I’ve had a couple of ideas floating around in my head for a post today, but there’s so much to talk about that instead of doing multiple short posts, here’s one long post with a variety of topics for your reading pleasure on this rainy Sunday (at least in Fairfax).
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1. Tito “the Builder” Munoz’s new radio show – Friday night, my wife and I attended a fundraiser for Tito Munoz’s new hour long conservative radio show specifically targeted at an Hispanic audience. I’ve known Tito for a while now and was happy to come out to support his show. The turnout was great, with folks coming from around Fairfax and across the state, including my friend Tom White from VARight.com who lives in Hanover county. Del. Tim Hugo, Springfield Supervisor and 11th District Candidate Pat Herrity and 11th District Candidate Keith Fimian also attended the event. Delegate Hugo, who is a big fan of Too Conservative, managed to extract a promise from me to stop blogging for a few weeks once my son is born, so if you miss me around the end of next month, you’ll know who to blame!
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I’m happy that Tito is going to be doing this show because he understands – as I have been advocating for a while now – the critical need to expand the Republican party and educate those who only hear the Democratic talking points about Republicans and diversity. Tito’s outreach to the Hispanic community is going to play a critical role in educating the next generation of Republican activists in Northern Virginia, a large portion of whom will not be the old white male stereotype Democrats love to sell to voters. Keep up the good work, Tito!
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UPDATE: I forgot to mention – if anyone is interested in donating to help Tito, please feel free to send checks to the Conservative Hispanic Coalition, PO Box 3845, Reston, VA 20195.
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2. Charles Djou (R) wins the HI-1 Special Election – The spin coming out of the Democratic party over the last week has focused on what Democrats claim is a Republican inability to win special elections, despite the bad environment for Democrats and incumbents right now. They point to a number of races, particularly the NY-23 debacle, and their recent victory in PA-12 as proof that November isn’t going to be that bad. Keep telling yourselves that, my Democratic friends. Yesterday, Charles Djou, a Republican, won a special election for the Hawaii-1 Congressional seat vacated by Neil Abercrombie (one of my favorite Democratic Congressmen – he is hilarious and was a strong advocate for the maritime industry), who is running for Governor. This is a big deal, if only because it represents the first time a Republican has held a Hawaiian federal elected position since the 70s. This is the district in which President Obama was born (I expect Dan, RichmondDem or some of our other liberal commenters to make a snarky Kenya reference to this line), and went for the President by over 50 points.
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What does this mean? Well, it means exactly what the NY-23 race means: when one side that has an overwhelming majority splits their ticket between two candidates (one an insider, one an outsider), it allows the other side to squeak out a victory. We just did to the Democrats in HI-1 what Democrats did to us in NY-23. But don’t expect to see the massive coverage of the Hawaii race we saw of the NY-23 race on TV. And don’t expect to see anyone calling out DNC Chairman and former part-time Virginia Governor Tim Kaine for his nonsense about Republicans not being able to win special elections either. No one seems to want to point out to those who argue that PA-12 was a debacle for Republicans a major reason why: there was a hugely contested and controversial Democratic Senate primary between Specter and Sestak at the top of that ticket that drove Democratic turnout. We’ll see if Critz can hold Murtha’s old seat in November – just like we’ll see if Djou can hold his seat in November in Hawaii. My bet for both is no.
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But, for now, I think it’s pretty clear that Democrats better recheck their attempts to downplay the potential disaster awaiting them in November. If things keep going the way they’re going, there’s going to be a lot of incumbents (hopefully Gerry Connolly is at the top of that list) who get retired this fall. I remember seeing the look on many of my colleagues faces as we watched the 2006 returns – I’m hoping to see similar looks on the faces of my Democratic friends this year.
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3. Blue Virginia is still saying really dumb things – Despite being banned for presenting an opposite point of view (and thus cutting into Lowell’s profit margin), I still visit Blue Virginia occasionally just to see what kind of left-field nonsense they’re putting up this week. Today, Lowell is reporting on and repeating a transparent spin attempt by Fairfax County Democratic Party Chair Rex Simmons and Prince William Democratic Party Chair Pete Frisbie to claim that the 11th District Republican Committee canceled yesterday’s convention because party leaders are afraid the candidates will have a “Rand Paul” moment and say something extreme on tape.
