Follow Me On Twitter!

Please join me on Twitter @MonicaCrowley

Tweet

Moving Stuff Around

President Obama is on a campaign swing through some pivotal states, and he just said this about the economy:

"On Tuesday at the State of the Union, I laid out my vision for how we move forward. I laid out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last, that has a firm foundation. Where we're making stuff and selling stuff and moving it around and UPS drivers are dropping things off everywhere. That's the economy we want. An economy built on American manufacturing, with more good jobs and more products made here in the United States of America."

Making stuff. Selling stuff. Moving it around. UPS drivers dropping stuff off.

And George W. Bush was supposed to be the idiot?

Obama, with the supposed "genius" IQ, talks about the economy like a 2nd grader. And then people wonder why we had pathetic GDP growth of 1.7% in 2011. The White House had predicted 4.3% growth for last year, as well as for this year and next. Apparently, however, there isn't enough "moving stuff around" as we see from this anemic growth. It doesn't take a "genius" IQ to understand why: redistributionist, high-tax, big regulatory policies suffocate the free market until it can't function. Which is precisely the objective of the "genius" IQ sitting in the White House.

I think, come next November, there will be more "stuff" being "moved around." Starting with Obama's personal belongings from the White House Residence. He can get a UPS driver to drop it all off in Chicago.

Wisconsin vs. Illinois

Illinois is being run the way Obama is running the nation. His home state is a microcosm of the country under Obama. With its tax hikes, stifling regulations and astronomical government-union obligations, Illinois just received a credit downgrade. Meanwhile, next door in Wisconsin, Republican Scott Walker led his state through reforms that spurred Moody's to praise the state's budget and give the state a positive outlook. This great news for Wisconsin's taxpayers is being met with a Democrat and union-led effort to recall Walker. His heroic actions to save his state are under assault, as is he. We've got to support Walker---and Kasich and Christie and other Governors who have the cojones to take on the government unions on behalf of their taxpayers, which would be us.

Here is a fantastic editorial on the contrast between Wisconsin and Illinois, published this week by the Wall Street Journal. It's worth reading---and reading again.

The Greece Next Door
Illinois gets a credit downgrade, in contrast to Wisconsin
Wall Street Journal
January 20, 2012

Run up spending and debt, raise taxes in the naming of balancing the budget, but then watch as deficits rise and your credit-rating falls anyway. That's been the sad pattern in Europe, and now it's hitting that mecca of tax-and-spend government known as Illinois.

Though too few noticed, this month Moody's downgraded Illinois state debt to A2 from A1, the lowest among the 50 states. That's worse even than California. The state's cost of borrowing for $800 million of new 10-year general obligation bonds rose to 3.1%-which is 110 basis points higher than the 2% on top-rated 10-year bonds of more financially secure states.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Only a year ago, Governor Pat Quinn and his fellow Democrats raised individual income taxes by 67% and the corporate tax rate by 46%. They did it to raise $7 billion in revenue, as the Governor put it, to "get Illinois back on fiscal sound footing" and improve the state's credit rating.

So much for that. In its downgrade statement, Moody's panned Illinois lawmakers for "a legislative session in which the state took no steps to implement lasting solutions to its severe pension underfunding or to its chronic bill payment delays." An analysis by Bloomberg finds that the assets in the pension fund will only cover "45% of projected liabilities, the least of any state." And-no surprise-in part because the tax increases have caused companies to leave Illinois, the state budget office confesses that as of this month the state still has $6.8 billion in unpaid bills and unaddressed obligations.

It's worth contrasting this grim picture with that of Wisconsin north of the border. Last winter Madison was occupied by thousands of union protesters trying to bully legislators to defeat Republican Governor Scott Walker's plan to require government workers to pay a larger share of their health-plan costs, and to shore up the pension system by trimming future retirement liabilities. The reforms passed anyway.

