Even the Washington Post gets it

A recent tradition has arisen on the pages of the Washington Post. In order to counteract their continuing refusal to abandon reason on international affairs, they have routinely lambasted Republicans in Virgina.  The addition of a local GOP endorsement led me to believe that the “balance” required would be massive.

Turns out that even the Post‘s need for balance couldn’t get the paper past Criegh Deeds’ massive tax-hike record.

Here’s what Rosalind Helderman had to say about the Senator from Give-the-taxpayer-a-Bath County:

For instance, since 2004, Deeds has supported five proposals that included some form of increase in the gas tax . . . One of those bills would have raised that tax by 5 cents a gallon over five years — it was proposed in 2008, when gas prices were rising. Another proposal from 2008 would have combined a boosted gas tax with a 25-cent increase in the sales tax and a 0.5 percent increase in the sales tax on cars.

Now, to be fair, Deeds states that the tax increases were for transportation (that was the part ellipsed out) – which would be more convincing if Deeds had called Mark Warner on the carpet for gutting the transportation budget in 2002, or if he (Deeds) had spoken up for the Republican plan to tie transportation funding to economic activity during last year and this.

Instead, he played the game Democrats play – fund everything else (including non-essentials) first, then demand a tax increase for transportation because it’s the spending Republicans are most likely to support.

The Democrats (Deeds especially) are pretty good at this game, but it’s a game nonetheless, and one that Virginians lost until it stops.  At the end of the day, as Riley at VV states so well:

Let it ring out throughout the Commonwealth — Creigh Deeds is a tax hiker. He’s done it before and if history is any sort of guide, he would most certainly do it again. Especially in these tough economic times, Virginia can’t afford to have someone as reckless on taxes and spending as Deeds is as our Governor.

Exactly.

I’ll admit I’ve come reaaaally late to the party, but . . .

. . . apparently the Dems still haven’t gotten enough votes to get the cap-and-trade fiasco out of the House of Representatives (Connie Hair of Human Events).

Now, yours truly’s Congressman’s been beating this monstrosity up for days, but Virginia’s 5th District begins about an hour from my house, and I have a few friends who are inflicted with Tom Perriello (Riley at VV).

Lest anyone forget, the United States is not the greatest carbon emitter on the planet.  Communist China passed us a couple of years ago, and the CCP shows no signs of slowing down.

So, dear reader, if your member of Congress happens to be on this list (AFP), give them a call or shoot them an email; let them know what a disaster this really is.

Biden accidentally leaks the NJ Dems’ latest switcheroo plan

Namely, replace Jon Corzine with Tim Kaine (Los Angeles Times).

On America, the CCP, and the dollar trap

Cross-posted to the China e-Lobby and Virginia Virtucon

I was once fortunate enough to share a television studio with Gordon Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China. Sadly, we were there to disagree about Beijing’s North Korean colony; still, it was a good natured discussion, and for me it was an honor just to appear to be at his level for fifteen minutes. Anyhow, Gordon has decided to examine the CCP’s situation regarding its massive holdings of American debt (Weekly Standard), something into which I delved last year. I am happy to say that this time, Chang not only agrees with me, but echoes the very same arguments I did, including the most critical one – the reaction of the rest of the world:

What would happen in the worst case scenario if the Chinese central government decided to dump U.S. Treasuries? Beijing would have to buy something with the proceeds of its sales. As a practical matter, it would have to buy debt denominated in pounds, euros, and yen. The values of those currencies would then skyrocket. London, Brussels, and Tokyo would then have to try to depress the values of their currencies, which means they would have to buy .  .  . dollars. In short, there would be a great circular flow of cash in the world’s currency and debt markets.

There would be turmoil in those markets, but it would not last long beyond the time the Chinese ended their dollar dump. And we would end up in just the same place that we are now, except that our friends, instead of a potential adversary, would be holding our debt. Global markets are still deep and flexible and can handle just about anything. The fact that Beijing has not employed its so-called nuclear weapon is an indication that the Chinese know it is not, as a practical matter, usable.

I would add one more ironic twist for those who are simply worried about American debts and deficits in general (not an unfounded concern): the odds are far better that our allies and friends could convince us to slow down our rampant spending at home – in part because more Americans would be willing to listen and in part because none would be so dependent upon Americans importing their goods as the CCP. This is probably why, as Chang notes, the cadres have suddenly stopped hectoring us about our excessive borrowing – because they desperately need to keep lending to us.

How do you spell Jody Wagner’s campaign theme? D-E-N-I-A-L

Jody Wagner’s latest email is making the rounds, and it shows a candidate deep in denial:

Over the past few days, Bill Bolling has begun launching the false attacks we all knew would come: He is blaming the state’s revenue shortfall on Tim Kaine and Jody Wagner.

Well, gee, Jody, it was your FY08-09 projections (which you put together just before skipping town to run for LG – Riley at VV) which were found to be nearly $4 billion too high (Jim Gilmore).  Kaine was revising them downward less than one month into the biennium.

