Because of entitlements

National Review: "Trump's unrealistic budget."  "What is ultimately needed, of course, is long-term entitlement reform. Until Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and our host of other unsustainable programs are reconfigured, the country will continue adding to its debt burden."

The state of perpetual outrage

This is a really good article via the Week about the relationship between Trump and the press: "The media should stop playing dumb about Trump."  This is the key graf:

Trump frequently lies. He makes things up. But he isn't always lying or making things up. Sometimes he's just saying things in his very strange speaking style. And usually in such cases, it's pretty easy to tell what he's talking about, if you really listen and think. Instead, the media plays dumb and scores cheap points that ultimately undermine the press. It's bad journalism. Stop doing it.

This echoes something I remember from the election: the press took Trump literally but not seriously while voters took him seriously but not literally.  For example, IIRC, a lot of voters didn't really believe that Trump was going to "build that wall" but took it to mean that he was determined to address illegal immigration.  The press was so ready to pounce on the absence of a discrete event with "last night in Sweden" that they glossed over the larger issue to gain some points.  Then the press wonders why Americans' confidence in the media has dropped so much.

Fight for 15 - all is proceeding as foreseen

Hot Air: "As predicted, Wendy’s moves to replace workers with kiosks."  What's $15 times zero hours?

Expand the state

Instapundit: "No, Obamacare has not saved American lives."  "Essentially then, ObamaCare was a wrecking ball aimed at private insurance, and a multi-billion-dollar advertising buy for public assistance."

Standing tall in the echo chamber

Hollywood's big theme last night was immigration.  After the show, everybody headed behind their personal security gates to their walled-in homes.

The Steve Harvey Awards

Fox News: "Oscar disaster: 'Moonlight' wins best picture after Faye Dunaway mistakenly awards 'La La Land."

This was funny because there were a lot of jokes about "fake news" which was super-ironic when the wrong winner for the biggest award of the night was mis-announced.

Update - Also, this person from the "in memoriam" is alive.  Whoops.

Economics - how does it work?

You're not going to believe this but when you raise the tax on something, people buy less of it.  I know!

Remember this story about the huge increase on the soda tax in Philadelphia?  An update via Hit and Run: "With Sales Depressed by Soda Tax, Philly Grocers Look to Cut Jobs as Mayor Blames 'Greedy' Soda Industry - One of the city’s largest beverage distributors is planning to cut 20 percent of its workforce; grocery stores across the city are also planning to shed jobs."

Power mad

I don't understand: usually Democrats can't wait to tell Americans what to do because they know better.  So what happens when Trump hands control back to the States?  Well, they hate that too.  Powerline: "Why is Democratic governor outraged that Trump ceded power to the States?"

Our idiot Attorney General here in Massachusetts is playing the same game.  Stop us before we set our own rules!

I can appreciate a good prank

C'mon, now, this is pretty funny: "Someone passed out Russian flags with Trump's name on them at CPAC."

Truthiness to power

Daily Caller: "Now the NYT has a new slogan too."  "Speaking truth to power took a nice long snooze between, oh, around 2009-2016."

PBS will survive on the Internet

Hit and Run: "Funding for Public Broadcasting Is Just 0.01 Percent of the Federal Budget. It Should Still Be Eliminated. - Spending $445 million to save—not Big Bird—but the jobs of the people who work in the industry."

Americans are tired of leftward direction

Charlotte Observer: "NASCAR spinning out of control, Wall Street Journal article says."

The WSJ article is behind a pay wall so we'll have to settle for this article.  I like NASCAR...but I used to like it a lot more.  I think the Generation Six car eliminated some of the adjustments that added dynamism to the race and some big names (Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon) are no longer behind the wheel.  I've been to a couple races but I've drifted away due to the cost and time involved.

The Supremes

Hot Air: "Ted Cruz predicts new Supreme Court vacancy this summer."  Signs point towards Justice Kennedy but I'd be willing to take RBG, who was almost certainly going to retire for President Hillary.

Courage, WashPost!

In 1986, Dan Rather started to sign-off his evening newscast with "Courage"...until he was ridiculed out of it.  Well, it looks like the Washington Post is itching to invite the same laugh-level with a risible new slogan: "Democracy dies in darkness."  Catchy!  The Photoshop battles have begun.

