what if?

Au Revoir First Amendment

The left doesn't fight ideas it doesn't like by tough argumentation and hard data.  No.  It fights by shutting down the opposition.

The left has mounted a fierce campaign to target companies that donate to ALEC, acting like reverse extortionists who threaten a PR nightmare unless the companies stop paying up.

They don't even bother to deny it. Color of Change talks about flooding targeted companies with "thousands of phone calls" and how it will "escalate pressure" with radio ads and threats of public action, the Free Beacon reports.

It's about the left's desire to silence voices with which it doesn't agree, and it's about bullying companies into giving only to left-wing causes.

As ALEC's experience shows, the left doesn't want open debate and dialogue or freedom of speech. It wants forced conformity.

What's worse is the fact that "journalists across the country" — including those at the Washington Post and New York Times — who normally pride themselves as champions of free speech, have decided to play along with this campaign rather than call it out.

ALL About Him

We all know people for whom life is All About Them.  No matter what you may discussing or story you are relating, they don't really want to listen to what you have to say.  They want to talk about themself.  Their family, their experiences, their job, their accomplishments, their talents - and so forth and so on.  There is no "off" button for their own life.

In the political world - welcome to President Obama.

Rory Cooper at the Heritage Foundation was the first to notice that the Obama administration edited the official presidential histories on the White House website to include a blurb about Obama on the page dedicated to Ronald Reagan.  Commentary’s Seth Mandel followed up and found numerous other examples:

Many of President Obama’s fervent devotees are young enough not to have much memory of the political world before the arrival of The One. Coincidentally, Obama himself feels the same way—and the White House’s official website reflects that.

The Heritage Foundation’s Rory Cooper tweeted that Obama had casually dropped his own name into Ronald Reagan’s official biography onwww.whitehouse.gov, claiming credit for taking up the mantle of Reagan’s tax reform advocacy with his “Buffett Rule” gimmick. My first thought was, he must be joking. But he wasn’t—it turns out Obama has added bullet points bragging about his own accomplishments to the biographical sketches of every single U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge (except, for some reason, Gerald Ford).

Why start at Calvin Coolidge?

Yes, the President is not stopping with just a couple of past presidents.  Obama has included himself into short bios of Hoover, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, mentioning such feats as holding virtual meetings with Twitter and celebrating the 50th annivesary of the Peace Corps.  What a guy!  If you read through the link, you will note that he has also rewritten actual history, mangling magnificent quotes from the past.  John F. Kennedy's "Ask not what you your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" has now morphed into "Ask what you can do for your country."  Doesn't quite have the same ring to it - does it?  But - what does it matter, as long as it makes this president look better!

Are you as tired as I am of having a president who puts his needs, wants, preferences and personal goals before those of the American people?  If so - then let's elect a president that respects history - and the good of we, the people - instead of himself.

 

Racism is Racism

And no excuses should be made for it.  Thomas Sowell explains.

Those who automatically say that the social pathology of the ghetto is due to poverty, discrimination and the like cannot explain why such pathology was far less prevalent in the 1950s, when poverty and discrimination were worse. But there were not nearly as many grievance mongers and race hustlers then.

Holding people to a high standard is generally good for everyone.  Don't demean people of any race by assuming that they cannot live their lives with dignity and successfully.

Unemployment

As a Realtor, too often I see the painful effects of people out of work.  More than a few factors contribute to the sad statistics we've been seeing the last few years.  This, however, is assuredly a contributing cause that should be stopped!

Two recent studies find that state licensing regimes for small businesses impose severe burdens on consumers and entrepreneurs alike. The first, by the libertarian Institute for Justice, finds that licensing is ubiquitous for a wide range of professions, and that it often has little or no public interest justification:

License to Work details licensing requirements for 102 low- and moderate-income occupations in all 50 states and D.C. It is the first national study of licensing to focus on lower-income occupations and to measure the burdens licensing imposes on aspiring workers….

All of the 102 occupations studied in License to Work are licensed in at least one state. On average, these government-mandated licenses force aspiring workers to spend nine months in education or training, pass one exam and pay more than $200 in fees. One third of the licenses take more than one year to earn. At least one exam is required for 79 of the occupations….