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And the Democrats attack us for out-of-left-field conspiracy theories? “Rand Paul moments?” Seriously? You’d think Simmons and Frisbie aren’t aware of the fact that Connolly’s campaign has had guys with video cameras following Herrity and Fimian around for months now to public events hoping to catch a Macaca moment. And you’d also think they’d never considered it might be a good idea to cancel an expensive, time consuming, and resource draining convention when it’s not necessary, as this one wasn’t.
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As a member of the 11th District Committee, I was ecstatic to have the convention cancelled, as I am sure most of my colleagues were. All of us have heard Pat and Keith speak at least a dozen times in the last six months and there aren’t a lot of activists left who have not chosen sides. One more convention with both sides preaching to their respective choirs – especially in a primary that has already been as divisive as it has been – isn’t a good use of either candidates’ time. You don’t spend all morning on a precious Saturday speaking to a couple hundred folks who have already made up their minds. That’s just a waste of resources and time. Becky Stoeckel, our Chair in the 11th, is smart and capable and I’m completely confident in her leadership, as I hope the rest of our committee is. She made the right decision here and it had nothing to do with “Rand Paul” moments or any other Democratic wishful thinking.
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But hey, I can understand why Simmons and Frisbie are spinning. When early polls show Connolly getting beat by both Fimian AND Herrity, they are going to say or do anything they can do to try to marginalize either candidate. But, unfortunately for them and fortunately for us (and the rest of the country), it’s probably not going to make an ounce of difference. Connolly will have an exceedingly difficult race, particularly for him considering he’s shed “buckets of blood” for the unpopular Obama White House and Speaker Pelosi over the last two years. He better keep praying our nominee has a Macaca moment – otherwise he’ll be looking for work come November.
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May 23rd by Brian S
Happy to hear Tito’s got his own show. Do you have any information on where contributions can be made?
We won HI-1, not HI-2.
Cato, I’m not sure of the details on the broadcast – when I get them, I’ll let you know. Updated the post with the contribution info.
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VAB, thanks – I always get those two confused.
@Cato
Send emails to donate@titothebuilder.com
I set up a web site at http://titothebuilder.com which is really just a place holder waiting for Tito and Deborah to have time to get things up and going. That email is active and Tito will send you info on donations. I really appreciate your interest. This is a wonderful idea that I believe will make a difference.
Great to see Brian there.
Tom, I’m sorry I missed it. Would have been great to have seen you all there.
Tito and Debbie are the best! I’ll be sending along what I can afford.
Brian, thanks for this positive news!
In all fairness, I don’t think it’s the Dems who blew up NY-23 media coverage to something it was not…I think it was specifically Fox News and the conservative movement (Tea Partiers to some degree) who blew Hoffman up into a major figure. I sincerely doubt that if it had been a two person race, it would have attracted a tenth of the attention it did if Scozzafava won or lost.
Congrats to Tito! I will definetly donate. Tito and Debbie are tireless and what he is doing is so important.
Correction for you: Pat Saiki represented Hawaii in Congress from 1987 to 1991 (or somewhere in that time frame).
I’m somewhat optimistic on Djou (If only because I like to believe that people can shake off party labels.) He only has to improve his share of the vote by 10% and the democrats are going to be engaged in a bloody primary until September. My guess is that the more progressive Hanabusa wins, leaving some Case voters up for grabs or sapped of desire to vote. It’s a tough path to 50+1, but Djou seems like a very promising Congressman and may defy odds. This has been the year for that, lets just hope Hanabusa is like Coakley.
I don’t care who wins the seat as long as it isn’t Ed Case. Ron – you’re right. I totally forgot about her, wedged in between Abercrombie’s non-consecutive terms.
So now the Republican record is is 1 and 6 in the House, 2 and 7 overall.
You know, I remember when the Detroit Lions talked trash after beating the Redskins.
And you know what the difference is between this and NY-23?
The two Democratic candidates combined in Hawaii got 60% of the vote, while the two Republicans combined essentially tied the Democrat. There would have been a recount at least even if the Republicans only had one candidate from the beginning.
