Gordon Brown’s Brilliant Move

 Gordon Brown’s rendezvous with Lady Thatcher would make Machiavelli proud. His praise of her as a “conviction politician” and his recent comment of hanging her portrait in 10 Downing Street will deliver a good punch to David Cameron’s nascent Conservative Party.

Going right for the bait, Cameron flack Rob Wilson said  “Whilst some of my weak-minded colleagues are fair game for Mr Brown, Baroness Thatcher at 81 – we know she’s frail, we know she’s lonely, and she does have difficulty, without going into too much detail, with her memory,” What a tosser.

Conservative party supporters are a seperate entity than Cameron’s Conservatives. (By that I mean the way the leadership of the party is not neccesarily, and in fact is not, in fact a representation of the Party’s grassroots.) Although I have noticed that the Tories want rid of the Labour Government no matter how pathetic and incoherent their Tories are, Cameron keeps poking the eye of the Traditionalist base of the Conservative Party. To patronize Baroness Thatcher the way they did will only flare up these tensions. It will create infighting that will dominate the media cycle taking Cameron off his message.

 If you ask me, Cameron has had some really good moments lately. His support for getting rid of the marriage penalty, his recent BBC interview, his focus on crime using the term “broken society” and promising a “bare-knuckled fight” over Gordon Brown’s cuts to the NHS, were all very positive politically. Oh, and dont forget him going after Gordo for lying about the EU referendum. But then he always does something to, well… screw himself over. Why would you ever propose a tax hike on alchohol in England? Talk about electoral suicide. Why offset your proposed tax cuts with “green taxes”? I admire Dave’s effort to retake the environmental mantle from Labour, but why not do something progressive and offer tax cuts for behavior that cuts down on pollution? That could be completely unique and a policy model for the rest of the world! ugh.

A journalist friend of mine once said “politics is a guessing game”. How insightful is that? Gordon kissed Maggie’s ring and generated a few negative press releases from the Unions. But he has capitol to spend. Cameron doesn’t. Brown guessed right. He got Team Cameron to criticize Thatcher. Brown 1 Cameron 0.

Discussion on Infrastructure

crossposted from josh4viceprez

In the wake of the I-35 tragedy my hometown newspaper(Madison, WI) recently ran an editorial placing blame on the federal government for the nations failing infrasture. Im not buying it.

Money quote:If the federal limits were not applied with an eye toward denying needed infrastructure funding to states, if the federal government accepted its responsibility to maintain the bridges, roads, levies and sewers of the United States, the death and destruction that come from neglect might well have been avoided. So under the Cap Times’ constructed reality, State and local governments are waiting with baited breath as they are too incapacitated to do anything about their crumbling infrastructure. Perhaps this is why in 2004 Minnesota spent over $900 million on a light rail project. Or maybe the Cap Times wants to talk about about the Governor they endorsed using Wisconsin’s powerful veto pen on a massive raid of the transportation fund.

The article goes on to “explain” that the Federal Government does not focus on basic services like infrastructure. Lets have some fun with that one, shall we? The Capitol Times has one of the most left-wing editorial boards in the country. They are always in favor of activist and progressive government. If America truly had limited Government and didn’t go further and further beyond their basic responsibilities we would achieve the intentions (safe roads) of the Capitol Times.

If the editorial boards and the politicians want to get serious about improving the nations’s infrastructure they should look to privatization. Jack Kemp once said “No one washes a rental car.” Government has shown its ability to provide upkeep to its property. Private ownership would have every reason to keep their roads clean, sturdy, and safe.

With toll roads collecting revenue, we would have a superior system to the gas tax. First of all,toll roads are paid by the user rather than coerced from everyone who pays at the pump. Interstate users will largely be trucking companies and out of state visitors. A very progressive “tax”. Second of all, we have a hard time knowing how much to charge in gas taxes. Fuel economy standards change over time and largely improve. Federal gas tax money comes with strings attached. That is why I say the toll road route looks more efficient. With improved technology, we do not need toll booths with large lines. It is now completely possible to put a detector on a car’s windshield and charge them later. It is also possible to take photographs of every vehicle’s license plate that passes.

