Quote:

"It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth -- and listen to the song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it."

~ Patrick Henry, speech in the Virginia Convention, 1775

RedState Morning Briefing

For March 18, 2011

1. Democrat Division Suggests Conservatives Are Right and House Leaders Are Wrong

For several weeks House Republican Leaders have stolen a play from Barack Obama's playbook in the health care fight. Unfortunately, instead of using it against Democrats, they've used it against their fellow Republicans.

Remember when Barack Obama would say, "Republicans have no plan"? House Leaders are saying that about conservatives' plans to rein in spending.

Well, just as Dr. Tom Price and other Republicans would hold up the Republicans' health care plan in Barack Obama's 2010 State of the Union address every time he said they had no plan, conservatives are holding up their plan to House leaders who, like Baghdad Bob, choose to ignore reality in favor of their propaganda.

Unfortunately for the House Republicans, Democrats are now admitting the conservative strategy is the one they fear the most.

2. Nostalgia with '95 Political Narrative Should Cut Both Ways

Republican leadership is waging a civil war against conservatives over the budget, due to their visceral fear of a government shutdown. Their inexplicable fixation on the 1995 political paradigm has traumatized them from repeating the alleged mistakes of Newt Gingrich and the 104th congress. Such a one-dimensional focus should logically dictate that we attempt to replicate the successes of that era as well.

While the political liabilities of the '95 government shutdown are debatable, the political successes of welfare reform are incontrovertible. By 1996, Republicans, with the overwhelming support of the public, forced President Clinton to sign the most sweeping welfare reform act in decades.

Unfortunately, the Democrats gutted the most potent accountability mechanisms of the bill with the Obama stimulus in 2009. In addition, the '96 reform bill, imposing work requirements and spending caps, was only applied to 1 of 77 anti-poverty programs. RSC Chairman Jim Jordon has introduced The Welfare Reform Act of 2011 to address these issues.

3. The Cat Is Now Out Of The Bag -James Sherk Describes What Was Won in Walker's War

Wisconsin's fight against the public unions was yet another battle in the war to prevent government from remaining self-perpetuating; regardless of the outcome of those pesky things called elections. The victory Scott Walker won against the Wisconsin public employee unions has spawned similar efforts in Alabama, Idaho, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Nebraska, and Tennessee. James Shrek of National Review gives us an extraordinary look at how state public union reform is spreading like wildfire.

4. Andrew Cuomo Wakes Up And Smells The Tea

The biggest political story of 2011 is at the state level, where new Republican governors like Scott Walker and Rick Snyder have followed in the footsteps of Mitch Daniels and Chris Christie by seeking not only to cut short-term spending to address their states' immediate budget crises while resisting tax hikes, but to attack the #1 source of their states' long-term fiscal problems: excessive long-term commitments to pay and benefits for (mostly unionized) state and local public employees. Local Democrats in many states have responded with apoplexy, reflecting their political and financial dependence on those same unions. In other states, where the Democrats still hold the statehouses, they've had to swallow some spending cuts, but are nonetheless in denial - Jerry Brown in California has tried to close his budget gap with a 50/50 mix of spending cuts and tax hikes, Mark Dayton in Minnesota has pandered to the DailyKos crowd by proposing to double the state's top income tax bracket, Connecticut's Dan Malloy - elected by the slimmest of margins - blasted Walker's collective bargaining reforms as "Un-American" and proposed a battery of tax hikes, and Maryland's Martin O'Malley even went to the Corzine-esque extreme of giving the keynote speech at a union protest against his own budget, swearing to avoid "Midwestern oppression."

But oddly, at least one newly-elected Democratic governor seems to have come to grips thus far with reality, and it's maybe the unlikeliest of all: New York's Andrew Cuomo.

5. Sherrod Brown admits free trade in oil will save us (and himself)

You may have heard that there was an election in Ohio last year. Popular Governor Ted Strickland (D) was defeated in his re-election campaign by John Kasich (R), and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher (D) was crushed in the Senate race by former Bush advisor Rob Portman (R).

