Erickson Editor-in-Chief, RedState Forward This Email to a Friend Take me to RedState