Paul on the package.

Money quote:

There is a lot of stimulus and growth in this bill – that is, of government. Nothing in this bill stimulates the freedom and prosperity of the American people. Politician-directed spending is never as successful as market-driven investment. Instead of passing this bill, Congress should get out of the way by cutting taxes, cutting spending, and reining in the reckless monetary policy of the Federal Reserve.

Read it all here. I disregarded Ron Paul during his 2008 presidential bid, because for the first time in decades a libertarian had a microphone … and the American people were listening. Yet he squandered his time (“squandered,” or so I thought) talking about closing down the Federal Reserve. Closing down the Department of Education. Closing down the Department of Energy. If anyone does, a then 10-term Republican representative knows the value of principled baby steps.

But as it turns out, the Federal Reserve has arranged for our worst recession in decades.  Inverted interest rates have led us from one asset bubble to the next for nine years now.  No Child Left Behind is its own punch line.  Oh, and, by the way?  How is that Department of Energy treating you now?  Revolutionary monetary policy, far-reaching shift in government operations are starting to smell pretty good right now.

Cornyn the Capitulator

Michelle Malkin is calling Senator John Cornyn and four other Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee who voted in favor of sending Timothy Geithner’s nomination to the full floor for a vote the B.O. Republicans (B.O. stands for either “Barack Obama” or “Bend Over”, take your pick).

He followed that up by voting, along with just 10 Republicans, in favor of Geithner’s confirmation. (One couldn’t be sure that he would do that. After all, he voted to hold up Hillary Clinton’s unanimous nomination for legitimate reasons, and then capitulated by voting to confirm her after all.)

How To Run For President In 2012: Rule #2

As Fred points out in this post, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (a conservative Republican) is vying to supplant Kaleefornia Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (a less-conservative Republican) as the nation’s symbolic green governor. I don’t see it as triangulation. I see it as an essential component for both winning the Republican nomination and taking on Barry “Killing Babies Is Just As Important As Not Killing Trees” Obama in the 2012 General Election:

How To Run For President In 2012: Rule #1 – Reclaim what is rightfully ours. Conservatism and Conservation are from the same etymological family tree, so let us be conservative about the environment.

By the way: Arnold is grappling with figuring out how to convert 2786.6 Trillion BTU’s (8,359.8 ÷ 3) to renewable energy sources by 2020. Sarah has to convert 399.6 Trillion BTU’s (799.2 ÷ 3) to green energy sources by 2025. Sarah’s piece of the pie is 14% of Arnold’s share. If they both succeed, then Arnold, who has a much more monumental task than Sarah, should get the Green ribbon. Af course Rick Perry (a conservative Republican) might have a say in the matter. He needs to convert just 25% of Texas energy usage to environmentally-friendy sources in order to surpass Arnold’s goal (11,558.30 Trillion BTU’s ÷ 4 = 2889.575 Trillion BTU’s).

Palin triangulates

Or is this satire? Mind you, this comes from the not-unconservative GOP governor of Alaska:

Last week, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called a news conference to announce “a future where, ideally, 50% of Alaska’s electricity is generated from renewable resources by 2025.”

[...]

Palin’s 50% goal one-ups California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who touts himself as the nation’s green governor: Two months ago, he signed an executive order requiring 33% of Golden State electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2020. President-elect Barack Obama, whose home state of Illinois is a major coal producer, has called for 25% renewable energy use nationwide by 2025.

Maybe I’m just getting cynical in my old age.

Cantor to Democrats: “Sacrifice? You first.”

Wednesday, a group of House Republicans will argue that Obama’s Hill colleagues haven’t embraced his vision of shared sacrifice, arguing that Democratic leaders cut the GOP out of negotiations over the new administration’s first big bill.

Some members of the group, organized by Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia and Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, are upset that Democrats abruptly canceled a meeting last week with Republicans before unveiling the $800 billion stimulus. The GOP group has requested to meet with Obama later this week.

Source.

Pretty slim pickings, huh? I can tell you first hand that bloggers had hoped for a bit more. This certainly hasn’t been the hyper-partisan The Reds Attack! transition that some conservatives had warned about, and others had hoped for. Indeed — and maybe the word only comes to me in light of President Obama’s appointments — it all seems a bit, I don’t know. Clintonesque?

Stay tuned. We have four (eight?) years to go. His hair may turn to snakes just yet.