Ok RD, I think you’ve performed this song and dance before. Thank you for the repeat performance of what I now referred to as “2/7 is not Heaven, but Obama is”.
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(Disclaimer: Numbers will change according to wins and losses for any additional special elections. A repeat of this performance will occur once weekly. No purchase required. Tax and shipping charges are not applicable as this is free entertainment. Obama is King. Hope and Change.)
This coming from a member of a party whose flagship magazine, the National Review, sold actual bronze busts of George W. Bush in their pages in 2003. From a member of a party that tries to name everything in D.C. after Ronald Reagan. Wingnuts engaging in projection–yet again.
I think LL should take a look at my faovrite graph: http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/10329/america-is-on-a-path-to-economic-recovery
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Good look campaigning on going back to the red side of the graph! And before you start screaming about the source, the number themselves are from the BLS.
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Quick! Say something about “hope and change” then fantasize about a Deus ex Machina that will kill the recovery! Anything but fact!
RD, What the hell are you rambling about? Talk about redirect – National review, Bronze Statues of GWB, graphs – my GOD – GRAPHS, Ronald Reagan, foaming at the mouth now!
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I was merely pointing out that you keep posting the same thing. Is it not because you are still an Obama supporter? BTW, the disclaimer was sarcastic…but your reply is quite serious. It’s almost as if you are unraveling.
“I was merely pointing out that you keep posting the same thing.”
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Just trying to get Republicans in touch with reality.
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Given how nutty the Republican Party is these days, it’s hard to know what’s serious and what’s not. But the only thing that’s unraveling is your fantasy of getting a majority in either house of Congress.
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Yes, I’m an Obama supporter…and your point about this is what, exactly?
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So, what about that jobs graph?
Also, you’re self-proclaimed Romney fan, and you somehow think I’ll be embarrassed for supporting Obama…FFS! That’s too funny.
When did I ever say I was a Romney fan? Please show me….this will be interesting. I probably defended him in the primaries before we picked John McCain, and I still think he had a better shot. I admit I think he is a good looking man, this is true.
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Continue to be proud of Obama. I’m glad you have the balls to say you are still a supporter. And if you can’t be an Obama supporter – please consider being an athletic supporter.
You were salivating over the prospect of him being VP. And I bet you would have voted for him had he not been pushed out by (lol) John McCain on Super Tuesday, despite outspending him something like 3-1. I’m really looking forward to a Romney nomination in ‘12!
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Anyway, still like to know what you would think about that jobs graph.
I was salivating? Were you peeping in my window watching me? Again, please provide some posts of mine – because you are barking up the wrong tree. Not sure when it became an endorsement of candidate when someone thinks they are good looking, but in your world – anything is possible.
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What about the jobs graph? You want a “atta boy” for Obama? Do you know how many millions of jobs we have to “create” in this weak economy to get back to the troubling days of the Bush administration and 5% unemployment? Have you noticed what is going on un Europe, the stock market, housing numbers? Wait till the housing tax credit goes away – best estimates are that the housing market drops 20%, worst are a second housing bust. Yes, I saw the jobs graph – too bad it doesn’t go back further and we will see what it shows in the next year. No atta boy for you or your boy, and he is a boy.
“Yes, I saw the jobs graph – too bad it doesn’t go back further ”
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Want to go back further, huh? How about this: job growth in April was the best in *four years*. I wish I could find one going back to 1993, then you could see how pathetic Dubya’s economic record was next to Clinton’s, even during Bush’s “boom” years. You know what else? Job growth is starting in a much earlier stage of the recovery than it did in Bush’s. No jobless recovery here. Yes, we have to create many jobs to bring unemployment back down, but what’s important is that jobs are being created.
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The rest of your post is jut your fantasy about some big outside event sendingthe world economy into a tailspin because you know, as things stand now, that the Republicans can’t take back the House. It’s all slipping away, isn’t it?
It’s all slipping away, isn’t it?
Brian,
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You should consider being banned by Lowell Feld a badge of honor. It represents your willingness to engage ideas that might be wrong-headed with thoughtful and persuasive arguments, as opposed to accepting the intellectually bankrupt opinions that he and Miles Grant peddle as fact. Lowell typically resorts to banning someone when he has been bested by logic and facts that he cannot refute.
