Conservative Heritage Times

Well whaddya know! No sooner had I said below that the fiscal cliff deal would be a tax hike whether Grover Norquist gives the Republicans cover or not, that I noticed this on our Newsmax feed:

Norquist: Cliff Deal Won’t Include Tax Hike

If an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff does materialize, Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform president, doesn’t expect it to include higher taxes.

“I’m working with all the folks who are trying to defend taxpayers here in Congress,” he told CNN’s “Starting Point” Monday, Politico reports. “I don’t think you’re going to see something that actually raises taxes. We may get some tax cuts now and have to fight for others later.

Ummm … Yes it will. As the Newsmax story later clearly states.

Knowledgeable sources told the news service that the duo is near an agreement to raise tax rates on individuals with annual income of more than $400,000 and families with more than $450,000.

Norquist is outright lying at worst or engaging in the sort of deliberately deceptive Washington doublespeak that he normally criticizes at best. The Bush tax increases are set to expire. If they expire then taxes would go up more. So I assume Norquist’s “reasoning,” if such obvious weaseling can be dignified with that term, is that the tax increases in the compromise aren’t really increases because the automatic hikes would be larger. This is no different than the weasels who claim that cutting projected growth in a program is really a spending cut. But Congress didn’t have to sunset the Bush tax cuts in the first place. As well, the whole fiscal cliff is an artificial crisis of Congress’s own making. They didn’t have to build in the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts (which I favor) in the first place.

1 Comment »

Maybe.

Working with Congress against a midnight deadline, President Barack Obama said Monday that a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff” was in sight but not yet finalized. The emerging deal would raise tax rates on family income over $450,000 and individual income over $400,000 a year, increase the estate tax rate and extend unemployment benefits for one year.

Read more…

Make no mistake here, any Republican who votes for this compromise is voting for a tax increase whether Grover Norquist gives them cover or not. If this passes the spineless Republicans will have been worked again.

Update: There will be no vote tonight.

5 Comments »

By Frosty Wooldridge

After ten bloody years in Vietnam, we finally pulled out in 1975.  We left the country bombed out, Agent Orange-contaminated and a trail of 2.million corpses of men, women and children.  We suffered 58,300 young men’s deaths and another 350,000 horribly injured.  Because of P.T.S.D., another 200,000 combat troops who left Vietnam in one piece—later committed suicide.  Millions more remain divorced, homeless, drunk and mentally distressed on our streets across America. We did nothing to make the world a better place.

Later, Robert McNamara, the architect of the Vietnam War, in his book Fog of War  said, “I made a mistake.”

Ten years ago, George W. Bush, arrogantly and without valid purpose— idiotically attacked Iraq with the same immorality and ignorance as Lyndon Baines Johnson attacked Vietnam.  Gulf of Tonkin and Weapons of Mass Destruction—both a bunch of balderdash.  Bush should stand trial for war crimes against humanity.  He created tens of thousands of “Newtown, CT” events in Iraq.

Continue Reading »

No Comments »

Tonight, Cain Velasquez will have a rematch with UFC Heavyweight  Champion Junior Dos Santos. Dos Santos won their first match with a quick knock out. Velasquez was reportedly injured. Velasquez is the superior wrestler. He wrestled in college for Arizona State. Dos Santos is the superior striker. If Velasquez can get the fight to the ground and keep it there, he’ll likely win. If Dos Santos can keep it standing, he likely will. (Some odds have Velasquez the favorite. Some have Dos Santos.)

I will be rooting for Dos Santos. Velasquez sports a large “Brown Pride” tattoo across his chest. I really don’t care the Velasquez, who is Mexican American, has brown pride, although brown is a less precise designation than even white. Caucasoid Arabs and Indians are supposedly “brown,” as are Amerindian and Mediterranean (Spanish and Portuguese) admixture Central and South Americans such as Velasquez  and Dos Santos. At least white usually means European. My beef is with the PC double standard that says a “brown pride” tattoo is just fine, but if some white guy had a similar “white pride’ tattoo there is no way he would ever see the inside of a UFC octagon and everyone know it.

I will be rooting against the PC double standard tonight more than I will Velasquez.

Addendum: There was a 1.5 hour wait at the local establishment where I usually watch UFC pay-per-views so I won’t be watching it live.

