The Death of the Golden State

Those who've read this blog for awhile know that I was a Californian for a decade. I lived in the most beautiful city in America--San Diego--and would not hesitate to return if I could. I love the state, it's people and the ability to do everything from ski to hike in the desert to swim in the Pacific Ocean all in one day.

That said, my former home state is dying a slow but predictable death.

Onerous government regulation has driven even the most loyal businesses out of state in a migration that has nearby states like Arizona, Oregon and Nevada reaping the benefits. Mexico has also seen a nice influx of exasperated business owners taking their wares to less oppressive climes.

From strict environmental regulation to insane tax laws, the reasons are myriad. Businesses want to stay and have developed deep roots in the state but in this economy are making the decision to pick up and go. We may be seeing another example soon:

Everything was fine until the city started running out of money in 2007. Suddenly, the city announced that it was going to ignore its own ruling and reclassify us in the higher tax category. Even more incredible is the fact that the new classification was to be imposed retroactively to 2004 with interest and penalties. No explanation was given for the new classification, or for the city's decision to ignore its 1994 ruling.

Their official position is that the city is not bound by past rulings -- only taxpayers are. This is why we have been forced to file a lawsuit. We will let the courts decide whether it is legal for adverse rulings to apply only to taxpayers and not to the city.

We work with hundreds of outside agents, consultants, independent contractors and support services -- many of whom pay taxes to the city of Los Angeles. This spurs a job-creating ripple effect on the city's economy. Yet I suspect many companies like ours already have quietly left town in the face of the city's taxes and regulations. This would help explain the erosion of jobs.

Regardless of the outcome of our case, the arbitrary and capricious behavior of some bureaucrats is creating a lose-lose situation for everyone involved. If we win in court, the taxpayers of Los Angeles will have lost because all those tax dollars will have been wasted on needless litigation.

If we lose in court, the remaining taxpayers in Los Angeles will have lost because their burden will continue to swell as yet another business moves its jobs -- and taxpayers -- to another city.

The Governator has mired the state in the worst recession seen in decades by his own policies. Instead of being pro-business or at least semi pro-business, he's taken the liberal Republican route and increased environmental regulation. He's done nothing to tackle the immigration problem and has instituted a tax policy that is so regressive as to make it socialistic.

Californians have watched home prices decline to one-half the level they once were and taxes have increased on even the smallest products. From San Francisco down to San Ysidro, inane regulations coupled with massive job losses have placed a burden on the state that will take years to get out from under.

Were a smarter approach of massive tax cuts in concert with healthy government layoffs implemented, the state would be in a much better financial situation and would still be the economic engine that drives the country. Instead it's now a third-rate state with a horrible credit rating and a really nice environmental record.

Congratulations.

Job Market a Mess Despite Media Sugarcoating

The job market is a gauge as to how we are progressing in this recession. By the looks of it, it's still a regression:

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, initial claims were 577,506.

“The improvement in first week of July was exaggerated by the timing of plant closures,” Vitner said. “This is something we’re going to be dealing with throughout the month.”

Meanwhile, the number of people requesting continued jobless benefits rose to a record high, indicating that the labor market remains weak.

The government said continuing claims rose to 6,883,000 in the week ended June 27, the most recent data available.

That’s an increase of 159,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 6,724,000 and was the highest reading since the Labor Department began keeping records in 1967.

Since 1967? That includes the recessions of the seventies, early 80's and the nineties. Things are bad and this is the single most striking example that the stimulus bill was a sham (a sham wholly-owned by the Democrats)and nothing more than a sop to Democratic politicians to give to there constituencies and for state governors to use to pay debt. It created no significant jobs in any area with the possible exception of government.

The money should have been targeted for infrastructure as Obama claimed it would and also used to cut taxes to spur growth as Reagan did. Instead we have the NEA meting out $10K here and there that accomplishes nothing more than putting a few pennies in the wallet of a sixth-rate artist in Chicago.

So how did CNN headline this story of utter failure? About how you'd expect them to:

Fewer than expected file for unemployment

This is spin on a grand scale but sadly expected from a once-proud news organization that is mired in last place at all time slots.