I have no idea what you are babbling about “slipping away” – but you may be. I do know that 5% unemployment is better than 9.7%, and that slowly creeping out of a recession where unemployment topped out around 6% is much different than the current situation. Remember the Clinton administration touted that 4% was technically full employment? Remember how everyone conveniently forgot that when Bush took over during a recession?
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You don’t seem the same RD – something ain’t right. Maybe you’ve just been gone for so long that the dreary, drippy, Kos-spastic posts are more annoying – but, please, don’t stop believin’.
Reagan pulled out of a recession where unemployment was 10.7%, which peaked in December of 1982. On Election Day, 1984, unemployment was 7.9%, and Reagan won 49 states. Job growth is already stronger than in the early stages of Reagan’s recovery which, again, started at a later point in his Presidency.
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Oh, and please run on defending the Bush economic record. Please oh please oh please! The Bush administration was the only Presidency in *American history* where the stock market was at a lower point than when he took office *and* household income didn’t rise in real terms. The only one.
Correction: the only one since Herbert Hoover, whom Bush will likely be ranked with.
This is something fun to play around with re: presidents and the stock market: http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/StockMarketReturnsByParty/
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You can factor in delay for policy decisions, choose exact investment timeframes, etc.
Cato,
It’s more fun to combine the graphs of President with which party controlled Congress. One thing to note about Herbert Hoover: The Democrats took control of Congress in 1931, and Hoover took a lot of actions to increase government interference in the economy. Thus, the market cratered.
Clinton’s success was mostly due to adopting Republican ideas after 1995.
I recommend the book “The Forgotten Man” (by Amity Shlaes) about the Great Depression if you want to get an interesting history of the U.S. from the late 1920s to 1940.
Amity Shales is about as serious a historian as Jonah Godlberg.
So, Ron, does that mean Tip O’Neil and the Democratic Congress was responsible for Reagan’s economy? Don’t think too hard, now. And the ’90s boom and deficit reduction started in ‘93. The economy was already growing at a healthy clip by November 1994, and the deficit was already headed downward thanks to Clinton’s deficit reduction package, and, George H.W. Bush (bravely) breaking his “no new taxes” pledge.
First of all, Richmond Dem, you should read something more rigorous than comic books. If there is something Amity Shlaes had in her book that was incorrect, please let us all know. For that matter, if you have any quibble with what Jonah Goldberg has written, please feel free to tell us. Something tells me that you like to criticize without really reading what it is you ridicule (sort of like those critics of Rush Limbaugh and/or Fox News who never really tune into their programming).
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Let’s recall that Reagan had a Republican Senate, and the help of a Democrat named Phil Gramm to help pass his tax cut (which stimulated the economy). When George H.W. Bush was leaving office, the economy had started to recover. It is quite plausible that the recovery would have happened FASTER if Bush did not agree to hike taxes. Reports of economic growth came in before Clinton’s inauguration. Once CLinton Hiked taxes, the economy stalled in 1994. Clinton foresaw deficits out as far as the eye could see. It was only after Clinton signed the capital gains tax cuts along with the Roth IRA law (under a Republican Congress) that deficits went down and we actually went into surplus.
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The Roth IRA conversions brought a whole lot of revenue into the Treasury. However, that income was slated to expire after 2001 anyway. We would have slid back into deficit, especially with the economic slowdown that was taking place at the end of Clinton’s Presidency as well as because of the subsequent 9/11 attacks.
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Now if you look at the effects of the Bush tax cuts (which really became effective only in 2003), economic activity boomed and the deficit was on its way down, at least before the Democrats took control of Congress. It is true that Bush should have vetoed a lot more spending than he did, but then again, I imagine that someone like you might have disapproved. Remember also that Congressional Democrats obstructed investigations into Fannie Mae’s questionable finances. Too bad the Republicans did not take more action in controlling that corrupt organization that was run by Democrats.
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I read Shale’s book.
You really want me to take a seriously a book about the Great Depression that didn’t even include data on GDP growth? Or count public works jobs as employment?
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The book was panned by historians from Robert McElvaine to Matthew Dallek to Eric Rauchway to H.W. Brands. But hey, it WAS praised by such noted “historians” as Rudy Giuliani and Mike Pence! They’re real academics!
