Politics, Government & Public Policy: February 2013 Archives
By now everyone remembers that the sequestration was President Obama's idea, despite his persistent efforts to fudge the facts.
The White House instead has, with great success, fudged the facts. The administration has convinced a majority of the country that Republicans are more to blame by emphasizing that Republicans voted for the plan. Which they did -- after Obama conceived it.The truth is that Obama and Republicans supported it because everyone believed it was a such a stupid idea that the grown-ups in Washington would never actually let it happen. They thought Obama and Congress would come up with a grand bargain on spending, entitlement cuts and tax increases, instead of allowing the sequestration ax to fall. They were wrong.
Our politicians are pretty absurd, but democracy means that we get what we deserve. The fact of the matter is that the public wants the budget to be cut, but no one wants to accept the loss of programs that a budget cut would mean. Politicians harp on "waste, fraud, and abuse", but that's hard to find and target. Everyone complains of bureaucratic bloat, but that's just another word for "jobs". Every anti-sequester sob story I've seen focuses on the poor bureaucrats who will suffer.
So, until the American people figure out what we want we shouldn't expect our politicians to do it. Politicians don't lead, they generally follow, and right now the boss, the public, is basically insane.
I've created a shop to sell sequester survival gear. There are various shirts and clothes, as well as other paraphernalia likes mugs and messenger bags. This is my first foray into CafePress, so I covet your feedback. I've set the prices just about as low as CafePress will allow, so enjoy!
Kurt Schlichter rails against those who treat government bureaucrats like our masters rather than our servants.
As for Barack Obama, and I say this with no disrespect, but he's just an employee. There's this thing military people know as the "chain of command." When it comes to American citizens, we're at the top of the chain. Done. That's the entire chain of command for an American citizen, and the President's not in it. Should he presume to suggest a course of action, with a few rare and well-defined exceptions, it is just that - a suggestion. ...Is some minor bureaucrat giving you grief? Don't take it! Try this awesome word that we hear all too rarely from our fellow citizens - "No." Ask a relevant question - like "Who the hell do you think you are?" Complain, firmly and forcefully, to whoever is doing you wrong, and if that fails to his boss, and then to your city councilman, or state legislator, or congressman if you need to.
We need a lot fewer government employees.
I'm proud to be a conservative, and my interests certainly do not always align with the Republican Party. However, it's gratifying to see that the Republicans are serious about diversity and actually have a more diverse set of statewide office-holders than the Democrats.
This is why it might surprise you to hear that Republicans are by far the more diverse party when it comes to statewide elected officials such as senators and governors. On this front, they leave Democrats in the dust. And that's why the GOP actually has a greater depth of diversity on their potential presidential bench looking to 2016 and beyond.It's counterintuitive but true. Numbers don't lie. Let's start with a look at the governors, the traditional launching pad of presidential ambitions.
Among the Republican ranks is Brian Sandoval, the Hispanic governor of Nevada. The 49-year-old former federal judge took on a corrupt conservative incumbent and is now racking up an impressive reform record in his first term. Likewise, there is New Mexico's Gov. Susana Martinez, a former district attorney who remains popular in her state despite an otherwise Democratic tide.
How many Hispanic governors do the Democrats have in office? Zero.
As James Taranto notes, this isn't "counterintuitive", it just runs against common stereotypes of Republicans. Republicans and conservatives are not racist or sexist.
Just a friendly reminder that sequestration was first proposed by President Obama in 2011.
No one disputes the fact that no one wanted sequestration, or that ultimately a bipartisan vote in Congress led to passage of the Budget Control Act. But the president categorically said that sequestration was "something that Congress has proposed."Woodward's detailed account of meetings during the crisis, clearly based on interviews with key participants and contemporaneous notes, make it clear that sequestration was a proposal advanced and promoted by the White House.
In sum: Gene Sperling brought up the idea of a sequester, while Jack Lew sold Harry Reid on the idea and then decided to use the Gramm-Hollings-Rudman language (which he knew from his days of working for Tip O'Neill) as a template for sequester. The proposal was so unusual for Republicans that staffers had to work through the night to understand it.
So if the sequestration happens and disaster follows just remember who proposed it.
John Podhoretz describes in excruciating detail just how badly Chuck Hagel did at his confirmation hearing for Secretary of Defense.
So Hagel corrected himself, kind of: "I was just handed a note that I misspoke -- that I said I supported the president's position on containment. If I said that, I meant to say that we don't have a position on containment." Whatever that means.Later he said he was sorry he'd called the Iranian government elected and legitimate; rather, he should have said it was recognized.
"I don't understand Iranian politics," Hagel said -- which would be understandable if, say, Khloe Kardashian were testifying. But Hagel is going to be a key official determining US policy toward Iran, and one would hope he'd bring a bit of pre-existing knowledge to the table. ...
"There are a lot of things I don't know about," Hagel said, when it came to America's defenses. "If confirmed, I intend to know a lot more than I do."
But why should he bother? After all, he said in perhaps the most head-shaking comment of the day, "It doesn't matter what I think."
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) begged to differ: "It matters what you think," she found herself saying in response.
Or maybe this was the most head-shaking comment: Defense secretary is "not a policymaking position," and because he has to work in consultation with others and in service to the president, he won't be "running anything."
Senators generally make terrible administrators. There are exceptions, but not many. The kind of skills and talents that make for even a great Senator (like who?) are very different from those that make a great executive. Senators don't run anything. Most of them are in charge of staffs that run into the dozens at most. They don't have to be experts on anything much less operate a bureaucracy, they just have to say "yes" or "no" when staffers and lobbyists tell them to.
I'd be happy to have a Constitutional amendment that bars Senators from the Presidency and cabinet-level positions.