Senator Sherrod Brown (D) has sure noticed. He's also noticed that gas prices are going up, and up, and up since Barack Obama took office, skyrocketing from under $2/gal to over $3.50/gal, an increase of about 75%.

Heritage Hotsheet

Experts on the Day's Hottest News

Items for Friday, March 18, 2011 

U.N. authorizes 'all necessary measures' to protect civilians in Libya
The Washington Post

Crises in Japan, Gulf, thwart US energy accord
Associated Press

House Nixes Funding for NPR
 The Boston Herald

OIL FUTURES: Crude Above $103/bbl On Libya No-Fly Zone Decision
The Wall Street Journal

Obama seeks to calm US radiation fears, calls for nuclear safety review
The Christian Science Monitor

Obama's trip seeks to engage with Latin America
Associated Press

Japan Faces Mistrust as Nuclear Efforts Continue
The Wall Street Journal

Latest Heritage Research:

Center for Data Analysis Report: March 17, 2011
 Are California Public Employees Overpaid?

WebMemo: March 17, 2011
 How to Field the Right Military Force to Protect America

Backgrounder: March 17, 2011
 Obamacare: The One-Year Checkup

WebMemo: March 17, 2011
 President Obama's Visit to Latin America: Democracy, Trade, and Security First

Factsheet: March 17, 2011
 Welfare Reform The Next Steps

How Many Trillions Must We Waste on the War on Poverty?

Posted March 17th, 2011 

Which American politician said the following? "The lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit." Had to be a mean-spirited Tea Party conservative, right? Wrong. President Franklin Roosevelt included these words in his 1935 State of the Union Address.

   Read More . . . 

Medicaid Flexibility Still Missing from Wyden-Brown

Posted March 16th, 2011 

On Monday Politico ran a column by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) taking issue with my critique of his proposal to accelerate the granting of waivers under Obamacare. Unfortunately, he missed a central point I was making about limitations on the waivers that could be granted.

   Read More . . . 

Obamacare and the Fight to Preserve America's Founding Principles

Posted March 16th, 2011 

Since the passage of Obamacare, the federal government's role in American citizens' lives has grown significantly. In a recent lecture, Heritage expert Robert Moffit discusses how passage of the health care law has not only grown the size and scope of government, but has also ignited a debate over the proper role for Washington in Americans' everyday lives.

   Read More . . . 

Reforming Reform in China

Posted March 16th, 2011 

The head of China's People's Congress announced Friday that any movements toward a Western-style democracy were off the table.

Within the announcement, Wu Bangguo specifically ruled out multi-party elections, the division of the People's Congress into two houses, separate branches of government with power to balance one another, and formal privatization. According to Wu, "Different countries have different systems of laws, and we do not copy the systems of laws of certain Western countries when enacting the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics."

   Read More . . . 

American Delusionalism?

Posted March 16th, 2011 

Like an eager kid who desperately wants to be included in his cooler older brother's activities, America looks to the European Union for cues on sophisticated governance. But what happens when that cooler older brother is middle-aged, unemployed, and still living in your parents' basement? This is America's dilemma. Will America learn from Europe's mistakes? Or, will America continue to be enamored with the European Union, despite its failed policies and unsound philosophical grounding?

   Read More . . . 

VIDEO's FROM FRANCE THAT EVERYONE IN THE USA NEEDS TO SEE.

This should scare the crap out of anyone with a functioning brain. Why? Because last week we had the entire media and Democrat Party condemning the Congress for just simply trying to investigate exactly what led to this nightmare in France.

Multiculturalism and Islam in France by CBN

'Islamization' of Paris, France - A Warning to the West (CBN News) 

Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil.

The time is now to flood the halls of the Health and Human Services Administration with OUR ObamaCare personal waiver requests. --Grassfire Nation

The federal government just granted the ENTIRE state of Maine an Obamacare waiver - with four other states pending!

