Redstate

Posted at 12:41pm on May 15, 2008 The Future of Agriculture

By Flyover Country

Well, the new Farm Bill has passed the House with a veto-proof majority, indicating any attempt by President Bush to wield his veto cutlass will be met by an overriding vote of incompetence by our illustriously corrupt representatives. This beast is loaded with pork that effectively buys support from key lawmakers.

Read on for commentary on the bill and the vociferous critics of farmers...

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Posted at 12:33pm on May 12, 2008 McCain confirms our fears; UPDATE: George Will weighs in.

By St. Louis Conservative

According to this story, McCain has confirmed my worst fears, and has endorsed a cap and trade system with a goal of reducing carbon levels to 70% below 1990 levels. It has the same effect as a carbon energy tax, but is more costly and far less efficient. Free-market my #$%*(#$ ass. I guess we should stop breathing.

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Posted at 8:35am on May 12, 2008 Why America is Doomed! (Unless We Change) [Part 2]

By TXPoet

First read: Why America is Doomed! (Unless We Change) [Part 1]

Political parties now adjust their platforms according to the "electable" candidate rather than requiring a potential candidate conform to the desires of the party majority. Principals be damned it is the power that matters. For without the power how could politicians get rich?

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Posted at 5:27pm on May 10, 2008 Why America Is Doomed! (Unless We Change) [Part 1]

By TXPoet

Try this simple experiment at home and follow along. Take a mirror and place the reflective side facing you. What do you see?

Hopefully you see your reflection and what is behind you.

Now step to a window and look out. What do you see?

You see the world outside. If you stand just right you can see a faint reflection behind you but mostly you see outward. You see other people. They are looking in and on a cold blistery day they wish they were where you are.

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Posted at 3:16pm on May 9, 2008 "Corporate Farmers" and Economies of Scale

By Flyover Country

I'm going to jump right out of the gate with a fairly controversial statement: large-scale farmers are one of the most misunderstood, maligned segments of the American business population. Don't believe me? Consider the WaPo's take on the matter:

[The Farm Bill] perpetuates the multibillion-dollar system of direct payments to corn, wheat, rice, cotton and soybean growers, with only minimal limitations on how much of this corporate welfare rich farmers can receive."

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Posted at 5:05pm on May 8, 2008 "Mississippi Drug War Blues" The Case of Cory Maye

By Steve Foley

No matter what your view of this particular case is there simply is no arguing that the so-called war on drugs one of the biggest abominations this country has ever endeavored. Although the drug war, I'm sure, was begun with the best of intentions -- it has seen very little (if any) return on our investment and has incarcerated people who simply do not deserve to be imprisoned.

Below is the video from Reason.tv entitled "Mississippi Drug War Blues"

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Posted at 2:37pm on May 7, 2008 The Obama Aftermath: America in 2012 ...

By scotchex

Assuming Obama wins in November, what will America look like in 2012? What actual legislative achievements will he accomplish?

I'm not a fan of the man, I think he's a liar, a racist, a reflexive America-hater, and an all around scumbag -- but I'm trying get a realistic estimate of what changes are likely to take place by 2012. I also know that unpredictable future events could easily change everything.

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Posted at 10:53am on May 7, 2008 The Examiner on the latest Huge Government Boondoggle

By Ben Domenech

Tim Kaine and the Washington Metro Transit Authority unite to screw over the taxpayers in this Examiner editorial:

Dulles Rail will not reduce traffic in Northern Virginia, as the project’s own environmental studies attest. It will actually increase congestion in and around Tysons, thanks to higher densities approved by the Fairfax Board of Supervisors in connection with the project. It’s no exaggeration to say Tysons Corner will suffer perpetual gridlock once the Dulles Rail and its parallel developments are completed. Every tax dollar spent on Dulles Rail is a tax dollar that should have been used to reduce congestion on the Washington region’s roads.

Half of the $200 million in “cost reductions” the FTA cited to make the Dulles Rail project qualify for federal funding are no more than removing — for now — planned improvements to Route 7, whose median will be used for the concrete elevated tracks. But Route 7 is already at a virtual standstill even without any new construction or added density. These essential road improvements will be tacked on later when the project is past the point of no return, and they will be more expensive for the Fairfax County taxpayers now conveniently on the hook for the inevitable cost overruns. Indeed, the longer the project drags on, the higher the ultimate cost of completion will be, and it will be borne mostly by local taxpayers and commuters.

Posted at 1:07am on May 4, 2008 Tart Tongue

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Jim Hoagland issues the worst insult imaginable at the Democrats' direction. He accuses them of making George W. Bush look responsible:

Democratic leaders in Congress are riding to the rescue of an unlikely beneficiary: the reputation of George W. Bush. They seem determined to exacerbate problems that he has created or long ignored.

