A "teachable moment"

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker provides a lesson...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took time out of his hectic schedule to provide the former University of Chicago Law School lecturer (and current U.S. President) Barack Obama with a civics lesson.

Earlier in the day, the president made a point of throwing his weight around, implicitly criticizing Wisconsin's efforts to fix its fiscal woes.

It didn't take long for the state's chief executive to respond to the president. Only his words were much more direct (as in "bull's eye"):

"I'm sure the President knows that most federal employees do not have collective bargaining for wages and benefits while our plan allows it for base pay. And I'm sure the President knows that the average federal worker pays twice as much for health insurance as what we are asking for in Wisconsin. At least I would hope he knows these facts.

"Furthermore, I'm sure the President knows that we have repeatedly praised the more than 300,000 government workers who come to work every day in Wisconsin.

"I'm sure that President Obama simply misunderstands the issues in Wisconsin, and isn't acting like the union bosses in saying one thing and doing another."

[Tutorial: complete.]

Happier times: President Barack Obama received an autographed Green Bay Packers Charles Woodson jersey from Wis. Gov. Scott Walker prior to this year's Super Bowl. Obama, a Chicago native, predicted the Chicago Bears would beat Green Bay in the NFC Championship game. This was the first of several miscalculations the president made about Wisconsin.

The train wreck that is High-Speed Rail...

Why do politicians love the idea of a railroad system that can never be what they promise it will be and will cost way more than they promise it will be delivered for?

The answer: because it's other people's money they're spending.

Liberals (aka: “Progressives”), on the other hand, have a different agenda at work: control.

In his latest column, "High Speed to Insolvency: Why liberals love trains," George Will explains why "America’s 'win the future' administration [is] so fixated on railroads, a technology that was the future two centuries ago?" The underlying reason, he points out, is that "progressivism’s aim is the modification of (other people’s) behavior."

Either reason, wasting tax money or infringing on liberties is reason enough to kill these programs.

If there’s one great thing that’s come out of this horrible economy, it’s that many people – voters and elected officials – have woken-up to the fact that projects like High-Speed Rail (HSR) are boondoggles. Total wastes. Because the poor economy is forcing tough choices on both groups, there is growing consensus that as cuts need to be made, wasteful projects like HSR should be among the first on the chopping block.

Let’s just hope we can keep cutting these rail projects quicker than their proponents say the make-believe trains on the make-believe systems would travel…

Teddy Kennedy: Ladies' Man...

He was just a love machine...

News (though not surprising to anyone) item - FBI file: Young Edward M. Kennedy allegedly arranged to rent Chilean brothel: "As a young man, Edward M. Kennedy allegedly arranged to rent a brothel for the night in Santiago, Chile, according to material from his FBI file that was released today by a Washington-based conservative watchdog group. Kennedy, during a 1961 visit to the South American country, "made arrangements to 'rent' a brothel for an entire night. Kennedy allegedly invited one of the Embassy chauffeurs to participate in the night's activities," according to a Dec. 28, 1961 memo released by the group Judicial Watch."

No word on whether or not he volunteered to chauffeur any of the ladies home that night...

"Flee-baggers"

How can you not smile/laugh at the new name for the Wisconsin Democrat legislators who ran away to Indiana to avoid a vote?

"Flee-baggers."

So much for that carbon footprint...

Getting warmed-up?

Obama's jetset fitness trainer helps shed pounds, adds to global warming: "With a schedule as hectic as President Obama's it must be hard to stick to a training regimen without help -- but why does he insist on having his old trainer fly out from Chicago to D.C. regularly when Obama and his wife exhort the rest of us to drive less? And in a recession? According to Ashley Parker at the New York Times, Obama's fitness czar Cornell McClellan comes out to D.C. every week."

Just keepin' it real...

The Daily Round-Up...

Items from all over...

Like we haven’t been talking about this for several years: LA Times editorial - “Day of reckoning on pensions: The Little Hoover Commission paints a bleak picture of what's ahead for state and local governments in California.” Better late than never, LA Times...