Things are bad and Obama is paying for it on a daily basis. His popularity will continue to wane as people see their life savings dwindle and the price of their house head into a ditch. "Sorry junior, I know you wanted to go to Notre Dame but we can only afford community college right now (unless we send you to the U of Michigan where there are quotas)" is a new refrain being heard throughout the nation.

This is Obama's recession now and any economist with any shred of dignity (Paul Krugman should be removed from all discussions on the economy for the next forty years) will have to finally admit that spending during a recession is not only poor fiscal policy but is poor political policy as well. At the end of his first term, Obama may well supplant Jimmy Carter as the worst president of the last fifty years.

TelePrompter-less Obama Makes Bush Sound Like Tony Blair

In the latest installment of the What Would the Media Have Said Were It Bush section, we have The One stumbling and mumbling through a day in Moscow:

Mr. Obama has seemed tired here, several times fumbling the pronunciation of Mr. Medvedev’s name and Mr. Putin’s title. Beginning a speech here, he mistakenly said he first met his wife in school instead of at the law firm where they actually met. And he misstated his younger daughter’s age.

He was quick on his feet, however, while addressing graduates of the New Economic School. In praising Russian culture, Mr. Obama cited painters, composers, dancers — and a hockey player, The Associated Press reported.

Got that? He screwed up the name of the Russian leader, obliterated the title of the new-age czar, forgot where he met his wife and got the age of his own daughter wrong. Taken alone each would be a case of misspeaking oneself but put together and we have the continuation of a trend. You take the Most Eloquent President Ever away from prepared text and he's almost as prone to verbal gaffes as his Vice President.

If this were Bush, we'd be subjected to an endless loop of the errors on MSNBC and it would be front-page news in the Washington Post and NY Times instead of a blurb in the middle of a story, which tells us it was because he was tired. I guess Bush wasn't allowed to get tired. Besides, citing painters, composers and dancers is something that Bush never would have done because he was an uncultured redneck from Texas so there.

Not to mention the fact that he's now dissed two leaders of major European nations.

He's now off to Rome where he will get the names of the Japanese and Chinese leaders wrong while the media chalks it up to jetlag. He may want to spell Berlusconi's name out phonetically on the inside of his hand since the electrical outlets in Rome are different and the teleprompter may not work there either.

About Those Peter King Comments

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) had some intriguing comments about the absolute media meltdown over the death of Michael Jackson:

A New York congressman says Michael Jackson was a "pervert" and calls on society to stop "glorifying" the late entertainer in a YouTube video.

Rep. Peter King said Jackson -- whom he called a "low-life" -- is being glorified in the days after his death while society ignores the efforts, of teachers, police officers, firefighters and veterans. In the two-minute video, King claims the "day in and day out" coverage of Jackson's death is "too politically correct."

"Let's knock out the psychobabble," King said in the video taped outside an American Legion Hall on New York's Long Island. "He was a pervert, a child molester; he was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country? I just think we're too politically correct."

Yesterday we were force-fed coverage of Michael Jackson's memorial service. We couldn't avoid Al Sharpton eulogizing Jackson or the medias fawning tribute.

Let's be honest here; the man was a freak. He was a talented black man who opted to become a white man through surgery. He had a strange habit of taking in families with young kids and sleeping with those kids. It was never proven that anything untoward happened and even if nothing did, that's just plain weird.

King was on the mark with his comments IMHO and it's about time America gets our priorities straight. Seven young men died in a war that even Obama considers just. They died defending freedom and fighting those who attacked us. Jackson died from an apparent drug overdose after living a life of insane luxury in which he practiced some very odd habits.

We, as a culture, glorify those who least deserve it. Jackson had talent but he also did things that, were he not famous, would have been immoral at best and illegal at worst. Imagine if the dude down the street asked for a sleepover with your kids. Now imagine if he looked like Michael Jackson.

I support those who deserve my support. The firemen, cops and and military men and women who protect the freedoms that allow a man like Michael Jackson to live his life and die as he did. They've earned my support and Rep. King was stating was should be crystal clear to anyone who gets their news from a source other than MTV or TMZ. Even the grief of a mother gets downplayed to focus on Jackson coverage.

Video below:

Obama, Palin and Ethics

The left has had a field day labeling Sarah Palin a "quitter" and other choice words in the midst of her recent press conference saying she would step down from office. It was the icing on top of a seven=tier cake filled with unceasing attacks or her and her children. Attacks that, has they been aimed at a Democrat woman, would be discredited in every op-ed page in the nation.

