conservatism

William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection:

Simply put, anything which increases Obama’s chances of reelection will more than offset any additional cuts to be gained beyond the Boehner plan.  That plan is far from perfect, and doesn’t go far enough, but think how far we have come in just a few months since Obama proposed a budget which was so outrageous in its spending and deficits that not a single member of the Senate from either party voted for it.

This is an interesting viewpoint. Jacobson is a solid conservative, and I sympathize with his take on this. I just can’t help but think no matter how you slice it, this is putting politics ahead of principals. Our spending addictions are wild and completely out of control. Anything that does not get them under control ought to be a non-starter for all Republicans.

If the Republicans had a clear and consistent message that they didn’t compromise on, they would force the Democrats’ hand to act. The fact is we have a Democrat in the White House. If the Republicans pushed a solid plan and the Democrats failed to get on board, any negative impact felt by America would fall on Obama’s shoulders.

People attribute the economy to the White House. This is how Reagan beat Carter with his famous question “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” There is just no need for the Republicans to give in to the demands of Liberals in some sort of cushy “compromise” that screws the American people. They can stick to their guns here and put the ball in the Democrats’ court.

Instead, we have a situation where America is in a Ferrari headed towards financial hell, and the Republicans are saying, “Hey, let’s take a tractor there, it’ll take longer.”

I wouldn’t want that stance on my conscience.

Oliver Wright at The Independent:

Hip replacements, cataract surgery and tonsil removal are among operations now being rationed in a bid to save the NHS money.

Can’t wait for Obamacare.

UPDATE: I just thought it was worth pointing out some of the new rules the UK’s NHS is implementing. This is invariably where single-payer systems lead. The main reason: when something is free, demand goes unchecked. Here’s a nice sample of the new NHS rules:

• Hip and knee replacements only being allowed where patients are in severe pain. Overweight patients will be made to lose weight before being considered for an operation.
• Cataract operations being withheld from patients until their sight problems “substantially” affect their ability to work.
• Patients with varicose veins only being operated on if they are suffering “chronic continuous pain”, ulceration or bleeding.
• Tonsillectomy (removing tonsils) only to be carried out in children if they have had seven bouts of tonsillitis in the previous year.
• Grommets to improve hearing in children only being inserted in “exceptional circumstances” and after monitoring for six months.
• Funding has also been cut in some areas for IVF treatment on the NHS.

Alex Fitzsimmons at NewsBusters.org:

Bashir used “Go the F*** to Sleep,” a new children’s book written for adults about the difficulties of parenting, to set up his attack: “Mr. Boehner goes on, singing his nursery rhyme of more cuts, no taxes, of Cut, Cap, and Balance, of cut this, cut that, and don’t you dare raise revenues. I’ve been thinking, maybe it’s time for Mr. Boehner to hand over responsibility to Harry Reid and the president and for himself to go off to sleep.”

At the conclusion of his daily “Clear the Air” segment, Bashir turned the keys over to the 4 p.m. Eastern host, Dylan Ratigan, who, before starting his show, egged on the former ABC “Nightline” anchor to “just come out and say it!”

“I can’t use expletives on air, as you know,” replied Bashir.

Clearly Republican toxic rhetoric is just infecting Bashir. You can’t really blame him.

Robert Holmes at The Street:

Soros will return money to investors by the end of the year, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing two people briefed on the matter. Soros Fund Management will focus on managing assets for his family, according to a letter to the firm’s investors. Soros will turn 81 on August 12.

Mmmhm.

The reason? Under new requirements from the Dodd Frank act, hedge funds are required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission by March 2012 if the fund continues to manage more than $150 million in assets for outside investors. The new requirements would call for funds to report information about the assets they manage, potential conflicts of interest, and information on investors and employees. The act allows an exemption for what the Commission considers “family office” advisers.

Translation: “You wouldn’t like what I’m doing with this money.”

Charlie Gasparino at Fox Business:

While officials from the Obama Administration raised their rhetoric over the weekend about the possibility of a debt default if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, they privately have been telling top executives at major U.S. banks that such an event won’t happen, FOX Business has learned.

Of course. Everyone who’s been paying attention has known this from the start of this whole mess.

This is just further evidence that Obama is in fact using the threat of default to motivate action on his own reckless agenda. Ironically, this is something his own cronies are accusing Republicans of doing.