Noted licensure expert Morris Kleiner found that in the 1950s, only one in 20 U.S. workers needed government permission to pursue their chosen occupation. Today, it is closer to one in three. Yet research to date provides little evidence that licensing protects public health and safety or improves products and services. Instead, it increases consumer costs and reduces opportunities for workers….

the difficulty of entering an occupation often has little to do with the health or safety risk it poses. Of the 102 occupations studied, the most difficult to enter is interior designer, a harmless occupation licensed in only three states and D.C. By contrast, EMTs hold lives in their hands, yet 66 other occupations face greater average licensure burdens, including barbers and cosmetologists, manicurists and a host of contractor designations. States consider an average of 33 days of training and two exams enough preparation for EMTs, but demand 10 times the training—372 days, on average—for cosmetologists. “The data cast serious doubt on the need for such high barriers, or any barriers, to many occupations,” said Lisa Knepper, IJ director of strategic research and report co-author. “Unnecessary and needlessly high licensing hurdles don’t protect public health and safety—they protect those who already have licenses from competition, keeping newcomers out and prices high.”

 

 

Happy Mother's Day

This last year, I had a Significant Birthday - the Big 6-0.  At this age, most of my friends don't have one parent left - much less two. I am one of the lucky ones.  Not only do I still have my folks - today I was able to celebrate Mother's Day with them.

For as long as I can remember, Mom ranked living a healthy lifestyle very high.  Food around our house was very ... healthy.  My sister and I would ramble on over to a friend's house if we were craving dessert or junk food.  It just didn't show up at our house.  And exercise was a priority.  Through her 70's, Mom did a minimum of 1 hour of exercise a day.  All that healthy living paid off.  Mom was gorgeous and had a beautiful figure.

Sometimes, however, the fates foil our plans.  A little after her 80th birthday, Mom began to face a number of major health hurdles.  As they progressed, not only did the exercise end; Mom's ability to be very mobile became quite compromised, too.

Today, tasks that most of us take for granted are either quite major for Mom - or, impossible to do on her own.  Lovely nurse's aides help with the latter.  And for other simple items - like moving from the bedroom or into the car - great effort must be expended from Mom.  Sometimes I think the act of getting into the car is much for difficult for her these days than running five miles was for me when I used to do that!

In any case, not only does Mom do what she can as best she can every day - she has an amazing attitude.  Today, we were invited to my Aunt Ro and Uncle Av's club for a spectacular brunch.  As we rode home, Mom reflected on how lucky she was.  Lucky to be with family ... lucky to be listening to Frank Sinatra croon tunes ... lucky to be here.

And I am the one who is incredibly fortunate to still have both my parents - and still have them teaching me life's lessons.  Life has so much to offer us - if we only open our eyes and appreciate what is good in it. 

Thank you, Mom and Dad. 

P.S.  As you can see from these photos, Mom is still pretty darn gorgeous!  Less mobile - but - still deserving of wolf whistles!

Wrecking Wisconsin

If Scott Walker is wrecking the state of Wisconsin - then we need more governors "tearing down" their states, too.

What this eeeeeevil governor has done - and why in another era, liberals might have been cheering him on.

Walker won’t end forced private-sector unionism, lighten Wisconsin’s hefty tax burden, or abandon government spending to stimulate economic growth. All this would have made him a Democrat in FDR’s time. That modern-day progressives are branding him as a right-wing radical says far more about them than him.

"Incompetent"

“Barack Obama is an amateur.”

“The economy’s a mess, it’s dead flat. America has lost its Triple-A rating."

"Obama doesn’t know how to be president and is incompetent.”

No, these quotes are not from the lips of some rabid right winger.  They're from William Jefferson Clinton.  You remember him, don't you?

And who is the source of this information?

Edward Klein is a seven-time New York Times bestselling non-fiction author. He is also the former foreign editor of Newsweek and former editor-in-chief of The New York Times Magazine. Klein frequently contributes to Vanity Fair and Parade, and currently lives in New York, New York.

As Ed Morrissey states, you can bet that the Clintons will deny what is in the book.  Nevertheless...  make of the above what you will.  I certainly shall.

Heaven and Earth

Many moons ago, when I began my first "big girl" job, I met a woman a few years older than I was.  What a woman!

In her early 30's, Karol Emmerich not only had an MBA from Stanford - she was the Treasurer for Dayton-Hudson Corporation.  (My employer, too, except my job was a teeeeensy bit more lowly than Karol's!)

