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- The socialist Obama administration, in its authoritarian quest to control every aspect of our lives, has proposed spending $400 million to develop healthy food outlets in urban communities to increase livability. Doesn't he realize that the free market works best when it's free? For example, Dollar General (the Dollar Store) saw that there were more poor people in the market and has added thousands to its payroll to accommodate this demand. The invisible hand has thus been made visible.
- I think Ramesh Ponnuru's reputation for being a smart and honest conservative really ought to be called into question after reading his essay at National Review that games out a Republican Contract with America for 2010. He repeatedly claims that the elections will be a referendum on Obama and the Democrats, who will have controlled Congress for four years, without once mentioning the state of the economy, unemployment, or jobs. And his assertion that "[i]t may not be a coincidence" Republicans lost in 2006 and 2008 because they didn't promise a middle-class tax cut? Perhaps this alternative reality could be used in an upcoming episode of Fringe.
- But surely other writers at National Review are taking the prospect of conservative governance seriously, right? Veronique de Rugy, for instance, finds it "interesting" that a reader suggests eliminating the entire federal government save Defense, Treasury, and Justice. This reader also thinks Defense should be renamed "Offense" and ought to take over the State Department. Reader then concludes with, "If something breaks somewhere, figure out what state/county/town it’s in, and let them get to work on it. If they don’t care to fix it, they can live with it as is." Truly commonsense conservatism.
- I know what you're thinking. It's not fair for me to cherry-pick nonsense from some joke conservative publication. Surely congressional Republicans have ideas for the country? You betcha. Rep. Paul Ryan, the House GOP's top budget writer, has suggested privatizing Medicare and Social Security. Sen. Tom Coburn gets innovative and suggests we need looser gun laws, including allowing "mentally defective" veterans to buy firearms and honoring concealed-carry permits across state lines. And in the final analysis, Republicans are cool with the budget deficit, so long as taxes are not raised.
- Remainders: Republicans can't wait to get back in bed with eager Wall Street donors; polls that ask for ideological self-identification are meaningless; submissive Senate Democrats put on the leash and hand Obama the whip; Nick Baumann thinks revelations that the Bush administration considered military action in Georgia in 2008 is a non-story; Harold Ford hires someone to write as Harold Ford for a blog that's about Harold Ford; actually, I could do with a little less nationalistic chest-thumping, but politically it's certainly a winner; and Chris Wallace is a very serious journalist.
--Mori Dinauer
