Christina Roemer is leaving

One of the WH advisers responsible for creating this chart:


















Is leaving.
About friggin time.

Missouri's vote on health care

About 71 percent of Missouri voters backed a ballot measure, Proposition C, that would prohibit the government from requiring people to have health insurance or from penalizing them for not having it.

This is just the first step, but its important. It will force the federal government into a position where they will have to assert that insurance is a federal concern. Furthermore, they'll have to back laws that give the federal government a superseding right to fine you if you do not have insurance.

Debt, by state

As we all know, government spending is up. Not just on the federal level, but on the state level too.
So its worth knowing what your debt is, in the state that you are in, for the state that you are in.
CNN Money has provided this handy chart.

Take a look. Be informed.

The Kagan vote tally

From Real Clear Politics, the breakdown.
I had read that all but five Republicans had voted against her, and that one Democrat voted for her. So I wanted to know who those people were.

The Democrat was Nebraskan Ben Nelson, who was already targeted by the left.
The Republicans who voted against the grain of their party are:
Lugar from Indiana, Collins and Snowe from Maine, Gregg from New Hampshire, and Graham from South Carolina.

Naturally, East coast Republicans.

Old WH press seating chart

From 538, who got it from the WH.
For anyone who thought that it wasn't right that Fox was chosen for one of the front seats, note that they were the only cable news station that didn't have a seat up front.
Despite being #1 in the ratings.

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,245,000 viewers
CNN – 357,000 viewers
MSNBC – 367,000 viewers
CNBC – 184,000 viewers
HLN – 293,000 viewers

Chart of our health care

The GOP put out an updated chart of what our health care will look like.
This one is classic.

Click here to download the PDF.

Andy Griffith is pitching for Barack

Yet another thing that drives me crazy is when I find out that we've paid for ads to run on television telling people how to take advantage of an entitlement.

One such case is now running on cable, using Andy Griffith as a pitchman for medicare. Of everything that I find distasteful in my government, this is among the worst. I do not want to pay taxes so that the government can buy commercials to tell me all of the great things I'm getting in return for paying taxes. In theory, my representatives can do that themselves.

White House and their criminal guest

Yet another one of the White Houses' stage props have turned on them.
This time, its not a teleprompter, but Leslie Macko. The president was using her as an example of someone who kept sending out resumes, but who could not get a job.

The only problem with this?
Uhm.. it might be that she had two criminal convictions on her record. That might be why Leslie was having trouble becoming employed again.

The new "Blame the Republicans" Talking Points

I debate politics. A lot.
Lately, there is one argument that keeps coming up that is about as lame as it comes. Its a variation on blaming Republicans for everything.

On any topic, from cap & trade to running unprecedented deficits, the newest spin is to suggest that Republicans wanted to do it first.

Jill Lawrence dances this theme in her post on Politics Daily.

So many Republicans have changed their ideas on so many major issues that it's hard to keep up.

Jill then plays a very dangerous game of suggesting that some Republicans represent all of them.

Some examples of how Jill is distorting the truth:

1. Financial disclosure...."Republicans are in favor of disclosure," Sen. Mitch McConnell said on NBC's "Meet the Press" in 2000. Seven years later, on the same program, House GOP leader John Boehner declared: "Sunlight is the best disinfectant."
But Boehner voted no last month on the DISCLOSE Act, which requires corporations, unions and some other groups to disclose more information about their campaign activities.

So let's see what Boehner was asked:

WALLACE: But you have indicated — in fact, at one point, you used and then took back the word "childish" to describe this idea of all these bans on gifts and travel. Do you feel, in fact, that bans make less sense than just more disclosure of what happens?

BOEHNER: I think that some of the proposals that were out there — and there have been a lot of proposals offered by members, by outside groups. And I thought some of the proposals were outright childish, treating members like kids.

I think that what we need to do is we need to deal with the underlying problems that we have today. And I believe that disclosure of the relationship between those who lobby us, whether they be paid lobbyists here in Washington, those from agencies, or others — disclosure of those relationships — and let the American people take a look at how this relationship works.

Sunlight's the best disinfectant. I think it will help.

Interesting. So Boehner didn't favor laws that "require[s] corporations, unions and some other groups to disclose more information about their campaign activities."
Rather, Boehner favored disclosure of lobbyists and who they work for.

If you google the phrase "Sunlight is the best disinfectant", you'd swear that Boehner endorsed every and any type of financial disclosure. That's how strong this narrative has become.
More on this later.

But make no mistake, Jill Lawrence is trying to muddy the waters of real debate.