Through a mutual friend, Karol and I met - and became friends ourselves.  Karol is a most impressive - and fascinating woman.  Super smart and super capable, Karol prospered at DHC and in the community, serving on a wide variety of boards.  Along the way, however, Karol's faith became more and more important to her.  Finally, having achieved much success (along with her husband) in the business world, Karol decided to retire in the midst of her business career.  Not only was she going to devote herself to following her faith - she was going to make this earth a more beautiful place. 

Karol found a large parcel of land about 25-30 miles southwest of the metro area.  There, she built a greenhouse, began propagating day lilies - and renovating a lovely but deteriorating old home on the property.  To her faith and her love of gardening, Karol brought the same passion and brilliance as she had to her career.

You might wonder about our friendship; me, the agnostic, follower-of-no-faith and Karol, the woman who names her beloved day lilies after passages in the Bible....  But - it works.  We share many of the same political views.  And on religion, we discuss with respect and curiosity. 

Unfortunately, I do not see a lot of my friend.  Yet, knowing she is out in the country, creating and growing and giving and learning always makes me smile.  Yesterday, I had the pleasure of going out - the first time in some years - to see her creations.  They are amazing - and - I will share just a few photos of them with you here.

I am quite certain that both Heaven and Earth are much improved, due to Karol.

The Man Who Flew Too Much

Despite being a mild agoraphobic, part of me dreams about doing this.

There are frequent fliers, and then there are people like Steven Rothstein and Jacques Vroom.

Both men bought tickets that gave them unlimited first-class travel for life on American Airlines. It was almost like owning a fleet of private jets.

Passes in hand, Rothstein and Vroom flew for business. They flew for pleasure. They flew just because they liked being on planes. They bypassed long lines, booked backup itineraries in case the weather turned, and never worried about cancellation fees. Flight crews memorized their names and favorite meals.

Each had paid American more than $350,000 for an unlimited AAirpass and a companion ticket that allowed them to take someone along on their adventures. Both agree it was the best purchase they ever made, one that completely redefined their lives.

In the 2009 film "Up in the Air," the loyal American business traveler played by George Clooney was showered with attention after attaining 10 million frequent flier miles.

Rothstein and Vroom were not impressed.

"I can't even remember when I cracked 10 million," said Vroom, 67, a big, amiable Texan, who at last count had logged nearly four times as many. Rothstein, 61, has notched more than 30 million miles.

Evisceration

What makes our nation great?  Is it the stunning geography that spans across the continent?  Is it the amazing mix of people that make up our population - people who have come from literally every corner of the planet?  Is it the spirit of Americans - the "can do" and creativity that we've shown for centuries?  Yes, yes and yes.

But it is also the government that the founding fathers crafted for us that allows us to enjoy all of the above.  Without our precious rights - who knows where we would be?

George Will knows.  And he explains how some in our country are trying to tear down a system of laws and rights, enshrined in our Constitution.

Newspapers, magazines, broadcasting entities, online journalism operations — and most religious institutions — are corporate entities. McGovern’s amendment would strip them of all constitutional rights. By doing so, the amendment would empower the government to do much more than proscribe speech. Ilya Somin of George Mason University Law School, writing for the Volokh Conspiracy blog, notes that government, unleashed by McGovern’s amendment, could regulate religious practices at most houses of worship, conduct whatever searches it wants, reasonable or not, of corporate entities, and seize corporate-owned property for whatever it deems public uses — without paying compensation. Yes, McGovern’s scythe would mow down the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, as well as the First.

The proposed amendment is intended to reverse the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which affirmed the right of persons to associate in corporate entities for the purpose of unrestricted collective speech independent of candidates’ campaigns.

As the editors of National Review note, liberals control unions and most of academia and the media. Yet such is their evident lack of confidence in their powers of persuasion they are desperate to control the speech of others.

By proposing his amendment, McGovern helpfully illuminates the lengths to which some liberals want to go. So when next you hear histrionic warnings about tea party or other conservative “extremism,” try to think of anything on the right comparable to McGovern’s proposed vandalism of the Bill of Rights.

The Curley Effect

When I was a child, curls were all the rage.

Today, however, the "curley effect" is not something anyone should desire.