2 Comments »

“This, then, remains a country in a Cold Civil War – not far off the geographical contours of the first, but with the inheritors of the Confederacy concentrated in the South and now also with serious pockets of absolutists in the more rural parts of the country as a whole.” Andrew Sullivan, pseudo-conservative

Sullivan’s right, but not for the reason he imagines. Yes, there IS a “Cold Civil War” roiling the political waters today – and just as in 1861, it’s being fought to determine if we are to preserve our traditional culture and liberties, or if an overgrown central government will again sponsor a revolution. If DC wins this time around, we can expect the criminalization of ALL firearms, the confiscation of private retirement accounts, and the Third-Worldization of America.

Alexander Stephens’ prediction that the cause of the South would become the cause of all has been vindicated.

20 Comments »

You can’t make this stuff up. At some point I registered at Daily Kos so I could make a comment, probably on some Ron Paul post, so I periodically get e-mails from them. I haven’t unsubscribed because I like seeing what the other side is up to. Today I got an e-mail blaring this in the subject line: “Pope gives special holiday hate speech against gays because it’s Christmas.”

I have a news flash for the author, Kaili Joy Gray: the Pope is a Christian, and Christians have always condemned homosexual behavior because the Bible condemns homosexual behavior and Christians believe the Bible is a Holy Book, God’s Word. Is that really so hard to understand? The liberal “tolerance” Gestapo won’t be happy until ever Christian denounces their belief. Notice the disrespectful and “hateful” tone of her rant. (It would be paying it more respect than it deserves to call it an article.) And note that Daily Kos chose this nugget to highlight with their e-mail. How small-minded is the new PC left?

4 Comments »

Ugh! As I have said before, I’m not inclined to argue the science of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) on political grounds. But I am inclined to comment on the state of the debate. As I said in the article linked above, the insufferable smugness of the AGW true believer crowd is profoundly unhelpful to their cause. This story from Political Outcast is a perfect example of what I mean:

The funny thing is, Professor Richard Parncutt of the University of Graz isn’t even a climate scientist. He teaches Systematic Musicology. So, if you’re one of those global warming deniers, then you shouldn’t be allowed to have an opinion because you don’t have enough expertise in climate science, or if you do, you should have your credentials stripped from you because you’ve proven yourself unworthy to have them. On the other hand, if you support the theory of anthropogenic global warming, it doesn’t matter what credentials you have or don’t have, your opinion is vital and true. You could be a bum living in a cardboard box in D.C. with an 8^thgrade education and believe that man is causing the earth to warm, and that if the “lords” over in the D.C. castle don’t “do something” about it, humanity will be wiped out, and it will be the fault of all those “deniers.” And that poor bum’s opinion will have more respect than the climate scientists with 18 Ph.D.’s who believe the only thing that’s manmade about anthropogenic global warming is the theory itself.

Read more…

The good professor has changed his original article (follow the links in the article above) presumably in response to criticism, but he seems more concerned with establishing his liberal bona fides in light of his call for the death penalty than he does in walking back from his outrageous premise. Either way, his over the top nonsense has certainly done more harm to the cause he espouses than good. The AGW true believers need to step outside the bubble they inhabit and join the rest of us in the real world where there is, for better or worse, still doubt.

2 Comments »

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born

While shepherds kept their watching
Over silent flocks by night
Behold throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born

The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo! above the earth
Rang out the angels chorus
That hailed the Savior’s birth

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born

Down in a lowly manger
The humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation
That blessèd Christmas morn

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

Lyrics by John W. Work, Jr.

4 Comments »

I never thought I’d live to see the day the gun-control issue could bring together persons such Sen. Barbra Boxer (D-Calf.) and the NRA but in this crazy world you never know what you can expect.  And if  takes a horrible crime such as the Sandy Hook massacre to bring such strange bedfellows together in agreement, then perhaps some good can come out of such tragedy.

But it’s not good when it comes to when to heart of freedom, which is what the Second Amendment is about (NRA bumperstickers after all say “Defend Freedom”), when the NRA decides to ally itself with authoritarianism which its “alliance” with Boxer is about. For the NRA, in its recent press conference on Sandy Hook, basically allied itself with Boxer’s  proposal to have armed National Guard troopers guarding elementary schools by calling for armed police officers, paid for by the Federal Government, to do the exact same thing.