Keep in mind, the recession began in December 2007, and even then there was talk that it would be a doozy.  Apparently, it’s OK for Democrats to believe the economy is in one state when ripping Republican presidents and an entirely different state for Governors in their own party.

Meanwhile, Brian Kirwin over at Bearing Drift noticed something else in Jody’s letter – a de facto endorsement of tax increases:

Jody Wagner’s latest email blast attacks Bill Bolling for opposing Tim Kaine’s transportation proposal.

“For the past four years, he’s put ideology ahead of governing, trying to lead the charge against Governor Kaine on everything from transportation funding…”

Remember Kaine’s transportation funding bill? a billion dollar tax increase that lost in the House 98-0 and drove Not Larry Sabato to call it a “Kaine Wreck”

Every House Democrat, Republican and Independent opposed Kaine’s transportation tax increase. And Jody Wagner attacks Bill Bolling for leading the charge against it.

Jody Wagner must be ready to lead the charge for it. A Billion dollar tax increase!

Actually, it’s even worse than that.  True, Kaine’s tax hike bit the dust rather quickly, but he made it clear to anyone who’d listen that he’d sign any tax increase that made it out of the General Assembly.

Meaning Ms. Wagner not only backed Tim Kaine’s tax increase, she would have also been happy with the hideous SB6009, which crammed nine different tax hikes into one bill.

So, Ms Wagner says we should reject Bill Bolling for challenging her pie-in-the-sky revenue projections and fighting to stop tax increases her boss desperately wanted.  If you ask me, those are reasons to re-elect Bolling.

Things that make you go, “Hmmm . . . .”

Well, well, well; the Democrats appear to be pulling out all the stops in their attempts to save Jon Corzine, to the point of calling his Republican challenger – former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie – down here to Capitol Hill for a grilling on his deferred-prosecution agreements.

As Jim Geragthy notes, Democrat Steve Cohen (Memphis, Tennessee) is so determined to help Corzine he drops a Godfather reference on the Italian-American Christie.

Things get more interesting, though, when you go to Jim’s source: Politicker, NJ.  I found Comment 2  from gorednj particularly intriguing:

 . . . Congressman Cohen was able to get a $800,000 EARMARK for one of the CRIMINAL firms involved in the DPA. Talk about conflict of interest—Did this dope ever think of recusing himself today?

Now, there are many bloggers who would be hesitant about just slapping up a comment on its own like that – and I happen to be one of them.  So, I figured I’d try my luck at Google searching, and what should fall into my lap but this from the Congressman’s own office (emphasis added):

 On Wednesday, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) voted with an overwhelming, bipartisan majority in the House to pass H.R. 2638, the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act. This bill included an $800,000 appropriation for Smith & Nephew in Memphis in partnership with the University of Memphis and the Campbell Clinic. Congressman Cohen requested the appropriation in a letter to Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey (WI-07) on March 18, 2008.

Can you guess what came after a few more keystrokes?  That’s right: a DPA between S&N and what was then Christie’s office! (emphasis added)

Five companies that account for nearly 95 percent of the lucrative market in hip and knee surgical implants have avoided criminal prosecution over financial inducements paid to surgeons to use their products by agreeing to new corporate compliance procedures and federal monitoring under 18-month agreements with the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced today.

Zimmer, Inc., Depuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Biomet Inc., and Smith & Nephew, Inc., have executed Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs), which will expire in 18 months if they meet all of their respective reform requirements. Criminal complaints were also filed today against those four companies, charging them with conspiring to violate the federal anti-kickback statute. Those Complaints will be dismissed at the conclusion of the DPAs if the companies comply with their terms. 

Even better, the DPA took effect in September 2007, meaning it was still in effect when Cohen requested and received the earmark for Smith & Nephew.

Truth be told, though, if I’m Jon Corzine, this strikes me as good news; I’d rather tell all those New Jersey voters of Italian descent that Cohen dropped a Mafia line on behalf of a Memphis medical firm rather than to help my own re-election chances.

Shaq’s going where?

In what appears to be either an attempt to get one ring before LeBron bolts or to convince him to stay in Cleveland, the Cavs pulled the trigger on a trade for Shaquille O’Neal (Washington Post).

Now, Shaq has done pretty well for himself with dynamic guards (Kobe and Dwyane Wade), but he really looked like he was losing a step in Phoenix (and to a lesser extent even in Miami).  This will also be the first time he goes to what is unquestionable someone else’s team; I think Shaq can handle that, but we’ll never really know until it happens.

At the very least, the LeBron-Shaq show should be very entertaining.

“You should stop this!” (UPDATED AND BUMPED)

The people of Iran refused to be cowed, and the regime continues to shed blood (CNN via Jim Geraghty):

A partial transcript from the woman, sobbing: “About 500 people with clubs came out.. poured into streets ad started beating everyone… They were throwing people off the bridge (a pedestrian bridge, the anchor clarifies) They beat a woman so savagely she was drenched in blood… I also saw people shooting at people… You should stop this! You should help the people of Iran who demand freedom! You should help us!”