They would deepen a budget deficit that, on Bush's watch, has lurched out of control. They undermine U.S. leadership in global trade negotiations. They champion politically rewarding but economically damaging agricultural subsidies during a world food crisis. On energy, the congressional Democrats seem intent on battling Bush to a draw on who can accomplish the least.

Okay. So Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and colleagues have seized their chance to out-pander the Republicans and are doing well in performing that uphill task. This is not exactly grounds for shock and awe, I hear you muttering.

But their actions allow Bush to pose as a fiscally responsible, veto-wielding leader -- a feat akin to enabling Typhoid Mary to pose as Florence Nightingale. This could help Bush inch up the ladder of the dank cellar of approval ratings expressed by his fellow Americans and much of the rest of the world.

The fallout is actually wider: The Democratic push on Capitol Hill for more budget-busting spending and greater protectionism bleeds into the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who promise to deconstruct NAFTA and to avoid almost all new taxes from here to eternity.

Perhaps they dissemble. But even this causes allies and rivals abroad to water down expectations that changing administrations will automatically make for a more reliable and cooperative American partner. A clear advantage that the Democratic Party had in world opinion is withering, according to foreign officials and professionals I have encountered recently.

Read it all. This is sure to incite the rage of the netroots, of course. But given that the Democrats have been irresponsible on issues like trade, perhaps Hoagland's lacerating editorial is precisely the tonic needed to get Congress to act responsibly.

Either that, or George W. Bush may have Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to thank if he ends up looking better in the history books.

Posted in Policy | The Soft Bigotry Of Low Expectations — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:21am on Apr. 28, 2008 The Nanny State Pigs Out

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Sure, I won't eat bacon dogs. But that's because I'm Jewish. Other people like bacon dogs just fine and are more than happy to brave certain supposed hazards to get them.

Alas, Big Government always finds a way to be a killjoy, doesn't it? And it's not just consumers who are unhappy, of course. Honest, decent, hardworking bacon dog-sellers are being ridiculously victimized thanks to the heavy hand of the Nanny State--both legally and financially. And the Nanny State's regulations are creating--you guessed it!--a bacon dog black market.

This stuff would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

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Posted at 6:35pm on Apr. 25, 2008 “Humbug is a six-letter word” , or, “The sky is falling (again)”

By Next93

“Fool me once, shame on you,
Fool me twice, shame on me”

Yet another redstate post on the media’s treatment of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) (http://redstate.com/blogs/joliphant/2008/apr/23/antarctic_getting_colder...) gets turned into a debate on the “science” of global warming. One excellent question that came up was, “who is to blame for such skepticism?”

Another way to put this is: “Is this much skepticism warranted when such scientific luminaries assure us that the sky is indeed falling”?

The answer is a resounding and recent “yes”.

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Posted at 3:35pm on Apr. 23, 2008 Sherrod Brown's Trojan Horse on Free Trade

By mike volpe

Sherrod Brown came out with a defense of he and his colleagues who have come out against several free trade agreements. He mentioned several issues...

The supporters of our trade policy rarely mention our exploding trade deficits. In just 15 years, our annual trade deficit has mushroomed to over $800 billion from $38 billion in 1993. With Mexico, our trade surplus evolved into a $90.7 billion trade deficit. With China, our trade deficit jumped to $250 billion today from about $22 billion. President George H.W. Bush once estimated that a $1 billion trade deficit represents 13,000 lost jobs. Do the math.

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Posted at 12:03pm on Apr. 21, 2008 Another Journalist Flunked Econ 101.

By Repair Man Jack

Josh Gerstein, a reporter for The New York Sun, has taken scare journalism to a new low. He reports that food rationing is now occurring in the United States. It happens even as we sleep. He even accuses us of hoarding food when we shop at Costco.

Gerstein samples the panic and desperation that stampedes voraciously through the panic-stricken masses of Mountain View, California.

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Posted at 10:33pm on Apr. 20, 2008 Fear The Regulators

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Joshua Treviño notes that there is a Congressional movement afoot to engage in substantial regulation of the wireless industry. As he writes, the proposed regulatory measures are incredibly badly thought out and evince no sense or understanding of the wireless industry.

Given the sudden and distressing renewal--as if it had to be renewed--of the Pavlovian instinct towards regulation, anyone and everyone who cares about the wireless industry and wants to see the industry continue to innovate, thrive and prosper, ought to be worried. Read Josh's post and you will see that this may well be an issue worth contacting your Representative and Senator about.