The Foundation
“Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but Democrats believe every day is April 15.” – Ronald Reagan
Conservative Talkers
Mona Charen | Are Republicans Stepping on a Land Mine?
Imagine yourself inside Democratic National Committee headquarters, in the department of long-term planning. Huddling in the no longer smoke-filled room, stocked no doubt with eco-friendly coffee cups and whole-wheat snacks, the savants are pleased with themselves. In the great game of buying constituencies for more government, they believe that the gargantuan health care law is the greatest coup in history. Not only did it create millions more mendicants, but with the new legislation weighing in at 2,000 pages, endless new work for two other favored groups — lawyers and bureaucrats. Brilliant!
Pushed to the back of their minds are disquieting facts such as these: The health reform law remains deeply unpopular, with 55 percent (Rasmussen) saying they would like to see it repealed. The Congress that pushed it to passage has approval ratings of 23 percent (Gallup). President Obama’s approval ratings (Bill Clinton’s confident pre-vote predictions to the contrary notwithstanding) have not rebounded since passage.
Never mind, the Democrats reason, by hanging Wall Street around Republicans’ necks and by reviving the immigration controversy (with a great deal of help from the state of Arizona), Democrats will win out. Maybe not in 2010, as off-year electorates tend to skew older and whiter, but certainly by 2012, when President Obama stands for re-election.
The financial reform bill has yet to fully play out. But by stoking controversy over immigration, the Democrats are making a shrewd move. If Hispanics vote in 2010 as they did in 2008, it would be virtually impossible for a Republican to win.
William Murchison | Oil Spills and the Big Picture
The Little Picture — the picture of what’s happening right this minute — is what you get from the media, and that’s to be expected. But the Little Picture has to fit inside a bigger one for news consumers rightly to appraise all the stakes and angles.
The news of the ominous oil slick from the offshore rig explosion is the Little News that has to be examined in the context of current energy needs. While we bite our fingernails over prospective damage to Gulf fishing and ecosystems, we have to ponder the country’s nonnegotiable need for the black, yucky stuff from way below the seabed.
