Same Person Or Separated At Birth?

Rep. Rosa De Lauro and the incomparable Spock

Has anyone ever seen these two in the same place at the same time? Just sayin’.

Everyone Loves A Winner, Right?

The modest boost President Obama enjoyed in the polls following passage of his signature health care legislation has dissipated.

In another crushing blow to the “conventional wisdom” of the establishment media that because “Americans love winners” President Barack Obama would receive a large, sustained bounce in approval after last week’s passage of Obamacare, today Gallup released its daily approval numbers showing Obama at only 46% approval, with 46% disapproving. Obama’s 46% approval in Gallup represents a matching of Obama’s all-time low in approval.

While Americans  do love a winner (here and here), it’s not an unconditional sort of love. Yes, we do love winners, but we don’t love cheaters and the legislative and parliamentary shenanigans that the Democrats used to pass the abomination masquerading as health care reform smack of cheating. What else can you call it when people change the rules after the game has started?

How deliciously ironic that even when the Washington Post engages in a bit of cheating of their own by skewing the poll sample, it’s still patently obvious that voters know bad-tasting medicine when they’re forced to swallow it.

Live Chat With Rob McKenna

From the Seattle Times website:

JOIN Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna for a live chat with Seattle Times politics reporter Jim Brunner on Thursday, April 1, from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. on seattletimes.com. They’ll discuss McKenna’s reasons for joining a multistate lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health-care-reform package.

Seattle Times invites questions in advance of Thursday’s chat. Submit questions to livechat@seattletimes.com. Please include your first name and area of residence. Questions and comments made during the live chat will be moderated. Time constraints may preclude us from addressing every question.

The first link takes you to the Times home page; I’m assuming there will be a prominent link to the chat on Thursday.

No. Safe. Dems.

None at all.

Congressman Jay Inslee won re-election in 2008 with 68% of the vote. It looks as though he won’t be having such an easy time of it in 2010. A poll of WA-01 released yesterday by James Watkins’ campaign shows Inslee to be more vulnerable than this WA-01 resident had previously had the audacity to hope.

You may remember me wondering back in August how Inslee has managed to pass himself off as a moderate. The answer is that he apparently hasn’t had to do anything; his constituents don’t have any idea what he’s been doing back in D.C. Of course that’s just the sort of complacency that got us to where we’re at today but the upside is that it also means that there’s the potential to change people’s minds. With 2/3 of district residents describing themselves as fiscal conservatives, Inslee’s own record is going to be a powerful tool.

Update 1: More from Liz Mair.

Patty Murray and the Senate Democrats, the Sex Offender’s New BFFs

My name is Patty Murray and, yes, I am just as stupid as I look.

Today Murray voted to table the Coburn Amendment 3556 to H.R. 4872, which would have reduced “the cost of providing federally funded prescription drugs by eliminating fraudulent payments and prohibiting coverage of Viagra for child molesters and rapists and for drugs intended to induce abortion.”

God forbid that child molesters not have access to an affordable supply of Viagra courtesy of the taxpayers.

Update 1: “The Congressional Research Service confirmed in a memo Wednesday that rapists and sex offenders may get federally subsidized Viagra and other sexual performance enhancing drugs under the recently passed health care reform law…”

It’s All About Me! Me! Me! Says Queen Christine

"We are not amused."

Because, really, she is the State of Washington, isn’t she?

Washington’s governor, Christine Gregoire, says she will oppose Attorney General Rob McKenna’s plan to to file a lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of the State. Says Gregoire, “He did not call and consult me. I don’t know who he represents. He does not represent me (emphasis mine).”

The staggering arrogance of that statement leaves me (nearly) speechless and I assure you, I am rarely at a loss for words. I am wondering why Gregoire feels that the job of the Attorney General is specifically to represent her personal interests?

Gregoire supports the federal health care legislation. Well of course she does. She’s never met a piece of budget-busting legislation she didn’t like, which is why Washington is in a budget crisis and the State Treasurer tells us we’ll run out of cash in mere months.

For his part, McKenna says:

“…He does not need Gregoire’s ‘blessing’ to file a lawsuit on behalf of the state.