In contrast to the Illinois downgrade, Moody's has praised Mr. Walker's budget as "credit positive for Wisconsin," adding that the money-saving reforms bring "the state's finances closer to a structural budgetary balance." As a result, Wisconsin jumped in Chief Executive magazine's 2011 ranking of each state's business climate-moving to 17th from 41st. Illinois dropped to 48th from 45th as ranked by the nation's top CEOs.

Yet Mr. Walker, who balanced the budget without new taxes, is the governor facing a union-financed attempt to recall him from office this year. If Wisconsin voters want to see where a state ends up without the kind of reforms that Mr. Walker made, they need only look to the Greece next door.

Whats New, Barack? Nothing.

It's often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. President Obama keeps giving us the same thing---the same policies, the same rhetoric, the same tone---over and over again. I'm not sure he expects a different result, though. And that's the point: he's neither insane nor stupid. He's a pure leftist ideologue who will not---indeed, cannot---change.

And so in last night's State of the Union address, he gave us more of the same warmed-over, failed stuff: more spending, more government programs (six new federal programs in the first 30 minutes alone!), more lip-service to debt reduction, more class warfare, more wealth redistribution, more self-aggrandizement. He actually used the same words---verbatim!---from speeches he gave in 2010 and 2011. His speechwriters have a fondness for beer-pong, and apparently they're playing a lot of it these days. No need to change his words when he hasn't changed policies or intentions.

If anyone is still wondering who this man is, what he believes, and what he intends to do, last night's speech should have cleared that up. In fact, since he announced his candidacy in 2007, every speech, every policy, every action he has taken should have cleared it up. Still, many people refuse to see it. A pity, since it's all right there in front of us. Last night's leftist Alinsky hoedown had him once again doubling down on his radical agenda. No one should be surprised.

He is a totally committed leftist. In many ways, it would be more comforting if he were insane.

Flies In A Bottle

Here's why the GOP presidential race and whom we settle on as the ultimate nominee matters: Politico reports today that the White House has been telling progressives that they're going to "love" Obama's State of the Union address tonight. If we don't defeat Obama in November, America will be gone. And once she's gone, that's it. Game over. For us and the rest of the world.

Last night's GOP debate put the two-man, four-man race into bold relief. Rick Santorum had some great moments and looks like a mature, responsible adult with real, conservative solutions to our grave problems. Ron Paul had his fine moments too, particularly when he schooled the others and the audience about an out-of-control federal government, spending, the debt, inflation and the Fed. But right now, they are in the second tier---a close second tier, but second tier nonetheless. Paul is staying in until the bitter end, although even he admits he's not going to win the nomination. He's aiming to have an impact on the convention and the party platform. Santorum is moving forward on the glow of his Iowa win and still has some traction, but he's going to have to really outperform in Florida's primary next week to continue.

That leaves the top tier, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Newt is coming off his smashing victory in South Carolina, and Mitt is coming out swinging. Both of them got locked into a rather petty death match over tax returns, resigning in disgrace, and Fannie and Freddie consulting. On the one hand, I suppose it's good to have them get it all out of their systems now, get all the hits on the table, and start to innoculate the voting public to the negative stuff. On the other hand, they looked like two flies stuck in a bottle, hitting the sides and each other as they fail to realize the top of the bottle is open and they could fly out at any time.

Here's my advice to both of them: Quit the attacks on each other. Redirect them toward Barack Obama and his disastrous policies. Launch a charm offensive---toward each other and toward the voters. Be gracious. Be aggressive but positive. Keep your eyes on the Big Prize: defeating Obama.

I know, I know---going negative works. But both Mitt and Newt must remember that voters aren't just judging policies, ideology and intellect. They're judging temperament. Show a steadiness and a warm graciousness. Be passionate about America and how to fix her deep problems. Direct your fire toward the incumbent who is ruining her. We don't want an embittered, pissed-off candidate. We want an exuberant standard bearer---particularly since we can't rely on solid conservatism from either Mitt or Newt.

So, guys: fly out of the bottle and elevate the debate, the race and your own candidacies. Only one can win the nomination, but nobody in this race will regret taking that path.