President Obama Waving Grudgingly - Sometimes you can tell he's not into it. I mean the waving, not the presidency...

Obama signs extension of Patriot Act, the same Act he railed against during his campaign: I guess this wasn't the Change© he promised his supporters...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie applies the smack-down: The Star Ledger is a newspaper in New Jersey and Tom Moran is the reporter from that newspaper asking NJ Gov. Chris Christie the question in the clip below. (Christie is the one bringing common sense to government, upsetting the ruling class, and schooling the media, btw.)

(h/t: Kevin Elliott)

Going off the rails...

Just when you thought they couldn't spend our tax dollars any faster, they put them on a high-speed train to nowhere...

A lot has already been written about the multi-billion dollar folly that is the administration's national high-speed rail proposal (HSR). At a time when the nation is staggering under the attack of the twin cancers of budget deficits and debt, Team Obama suggests that pouring even more tax dollars down a rat hole (aka: HSR) is what will make America strong again.

Choo-Choo Charlie: Vice President Joe Biden (aka: Amtrak Joey) has led the charge for the administration...

Thankfully, numerous experts, citizens and leaders (such as Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who canceled his state's high-speed boondoggle but continues to get pressure from the Feds) are standing up to this ridiculous notion that a 19th century form of transportation is the best way to travel...especially because it can only survive with the help of ridiculous amounts of tax supported subsidies. The forces behind HSR are strong and well-financed, but the state of the economy - combined with the opposition's good sense - has this train Dead On Arrival....

The pipedream...

The following video, produced by Reason, is a terrific primer on why HSR is a train to nowhere...

When Billy Met Barry...

From the "Big" interview...

A choice excerpt (video clip below):

President Barack Obama: "The people who don't know you, dislike you."

Bill O'Reilly: "They hate you."

Well, that's putting it bluntly...

You've lost that tingling feeling...(pt. 2)

Disappointed...

Among the views voiced by the hyper-opinionated Chris Matthews (re: Egypt):

“And Barack Obama, as much I support him in many ways, there is a transactional quality to the guy that is chilling,” Matthews said. “I believe in relationships. I think we all do. Relationship politics is what we were brought up with in this country. You treat your friends a certain way. You’re loyal to them. And when they’re wrong, you try to be with them. You try to stick with them, as the great old line was, ‘I don’t need you when I’m right.’ You’ve got to help out people when they’re in trouble and all I see is transaction here and who are we going to get the next deal with? And by the way, we don’t have a plan for the next deal, so we’re not even good at transactions let alone relationships. What are we good at here? That’s what I keep asking. What have we done as leaders and friends? Nothing except watch. That’s all we do now.”

I guess Chris is over his man-crush...

P.S. Matthews is referring to the results of the current administration's On The Job Training program...

(h/t: Daily Caller)

Got a problem? Blame it on "global warming"

Al Gore and his hot air...

On PBS' "Inside Washington" last night, columnist Charles Krauthammer addressed questions surrounding the colder-than-usual weather this winter. He said if Godzilla appeared on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Al Gore would blame it on global warming. (Video and transcripts below. H/t: Newsbusters.)

GORDON PETERSON, HOST: It’s been a terrible winter. If global warming is the problem, why are we having such a tough winter? Well Al Gore told Gail Collins of the New York Times there’s about a four percent more water vapor in the air now in the atmosphere than there was in the ’70s because of warmer oceans and warmer air, and it returns to earth as heavy rain and heavy snow. That’s what Al Gore says.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Look, if Godzilla appeared on the Mall this afternoon, Al Gore would say it’s global warming… [Laughter] …because the spores in the South Atlantic Ocean, you know, were. Look, everything is, it’s a religion. In a religion, everything is explicable. In science, you can actually deny or falsify a proposition with evidence. You find me a single piece of evidence that Al Gore would ever admit would contradict global warming and I’ll be surprised.

Hot air, indeed...

Not the Change they were thinking of...

“The Fish Filet™ Commercial KFC Doesn’t Want You To See (Anymore).”

(h/t: Instapundit)