Author: McQ

The government is hungry for money. And it is looking for innovative ways to get it. However, they don’t want to take it from you directly. You see that’s political suicide. So when we hear about the great 300 billion middle class tax cut that the Obama administration is so graciously planning on granting, we […]

Peterr at FireDogLake points to a quote by Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land in which he likens the security wall Israel erected to the Berlin wall: [W]ho would have imagined that less than two decades later we would be back to building walls? I have no […]

The coming spectacle of seating IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s choice for the vacated Senate seat of Barack Obama promises to be quite a show. You have a sitting governor charged with corruption in government, specifically a little pay-to-play scandal concerning the Obama Senate seat, refusing to step down as demanded and appointing a replacement anyway. […]

It seems like each time some terrorist group attacks Israel and Israel responds we have to go about explaining “proportionality” again. That’s because it is obvious some self-appointed experts haven’t a clue. Some apparently think that a proportional response means the math must add up. If they only kill 2 or 3, that’s all you’re […]

Unlike apologists for Hamas here in the US, such as the Juicebox Mafia (I can’t help it, that name fits that crew about as well as any I’ve seen) even the Palestinians on the West Bank understand who is at fault for the violence in Gaza right now: In his visit to Egypt, PA President […]

British journalist Christopher Booker makes the claim that 2008 is the year “man-made global warming was disproved”. His three reasons are: First, all over the world, temperatures have been dropping in a way wholly unpredicted by all those computer models which have been used as the main drivers of the scare. […] Secondly, 2008 was […]

Barack Obama promises that science will no longer be “twisted” to fit an ideology. But of course using “science” to advance their political agenda has been a tool of the left for years. A perfect example can be found with the issue of obesity. Andrew Ferguson provides the anatomy of how a personal failing becomes […]

[HT: Neo – Crossposted at QandO]

When you live by identity politics, you are likely to suffer because of them. And that’s especially true when you throw nebulous terms like “change” around and allow others to project their meaning of the word back on you. That’s admittedly what Obama did during the campaign. And he’s seeing what I’d call the expected, […]

Joe Gandelman provides a highly selective “history” to justify the sentence I’ve emphasized in bold: Democrat Bill Clinton had his big share of professional Clinton haters (both prominent and not so prominent would say things such as “He’s not MY President…”) and Democrats decried it and some Republicans defended it. Then came Republican George Bush […]

This Caroline Kennedy thing is like a bad soap opera. It brings up a seeming trend and problem which I’d like to see nipped in the bud. Legacy and entitlement in the political system. Just because daddy was a politician, and considered by some to be a good one, doesn’t mean daughter has the same […]

Matthew Kaminski throws a little cold water on the expectations of those who are sure that Obama will “restore our reputation in the world.” One hates to spoil a good party, but here’s a bet that’s far safer these days than a U.S. Treasury bill: Even with Obama at the White House, they won’t really […]

A new law, proposed in Russia and backed by Putin, would essentially label any criticism as “treason”: New legislation backed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would allow Russian authorities to label any government critic a traitor — a move that rights activists said Wednesday was a chilling throwback to times of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. […]

You can tell its a relatively slow news week. Crooks and Liars is reduced to resurrecting the “Nazis in the Army” story of a couple of years ago. Now, that’s pathetic enough (C&L has to admit that when the FBI investigated the claim, they found that there were all of 200 identifiable “neo-nazis” in the […]

State government may have to make temporary spending cuts, but when it gets itself into deficit trouble from overspending, it turns to the one source of revenue it has – state taxpayers (unlike the Fed, states can’t just print money). And it also comes up with some innovative ways to both raise money and push […]

Well the Republicans in the Senate (with the usual exceptions) and a couple of Democrats kept the US government out of the car business last night. Reading the blogosphere, on both sides, has been fascinating. From Ed Morrisey’s “good” to Jane Hamsher’s “the Republicans quite plainly want the economy to fail” and everything in between. […]

I‘m already tired of the Blagojevich scandal (an Illinois governor is corrupt? Well knock me over with a feather), but I remain concerned with this auto bailout and can only hope, with the White House caving in, that the Republicans in the Senate will make one final stand before their minority power is blown away […]

While the President-elect trots out his New New Deal, which smacks more of Soviet style planning than free market recovery, Communist China is taking an alternate course: CHINA may soon cut business tax as part of its efforts to prop up the slowing economy amid the global financial crisis, state media reported on Tuesday. The […]

This particular case is emblematic of how asinine our situation has become, but typical, I think, of our future. Republic Windows and Doors lays off 250 people last week and closes its doors. They get 3 days notice and they end up not getting already-earned vacation time and severance pay. Why? Because Republic Windows and […]

Everyone knows the media isn’t biased. And if it was, it would be biased toward the right, right? President-elect Barack Obama received 68% positive evaluations on the network evening news shows during the general election. His treatment was twice as favorable as John McCain’s 33% positive and Sarah Palin’s 34% positive evaluations. Whoa, whoa, what […]

It appears Mr. Obama’s New New Deal economic recovery plan involves a lot of handyman work. 3 points of his 5 point plan involve, well, fixing things. –ENERGY: “[W]e will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change […]

So what’s happening in the great bailout scam? I mean, looking at what’s going on, I simply don’t know what else to call it. Does anyone understand the plan (to include those supposedly executing it)? Where is the money going, what are the controls on its disbursement and use, who is really in charge of […]

The Washington Times echoes what we’ve been saying here for a number of weeks – it appears Barack Obama will simply let the Iraq engagement end itself naturally and claim credit for its final success: “I believe that 16 months is the right time frame,” Mr. Obama said after announcing his national security team that […]

Conventional wisdom among those who believe it is guns which are responsible for murders is taking a drubbing in the UK: One teenager has been killed on the streets of Britain every five days this year as the number of fatal stabbings soars, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. Official figures from each police force in […]

Jesse Jackson, Jr., that is. That’s who the Chicago Sun-Times would like to see Illinois Gov. Blagojevich pick to finish Obama’s term. Says the Sun-Times: Jackson also has proven himself on the national stage, serving on the House Appropriations Committee and as Obama’s national campaign co-chairman. He has pushed for universal health care and, in […]

Dorthy Rabinowitz takes issue with the “blame America” crowd, specifically Deepak Chopra, and their attempt to lay the Mumbai terrorist attacks at the feet of the US. How the ebullient Dr. Chopra had come to be chosen as an authority on terror remains something of a mystery, though the answer may have something to do […]

That, of course, means some immediate propaganda work repackaging by the Obama team after all the shots they threw her way during the primaries: “What exactly is this foreign policy experience?” Obama said mockingly of the New York senator. “Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no.” No, she was dodging […]

You sometimes get the horn. Hint for the Taliban. If the ratio isn’t better than 8:1, you may want to consider retreat as first option: In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it. Shewan has historically been a safe haven for insurgents, who used to […]

I touched on the Netroots reaction to the Gates appointment and the implication that desired defense cuts probably aren’t in the offing. Erica Etelson doesn’t deal in implications. She pretty much comes right out and says why they should be made: The president-elect is very smart, but he’s not a magician. He cannot conjure from […]

Harry Reid in an interview with the Detroit Free Press: Q: With more Democrats in the Senate and the House and a Democrat in the White House, how do you see congressional efforts playing out on such issues as health care and immigration? A: On immigration, there’s been an agreement between (President-elect Barack) Obama and […]