       While President Obama touts the greatness of his
       health care reform package, behind the scenes, his
       administration has been granting "get-out-of-Obamacare"
       waivers to big business, political friends and far
       left-leaning unions and organizations - and now an
       entire state! 

       To date, 1040 Obamacare waivers have been granted!

How can legislation that is allegedly so good for America suddenly be bad for 1040 organizations and an entire state?

Of course we know the truth. Obamacare is a fatally flawed, statist scheme that is unconstitutional!

      That is precisely why WE too demand a waiver! ObamaCare
      is unconstitutional and we refuse every aspect of this
      government-controlled monstrosity! 

Don't delay. Send your personal waiver from ObamaCare to HHS Secretary Sebelius right now by clicking here 

FreedomWorks Launches Television Ads in Ohio 

All across the country, state budgets are dripping in red ink from years of public sector union extortion.

And in many states, bold conservative lawmakers are breaking this stranglehold by pushing legislation to curb collective bargaining powers for public employees.

The Big Labor backlash has been swift and severe. But FreedomWorks, with your help, is rolling out a massive program -- including hard-hitting TV ads -- to fight back!

Please click the image below to watch the ad we've prepared to air in Ohio. We've also created several similar ads for other states, but we need your generosity -- of $25, $50, $100 or more -- to get them on the air.

 

In all, our target budget for this campaign is $5.6 million. Some generous donors have gotten the ball rolling, but to meet our goals -- and to get this ad and others like it on TV -- we desperately need your support, too.

Click Here to see the video on YouTube . . . 

Obama's Selective Anger

The Patriot Post | By Mona Charen | Friday, March 18, 2011 

President Obama is known for his cool. He's been called "No drama Obama" by some of his associates. And certainly in the realm of foreign policy, his response to events has been phlegmatic. The Iranian government sent its thugs into the streets to beat and murder democracy demonstrators, and Obama stayed aloof. The Iranians arrested three American hikers, held them for months in prison, and now accuse two of spying -- and Obama remained calm. A Muslim American opened fire on U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood, and the president initially warned the nation not to jump to conclusions.

   Read More . . . 

The Japan Syndrome

By Cal Thomas | Thursday, March 17, 2011 

In the 1979 movie "The China Syndrome," reporter Kimberly Wells (played by Jane Fonda) witnesses an accident at a nuclear power plant and then uncovers a plot to keep it a secret in order to protect the power company's billion-dollar investment. The film was a gift to the political left, which at the time opposed the pursuit of nuclear energy to reduce our addiction to foreign oil. In some liberal circles, that opposition remains strong.

   Read More . . . 

It's Still an Empty Lockbox

By Charles Krauthammer | Friday, March 18, 2011 

WASHINGTON -- Last week, President Obama's budget chief, Jack Lew, took to his White House blog to repeat his claim that the Social Security trust fund is solvent through 2037. And to chide me for suggesting otherwise. I had argued in my last column that the trust fund is empty, indeed fictional.

If Lew's claim were just wrong, that would be one thing. But it provides the intellectual justification for precisely the kind of debt denial and entitlement complacency that his boss is now engaged in. Therefore, once more unto the breach.

   Read More . . . 

Mosque Makeovers With Your Tax Dollars

Obama's Department of State is using our tax dollars to pay for refurbishing Mosques around the world while we go into debt.  Guess separation of church and state doesn't apply for the US when it comes to spending $$$ in foreign countries.

This is despicable!!  And, they say he's not a Muslim?  We give them the tools to destroy us! 

Georgia TV Station reports

Stop telling us where to die  

By BETSY McCAUGHEY  March 17, 2011

Hospice care isn't only a beneficial service for dying patients. It's also a $4.5 billion industry flexing its muscle in state capitals -- including Albany, where a state senator faces federal charges for taking hospice-industry bribes.