I don’t even need to bother with Goldberg’s book. Fascists are right wing–end of story. I don’t need to debate his points of view any more than a 9/11 Truther or a member of the Flat Earth Society. The Nazis were backed by the conservative elements in Germany–the army, the big industrial corporations, the old Nationalist Party, and so on. The only party in Germany to vote against the Enabling Act, among those present in the Reichstag, was the Social Democratic Party. The Nationalists and the Catholic Centre Party, the right wing parties, supported it.
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I could even get some quotes from National Review back in the ’50s talking about how wonderful (Fascist) Francisco Franco was.
We’ve gone from Tito to Mussolini in 34 posts.
RD, The “public works” jobs you cite were clearly temporary. In addition, one of the main points of the Shlaes book was that government interference (usually raising taxes or tariffs) often made a bad situation worse. Are you ignoring the big dip of 1937 (after all those public works jobs were created)?
The Nazis themselves said that they had a lot in common with Communists. It is really no wonder that Hitler and Stalin were able to come to some easy agreements. I will note in FDR’s favor that he distrusted the Germans intensely. However, Communists (particularly in Western countries) were very much against fighting the Nazis, at least until Hitler attacked the Soviet Union.
As far as “fascism” is concerned, I hate to tell you this, but it is a growth industry on your side of the political spectrum. If you don’t believe me, maybe you should read about some recent SEIU protests at the home of banking executives. Now the fascism is red (or purple, in the case of SEIU) instead of the brown shirts of the 1930s variety. And censorship of conservative media and speakers at several college campuses is also another form. Heck, Obama’s Supreme Court nominee thinks banning books is a good idea! It’s only a small step from banning to burning.
ROn, Don’t you see you are arguing with a Kos-ite? It’s futile. Tito to Mussolini via RichmondDem because he is SO well-wersed in blog retorts, blame Reagan, Blame Bush and all hail the King Barry speak. It’s a bit nauseating.
PS I don’t rule out RD getting hit in the head or abducted by aliens in the past 6 months, he seems to salivating quite a bit himself – could be a glandular problem.
My real disappointment was that no one could bring up Enver Hoxha for edmundburkenator’s entertainment.
I’ve read both the Amity Shales and Jonah Goldberg books. Shales book gets press mostly because it is the history of the Great Depression that most conservatives want to be true, but that doesn’t make it actually true. An interesting time killer for anyone who has some to waste (and don’t we all? Isn’t that partly why we’re here:) ) is to go and compare the things Jonah Goldberg said about his book before and just after it was published to the way he talks about it today. At the time of publication, it was almost a parody, a sly bit of satire. He admits in more than one interview that he was trying to stick it to liberals who had called him a fascist all of his young life by pretty much saying, “I’m rubber and you’re glue. It bounces off of me and sticks to you.”
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Only after the book had been out about a year did you start to see it being taken seriously as a historical record. To be honest, I think that Goldberg was as surprised by this as anyone. That he came to believe his own press isn’t something I hold against him, but that doesn’t make me think that his book is any more insightful or accurate than the book that he originally wrote, or originally portrayed upon publication.
RD: Before you cry about USA Today, here is a nice article with links to proper gov’t agencies about our growing, growing, growing jobs – too bad they are all gov’t jobs:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2010-05-24-income-shifts-from-private-sector_N.htm
RD isn’t a Kos-ite. Come on LL, your lame is showing.
My lame? My goodness Ed, RD hasn’t had an original post since he came back. I think he was under private tutelage during his absence. If you agree with him, I suppose you wouldn’t have a problem with what or how he says it. He’s on your side!
[RichmondDem wrote: "Want to go back further, huh? How about this: job growth in April was the best in *four years*. I wish I could find one going back to 1993, then you could see how pathetic Dubya’s economic record was next to Clinton’s, even during Bush’s “boom” years. You know what else? Job growth is starting in a much earlier stage of the recovery than it did in Bush’s. No jobless recovery here. Yes, we have to create many jobs to bring unemployment back down, but what’s important is that jobs are being created".]
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Maybe this was previously covered/maybe not. My apologies in advance for not reading every post this time.