I understand that private roads will by nature be somewhat of a monopoly,(impossible to build a competing road) and the apprehension of losing public control over roads to private companies. At the risk of sounding like a bumper sticker, I have more trust in those closest to the ground than I have in the central planners at the DOT.

What will come of Sarkozy?

crossposted at josh4viceprez

U.S. News and World Report gives  us a report on President Sarkozy’s brief time in office and his prospects for success.

According to the story, Parliament has already passed the initiative to allow for overtime. I did not catch this reading the wires, but good news nonetheless. This would water down the 35-hour workweek. The other intitatives I am interested in are the 50
% tax ceiling and the measure to curb public strikes. This agenda could just as soon be derailed by the “street veto”. France has a history of the Unions, the students, and the scum of striking, marching, and generally raising hell simultaneously which has forced previous governments to repeal laws.

The President has also promised action on Darfur. Apparently he is going the route of an AU peacekeeping force through the United Nations.

On the political front, there is reason for optimism. Sarko enjoys about a 66% approval rating. His bipartisan cabinet strategy is looking wonderful. He is taking talent away from the Socialist Party, and surely providing headaches down at SP headquarters. It also looks good because it fulfills Sarkozy’s rhetoric about the value of merit. Let me say also of the cabinet, it is the most diverse in French history. The Left in France has given lip service to diversity and they have called Nicolas Sarkozy a racist. It is apparent now that the Socialists flap their gums, while Nick Sarkozy follows through on his promises. Back to the point, this is a leader with great political skill.

Sarkozy’s team has already given up a key provision on his higher education initiative- to give the national Universities the right to deny applicants to study more elite fields. In order to secure the release of the Bulgarian Nurses, “compensation” to the families of those affected by the dirty medical devices was given in the form of half a massive bribe. Its hard to say which way things will go. This summer will determine the President’s success. France is in the middle of his emergency summer session. We shall see how he holds up in the face of expected huge demonstrations and strikes. If President Sarkozy retreats on his reforms, fails to do anything short of saving Darfur, or gets stalled in parliament, he could end up being a straight up bust.

Michael Moore’s Angry Bigotry

I saw this on CNN, and Im glad someone else caught it.  Some cat with the alias “gop blue” at GopProgress gives us the details:

Just watched a raving Michael Moore get interviewed by Wolf Blitzer. (Little late, sorry.) When Blitzer stands by his colleague’s Sicko-skeptic claims, Moore becomes visibly heated, and says “…Dr. Saaanjay Guuuupta”, laying incredible emphasis and vitriol on his foreign name. Without doubt, it was an oblique comment on the reporter-cum-doctor’s ethnicity. What a crazy and unacceptable way to discredit a foe. Can you imagine if some righty had said that? I guess if that happened people would actually know that it took place.

my kind of political party

Crossposted at josh4viceprez

Onatrio Alternative has cropped up in our neighbors to the North.

But Silvestro said the new party aims to field 50 candidates or more in the 106-seat contest on a platform that, among other things, calls for smaller government, an end to “enforced” bilingualism and multiculturalism, across-the-board tax cuts, and allowing municipalities to de-amalgamate.
Abortion and gay marriage? “We are not going to get bogged down in social issues,” Silvestro declared, adding he does not want the new party to become a magnet for single-issue groups and voters. I get annoyed when the American Republican Party offers boutique tax cuts to their contributors and special interests instead of offering across the board tax cuts that actually help the common man, and that voters can identify with. One thing I admire about Canada is that the center-right can actually have a debate about social issues. That is something that is missing in America.

