Econ/Tax/Spend/Big Govt

A few years ago I wrote an answer to the question “What is a ‘moderate’ Republican?” – but in light of the Mark Kirk U.S. Senate candidacy it’s time for an update.

Mark Kirk votes with his U.S. House Republican colleagues on a lot of issues. So do a lot of U.S. House Democrats. Kirk will always be able to cite plenty of “good” votes. What he won’t be able to cover-up, however, are all of his bad votes, bad positions, and his record of failure.

In case you missed it – yesterday the Director of the Congressional Budget Office testified before Congress and his testimony wasn’t exactly what the Democrats wanted to hear. The following is taken directly from the CBO Director’s blog. Enjoy. Or rather, read it and weap all you “moderates” and “libertarians” who voted for Obama last November.

That Fails to the World That Works.”In a conversation with an old friend yesterday we got into the subject of why Republicans failed to enact reforms while they held power in Illinois in the 1990s and in D.C. during this decade. Thinking about the conversation later I realized I failed to explain my two basic arguments.

I wanted to touch on two quick topics today. The first is rather simple. If anyone in Springfield knows the answer to this question – please send me a note here.

“Has a group of house and senate Republicans walked over to Speaker Mike Madigan’s office yet to request that he call SB600 for a vote?”

In the introduction to the book by Morton Frisch and Richard Stevens “American Political Thought,” they mention the circumstances facing President Abraham Lincoln and his attitude that then, “as now and always, there are some things worse than war.” Similarly, those of us struggling to pursue happiness in our own lives must realize sometimes – like it or not – political war is necessary.

A few weeks ago President Barack Obama said at a press conference that the enhanced interrogation technique known as waterboarding – “over time” – “corrodes the character of a country.”

While he’s wrong about waterboarding being torture, he’s right that there are policies that can impact – negatively or positively – the character of a country. We’ll take progress wherever we can get it.

If Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Pentagon procurement, federal education spending, and countless other federal boondoggles weren’t enough, we now have a nice category called “bailouts.”

The anti-intellectualism that is all too common in politics peaked last November with the election of Barack Obama. Those who didn’t want to think – study – learn about Obama’s views on issues like the economy, tax policy, health care or school reform, or the very messy and complicated arena of foreign policy – preferred to just emote and vote for the cool guy.

As we’ve been chronicling on this website for a number of years now, our state and federal governments are tracking together perfectly. Both are spending at insane levels and making promises that can never be kept.

In Illinois, the farce is that Gov. Pat Quinn can raise the income tax and the state will not suffer the consequences. As the Wall Street Journal noted here, “At least Blago’s outrages were entertaining.”

The title above is taken from an email sent by the United Republican Fund’s Dennis LaComb. Obviously the “information age” we’re living in is filled with both good and bad information, and recently I pointed out problems with URF’s latest candidate ranking. Today, for the sake of balance, posted below are excerpts from LaComb’s excellent email.

If you’re wondering why more good people aren’t stepping up to run for office in Illinois as Republicans you need not investigate any further. The reason is that talented individuals typically won’t join a dysfunctional statewide GOP organization. I pointed this out in part one of this discussion of personnel.

If You Have Never Managed So Much As A Hotdog Stand, Can You Successfully Manage A $14 Trillion Economy? As we approach a decision on what is looking like a $1 trillion dollar so…