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RD, I question your knowledge of politics (and economics to the extent I’ll wager you can’t even balance your checkbook). You wanna know why Clinton improved? Dick Morris. Clinton’s advisor. Told Clinton to “get back to center, you hillbilly assclown”. Buy his books. You’ll learn something.
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Wanna know why Dubya started to tank? He tried to make friendly with you blue asshats. Let that be a lesson to the reds.
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I’m pressed for time, so I had to condense, but I think you see the overall picture. Now, RD, go forth and sin no more. Damn, I’m funny.
LL, he does present a better argument. Look, the supply side stuff the Rs have been pushing for awhile now has been discounted (even by some of the Rs that were pushing it). Bush is responsible for, what, 2/3s of the current debt? The other third is a blend of TARP, war, and what you would call socialism.
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Is Bush to blame for this entire mess (growth, unemployment, debt)? Of course not. Are all Rs? No. But you act as if 95 percent of the blame goes to Ds. That, my friend, is an 8 on the Bat-Shit insane scale.
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George, why so pressed for time? Are you playing at the improv?
Presidents get far too much blame, and conversely, far too much credit for both negative and positive changes in the economy. Other than enacting or repealing regulations, there’s not a whole bunch of tools in the Presidential tool kit that he can use unilaterally. Changes in the tax rate, changes in various laws, and appointments to the Fed, SEC, and other positions all require some kind of Congressional action.
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That doesn’t make it easy for us voters who want someone to pin the blame on, unfortunately. In the current crisis, I think Obama deserves blame for two major things – overpromising during the campaign that he would turn the economy around and overpromising and underdelivering on the jobs the stimulus would create “or save”. I can’t blame the unemployment rate on him or on Congress, because (unlike some Congressional candidates who seem to think otherwise) they aren’t job creators. In the end, as usual, the private sector will have to work its way out of this recession and the best thing government can do is keep taxes low and stay out of the way.
Brian, Job creation in created by lower taxation and less gov’t regulation. The USA Today article is the perfect example of how growing gov’t is suppressing private sector growth, and who grows gov’t? Not the people, not the private sector – it is Congressional action. To incline that a big gov’t Administration with a like minded congressional majority is not a threat to private sector job creation is putting your head in the sand. Yes, GWB is to blame as well – however the trajectory is off the charts now. Slow crawl vs warp speed.
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Ed, Like I said – you are inclined to agree with RD. That’s your bad. I never put a 95% blame on any party because as far as I am concerned they are both at fault. I hold Bush accountable for what happened during his administration, but your blinders on Obama are embarrassing. You can call me bat-shit all you want, have at it.
[edmondburkentater wrote: "George, why so pressed for time? Are you playing at the improv?"]
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Silly rabbit, let me see how to describe… I have this position from which I derive income. In layman’s terms it’s called a “job.” I’m sure you prefer the french way of doing things where damned near 90% of its citizens are on the dole, take 3 hour lunches and six weeks vacation. They have socialist healthcare, too. Of course, the entire country is on the verge of collapse, but they make good wine and wear berets. Do you wear a beret, mon petit fils?
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Yeah, let’s look to Europe for lifestyle ideas.
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Again, short on time. You understand (who am I kidding?).
Don’t quit your day job.
And feign an intellectual prowess like you? I wouldn’t dream of it.
George….. The concept of a real job, where you actually have to ……(gasp) …work….is a foreign concept to 40% of us. That is the very ROOT of the problem.
Basically, RD….you’ve been somewhat reserved in your quest to go over the cliff in the past. It appears that you’ve been sucked in – hook, line and sinker — (as they say) in presenting this “bounce” in the economy as anything but the “blip before the plunge”.
Go ahead– pull up the depression’s market/economic rendering, and overlay it with this latest info. The immediate pre-Depression economy “blipped” , too…. Right before it headed south.
Look, O’m in business for myself, and I want to believe that my “bump” on business is going to last…but I also have to remain realistic and grounded.
I put it no jars and burried it for the long haul…. because it’s coming.
[The Bulletproof Monk wrote: "George….. The concept of a real job, where you actually have to ……(gasp) …work….is a foreign concept to 40% of us. That is the very ROOT of the problem."]
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A bunch of govies, eh?