Anyone who watched and more importantly, listenened would have seen that she had other reasons and they weren't purely political. How could anyone stand the withering garbage sent her way daily by a legion of scumbag bloggers who threw everything out and didn't care if it had one iota of credence. This raging horde was led by a once-respectable writer--Andrew Sullivan--who has obsessed over the birth of one of Palin's children to the point of insanity.

The WSJ breaks down the real reason for Palin's leaving:

Contrary to most reports, her decision had been in the works for months, accelerating recently as it became clear that controversies and endless ethics investigations were threatening to overshadow her legislative agenda. "Attacks inside Alaska and largely invisible to the national media had paralyzed her administration," someone close to the governor told me. "She was fully aware she would be branded a 'quitter.' She did not want to disappoint her constituents, but she was no longer able to do the job she had been elected to do. Essentially, the taxpayers were paying for Sarah to go to work every day and defend herself."

This situation developed because Alaska's transparency laws allow anyone to file Freedom of Information Act requests. While normally useful, in the hands of political opponents FOIA requests can become a means to bog down a target in a bureaucratic quagmire, thanks to the need to comb through records and respond by a strict timetable. Similarly, ethics investigations are easily triggered and can drag on for months even if the initial complaint is flimsy. Since Ms. Palin returned to Alaska after the 2008 campaign, some 150 FOIA requests have been filed and her office has been targeted for investigation by everyone from the FBI to the Alaska legislature. Most have centered on Ms. Palin's use of government resources, and to date have turned up little save for a few state trips that she agreed to reimburse the state for because her children had accompanied her. In the process, though, she accumulated $500,000 in legal fees in just the last nine months, and knew the bill would grow ever larger in the future.

"The Alaska ethics elves had painted such a target on Sarah's forehead that she had begun turning down pretty much every invitation she got -- even though they were pouring in every day by the dozens," a confidant of the governor's told me. "It is not throwing in the towel. It is deciding that she was ineffective in fighting for her principles and could do more in another role."

About what I thought when I first heard the news--she stepped down to ensure her legislative agenda would move forward and her Lt. Gov. would be in a position to win and push for the changes that she now cannot.

Her political adversaries used the laws of the state in ways that weren't imagined previously and were backed by the heft of the Democratic party. They set out not to weaken her but to destroy her and piss on the corpse.

On another note, the part above I emphasised is amusing when juxtaposed with this:

Both Obama daughters are along for the ride this time around because school is out of session back in the Washington, D.C., area, allowing them to travel overseas on weekdays without missing classes. On an earlier presidential visit to France, Sasha and Malia showed up in Paris on a weekend after school was done for the week.

Asked if having his daughters joining his wife on a high-profile trip helps take the edge off the tough diplomatic negotiations, Obama told CNN it's fantastic to have his girls "being able to see the world and then report back to us on what they are seeing" on the trip, which included the daughters getting to check out the Kremlin.

"You know it makes a huge difference," said the president. "The girls are just a joy. And then Michelle just, she's always — she's a star at home and abroad."

This is a business trip paid for by the American people and the man has taken his family again. What about reimbursement for them?

This is the fifth foreign trip. He's been in office a little over 5 months. Not even mentioning the overnights to NYC to see a play or the frequent trips around the nation, the guy is spending huge amounts of money to prance around a stage. I'm guessing his teleprompter alone has enough frequent flier miles to go to the moon and back. The media just eat it up led by the once-great CNN.

Anyway, Palin is not gone but has shifted to a position where she can do more for the party. She left Alaska better than she got it and will be a strategic part of the GOP for the foreseeable future.

Let's finish with this incredibly idiotic letter from a typical Dem:

Gov. Sarah Palin gave Alaskans the best present possible this July Fourth weekend by proclaiming her intention to resign later this month. It's obvious Palin should never have been governor in the first place.

One hopes that some of the ground lost by our nation's largest state can now be regained; that Palin can have plenty of time to devote to her family; and that all of those who shivered when Sen. John McCain tapped her to be his vice presidential running mate can continue marveling at how history has played out.

Good riddance.