Since coming to America from Europe in 1974, the hospice movement has boomed -- and changed. Today, nearly half of US hospice agencies are for-profit -- and an astounding 42 percent of Americans who died last year were in hospice.

Despite this growth, the industry is pushing for laws that would lead to more patients using hospice care and for longer periods.

A New York law, enacted last August and in effect since February, compels doctors to offer information on hospice and other end-of-life options to every patient diagnosed with a fatal illness. Physicians who fail to offer the information risk fines of $2,000 for the first offense, $5,000 thereafter and up to a year in jail.

The Medical Society of the State of New York opposed the law, and many doctors are furious about it.

But on Monday, a state-appointed "Massachusetts Expert Panel on End-of-Life Care" proposed that the Bay State consider copying the New York law.

Four hospice-industry employees sit on the Massachusetts end-of-life panel, an obvious conflict of interest.

   Read More . . . 

	Budget Bulletin Your source for federal budget news and analysis

Obama's 2012 Budget Offers More Gimmicks, Not Reform

By Brian Riedl

Abstract: In his 2012 budget proposal, President Obama uses lofty rhetoric about fiscal realities and hard choices-and proceeds to give the green light to yet more spending, yet higher taxes, and skyrocketing debt. His budget fails to reform uncontrollable entitlements, is overly timid on non-defense discretionary spending, and is loaded with gimmicks and baseless assumptions. Any responsible budget must now rein in spending and deficits. Heritage Foundation budgetary expert Brian Riedl lays bare the realities of the President's new budget.

The first page of President Barack Obama's fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget proposal states that "the fiscal realities we face require hard choices," and that "the chronic failure to confront difficult decisions has put us on an unsustainable course." Ironically, the President's budget continues this refusal to confront difficult decisions. Despite the President's rhetoric of restraint, his budget would push spending, taxes, and debt to historic levels, placing America's economic future at grave risk. The President's budget proposes:[1]

>> Click here to read the full report

Apply to the National Endowment for the Arts

for funding for a new art work in which you propose to photograph an image of Mohammad submerged in your own urine. When they refuse, complain: "Well, you didn't have any problems with Andres Serrano's 'Piss Christ,' did you?"

Instead of "Progressive," always use the words "Oppressive" or "Regressive."

When called on this, feign puzzlement. "But how is it progress to steal free citizens' liberties, money, and hope, and hand it all over to government bureaucrats?" 

March 17, 2011 

On Thursday's Program 

Media completely guessing on Japan

Of course they are leaning on the side of freaking people out with cries of 'meltdown' and Hail Mary. Obviously there is the potential for disaster, but there hasn't been a disaster yet. For the last 3 days the media has been calling each move 'desperation' and 'last chance' -- are they just hoping one of these days they'll be right? Glenn goes over the latest reports of helicopters dropping water on the damaged reactors. What's the real story? Find out on radio today.

Future of nukes in America in doubt?

Acting as if no one in the nuclear industry has ever considered the different threats to the stability of their plants, the media and politicians are lining up to stop nuclear power plants from operating. Nuke plants provide America with 20% of its energy yet politicians are wasting no time trying to take advantage of the crisis. Hillary Clinton is just one of many who have come out and said the Japan incident raises 'questions' about nuke power here. Really? Get the full story HERE. 

Big Oil caving to green freaks too?

What's life like after oil? Glenn observes on radio today how all the big oil companies are trying to go the extra mile to appease the far left eco-freaks. There's nothing wrong with going green, but they do so at the expense of by far the nation's most efficient, affordable energy resource we currently have. What does America look like without oil? Most Americans have no idea how many things disappear along with oil. What are they? Find out HERE. 

Harry Reid has a prediction

Harry Reid, who barely sneaked out a victory over a tea party candidate and needed his union cronies to force their members to run to the polls on election day to win, is now boldly predicting the fate of the group that nearly defeated him. He claims the 'extreme' tea party will be 'short lived' and just go away. Check out the video clip of Harry's latest arrogant gaffe via The Blaze.