The Intransigent Conservative: Wednesday's Write-up

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Wednesday's Write-up


Happy 102nd Birthday to the 16th Republican President -- Ronald Reagan (photo from The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation)

@ColeToon

View the story "Wednesday's Write-up (2/6/13)" on Storify Wednesday's Write-up (2/6/13) http://theintransigentconservative.blogspot.com Storified by Brian Empric· Wed, Feb 06 2013 16:10:07 Dr. E. Fuller Torrey (research psychiatrist and founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center) writes that President John F. Kennedy's dream of replacing state mental hospitals with federally funded community mental-health centers (CMHCs) is now a hugely expensive nightmare, and the federal government has effectively destroyed the mental illness treatment system.

“President Kennedy's proposal was historic because the public care of mentally ill individuals had been exclusively a state responsibility for more than a century. The federal initiative encouraged the closing of state hospitals and aborted the development of state-funded outpatient clinics in process at that time.”

“It has now become politically correct to claim that this federal program failed because not enough centers were funded and not enough money was spent. In fact, it failed because it did not provide care for the sickest patients released from the state hospitals. When President Ronald Reagan finally block-granted federal CMHC funds to the states in 1981, he was not killing the program. He was disposing of the corpse.”

“Approximately half of the mentally ill individuals discharged from state mental hospitals, many of whom had family support, sought outpatient treatment and have done well. The other half, many of whom lack family support and suffer from the most severe illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, have done poorly… According to multiple studies summarized by the Treatment Advocacy Center, these untreated mentally ill are responsible for 10% of all homicides (and a higher percentage of the mass killings), constitute 20% of jail and prison inmates and at least 30% of the homeless.”

“Altogether, the annual total public funds for the support and treatment of mentally ill individuals is now more than $140 billion… The evidence is overwhelming that this federal experiment has failed, as seen most recently in the mass shootings by mentally ill individuals in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., and Tucson, Ariz. It is time for the federal government to get out of this business and return the responsibility, and funds, to the states.” E. Fuller Torrey: Fifty Years of Failing America's Mentally Ill http://on.wsj.com/Xk2jcmOpinion & Commentary Jonathan S. Tobin writes that Michigan congressman Justin Amash thinks that we should mind our manners when tweeting about the abhorrent Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the leader of a tyrannical, terrorist regime and an anti-Semitic Holocaust denier.

“Republican Justin Amash is a second generation Palestinian-American and is apparently under the impression that any comparison of even one of the vilest figures on the international stage to a monkey is a sign of racism against Persians or perhaps prejudice against Muslims and Arabs.”

“Race is the third rail of American politics and any comment that smacks of hatred is abhorrent. But the attempt to depict Ahmadinejad as a victim of Western prejudice lacks credibility. The day that Americans can’t crack wise about a purveyor of hatred is one in which we not only have lost our sense of humor but also our moral compass.”

“Indeed, the problem with Ahmadinejad is that too many Americans don’t take the hatred and the existential threat his regime poses to Israel as well as to the security of the world seriously because he is a comic figure and so easily lampooned.”

“Amash is probably trying to use McCain’s tweet to further the popular idea that American Muslims and Arabs are suffering under the burden of prejudice. Though the post-9/11 backlash is more myth than reality, it would have been a terrible thing had McCain actually slurred Muslims or Persians. But he didn’t. He just made a joke about Ahmadinejad and the poor primate that is alleged to have been strapped into a rocket by his terrorist masters… Amash’s faux outrage about the insult directed at the Iranian president tells us more about his priorities than it does about those of McCain.” A nation that can't joke about a hatemonger has lost its sense of humor & its moral compass. thttp://goo.gl/TxcCoJonathan S. Tobin So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space - wasn't he just there last week? "Iran launches monkey into space" http://news.yahoo.com/iran-launches-monkey-space-showing-missile-progress-003037176.htmlJohn McCain Re: Iran space tweet - lighten up folks, can't everyone take a joke?John McCain Maybe you should wisen up & not make racist jokes. “@SenJohnMcCain: Re: Iran space tweet - lighten up folks, can't everyone take a joke?”Justin Amash Investor’s Business Daily opines that we must deny Egypt military aid after President Mohammed Morsi’s indisputably anti-Semitic remarks - when he called Jews the “descendants of apes and pigs” and “blood-suckers” during a television broadcast in 2010.

“We know that Morsi is the Mideast darling of this administration. The Muslim Brotherhood honcho was groomed by the State Department to replace longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

“But his viciously anti-Semitic remarks, recorded on Egyptian TV not long before he took power, should instantly disqualify him from such military aid.”