The disappointing part of the NRA’s press conference which took no questions, was the fact its tone and language put the organization not on the side of freedom, which claims to be about, but authoritarianism. Its remedies, taken to their logical conclusion, is a garrison state with official lists of mentally ill people and with censorship.  Libertarians, who have been their most valuable allies in the gun control debate, could only be disappointed in their presentation. Ron Paul thinks they’ve gone mad.

Does the NRA really want a society where everyone must be armed (like the town of Kennesaw, Georgia) rather than just having the freedom to have firearms? Force the Amish to own guns? If so, then this only lends more evidence to support the charge the NRA is simply bedfellows to the gun industry and working more to enrich them (which in turns funds the NRA) than looking out for the Constitutional rights of its membership. People have the right to own a gun then they should also have the right not own a weapon or allow weapons in their home, place of business or school. Some schools and public buildings may decide to allow licensed teachers or administrators to have guns on school grounds (which they are trying to do in Texas) and that’s fine if they wish to do so or have retire policemen or police officers on school grounds too. Fine, they should pay for them themselves.

Some states and communities may try to tighten existing gun laws (which didn’t work in Connecticut) and others may do what I had mentioned above. Whatever happens, one hopes the hysteria caused by this evil act does wind up as a replay of the aftermath of 9-11, which gave us the Patriot Act. To prevent this, the NRA and other conservatives need to be critiqued and need keep their heads instead of losing them in the mad rush to “do something”. It’s doubtful Wayne LaPierre wrote the statement he made. In that case, as a lobbyist, it will be easier to walk back what he said when talking to politicians in the gun control debate. But if this is a new line of argument, then the NRA is doing a great disservice to its membership by making it more friendless and isolated than ever before (and there’s no Charlton Heston out there to restore its credibility) with a demographic group that isn’t exactly a growing part of the populace. They had better be a lot wiser than they’ve acted so far.

1 Comment »

Yesterday my daughter and I watched that whole gun control video frame by frame to identify all the participants. I think I did a good job identifying them based on my substantial fund of pop cultural knowledge, if I do say so myself. There were only a few that I didn’t know. My plan was to post the list here, but it turns out I wasted my time, because someone had already done it for me.

The heartfelt clip features Jon Hamm, Steve Carell, Jamie Foxx, Paul Rudd, Jason Bateman, Sarah Silverman, Amy Poehler, Aubrey Plaza, Amanda Peet, Busy Philipps, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Adam Scott, Cameron Diaz, Courteney Cox, Christina Applegate, Zooey Deschanel, John Slattery, Debra Messing, Elizabeth Banks, Max Greenfield, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, Brooke Shields, Joel McHale, Conan O’Brien, Rashida Jones, Will Ferrell, Aziz Ansari, Olivia Munn, Julianne Moore, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, Selena Gomez, Kate Hudson and Gwyneth Paltrow.

As I said below, the two Mad Men actors sting a little. Who knew Roger Sterling was a gun control supporting wuss?

Addendum: This list appears to not be exhaustive. It doesn’t include Reese Witherspoon or Beyonce. Any other omissions anyone has identified?

3 Comments »

And in other news, the Sun rose in the East this morning. What is it about actors that makes the vast majority of them braindead liberals? Some of these really disappoint me, especially the Mad Men guys. Also, I find it a bit hypocritical that the new Bourne guy wants gun control. Has he watched his own movie? Also Jamie “kill all the white people” Foxx. Has he watched his movie? I also find it interesting that they disabled the comments. They knew good and well that they would get slammed if they didn’t.

4 Comments »

Maybe all the conservatives who see neocon FOX News as the be and and end all should reconsider.

An honest account of media misinformation after the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy has to take into account Rupert Murdoch’s tweet about the need to ban “automatic weapons,” when none was used to kill any of the 26 people. Can the chairman of News Corporation, the parent of Fox News, be this ignorant about the nature of gun laws and guns in America?

He asked, “When will politicians find courage to ban automatic weapons?” He urged Obama to exercise “bold leadership” on the issue…

Cliff Kincaid, NewsWithViews

3 Comments »

I’m going to pass along a couple of articles on Boehner. One suggests he should resign. One suggests there may be a coup attempt in the works. Of course I think Boehner should step down, and if not he should be replaced, although I’m not sure any of the current leadership would be much if any improvement. Otherwise I’m not going to add much commentary because my take on the tax increase issue is already abundantly clear, and I don’t want to beat a dead horse. So for your reading pleasure:

“Boehner Should Resign as Speaker”

“House GOP Circulates Plan to Oust Boehner“

2 Comments »

Chris “Christie Endorses National Discussion on Gun Control” (NewsMax)

And Chris Christie endorses not winning the GOP nomination in 2016.

