Scattershots – 5 January 2012

George Rebane

•    Iowa produced a tie between Romney and Santorum (within counting error).  It still looks like Romney is stuck at the 25% level when he’s competing with a field of candidates.  This could change in New Hampshire where he is a part time resident.  The interest in the Republican race should continue to grow as Newt Gingrich threatens to become the kamikaze Newt Gingrinch, and a dissed by the mainstream Ron Paul sails off to libertarian la-la land some time between now and the convention.  Both can spoil the Republicans' Christmas.  Unless Romney gets a new writer, look for at least two undeclared Republicans to throw their hats into the ring.

•    The notorious economist Keynes had a clear moment when he famously replied to a reporter, ‘I change my mind when new facts warrant it.  What do you do?’  Yet, for some reason we punish our politicians who make the case for changing their mind on issues as new data becomes available.  Small minds, it seems, demand consistency über alles in their candidates.  And as Henninger (5jan12 WSJ) points out, this is a prevalent syndrome.  (Let’s not confuse a ‘promise’ with a new assessment.)
•    China’s military expansion seems to be sliding under America’s media radar.  Or is this issue one of many that the lamestream finds too complex to handle?  The development is doubly important since they are our major trading partner, economic competitor, major creditor, and ‘natural enemy’ in the western Pacific.  With Obama’s projected "leaner" military, they may soon also be our natural enemy in the eastern Pacific.
•    The people of Indiana see the benefits of becoming a right-to-work state.  This is opposed by the Left as “union busting”.  Doesn’t this confirm that union membership, destructive as it always is in the longer run, is most effectively built with the help of government guns?  Compare the economies of right-to-work states with ‘union states’.  Indiana Democrats are again boycotting their legislature a la Wisconsin.  Maybe they can write off any jaunts to neighboring Chicago as 'continuing education' in the Chicago Way.
•    Where does our know-nothing Harvard professor of constitutional law get off making recess appointments when the Congress is specifically not in recess to prevent his making of such appointments?  Hubris achieving new heights?

Comments

[Russ Steele]

Charles Krauthammer notes President Obama’s latest accomplishment:

I think this [recess appointment] is a lawless action by the president at the end of a long string of lawless actions. And it’s banana republic [style].

[Gregory]

To be a little fair to the Obamanation, the Senate was only pretending to open for business every few days as a dodge against recess appointments. Not much real business gets done when the gavel to gavel time is less than a minute.

[George Rebane]

Fair enough Gregory (542pm), but the entire purpose of that procedural, legal, and constitutional tactic is so that Obama cannot attempt a recess appointment. And he does it anyway.

[Paul Emery]

George

In you're view who might those two undeclared
Republicans be?

[Gregory]

The real fun about the tactic is that the Democratic Senate dreamed that one up to keep George Bush from making recess appointments. Imagine the press reaction had Bush tried what Obama has done. Screams like stuck pigs comes to mind.

Heard a lawyer being interviewed and he thought the Senate couldn't contest the nomination but that the first time the appointees made a decision that harmed someone, that someone would have standing to contest the decisions legality, would probably win, and Senate R's would have win-win on their hands without a downside risk.

[Todd Juvinall]

Here is what Rush said about this Obama attempt to be Hugo Chavez.

"If Congress "refuses to act," it is his job to sit down and talk to 'em and make 'em act and get them to vote the way he wants. He does not have -- unless they grant it to him (and they're doing it, by the way) -- the authority to run roughshod over them. But if they don't stop him, he can do it. We can't. Congress has to stand up for itself. Now, the Democrats run the Senate. I think they're happy for this to happen. Dingy Harry loves for this to happen because they're sitting there blaming it on the House Republicans who have no role in this. It's an election year, so blame the Republicans for it. Folks, it is clearly lawless. If you regard the Constitution as law, this is lawless behavior by an out-of-control, rogue executive. This is what happens in banana republics, tinhorn dictatorships. In places like Venezuela, this is what happens -- all under the guise of populism and helping the middle class."

[George Rebane]

PaulE 840pm - I was referring to the now 'usual' field of suspects: Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Paul Ryan, Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, ...