“Dear Brothers,” he exhorted Egyptian Muslims, “we must not forget to nurse our children and grandchildren on hatred towards those Zionists and Jews, and all who support them.”

“Last year, the administration shipped the first of a batch of 20 new F-16 fighter jets and 125 Abrams M1A1 tanks to Egypt… It plans to deliver the entire order to Morsi by the end of this year.”

“Morsi, further, has formalized ties with Hamas and Tehran, sworn enemies of Israel. At the same time, he's threatened to torpedo the Camp David pact by referendum, knowing the majority of Egyptians favor tearing up the 30-year peace deal.”

“Before the regime in Cairo receives any more military aid, the president must condemn its Jew-bashing hate speech and certify that it's upholding both the spirit and the letter of the Camp David accords.” No F-16s For Bloodthirsty Anti-SemitesMideast: With the discovery of a video of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi condemning Jews and Israel, Obama should immediately halt shi... @DavidLimbaugh argues that the Senate must not confirm Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense if they believe he is ill-equipped to advise Obama on national security issues and would weaken America.

“Notwithstanding former Sen. Chuck Hagel's diminished view of the post – ‘I won't be in a policymaking position’ -- the secretary of defense is an exceedingly important position and must be filled with someone who understands the complexity and gravity of the threats we face.

“In his testimony at his confirmation hearing, Hagel demonstrated a remarkable unwillingness to clarify his past statements, a stunning misapprehension of the identity, intentions and capabilities of our enemies, and a disturbing ignorance of the critical subject matter on which he would be advising the president.”

“Under intense questioning, he wouldn't concede that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps -- one of the worst exporters of terrorism in the world and responsible for killing countless of Americans and supporting the Iraqi insurgency -- is a terrorist entity… How does one advise the president on terrorism when he apparently doesn't understand what it is and who some of its greatest practitioners are?”

“Perhaps most objectionable is Hagel's bigoted accusation that ‘the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people (in Congress).’ When pressed, Hagel wouldn't name any specific people he had in mind, nor did he come close to giving a satisfactory explanation for his disgraceful terminology -- because there is none.” David LimbaughFebruary 04, 2013 Column: The Senate Must Reject Hagel Printer Friendly Tweet The Senate's "advice and consent" role doesn't require it t... In the cover story of The Weekly Standard, Meghan Clyne (managing editor of National Affairs and former speechwriter to Mr. & Mrs. George W. Bush) believes that we need a better argument to younger voters against the massive federal debt. The two major consequences of excessive debt – increased borrowing costs and economic stagnation – will be most painful for today’s young Americans.

“Politicians are not known for originality. In their public speech, most cling to the security of clichéd stock phrases the way toddlers hold fast to threadbare blankets.”

“But while ‘our children’ are the favorite—and often the only—reason offered to whip debt now, this rhetorical standard seems stubbornly ineffective. Our debts are still here, still growing, with no solution in sight.

“Why does this ubiquitous line fail to spur Americans to demand fiscal reform? In part because it is poorly suited to those who most need convincing: younger Americans… According to a Pew Research Center analysis of national exit-polling data, younger voters also strongly prefer more expansive government: 59 percent of voters aged 18-29 said ‘government should do more to solve problems,’ compared to 35 percent among the 65-and-older group.”

“The young women who supported Obama because he forced employers to fund their preferred methods for not having children seem particularly unlikely to be persuaded by calls for generational forward-thinking.”

“The debts we face now are not like any debts we have seen before. The U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio has spiked in the past only during wars or major crises like the Great Depression… Our deficits today, and our projected debt over the next two decades, are not climbing in response to catastrophes. They are not projected to come back down.”

“Should the government have to pay significantly more to satisfy lenders concerned about its creditworthiness—or about the Federal Reserve inflating away the debt—American students, home buyers, entrepreneurs, drivers, and shoppers will pay more for their loans, too… Americans in their early 30s or younger are thus most likely to be taking out mortgages right around the time interest rates could begin skyrocketing as America’s debt becomes unmanageable.”

“When politicians tell the nation, including young voters, that the consequences of government’s reckless borrowing will be borne by ‘our children and grandchildren,’ they’re peddling a dangerous deception. If you’re alive and working now, you will bear those consequences.”

“If growing debts prolong our economic stagnation—extending today’s high unemployment, suppressed wages, and anemic growth—the results could be devastating for today’s younger Americans… Researchers have observed that most wage growth and job mobility happen in the first 10 years of a person’s career; for young people now in that crucial stretch, years of debt-induced economic languor (not to mention recession) could be poisonous to their lifetime earning prospects.”

