Monthly Archives: November 2012

Governor Bobby Jindal and the GOP

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Governor Jindal (R, LA) had some blunt words for his fellow Republicans.  Among other things, he had this [emphasis added]:

It is no secret we had a number of Republicans damage our brand this year with offensive, bizarre comments—enough of that.  It’s not going to be the last time anyone says something stupid within our party, but it can’t be tolerated within our party.  We’ve also had enough of this dumbed-down conservatism.  We need to stop being simplistic, we need to trust the intelligence of the American people and we need to stop insulting the intelligence of the voters.

He added:

[S]top reducing everything to mindless slogans, tag lines, 30-second ads that all begin to sound the same.

Part of that “trust the intelligence.”

He made a number of other points; RTWT.

Europe and Terrorism

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In preparation for the upcoming meeting between the European Union’s various foreign ministers and their Arab League counterparts, Spiegel International Online interviewed Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn on, among other things, Israeli settlement building.  This exchange, in particular, was interesting [emphasis added]:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Violence is also escalating in the Gaza Strip.

Asselborn: No one can or should justify violence—not even if it originates with Palestinians in Gaza.

Not even if it originates with terrorists.

And this exchange:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to meet the Palestinian president immediately in Ramallah or Jerusalem for peace talks.  Why are the Palestinians rejecting this offer?

Asselborn: Because it is just lip service. The Israeli settlement policy is an affront to every Palestinian because it is a constant provocation.

But, of course, the constant rocket attacks and the steady drumbeat of suicide bombing attempts from Gaza aren’t at all provocative.

No, if it’s an Israeli move, it’s just lip service; if it’s a PLO or Hamas move, it’s entirely innocent and sincere.

Hmm….

Taxes—What Mandate?

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A bit more from the Senate Minority Leader.

Let me put it very clearly.  I am not willing to raise taxes to turn off the sequester.  Period.

Despite President Obama’s continued demonizing rhetoric at the expense of concrete proposals, Senator McConnell is quite clear:  tax revenues can be raised, by closing loopholes or by capping total deductions above an income level (a Romney idea being floated), but there can be no rate increases, and any revenue increases can come only in conjunction with tax reform and, insist other Republicans, with entitlement reform.

What Democratic proposals are there in opposition (or even rough conjunction)?  Obama is characteristically silent, reluctant to put his own name to anything concrete.  Senator Charles Schumer (D, NY) has a sort of idea, though, that’s pretty clear: Republicans should give up on tax reform that lowers rates in return for fewer loopholes; they should accept high(er) rates and closed loopholes.

There’s more of that bipartisanship, Progressive style.

In the end, though [emphasis in the original],

[W]e Republicans in the House and Senate think we have a voter mandate not to raise taxes.

Taxes and the Fiscal Cliff

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As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, KY) pointed out the other day,

[T]here is no consensus on raising tax rates.

Additionally, McConnell reminded us

[W]e still have yet to hear an actual plan from the president for addressing the great economic challenges we face.  What’s needed now is a realistic and specific proposal from the president that can actually pass the Congress.

Indeed, we haven’t heard anything President Obama in the way of a specific plan, beyond two budget “proposals” from the last session that can only be taken as having been improv satire.

McConnell laid down his marker, and it’s a correct one:

One issue I’ve never been conflicted about is taxes.  I wasn’t sent to Washington to raise anybody’s taxes to pay for more wasteful spending and this election doesn’t change my principles.

Is Obama serious or not about recovering our economy?  We’ll find out in the coming days.

Sovereignty

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Who is sovereign in our country, government or We the People who employ that government?

Progressives like Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) seem to think that it’s government.

It’s [having referendums] probably been made a little too easy.  There was a requirement that required 50,000 actual physical signatures.  Because of the Internet that has been so easy to do electronically, that the legislature probably needs to revisit that.

Maryland radio station WBAL chimes in, reporting that:

Critics of the process say that a group of opponents can use the referendum process to overturn legislation they don’t like[.]

Yeah—it’s terrible that a questionable government act should be put to the government’s employer for approval or rejection.  Remember, while it may take a small minority to force the government to submit to the will of its employer, it still takes a majority of that employer to overrule their employee.  And if that majority does so, it’s an entirely appropriate exercise of the People’s sovereign authority.