How To Run For President In 2012: Rule #1

This is the first installment of what I hope will be many. As I examine the public pronouncements of the potential GOP Presidential candidates, I will look for actions/statements/tendencies that would be conducive to both winning the Republican nomination and taking on the Pied Piper of the Progressives in the 2012 General Election.

How To Run For President In 2012: Rule #1 – Distance Yourself From George W. Bush While Keeping Your Conservative Credentials Intact.

[South Carolina Senator Lindsey] Graham issued a statement saying he doesn’t have a problem with closing Guantanamo but wants to make sure it’s planned carefully and handled in a way that protects national security.

[Source]

Surveying the field

The latest independent poll from Quinnipiac University, released Wednesday, shows 65% of Floridians approve of the way Gov. Charlie Crist is handling his job.

A release from Quinnipiac describes the rating as “sky high,” noting that he is as well liked among Florida voters as President Barack Obama.

Source.

Gov. Crist obviously deserves a closer look. Here is his On The Issues backgrounder, which grades him center-right, with populist leanings. Here are all Politiwatch dispatches filed about Gov. Crist.

Raiding Jimmy Buffett’s Shoe Collection: Rick Perry Edition

An easy way to spot a candidate who is up for reelection (or perhaps trying to trade up) is to look for the flip-flop.  Texas Governor Rick Perry is the latest politician to take a turn at doing the position-reversing tango.  Perry’s reversal has to do with eminent domain. He’s either worried about a Kay Bailey Hutchison governorship challenge or is laying the groundwork for a run at the GOP Presidential nomination. Either way, it’s pretty obvious. Here’s a man trying to shore up his conservative credentials.

RTFA

This article:

The purchase of a piece of property in America, a single-family house, a PUD (planned unit development) or a condo (flat within a condominium) will guarantee you and your family a green card. This is one of the extreme measures implemented to help stall the meteoric fall of the United States economy in light of the economic crisis, Bulgarian weekly Stroitelstvo Gradut reported on January 15.

Thirty-five accredited investors will have the opportunity to acquire real estate in the south-eastern state of Florida – by purchasing a house – they will be granted a green card for permanent residence and right of employment for the buyer himself and his/her entire family.

Additional conditions are that the prospective buyer must have a clean criminal record, a good credit record, the ability to present and prove a decent monthly income, and no outstanding financial obligations or credit liabilities. The purchase itself can be done either with cash, bank transfer or monthly instalments, but the financial resource must be proven legitimate.

The US government has allocated 10 000 such visas nation-wide for potential investors in real esate, under a programme approved by the US Congress. Florida’s is the first such programme that has actively been given the green light to commence.

is tying Michelle Malkin’s stomach in knots. Most of her commenters are suffering indigestion as well. I must be missing something.

A question for those of you who are doubled over at the waist after reading this piece:

1. Do you not think that 10 months of housing inventory is a bad thing?  Would you not like to dump some of that inventory on “accredited investors?”
2. Does the specter of, God forbid, another terrorist attack preclude you from agreeing to 10,000 visas for “potential investors in real estate?”  If so, does the “clean criminal record” requirement not ease your mind?  Recall our stock answer any time the left complained of executive overreach: “No one expected that after seven years we would not have been attacked again, so the administration is getting something right.”
3. Or is your concern one of lost jobs?  Because throwing 10,000 real estate investors into an economy of 303 million does not seem statistically relevant.
4. Or is your concern something else?

Relevance statement: I’m filing this one under Florida governor Charlie Crist.

Disclosure: I’m not 100% sold on this green-for-green policy either. But for much different reasons, apparently.

Perspective.

Apparently crowds sent then-former-president George Bush off with a rousing chant of:

Na na na na,
na na na na,
hey hey hey
goodbye!

And, as always, one of Ann Althouse’s commenters absolutely nails it:

Actually, the “Na na hey hey” thing is perfectly appropriate. Large portions of the left and right have always seen politics from the perspective of a sports fan; that’s what partisanship is. It’s not serious, it’s trivial. It’s mindless us/them b.s.

If they believed anything they said, that Bush is a war criminal and worse than Hitler blah blah blah, it would be unconscionable to just let him fly to Crawford for a dignified retirement. That’s truly a morally reprehensible response if you believe anything close to what Doyle et al say they believe. Apprehend him, try him, hang him.

But they’re not serious. They’re just rooting for the “D” (and others for the “R”) and ramping the hyperbole up to 11 without ever bothering to check what the actual people are saying or doing. Because they’re not thoughtful enough to do more.

Still, it would be nicer if people would just wave their pennants and Obama foam #1 fingers.