Ignore the protests

Erick Erickson writes that the perpetually-outraged Left is trying to start a movement modeled after the Tea Party but they should just be ignored.  "The Democrats, however, will not have the same success this time and Republicans should ignore them."

This past weekend, a bunch of environmentalists had a demonstration on the steps of Springfield City Hall, here in the Happy Valley of Massachusetts.  Exactly nobody showed up to watch their puppet show:

The event drew a half dozen members of the local press, but no one else. No supporters, no detractors. Other than one woman who paused momentarily while walking her dog, the event did not attract a single spectator.

Well, that's one way to minimize your carbon footprint.

Good schools for me but not for thee

Daily Caller: "These Senators Opposed Vouchers Backer Betsy DeVos But Send THEIR Kids To Fancypants Private Schools."  Just like those celebrity hypocrites.

Shoulda seen it coming

Via Maggie's Farm, the American Conservative has "The meaning of Trump - He alone perceived America’s status quo crisis."

I never thought he had a chance but then I keep thinking back to an NPR interview with a Bernie Sanders-supporter who said that if he couldn't have Bernie, he'd for for "that fool Trump".  It should have been the firebell in the night that America wanted anything but business as usual.

Socialism in action

Zero Hedge: "75% Of Venezuelans Lose "At Least 19 Pounds" In 2016."  Ladies and gentlemen, this is a founding member of OPEC.

No respite

America magazine: "The Political Gets Personal: Partisanship and consumerism are a dangerous mix."

From the Super Bowl and the Grammys to the pulpit and the mall, the key feminist insight that “the personal is political” has been taken to an unhealthy extreme. When no area of our lives is fenced off from the rancor of hyperpolarized politics, it becomes increasingly difficult to build the solidarity needed to face today’s very real economic and social ills.

The Oscars on Sunday are sure to be a fun time.

"No chance"? Yeah, there's a lot of that going around

Hot Air: "Can Marine Le Pen actually win?"  She's steadily gaining ground in France.  What's the French phrase for "shy voters"?

But send money

Hot Air: "Democrats would like their rabid base to cool it with the impeachment talk."

Hush-hush

Fox News: "Amid Russia concerns, Comey's closed-door Hill visit results in uncanny silence among lawmakers."  Hmmmmmm....

Shut up, they explained

Buffalo News: "Raucous crowds overwhelm Reed town hall meetings."

Huge crowds of raucous progressives and quieter conservatives overwhelmed Rep. Tom Reed's town hall meetings in Ashville and Cherry Creek Saturday morning, with the progressives repeatedly interrupting and shouting down the congressman's comments as he tried to defend Republican plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
The crowd in Ashville, in Chautauqua County, was so large that it was moved out of the senior center where it was scheduled and into the parking lot outside. There, Reed  patiently worked - but failed - to maintain order.
"We do not always agree," the Republican Congressman from Corning told the crowd at the outset of the meeting. "As we have disagreement, let's make sure we have it in a respectful, safe way."

This plea was met with more brainless chanting which is the Democrat version of "having a dialogue."

Back in the good ole days

Interesting thread over at Explain it like I'm 5: "In the 50's a single person in the US with a decent job requiring little or even no education could provide a comfortable home, education for their children, etc etc by themselves. Why were they paid so much or why hasn't that pay transitioned to 2017?"

Generally speaking, the combined effects of more people entering the workforce (not just white men) along with automation and globalization has tamped down on wages.  Also, some have pointed out that the "basics" of living in modern society - cell phones, Internet, multiple televisions - was not a standard for that era.

Make me a bouquet

Hot Air: "Washington florist ready to take religious liberty case to Supreme Court."

A Washington florist who refused to participate in a same-sex wedding lost a unanimous decision yesterday at the state Supreme Court. The 9-0 ruling rejected her claim to a First Amendment right to exercise her right to religious liberty in favor of the state’s anti-discrimination law. The next step for Barronelle Stutzman will be the US Supreme Court...

Really?  A unanimous decision for forcing a florist to make an arrangement for a gay wedding?  I'm really curious to read the legal reasoning to force this kind of compulsion, one which raises all kind of additional questions.  Can a Jewish baker be compelled to bake a swastika cake?  How about asking a Muslim photographer to take wedding pictures in front of a drawing of Mohammad?  Too bad, I guess.