Susan Kross

Ellenville, N.Y.

sbkross@hotmail.com

Should never have been governor in the first place? She was elected by a decent margin and forced out machine politicians. She pushed through a pipeline that had been stagnant for years and cut taxes leaving the state financially ready to deal with the Obama recession. Look at the other states--including New York Ms. Kross--and tell me that the liberal stronghold on that state has been a boon or that Paterson or Spitzer had one-third the impact that Palin has in making their state better.

You, Ms. Kross, are a typical liberal. Misogyny and sexism are abhorrent when aimed at a liberal woman but the barrage aimed at Palin is okay because it's for the greater socialist good. You are a hypocrite and incredibly wrong and should ridiculed for such an inane and infantile stance.

One day history will take a clearer view on Palin and what was done to her through the concerted efforts of the Democrats and media. One suspects that Palin will be revealed as an even bigger victim than we know now. I would hope that those who are perpetrating these acts against her and her family would feel some shame but I further suspect that people like you, Ms. Kross, have none.

Monday Evening News and Notes

Posting light over the weekend as I was in Virginia with my son in a baseball tournament. Nothing more American than that. His team didn't do so well but I assistant-coached a 14U team that took the championship over a team from Harrisburg. I was proud of kids who I just met this weekend and bonded with pretty quick.

Anyway, here's the news:

--A good piece on global warming alarmism from AJ Fluerh. This from DC Writeup where you can read opinion on just about anything.

--On a similar note, the green police are coming after you if you reside in merrie olde England.

--Bush library to display the pistol Saddam Hussein's was carrying when we smoked him out of the spider hole. He won't be needing it anymore so I see no problems with it.

--About what I expected; the American public is steering a wide path away from GM and Chrysler--both now essentially owned and operated by the government and unions--and heading to non-government owned Ford.

--Why do I have a sinking feeling that Obama's going to get hoodwinked by Medvedev? Our guy was schooled in the fine art of diplomacy and leadership by the likes of ACORN while theirs was schooled by the former head of the KGB.

--Obama runs for office on the governments dime and no one says anything. Sarah Palin decides to do the right thing and not make the state pay for her political ambition and it's the top story for days. The left hates Palin even more than Bush at this point and sure as hell don't say that lightly.

--Reuters is up to their old tricks again. Why do these MSM idiots still believe they can get away with this kind of bullshit?

Sarah Palin to Resign Governorship July 26

A stunner in some respects. She's banking on a national run and will need to revamp her image and start raising money to even think of competing:

WASILLA, Alaska -- In a stunning announcement, Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday morning she will resign her office in a few weeks.

Speculation has swirled for weeks, perhaps months that Palin would not seek re-election in 2010 as she pursues a political career on the national stage. The former vice presidential candidate has long been rumored to be considering a run at the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

Palin did not address those rumors at the press conference at her Wasilla home, during which she did not take questions from reporters.

She implied that her real decision was not to seek re-election, and that the resignation was a natural step after that in order to avoid a lame-duck final 18 months of her term.

"With this announcement that I'm not seeking re-election, I've determined it's best to transfer the authority of governor to Lieutenant Governor (Sean) Parnell," Palin said. "I'm determined to take the right path for Alaska, even though it is unconventional and is not so comfortable.

"And I am willing to do this so this administration, with its positive agenda and its accomplishments and its successful road to an incredible future for Alaska, so that it can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success."

It does make her seem that she cares for the state first and her aspirations second. Plus it will give the Lt. Gov. a leg up and some critical executive time in office.

I don't know about her chances but it should be fun watching her batle the Dems and her GOP enemies on a daily basis for a while.

Celebrating Independence Day

Tomorrow we celebrate that most American of holidays. It was 233-years ago that forward-thinking men threw off the shackles of tyranny and declared themselves and our new nation free. A few more years of war would settle the deal but this was a shot in the arm for the colonial army at a time it needed it. The Declaration of Independence solidified our reasoning and put us on a path of no return.

It was great men who fought for our freedom; George Washington being the most famous. But other men deserve recognition and I wish to provide that this morning.

Daniel Morgan:
Born in New Jersey and raised in Virginia, Morgan was a frontiersman and lifelong warrior. He gained some measure of renown in the French & Indian War before showing how good of a commander he was during the revolutionary war. He saved "Granny" Gates at the 2nd Battle of Saratoga and forced a surrender by British leader Burgoyne.