“All of this adds up to a dire warning that should be heeded above all by the young Americans whose aspirations are most likely to be crushed by our fiscal mismanagement. But it is unlikely to be, as long as our politicians insist that the reason to control our debt is our ‘children and grandchildren.’ This throwaway line may appeal to older Americans, but they already vote for candidates who promise to cut spending and reform entitlements. It now desperately needs to be supplemented with an honest, fact-based argument aimed at the self-interest of younger voters.” Abandon 'the Children'Politicians are not known for originality. In their public speech, most cling to the security of clichéd stock phrases the way toddlers h... Neil Irwin writes that another $1 trillion deficit – the gap between what America is capable of and what it is actually producing – is getting worse, not better, and will widen even further this year.

“Potential GDP is the CBO’s best guess of what the U.S. economy is capable of churning out. If almost all the people who wanted a job had one, if factories were running at their capacity, if office building and shopping malls were full, our collective national output would be the dark blue line.” (see chart below)

“Yes, the economy has been growing for the last 3½ years. But the ‘output gap,’ the difference between what we’re capable of producing and what we’re actually producing, hasn’t actually closed.”

“Add it all up, and this is the scary vision of the economy presented by the CBO data: We had a really bad downturn in 2008-2009. Since then, we’ve been growing, but we haven’t made up the lost ground. Instead, in 2012 and 2013, we are set to lose further ground rather than make it up. And we’re producing below our potential even after adjusting for the fact that our potential was damaged by the recession.” CBO-GDP and Potential GDPBrian_Empric The most depressing graph in the new CBO report, and the other trillion dollar deficit. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/06/the-most-depressing-graph-in-the-new-cbo-report/Neil Irwin Stuart Rothenberg (editor & publisher of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report) notes that the odds are against Senate Democrats in 2014, with 21 seats to defend. Republicans must win 20 out of 35 races to regain a majority in the Senate, holding our 14 seats and flipping 6 Democratic seats.

There are 6 seats currently held by Democrats in states where Romney beat Obama by double-digits: Montana (+13.7%), Alaska (+14.0%), Louisiana (+17.2%), South Dakota (+18.0%), Arkansas (+23.7%), and West Virginia (+26.8%).

“The biggest factor in how the cycle turns out probably isn’t candidate recruiting, fundraising or the number of open seats, though each will affect the fight for the Senate next year. It is almost certainly going to be President Barack Obama’s popularity and the electorate’s sense of how he is doing.”

“With Senate contests next year in four (six) strongly anti-Obama states, Democrats can’t afford a second Obama midterm election with a national electorate that wants to send a message of dissatisfaction with the president.”

“The president isn’t on the ballot next year, so the only way for anti-Obama voters to express their opinion of the president is to vote against his party’s Senate nominees. And that makes Senate seats in anti-Obama states in 2014 much more difficult to hold than Senate seats in anti-Obama states were in 2012.” Rothenberg: Obama Looms Large Over Democrats' 2014 Fight to Retain the Senate http://roll.cl/11DELXw via @StuPoliticsRoll Call Alexander Burns & Maggie Haberman report that Florida Governor Rick Scott is internally budgeting $100 million for his reelection campaign next year, if Charlie Crist is the opposing nominee.

“Scott’s 2014 campaign — possibly pitting him against party-switching former GOP Gov. Charlie Crist as the Democratic candidate — won’t just be a jacked-up version of the 2010 version, knowledgeable Republicans said. In addition to darkening the sky with paid media, Scott’s team is looking at the possibility of creating a state-specific data and analytics division, either within the campaign or at the Republican Party of Florida.”

“Crist, who currently leads in Democratic primary polling, has not said definitively that he will run for governor again in 2014. At least a handful of other Democrats are considering the race, including former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, state Sen. Nan Rich and former Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the 2010 Democratic nominee.”

“Polls show Scott is in a dangerous predicament: a Quinnipiac University poll in December pegged his approval rating at just 36 percent. Last month, the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling put that number slightly lower, at 33 percent. PPP found Scott trailing Crist by 14 percentage points in a general election.”

“The biggest reason not to count Scott out, Republicans say, is the uncertainty surrounding his Democratic opposition. Crist may be polling strongly now, but Republicans believe the ex-governor is vulnerable to attacks on his glaring political flip-flops and his connection to a campaign finance scandal within the state GOP.” Embattled Rick Scott plans $100M campaign vs. Charlie Crist: http://politi.co/X2S67RPOLITICO

The Intransigent Conservative

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Wednesday's Write-up

@ColeToon

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