Update - Here's part of the explanation from the AP:

Stutzman argued that she was exercising her First Amendment rights. But the court held that her floral arrangements do not constitute protected free speech, and that providing flowers to a same-sex wedding would not serve as an endorsement of same-sex marriage.
"As Stutzman acknowledged at deposition, providing flowers for a wedding between Muslims would not necessarily constitute an endorsement of Islam, nor would providing flowers for an atheist couple endorse atheism," the opinion said.

I guess I just don't understand why this explanation doesn't open the door for any kind of compulsion.  Is freedom of commerce just an illusion or is force necessary to make sure everybody plays nice?  I guess Melania Trump is going to get her Tom Ford dress after all.

Based on today's press conference, Trump believes this

Axios: "The media IS the opposition party."  I only caught the tail end of Trump's press conference today but I've never seen a politician - much less a President - treat the media with such unambiguous and conspicuous disdain.  He berated the BBC guy and called BBC "another CNN."  It was cuckoo.

In other news, he's never heard of Russia and didn't talk to anybody in Russia except for some guy who called him on Inauguration Day to congratulate him.

Awww...poor baby

PJ Media: "CNN's Jim Acosta: 'The Fix Is In' Trump Ignores MSM Questions."

Meanwhile, the greatest minds in politics and journalism join forces: "Pelosi, Cummings, New York Times fall victim to fake Twitter account."

Extra - From Twitchy.

More - Ace on the Washington Post's vapors: "The National Laughingstock: The Fact That Trump Won't Talk to Our Blatantly Biased Prog Rag Should "Terrify You"."

A nation of laws

I wholeheartedly agree with this analysis by Patterico on reports that Trump will no longer enforce the Obamacare mandate for mandatory healthcare: "All hail the King! Trump's IRS will "turn a blind eye" to enforcement of Obamacare mandate":

I’m sure plenty of Trump supporters will cheer this — because, you know, Trump. But if you’ll recall, conservatives (including myself) screamed bloody murder — with good reason — when Obama unilaterally decided to delay enforcement of ObamaCare provisions like the employer mandate. For me and for many others, this was a genuine and principled concern. But I think we’re about to find out that, for some conservatives, the complaints about Obama’s actions were pure partisanship — and for these unprincipled hypocrites, non-enforcement is about to be cool again.

To paraphrase "A Man for All Seasons", Obama cut a road through the laws to maintain Obamacare, whether diverting money to the risk corridors or ignoring statutory timelines.  And while President Clinton and/or a Democrat-controlled Senate was a sure thing, the political Left cheered it on.  So I understand that the urge to stick it back is strong, but this tu quoque fallacy leaves us without laws, only interpretation by an executive authority which is no law at all.

The death spiral continues apace

Hot Air: "Humana announces it is dropping out of Obamacare in 2018."  Quote: "Further signs of an unbalanced risk pool."

Scott has a problem with Twitter

Scott Adams: "Freedom of Speech is now largely an illusion."  Depends on the side of the political spectrum.

Fake news again

Washington Examiner: "More mainstream media mess-ups: The Muslim Olympian 'detained because of President Trump's travel ban' was detained under Obama."

To be sure, this woman misled the press by saying the detention occurred "just a few weeks ago" when it actually happened in December.  Still, the media had their narrative and ran with it - the "when" can wait until later.

Extra - From Gateway Pundit.

The Ninth Circus

Federalist: "The Ninth Circuit’s Stay On Trump’s Immigration Order Is Legal Garbage - It’s clear the judges went through the exercise of writing an opinion so they could get to the outcome they wanted. The problem is, the outcome they wanted is, legally speaking, wrong."

Fauxcahontas update

Ed Rogers in the Washington Post gets right to the point: "Elizabeth Warren is a grandstanding phony."  "I don’t mean to give advice, but these events should suggest something to the Democrats about how egotistical, artificial and selfishly driven Warren really is. She should be embarrassed, and the Democrats should keep looking for someone authentic."

I read MassLive on a regular basis and, even here in Western Massachusetts, a lot of people are getting really tired of Warren's shtick.

Keep it up Hollywood

Any day now - any day now - deplorable America will come to its senses.  Hit and Run: "Meryl Streep Congratulates Herself (Again) for Criticizing Donald Trump - The Hollywood star's self-dramatizing self-righteousness plays right into the president's hands."