He showed his true ability to lead an army at the battle at Cowpens. He implemented a battle strategy so brilliant he beat the hated British Lt. Col. Tarleton. The battle was won and the course of the war was changed forever.

Nathaneal Greene:
Greene was a self-taught military man and effective leader. He knew who to promote, who to trust and how to keep British General Cornwallis chasing shadows throughout the South.

It was a bold move for Washington to promote and give Greene the responsibilities he did. He was repaid with a good General and an even better confidante.

Henry Knox:
Knox, from Boston scored the single-greatest coup in my opinion of the war. He led a group of men to Fort Ticonderoga and slogged through rough weather and tough paths to Boston with an arsenal of British weapons that the continentals had captured. This move forced the Brits to quit Boston and gave the city back to the Americans--a significant victory and one that bolstered early hopes.

I recommend several books if you want to read more about these great men and others who fought for the cause.

-Jeff Shaara's The Glorious Cause is my favorite and well worth your time this summer.


-David McCullough's 1776 id another good read although I was more intrigued by Shaara's character development.

-A Short History of the American Revolution by James Stokebury is an excellent book that covers the important events in a terse yet surprisingly entertaining manner.

Text of the Declaration of Independence can be found here along with names and states of those who had the guts to sign it.


Enjoy the holiday.

Marines in "Hell of a Fight" in Afghanistan

4,000 Marines are taking it to the Taliban in Helmand Province and are expected to have a tough go. Obama--and by extension the media--haven't talked at all about the war against the Taliban and the fight to wrest control of areas causing problems because they have more important issues to cover like Michael Jackson and faux town hall meetings.

Anyway, our warriors are taking it to the radical Islamic groups in what could be a critical battle. Here's the gist from AFP:

GARMSIR, Afghanistan (AFP) — US Marines are in a "hell of a fight" as they storm into Taliban strongholds in a major assault in Afghanistan, their commanding officer said on Friday.

Nearly 4,000 Marines launched the operation Thursday in parts of the southern province of Helmand, suffering their first fatality in a pivotal test of President Barack Obama's aggressive new strategy against the Taliban.

The 1/5 Infantry Battalion met only light resistance in their push south and had already been able to meet locals at shuras (councils), Brigadier General Larry Nicholson said, speaking to a convoy with which AFP was travelling.

But "for 2/8 there is a hell of a fight going on in the southern quarter of the sector," the top Marine said on arrival at Garmsir, a town along the Helmand River that was a key objective for the offensive.

"2/8 are going to face some challenges," he said. The Marines were in an area called Toshtay about 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of Garmsir.

This is a crucial area as the Taliban (and Iran?) are running weapons through the Pakistan border into the province. It's proximity to Quetta makes it a hard slog but it should be a target rich environment. Progress seems to be good:

Nicholson later told AFP separately: "Garmsir is three-quarters quiet but there is fighting in Toshtay. We intend to clear that up today. This doesn't mean it is over. The enemy may be reassessing the situation."

On the launch of Operation Khanjar before dawn on Thursday, Nicholson told his group that 4,000 Marines had been inserted in nearly eight hours, about half of them by helicopter.

Helmand Governor Gulab Mangal was "giggling with excitement" at the progress, Nicholson said. "I know the governor and I have never seen him like this."

No word on the name or rank of the Marine who was KIA. My prayers go out to his family and for him I can only say thanks for giving everything in the pursuit of freedom for the oppressed. No word on the soldier captured yesterday either.

Google map of the area here. AFP map of the operation below:

Update: The word is they are not meeting as much resistance as they thought they would. Good news.

The Nightmare Continues: Unemployment at 9.5%

It was a disastrous day for the economy; the nation lost 467,000 jobs in June and the signs going forward are not promising despite what the Obama administration says or the rosy picture they are trying to paint:

The payroll decline was more than forecast and followed a 322,000 drop in May, according to Labor Department figures released today in Washington. The jobless rate jumped to 9.5 percent, the highest since August 1983, from 9.4 percent.