David Henderson writes about the Curley Effect–the idea that it is in the interest of politicians to pursue policies that punish those who don’t vote for them, encouraging them to leave the jurisdiction. It is a creepy and provocative post–read it.

It reminded me of a recent conversation I had with a very nice woman sitting next to me on a flight to California. We were talking about California’s fiscal problems and she suggested that the state should raise taxes on the rich. I pointed out that a lot of people had left California for lower-tax states like Nevada and Arizona and that raising taxes would encourage even more people to leave. Her reply was “Good riddance! Let them go!” I suggested that that might make the funding problem a little more challenging than it already was. She was eager to be free of people whose political views she found unappealing and who didn’t want to support programs she believed were important. But someone has to pay for those programs. California is in trouble and the Curley Effect is going to make it worse.

A Liberal Success Story

Destroying capitalism in California.

California narrowly edged out New York in what the survey called "the ninth circle of business hell," sharing the bottom five spots with Illinois, Massachusetts and Michigan.

Once one of the strongest economic performers in the country, the Golden State has lost some of its gleam, by some measures, though it remains by far the strongest magnet for venture capital investment.

Its 10.9% unemployment rate is only lower than Nevada's and Rhode Island’s. A third of U.S. welfare recipients live in California, the report noted. High state taxes and bundles of red tape make operating a business in the state unaffordable to many companies, critics say.

Last year, 254 California companies moved some or all of their work and jobs elsewhere -- 26% more than 2010. Most chief executives in Silicon Valley said they won't expand in the state, according to the survey.

What's Wrong with Affirmative Action?

Just about everything.

This amusing column highlights why.

We all know about “undocumented workers.” Now we have Elizabeth Warren, the undocumented Indian.

Funny thing, I think Ted Williams was one-fourth Mexican. He was white. Johnny Bench is one-eighth Indian. I always think of him as white. And then there’s Pochantas Warren, the blue-eyed, one-32nd Cherokee (or so we’re told) who went from the Southwest Conference to the Ivy League over the course of a decade in which she was claiming to be a “minority professor.”

But once she’d parlayed the racial-spoils racket all the way to a tenured position at Harvard Law, she decided to ... pass, as they used to say in the old South. Once she’d reached the pinnacle of her trade, she ditched the fake-Indian routine. Maybe White Eyes Warren saw the smoke signals and figured out that someone was going to call her out on her ancestry. She was right.

Still, all’s well that ends well. She has her $1.7 million wigwam in Cambridge. Greedy Wall Street lawyers slurp top-shelf firewater at her $1,000-a-head Manhattan fundraisers. Maybe someday she’ll even smokum peace pipe with Tim Geithner.

But the greatest thing about this latest outbreak of Politically Correct hypocrisy is it shows just how morally and intellectually bankrupt “affirmative action” is.

Voter Fraud

It's real.  And it can win elections for the wrong candidate when too many fraudulent voters cast ballots.  Which - as has been said a number of times here - is why we need voter ID.

One of the highlights of the True the Vote conference was a speech by Artur Davis, who was a Democratic congressman from Alabama until last year. Davis has been an up-and-coming black Democratic leader, having been selected to second the nomination of Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver.

But in 2009 he decided to vote against Obamacare because he viewed it as unworkable and too expensive. When he ran the next year in the Democratic primary for governor in Alabama, he was attacked as disloyal and defeated by a coalition of liberals, teachers’ unions, and old-style black political machines.

He told me that the voter suppression he most observed in his 68 percent African-American district was rampant fraud in counties with powerful political machines. To keep themselves in power, these machines would frequently steal the votes of members of minority groups. “I know it exists, I’ve had the chance to steal votes in my favor offered to me, and the people it hurts the most are the poor and those without power,” he said.

Davis made it clear in his speech to True the Vote that much of the opposition to voter-ID and ballot-integrity laws is a sad attempt to inject racism into the discussion and intimidate supporters of anti-fraud laws. “This is not a billy club, this is not a fire hose,” he told his audience while holding up his driver’s license. “Where is this notion that if I have a right [to vote], that I don’t have to be bothered with responsibility?” He concluded with an appeal for all sides to eschew racial appeals: “We have to be one country, but the way you become one country is you stop acting like a country that’s divided into different buckets and bases of people.”