‘My role is to defend the State Constitution and the people of the state,’ said McKenna, ‘That includes defending the state from inappropriate actions by the federal government.’

McKenna says the 10th Amendment protects states from being forced to follow federal laws that are not covered by the U.S. Constitution.

‘That’s why the federal government has never imposed an auto insurance mandate, has never imposed a drinking age minimum, has never imposed a motorcycle helmet law…'”

So listen up, Christine, the Office of the Attorney General operates independently of the Governor’s office and McKenna really doesn’t need your permission to act, or even to consult with you before he acts. Get over it. And while you’re at it, get over yourself, too. It appears that you may have mistaken the meaning behind the words when people call you Queen Christine.

Update 1: An interesting perspective Stefan Sharkansky at Sound Politics showing why why it’s far more likely that Washington voters agree with McKenna than Gregoire.

Update 2: The gloves are indeed off, as the Democrat controlled legislature considers adding language to the budget to prevent McKenna from using State funds to pursue the health care challenge. Gregoire says she would sign such a measure into law. God forbid McKenna take steps to protect Washington citizens from this unconstitutional over-reach by the federal government.

Update 3: Dave Boze is collecting letters of support to forward to Rob McKenna.

Update 4: Attorney General McKenna and Her Royal Highness appeared (separately) on King 5 News this evening. After lying through her teeth about the amazing wonderfulness of the health care legislation, Her Royal Highness admitted that there’s nothing she can do to stop AG McKenna from participating in the suit. I guess that would be other than sign into law that measure they’re kicking around in the legislature.

Update 5: This poll commissioned by King 5 news might give Her Royal Highness an inkling of who AG McKenna is representing…the people, baby!

Who Speaks For The Unborn?

Who speaks for me?

Not Bart Stupak and his disgraceful band of faux-life Democrats.

Here’s the thing: either you believe that a pregnant woman carries within her an actual human life that is to be cherished and protected or…you don’t. There’s very little room for compromise and back room deals.

See what redhk has to say over at RedState.

I’m Not From Missouri, But Show Me Anyway

So the Washington Post reports “Black lawmakers say ‘tea party’ protesters used racial epithets.”

Black lawmakers said Saturday that “tea party” protesters outside the Capitol hurled racial epithets at Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a former civil rights leader who was nearly beaten to death during a 1965 march, as he headed out of the building on his way to President Obama’s final health-care rally.

Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.), walking next to Lewis after the Obama speech, told reporters that protesters yelled “kill the bill,” then used a racial epithet to describe Carson and Lewis, who is a revered figure on both sides of the aisle. By the time the president spoke, thousands of protesters had gathered south of the Capitol.

Snip…

Lewis’s office has not yet commented on the matter.

(Apparently the headline writers at the Post can’t be bothered by pesky facts such as, for example, the fact that only one of the black lawmakers named has had anything to say about the alleged incident.)

After watching this video, I’d say that Rep. Carson must have special, slur enhancing ears (is that a super power?) if he could hear a single voice or two shouting racial epithets over the crowd’s chants of “kill the bill.”

Here’s another…I’m not going to say that I envy the Congressmen making that walk – it must have been very unpleasant – but while there’s plenty of jeering and chanting, it’s remarkably epithet-free.

But let me get to my point. If Rep. Carson wants to make accusations of tea party protesters slinging racial slurs, I say”show me.” There were plenty of video cameras around; footage should be available. It’s very, very easy to make specious accusations of racism and they are unfortunately damaging and difficult to disprove.

Truthfully, leftists have relied on the racism charge so heavily as a means to shut up their opposition that it’s lost much of its sting. Still, from now on, if leftists want to cry racism, I say make them prove it.

Update 1: More information on this story from the D.C. Independent Examiner.

Health Care Sleight of Hand

That rabbit the Democrats are trying to pull of their hat? Yeah, it bites.

New scoring by the Congressional Budget Office reveals that proposed health care legislation will increase rather than reduce future budget deficits. The scoring was made at the request of Paul Ryan and is based on the premise that several provisions found in the legislation are unlikely to be implemented.

As noted over at Uncoverage.net, “hiding spending doesn’t reduce spending.” I might add, redistributing costs doesn’t reduce the cost. Don’t fall for the Democrats’ shell game.