It sounds like the mullahcracy is not interested in “the respect of the international community.”  Now is the time for the president to put actions (Solidarity-like actions) behind his words.

UPDATE: In reaction to the above, the Obama Administration is “considering” (CNN) rescinding the July 4 Embassy invites to Iranian regime personnel.  I know bureaucracies can be slow, but rescinding the invites is the least the Administration can do.

FURTHER UPDATE: The Administration has rescinded the invites – although none had been accepted.  Still, even Robert Gibbs sounded intelligent (Politico): “I don’t think it’s surprising that nobody’s signed up to come given the events of the past days.”

On the minus side, four Iranian soccer players who wore green in protest during a World Cup Qualifier have been “retired” (CNN).

This day in Virginia history: June 24, 2008

Cross-posted from Virginia Virtucon

One year ago today, Creigh “What’s in Your Wallet?” Deeds established himself as one of the most prolific tax-hikers in Virginia politics.

It was June 24, 2008, and three separate tax-hike bills passed the Senate Transportation Committee (of which Deeds was and is a member): SB6009, SB6010, and SB6015. Deeds voted for all three.

Now, this version of SB6009 (LIS) did not have all of the tax increases its hideous floor version acquired, but Deeds still voted in favor of the following:

• An increase in the gasoline tax by 6 cents
• An increase in the state sales tax on cars by 1/2%
• An addition sales tax of 1/2% on Northern Virginia
• A hotel occupancy tax of $5 per night on Northern Virginia
• A grantor’s tax (real estate) of $.40 per $1000 on Northern Virginia

Not conent with that, Deeds proceeded to vote in favor of SB6010, which imposed the following (LIS):

• A “recapture” index on the gasoline tax that would lead to a de facto tax increase of over 14 cents per gallon
• An increase in the state titling tax on cars by 1/2%
• An additional sales tax of 1/2 cent on Northern Virginia
• An additional sales tax of 3/4 cent on Hampton Roads
• A hotel occupancy tax of $5 per night on Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads
• A grantor’s tax (real estate) of $.40 per $1000 on Northern Virginia
• An additional increase in the gasoline tax by 1% on Hampton Roads
• An addition 1% sales tax on the Richmond metropolitan area, the Fredericksburg region, and (by my reading) the SWAC area

The regional tax hikes would become part of the floor version of SB6009.

Finally, Deeds voted in favor of SB6015 (LIS), which imposed these tax hikes:

• A increase in the wholesale gasoline tax by 5%
• An increase in the state sales tax on cars by 1/2%
• An increase in the state rental tax on cars by 1%

That’s one Democrat running for Governor, three bills, and (without double-counting) thirteen different tax increases – all in one day!

As Lowell and I are arguing . . .

. . . the President issues another statement on Iran – and it’s much improved (NRO - The Corner, emphasis added):

 First, I’d like to say a few words about the situation in Iran. The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings, and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions, and I join with the American people in mourning each and every innocent life that is lost.

I have made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not at all interfering in Iran’s affairs. But we must also bear witness to the courage and dignity of the Iranian people, and to a remarkable opening within Iranian society. And we deplore violence against innocent civilians anywhere that it takes place.

The Iranian people are trying to have a debate about their future. Some in the Iranian government are trying to avoid that debate by accusing the United States and others outside of Iran of instigating protests over the elections. These accusations are patently false and absurd. They are an obvious attempt to distract people from what is truly taking place within Iran’s borders. This tired strategy of using old tensions to scapegoat other countries won’t work anymore in Iran. This is not about the United States and the West; this is about the people of Iran, and the future that they – and only they – will choose.

The Iranian people can speak for themselves. That is precisely what has happened these last few days. In 2009, no iron fist is strong enough to shut off the world from bearing witness to the peaceful pursuit of justice. Despite the Iranian government’s efforts to expel journalists and isolate itself, powerful images and poignant words have made their way to us through cell phones and computers, and so we have watched what the Iranian people are doing.

This is what we have witnessed. We have seen the timeless dignity of tens of thousands Iranians marching in silence. We have seen people of all ages risk everything to insist that their votes are counted and their voices heard. Above all, we have seen courageous women stand up to brutality and threats, and we have experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets. While this loss is raw and painful, we also know this: those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people have a universal right to assembly and free speech. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect those rights, and heed the will of its own people. It must govern through consent, not coercion. That is what Iran’s own people are calling for, and the Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government.

If the president had said something similar a week ago, he’d have caught a lot less flak, and many of us would like to see something substantive, should the regime ignore him and crush the uprising (by this, we – or at least I – mean support for the resistance similar to what Reagan did for Poland in the 1980s).  Moreover, I still cringe at the “Islamic Republic” reference.

Still, we should give credit where it’s due, and with these words, it’s due.