I like Stephen Harper. He is an intellectual and a man of the right. He used to talk about how Von Mises and Hayek were his heroes. After all this is a man who once said this, “Conservatives need to reassess our understanding of the modern Left. It has moved beyond old socialistic morality or even moral relativism to something much darker. It has become a moral nihilism – the rejection of any tradition or convention of morality, a post-Marxism with deep resentments, even hatreds of the norms of free and democratic western civilization.
This descent into nihilism should not be surprising because moral relativism simply cannot be sustained as a guiding philosophy. It leads to silliness such as moral neutrality on the use of marijuana or harder drugs mixed with its random moral crusades on tobacco. It explains the lack of moral censure on personal foibles of all kinds, extenuating even criminal behaviour with moral outrage at bourgeois society, which is then tangentially blamed for deviant behaviour. On the moral standing of the person, it leads to views ranging from radical responsibility-free individualism, to tribalism in the form of group rights.
Conservatives have focused on the inconsistency in all of this. Yet it is actually disturbingly consistent. It is a rebellion against all forms of social norm and moral tradition in every aspect of life. The logical end of this thinking is the actual banning of conservative views, which some legislators and “rights” commissions openly contemplate.” (Hat-tip to Robert Jones of CoPunk)
When Harper was out of Government he criticized the “jackasses” running his party for running the opposition the same way Harper is governing. Harper has forgotten his roots. It is his own fault that Ontario Alternative has sprung up. Harper’s budgets have been tremendously irresponsible and are transparently used as a way to score better poll positioning. If Canadian voters ultimately give Harper a majority rather than minority government Im not sure it would do any good.

On Fred

People are making Thompson into something hes not. The web banners proclaiming “why settle? Draft Thompson!” are astounding. He may be conservative but hes in no way a pure conservative. Hes about as conservative as John MCcain.

He is a former lobbyist, launched an ivestigation of President Clinton alleging bribery by the Chinese that turned up nothing, and lacked a record of accomplishment in the Senate as well.

Thompson was a lazy Senator and a lazy campaigner. I also think he lacks intellectual curiousity. Can anyone seriously imagine him sitting down at a think tank getting briefed on an issue like someone say… Newt Gingrich? I dont think we need another President who brags about not reading newspapers.

What is his candidacy supposed to be about?

Is Ron Paul a hypocrite?

Ron Paul is famous for being the lone vote opposing various federal programs and earmarks on constitutional grounds. He also opposes this kind of spending on limited government grounds.  So now we get this gem telling us how Dr. No cant resist in the temptation himself. The idea that Ron Paul is a purist is blatantly false. He has given up all moral authority when talking about these issues on the campaign trail. 

Milton Friedman

This is just a wondeful video.

Please watch the whole thing. Unless of course, you dont want to witness the greatest case for limited government ever made.

Brief Roundup

Happy 4th of July!

Andrew Sullivan has a series up title “what we love about America” including Hasidic Reggae and Reagan’s Pointe Du Hoc speech. (the latter being one of the best rhetorical accomplishments in my opinion)

Also check out rightontheright.com as Justin is back from his hiatus. I didnt realize how much that site is part of my daily reading until it was gone, but thankfully it is back.

Finally, Newt Gingrich has an interesting op-ed today. Click here and read the whole thing. It centers around how President Sarkozy and William Graham Sumner are models for change of the American system.

Feel free to use the comments section to discuss any of these 3 selections.

Medical Diplomacy

My former Governor Tommy Thompson has supported a policy of “medical diplomacy on the campaign trail. I completely support the idea. What it would entail is to look to our nations top medical graduate schools to give us their top students. They would go to third world countries all around the world to build hospitals, provide equipment and provide care. The image of young Americans going around the world to provide health care would be powerful one.

My reasoning for supporting this is not so much the altruism behind this program, but the increase in America’s soft power. I believe that anti-Americanism has risen lately, and I believe it is a problem. I also believe it can be combated. First of all, I think that any person who loves their country should want the best image for it. Second of all, anti-Americanism threatens American interests. Medical diplomacy in the muslim world will combat Islamic terrorism. If young Muslim men see America providing care, more and more will see America as a force for good. The terrorist recruiters who prey on anger, hatred, and extremism will have a smaller pool to recruit from. Moderate Muslims will have a strengthened hand as they argue against anti-Americanism. Not just in the Muslim world but all around the globe, the Tony Blair’s and Nicolas Sarkozy’s of the world will be able to talk about medical diplomacy as they use their try to persuade others that anti-Americanism is a foolish indulgence.

I am not advocating a program that would serve entire nations. It would have to be done on a small scale. Admittedly, it is mainly for public relations purposes that I support this plan. I believe in the power of images, and I’ll strongly support means to use them to support the interests of my country.