youngmonte's Diary

Boycott DC, not AZ

Thu, 13 May 2010 13:07:10 +0000

So the Los Angeles City Council has voted to boycott Arizona over its new immigration law. This nauseating display of moral vanity comes on the same day the Pew Research Center reports on a new poll showing that the American people support the law by a commanding 59%-32%. Heck, Pew found that Democrats are split, with 46% opposed and 45% in support. So we have the City of Los Angeles boycotting Arizona over a law that Americans overwhelmingly support. Only in America!

But since the Arizona law mirrors federal law, shouldn’t LA boycott DC as well? Hmmm.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen is out with a new poll showing that support for repeal of the health car law is holding steady; 56% favor repeal while just 37% are opposed. Given these kinds of numbers, you’d think if any law was ripe for inciting a boycott, it would be health care – enacted using parlimentary tricks to shove it down the throat of an unwilling and unsupportive public. Maybe we should organize a boycott of DC until health care bill is repealed?

Hayworth closing in on McCain

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:55:44 +0000

Rasmussen is out with a new poll showing JD Hayworth gaining on John McCain. McCain’s 22 point lead in January has now shrunk to just five points, 47%-42%, of likely Republican primary voters. Perhaps more important, this is the second Rasmussen poll in the past month showing McCain below the 50% threshold – dangerous territory for an incumbent.

If you ask me, McCain is self-destructing and has reached the end of the road. It is not his year. Look no further than his bizarre claim to Newsweek Magazine that he “never considered [himself] a maverick.” As they say in the military – whiskey, tango, foxtrot.

Even though the tea party organizations have decided to stay neutral, it is clear that the rank-and-file tea partiers will turn out for Hayworth. If Hayworth can keep working the grassroots and raise a little money, he ~~can~~ will win this race.

Obamacare a mandate, not a right

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:52:54 +0000

Perhaps the most obnoxious rhetoric emanating from Obamacare supporters is that this law makes health care a “right.” I’ve seen it in countless editorials and heard it from countless commentators. But how can health care be a right when the government forces you to have it?

We have right to a free press, but the government doesn’t force you to own a newspaper.

We have a right to bear arms, but the government doesn’t force you to own a gun.

We have a right to vote, but the government doesn’t force you to vote.

I can’t think of a single individual right in the Constitution that the government forces you to exercise. Indeed, rights have generally been synonymous with freedoms, which implies choice. There is no choice with Obamacare.

In a revealing exchange, Bill O’Reilly and Rep. Anthony Weiner went at it on the question of who will enforce the new mandate. Despite repeated attempts by O’Reilly to answer that simple question, Weiner refused to respond. Even though I was surprised at how effective O’Reilly was, he would have landed a knockout punch if he had just asked, “OK, so if I’m wrong about the IRS being the enforcers of the insurance mandate, why is there $10 billion in the bill to hire an additional 16,5000 IRS agents?”

The point is, what kind of “right” is it that must be forced on people under threat of IRS sanction?

This health care bill take away your rights; it doesn’t confer new ones.

Rasmussen: Hayworth closing in on McCain

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:30:21 +0000

Rasmussen Reports is out with a new poll showing JD Hayworth gaining significant ground on John McCain. Rasmussen finds a mere 7 point lead (48%-41%) for McCain. In January, Rasmussen had McCain ahead by 22 points (53%-31%), so this new poll represents a 15 point swing in Hayworth’s favor. More troubling for McCain is that he is under 50 percent – generally considered a sign of an incumbent in trouble.

What makes this result even more impressive is that the poll was conducted in the immediate aftermath of a bad week for the Hayworth campaign (its campaign consultant left and an attempted cheeky comment about gay marriage went horribly wrong) and over $1 million on negative advertising by the McCain campaign. All in all, this has to be very encouraging for the Hayworth campaign and shows that McCain is beatable.