Moral vanity is like crack to the entertainment industry.  Make sure you skip the Grammies tonight.

California crybullies

City Journal: "From Culture to Cupcakes - The once-great University of California at Berkeley continues its descent into victimology."

UC Berkeley’s Division of Equity and Inclusion has hung vertical banners across the main campus reminding students of the contemporary university’s paramount mission: assigning guilt and innocence within the ruthlessly competitive hierarchy of victimhood.

Free speech for me, not for thee.

Guess who used to support school vouchers?

You'll never guess: "Vouchers would relieve parents from the terrible choice of leaving their kids in lousy schools or bankrupting themselves."

I guess he did divide us

Slate: "Shia LaBeouf’s Controversial Anti-Trump Museum Installation Has Been Shut Down."  "In unfortunate contradiction with its messaging, the installation became a political battleground, as clashes between Trump supporters and opponents turned violent—an ugly distillation of what’s currently playing out on a much larger scale around the country."

It's funny because it's Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone: "The End of Facts in the Trump Era."

The comments are great fun, with a lot of "Jackie" references.

Problem with the Jews

Legal Insurrection: "Mother Jones proves Keith Ellison lying about his Farrakhan history."  Powerline has been covering Keith Ellison's bid for DNC chair and notes that this is the first time somebody in the media has seriously looked into these allegations.

Hollywood phonies are upset about DeVos

Fox News: "Celebrities weigh in on Betsy DeVos confirmation: 'This is murdering' our school system."  Well, not your school system, right?

First on the list is Stephen Colbert who sent his kids to the tony Montclair Kimberley Academy according to this student report.  Tuition: 38 large.  I'll update if I can find anybody on this list who has school-age kids in a public school.  Don't hold your breath.

Update - Joshua Malina sent his daughter Isabel to the Archer School for Girls.  Tuition: 35 large.

Somebody name Ilana Glazer: no kids.

That funny guy from Parks and Rec: no kids.

Seth MacFarlane: surprisingly, no kids.

Connie Britton: has a five-year old who has not started private school yet, presumably.

Josh Gad: two kids, aged 2 and 5, also probably not in private school yet.

That guy from Silicon Valley: no kids.

The hysterical Joss Whedon has two kids aged 12 and 14 but he's really keeping them private, hiding them under his wife's name.

Chelsea Handler: no kids.

The Left hates free speech, continued

Right Wisconsin: "Marquette official who schemed to keep out Ben Shapiro event attendees being ‘reprimanded' - Attempt to keep students out of event unsuccessful."

Who ya gonna call? Pausebusters!

Powerline: "Climate 'science' rocked by another scandal."

Patriots parade

I generally do not approve of profanity on public signs, especially with kids around, but I laughed at this.

Talkathon on Betty DeVos

Politico: "Senate Democrats plan to debate all night in hopes of stopping DeVos."

I flipped over to C-Span to watch Patty Murray read a bunch of letters from "everyday Americans" opposed to education secretary nominee Betty DeVos.  OK, I get it: she's been in support of charter schools and the teacher unions control the Democrat party.  But then Murray leveled this complaint: "She doesn't understand public schools and sent her children to private schools."

Really?  Like virtually every politician in Washington?  Puh-leeze.

Not hearing it

Scott Adams: "Sam Harris Induces Cognitive Dissonance in Ben Affleck."  "Watch for the moment Ben has to hallucinate Sam’s opinion from the reasonable position that many Muslims worldwide have non-liberal views to an hallucination about “All Muslims are bad.” Sam and Bill both clarify their viewpoints, with data, but Ben is struck deaf to it. All he can hear is the absurd absolute “all.” He is literally hallucinating."

A gathering of "journalists"

Hot Air: "The media suddenly seems less interested in the Nerd Prom. I wonder why?"

Maybe they're concerned that Trump will read from this list: "16 Fake News Stories Reporters Have Run Since Trump Won."

Sweet mercy, this catch

Julian Edelmans Ridiculous Catch

Let's go Patriots!

I never get tired of this:



Official prediction: Patriots 34 - Falcons 24
There is nothing in the world one team wants more than having Roger Goodell hand over the Lombardi trophy to Tom Brady.

Update - Holy cow!  I was not far off: 34-28 Patriots win!

Check out this free speech nut!