10 Comments »

National Review has some insider details.

It paints a picture of a very somber Republican caucus. I’m not sure why. The conservative members who killed it should be whooping it up. Even Justine Amash, the reputed successor to Ron Paul’s mantle, is pictured as somber, even though he was planning to vote against it. I’m not sure what is going on there. It really doesn’t paint a flattering picture of Amash, IMO, unless I’m missing something. I heard it suggested on another venue, that the people who were planning on voting against Plan B were voting against it for their own sake but were secretly hoping/expecting it to pass. This is the impression I get from Amash based on his comments. Again, am I missing something?

Representative Justin Amash of Michigan, a conservative with libertarian leanings, was stunned. As he walked back to his office, he said the episode was unfortunate, even though he was planning to vote against the measure. For the past month, since House leaders booted him off the budget committee, he has been railing against Boehner for his management style. But even Amash wondered whether the House GOP was making the right move. “Too many people in there were arguing that this thing is a tax increase, and I don’t think that’s what Boehner was trying to do,” he said. As much as he disagrees with Boehner’s approach, even he regretted how the speaker’s plan was killed.

And RedState has some details.

I talked to two congressmen who were not involved in the purge or victims of it. They both said that seeing House leaders back “squishes” during the primaries including against some incumbents and then seeing them throw conservatives off committees was all they needed to strengthen their spines against the Speaker.

They said they’re happy to be team players, but they think conservatives in the conference are now treated as kids who are to be seen and not heard. They decided they needed to be heard.

 

7 Comments »

This Huffington Post article has the story.

Mike Hammond, chief counsel for the powerful gun lobbying group Gun Owners of America said the National Rifle Association, the nation’s largest gun lobby, was hiding from the media like an opossum following the massacre on Friday of 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

The NRA “always does this, whenever there’s a tragedy, they go into ‘possum mode,” Hammond told The Huffington Post on Monday. “They think that if they don’t say anything that it will go away.”…

What is surprising is that Pratt is the only gun lobby representative willing to discuss his beliefs in public in the days after the Connecticut massacre. In the NRA’s absence, Gun Owners of America has emerged as one of the only sources for TV producers and reporters for the pro-gun position.

Read more…

1 Comment »

It’s 0840 EST 21 Dec 12, and we’re still here. At what time can we officially call this whole Mayan end of the world thing bunk?

3 Comments »

Take that Boehner!

In a stinging setback for Republican House Speaker John Boehner, a lack of support from inside his own party for his “fiscal cliff” fall-back plan forced him late Thursday to cancel a much-trumpeted vote on the measure.

“The House did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass,” Boehner said in a written statement released after an emergency meeting of House Republicans…

It appeared that Boehner faced a rebellion from conservatives opposed to any tax hike, while House Democrats starved the bill of their support, making passage impossible.

See more at Yahoo News…

You know what happened here. Conservative Reps in conservative districts didn’t want to go back home and try and sell this stinker. It is a cave on taxes. It is allowing themselves to be bullied by the President, and their constituents know it.

Update: Here is the Roll Call article on this story.

1 Comment »

In a post below I suggested that Sen. Manchin (D-WV) would regret his new openness to gun control. I think he already is. See him squirm here.

One problem with his statement is that it is so open ended, and it is so cliched. It sounds like the kind of thing any half-wit liberal commentator might say. It is not a statement that is easy to walk back from, as can be seen by the almost painful wiggling he is doing here.

No Comments »

A group of “conservative” “leaders” have issued a statement denouncing Boehner’s Plan B. The group reads like a Who’s Who of Conservative Inc. But this is the problem with opposing Conservative Inc. per se. Occasionally they get something right. They should be opposed when they are wrong and worked with when they are right. Here they are right.

Prominent conservative leaders … scheduled a press conference this afternoon to denounce Speaker John Boehner’s “Plan B” tax increase for addressing the fiscal cliff. Some are accusing Grover Norquist of giving cover to the establishment to facilitate this cave-in and hand President Barack Obama a liberal victory.

Read more…

No Comments »