[Douglas Keachie]

I guess, George, your comment about right to work states is related to http://economictrends.blogspot.com/2011/12/do-right-to-work-states-economically.html but so far I seem to be having difficulty finding the real source material. Do you have a more direct connection, so that I can put it up for target practice?

[Douglas Keachie]

I do agree with you on China. When they land the first woman on Mars ahead of our next major venture there, that will signal the world about who's their daddy.

[George Rebane]

DougK 1009am - Here are some links with some follow-on refs
http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj30n1/cj30n1-9.pdf
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/11/right-to-work-increases-jobs-and-choices

[Paul Emery]

I don't think that's very likely George unless there's is a brokered convention. As I recall; the last Republican convention to be brokered was Dewey in '48. It might be that Paul will be the King maker if it reaches that point which would really be fun to watch. It will likely be hold your nose time for the TP's as Romney will likely get the nomination. Santorium was so insignificant that nobody gave him the treatment so to speak to see if he can hold up. It only took a couple of weeks to bounce Newt and Cain once the PAC's got rolling so we'll see how he holds up.

Repubs always pick an inside guy.

If Paul gets pushed around too much he might bolt and go
"rouge" changing the picture completly. I can't see him backing Romney. Gary Johnson http://www.npr.org/2011/12/30/144495487/johnson-discusses-opting-to-seek-libertarian-nomination two time Governor of New Mexico will likely be a very credible Libertarian candidate and he can make some noise for sure especially if Paul supports him which is a real possibility.

Either way the Dems are licking their chops as the Repubs are pushed farther to the right leaving the middle of the field defenseless against a mobile and opportunistic Obama.

As far as the "recess appointments "go keep in mind that the Republicans Senate and House are the least popular in known history with a whopping 20-70 approval rating so Mister O should be able to turn that to his favor if it's made an issue.

[Douglas Keachie]

Romney with Paul or Moose Lady as Veep. Politics make for strange tent mates.

[Douglas Keachie]

There ought to be a huge b linking red button when a gotcha is blocking the post, not a glimspe at new posts since yours.

[Douglas Keachie]

What the hell, are the lengths of my posts being limited???? This time I KNOW I checked for the gotcha!

[Douglas Keachie]

Two complete missing posts, each longer than 4 lines, second one very, very, very carefully checked for gotchas, WTF????

[George Rebane]

DougK - am not aware of any problem with your comments on my end. What kind of problems are you having? BTW, nothing you've posted has been blocked/deleted/etc. Are you composing in your word processor and pasting it into the comment block? If you keep the comment block open too long while composing, the system has been known to do a time out.

[Paul Emery]

Doug

Sometimes when it asks for a verification it's hard to to see the request because it's at the bottom of the screen. I've lost posts because of that.

[Douglas Keachie]

The first missing one might have been due to sloppy. The second one was very carefully set up. It was done well within a 10 minute window from start to finish, I looked very very carefully for the gotcha box, none appeared, must be a WP bug messing with something.

[Douglas Keachie]

Obama was never a professor at Harvard, try Chicago. How many TP homes will burn this summer before the drought of 2012 and the accompanying fire storm season gets it through their heads that the planet is indeed warming up for some reason, even if not anthropomorphic? http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/05/us-argentina-grains-drought-idUSTRE8040OA20120105

How many of the 22 right to work states would have their version of a pine cone gratuity to match California's? About zero. We have beaches and in a good winter, cream on the Sierra Nevada.

[Douglas Keachie]

You might learn a lot by looking at the population education levels and age profiles of those 22 states.

[George Rebane]

DougK 1111am - not sure what point you're trying to make re climate change, AGW or not. Re your 1112am, it is always good to keep in mind that California's education system is so poor that we pump more criminals out of it than our prison system can handle. BTW, what's a "pine cone gratuity"?

[Douglas Keachie]

"Pine cone gratuity" lower salaries up here are offset by higher quality of surroundings and larger lots sizes, etc, was used as a selling tool by realtors up here when we bought in 1997. I don't know if the Chinese force the top third to teach, or they pay them more than other professions, but it does produce results. Certainly better results than the current combination of Math and Social studies in some southern state, where the question about how many slaves would be needed to pick the oranges...if the tree had 56 oranges each and there were x number of trees, or some such insulting nonsense. China's schools, here, from the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14812822