Unemployment is projected to keep rising for the rest of the year just as the income boost from the stimulus package fades, undermining prospects for a sustained rebound in household purchases, analysts said. As companies from General Motors Corp. to Kimberly-Clark Corp. cut costs, the lack of jobs will restrain growth.

“This will be another jobless recovery,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. “We may get positive economic growth driven largely by federal spending, but people on the street will say, ‘Where are the jobs?’”

And that will translate to continuing lower approval numbers for The One.

This is a bad recession and one we will not easily find our way out of. When Bush faced the recession in 2000, he cut taxes and Americans continued to spend. That's not happening now as people are downright scared. Bush didn't use scare tactics but reassured us to spend away and we'll be okay. The promises that came with the stimulus bill as laid out by the administration have not come to fruition and probably won't for another 8-12 months.

It's a meltdown of the likes we haven't seen since the depression and he's following FDR's plan to the letter even though it made things worse.

Looking on the bright side since I'm an optimist; this should prove once and for all that spending never, ever gets a nation out of economic turmoil.

Thursday Afternoon News & Notes

Today is about a close to feeling like a Friday as any day but a Friday can. Enjoy the Fourth, I'm headed down to Virginia for a baseball tourney with my boy.

Here's what's new is this crazy-ass world:

-A joint Russian-Nigerian oil conglomerate chooses a highly unfortunate name.

-Saddam told the FBI that he lied about WMD to fool Iran. He also fooled Dick Cheney, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, Joe Biden...

-Some never-was on CNBC claims he received "veiled death threats" from bloggers over comments against the blogosphere. I've never heard of the guy and he doesn't show up in too many hits on Google. I guess he's going for that cool lib street cred or something. BTW, WTF is a "veiled death threat?"

-WaPo conducts fastest damage control in history after flyer's offering access to top pols for money distributed.

-US Soldier captured by Taliban after being "sold" by insurgents. The terrorists say they will release a video soon. Pray for the man.

Wednesday Morning News and Notes

It's been an interesting week to say the least. Posting down due to work obligations and I don't make enough here to sit around in my PJ's all week and pump out posts.

Anyway, here's what's new in the world:

-Hope and change is clearly in effect as the world is laughing at the Gaffe Master in Chief and his crony sidekick The Bumbler.

-California has sunk to unbelievable lows of late. Can The Governator sit back for a sec and take stock in the fact that leading like a Democrat, spending inane amounts on illegal aliens and taking a non-business approach to environmental issues have gotten him here?

-The ugly face of liberalism. Add Obama to that group:

-Al Franken is now a US senator. If that is not enough to make people think we are a joke, nothing will.

-The Palin saga continues with the obligatory creepiness from the deranged Andrew Sullivan. For the record, she would be one of our better-looking presidents:

Two Issues That Will Help the GOP in 2010

The GOP has had a tin ear when it comes to sensing issues that will not rally the base but elicit a response from Democrats and Independents. The last week has given them two.

The first would be the Iranian situation. Obama's tepid response to those who seek only a small semblance of freedom should be point number 1A when it comes to ads during the next cycle. He essentially sold them out and that should be played out to the fullest. Here we saw--in real time--the quashing of the seeds of a revolution where people begged The One to respond in their favor and he punted.

Next we have the Cap and Trade fiasco. Americans are wavering on the entire global warming hysteria and the passage of that bill by the House with--what one can hope is a defeat in the Senate--should be point number one. Obama pushed for a bill that would or could raise the utility prices of the average American dramatically.

If the GOP had any coherence, they'd play it up as a tax during a major recession. Rasmussen has a huge gap between those who think it would help or hurt the economy:

Americans have mixed feelings about the historic climate change bill that passed the House on Friday, but 42% say it will hurt the U.S. economy.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 19% believe the climate change bill passed by the House on Friday will help the economy. Fifteen percent (15%) say it will have no impact, and 24% are not sure.

A majority of both Republicans (56%) and adults not affiliated with either major political party (52%) think the bill will hurt the economy. Among Democrats, however, 30% say it will help the economy, 23% that it will hurt and 21% say it will have no impact.

Hell, only 30% of Dems have any hope it will help and those are the green liberals and Kool-Aid drinkers who haunt the fringe. It's a loser and one that should embolden the GOP going into the health care fight and the next election cycle.

Here's to hoping the bastards don't blow it as they have so many times before.