Minuteman: "The NYT on Gorsuch - With Enemies Like This..."  "If this is what they've got, it's less than nothing."

Defeating ISIS

Here's an interesting thread on Explain Like I'm 5: "Why is a terrorist organization like ISIS so difficult to defeat? With so many powerful nations actively fighting them, how do they still have a leg to stand on?"

There's a new sheriff in town

MassLive: "'You can't just say 'Obama pays for it all,' judge tells man seeking taxpayer-financed lawyer."

Welcome Justice Gorsuch

Slate: "Democrats Have No Play on Neil Gorsuch."

Hot Air: "Dem Senate operative: The big Supreme Court fight will be over the next nominee, not Gorsuch."  Namely, the one to replace RBG.

You want to be a winner, don't you?

The Truth about Cars has an absolutely great review of Audi's pending Super Bowl commercial: "The Real Message Behind Audi’s Super Bowl Ad Isn’t Exactly An Uplifting One."  An excerpt:

Well, if you’ve been reading along, I think you’ve figured out what the real message of this Audi advertisement is, but just in case you’ve been napping I will spell it out for you: Money and breeding always beat poor white trash. Those other kids in the race, from the overweight boys to the hick who actually had an American flag helmet to the stripper-glitter girl? They never had a chance. They’re losers and they always will be, just like their loser parents.

If you'll recall, Bud Light tried this silly feminist strategy in their ad campaign with Amy Schumer and it backfired spectacularly.  I know you spent a lot of money on Don Draper, Audi, but pull this ad now.

Let's all laugh at this obvious lie

Daily Caller: "NYT CEO With A Straight Face: We’re Not Liberal."

Happy Friday!

Democrats no-show again on nomination votes

For the third time, Democrats boycotted their subcommittee meetings on Trump nominees so they can demonstrate to their base that they're resisting, always resisting.  Yet the other day, they showed up to move along Jeff Sessions' nomination to Attorney General.  Hmmm.....how odd.

Well, it looks like Mitch McConnell is on to their game.  Ace: "McConnell Delaying Sessions' Floor Vote Because His Vote As a Senator May Be Necessary to Confirm Mulvaney and DeVos."

This guy

What is wrong with Trump?  The Atlantic: "Donald Trump's Blunder Down Under - Citizens of an unusually close ally now regard the president as a volatile, vainglorious, untrustworthy bully after he needlessly disrespected their leader in a phone call."

I guess we need to piss off allies in every hemisphere now.  I'm getting the impression that Trump is like Harry Truman's assessment of Eisenhower's pending Presidency:

When contemplating General Eisenhower winning the Presidential election, Truman said, “He’ll sit here, and he’ll say, ‘Do this! Do that!’ And nothing will happen. Poor Ike—it won’t be a bit like the Army. He’ll find it very frustrating.”

Disclaimer: Trump is not Eisenhower.

The Left hates free speech

Especially so in the birthplace of the "free speech" movement.  Fox News: "Milo Yiannopoulos: Berkeley riot 'self-defeating for the social justice left'."

Of his opponents, Milo said, "They never want to debate because they’re scared of losing. They don’t have the facts on their side and for 30 years the left has been able to bully people into silence by name-calling and they’ve forgotten how to argue."

How'd that work out for you guys, calling everybody a racist/sexist/fascist?  Keep it up, yo.

Now you're going to see some petty payback

About a month ago, there was a hilarious graphic on Imgur showing an American flag kicked over on the moon with the copy: "Imagine if the Chinese went to the moon and decided to knock over the US flag.  What are we gonna do, rebuild the moon program and go back up there to re-erect the flag?  Ha ha".

Then the response is: "I have lived in America my entire life and I am 100% sure we would do exactly that."

Today it was announced that two GOP Senators (Collins and Murkowski) are going to vote against Betty DeVos for Education Secretary which puts DeVos in a precarious situation.  If she doesn't lose any additional Republican votes, it could go to a 50-50 Senate vote with Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote.  But if she's denied, I totally agree with this Katy Pavlich tweet: "With this absurd DeVos obstruction (you too, GOP), now would be a good time for an executive order eliminating the Department of Education."

Brother, you know he'll do it, too.

Yes, I'm watching C-Span

Jeff Sessions was just approved out of the Judiciary Committee for Attorney General.  A lone Code Pink cried "shame!" and was hustled out.