https://redstate.com/author/soren_dayton/feedConservative News & Politicsen-usThu, 23 Apr 2026 22:54:21 -0400<![CDATA[The press has been falling over itself to attack Republicans for the shutdown and claiming that they are the source of all the irresponsibility in the process. They have conveniently forgotten several important things about how much the Democrats have broken the budget process in the last couple of years and in this year in particular.  I wrote back in January about how the Senate Democrats were dismantling the budget process. While the Senate did pass a budget resolution this year, in many ways the situation has gotten much, much worse. A shutdown is, purely for procedural reasons, a natural and logical consequence of the massive failure of the Senate to do its job.]]>Wed, 02 Oct 2013 19:05:06 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Budget]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2013/10/02/how-the-democrats-got-us-to-a-shutdown-n46975<![CDATA[During the last debt ceiling fight, some pundits in the media and on the left wished for the “Gephardt rule” when the House automatically raised the debt ceiling when they passed a budget. Josh Green at the Atlantic praised it in 2011, saying we should  ”bring [it] back.”  Now he is at Bloomberg and at it again and again and again. These pundits, and this is my first point, misunderstand what they are advocating for. Second, what they are misunderstanding reveals a startling blindspot: they ignore the dysfunction in the Senate. And my third point is that this is rewinding the clock on deliberative congressional consideration of spending proposals back to 1921 or before.]]>Thu, 17 Jan 2013 19:20:46 -0500<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Budget]]><![CDATA[debt ceiling]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2013/01/17/how-the-budget-process-is-being-dismantled-n45255<![CDATA[As conservatives, we know why we don&#8217;t want President Barack Obama in the White House. He is leading this country in the wrong direction. But his completely empty convention speech, when combined two moments described in Bob Woodward&#8217;s new book, gave us another prong of attack that is potentially much more devastating. He simply is irrelevant now. Nancy Pelosi put him on mute and Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid kicked Obama out of a meeting he called in the White House.]]>Sun, 09 Sep 2012 09:49:33 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]><![CDATA[Harry Reid]]><![CDATA[john boehner]]><![CDATA[Nancy Pelosi]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2012/09/09/who-needs-a-muted-irrelevant-president-n44337<![CDATA[We are one week into Mitt Romney&#8217;s selection of Paul Ryan. A number of polls are coming out telling a variety of stories about what it means. But one thing is clear: Barack Obama&#8217;s campaign has had several significant strategic failures this summer. And they failed to define Paul Ryan out of the gate with their Mediscare tactics. And they failed to define Mitt Romney this summer with a huge campaign spend.]]>Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:08:36 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]><![CDATA[Medicare]]><![CDATA[Mitt Romney]]><![CDATA[Paul Ryan]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2012/08/17/the-strategic-failure-of-the-obama-campaign-n44114<![CDATA[One upside of President Obama&#8217;s hostility to business is that business leaders like Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin have come forward to share their experience. Tom Smith, the Republican Senate nominee in Pennsylvania is one of them. He is endorsed by Pat Toomey. He is up against Bobby Casey, a career politician son of a career politician. But at least his dad was willing to stand up to his own party &#8230;]]>Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:14:04 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Pat Toomey]]><![CDATA[Pennsylvania]]><![CDATA[Ron Johnson]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2012/07/26/another-businessman-for-the-senate-tom-smith-n43873<![CDATA[For the next several months, we are going to be focusing, naturally, on the Presidential race, Senate races, House races, and governor’s races. However, what happens down ballot is important too. And there is a lot of hope down ballot when we look around the country. Over the next several months, I hope to highlight races in unexpected places where Republicans can put points on the board.]]>Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:38:56 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Massachusetts]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2012/07/08/looking-downballot-in-massachusetts-tom-keyes-n43693<![CDATA[I applaud House Speaker John Boehner for his letter to President Barack Obama on Russia. I also applaud him for holding fire on Obama while he was abroad at an important security summit. It much more clearly articulated Obama&#8217;s shocking behavior with respect to Russia than any other criticism to date:]]>Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:30:22 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]><![CDATA[john boehner]]><![CDATA[Russia]]><![CDATA[United States]]><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2012/03/29/obama-sells-out-american-values-and-interests-in-russia-n42706<![CDATA[The discussion of Republican Party rules reform is beginning in the aftermath of the catastrophe of the new rules that were created by the RNC leadership in 2010. Many people attribute the lengthening process to just the new rules, but I would argue that there are several other factors. Some of the obvious ones are the weakness of the candidate field and new campaign finance structures. It is hard to imagine how Newt Gingrich would have been able to compete in South Carolina or Rick Santorum pretty much anywhere without SuperPAC support. Their campaigns would have run out of money in previous years, and their shows would have been up.  Blaming the &#8220;proportional&#8221; rules misses the point somewhat, as none of the states that have gone yet other than Florida previously operated under winner-take-all rules.]]>Sun, 26 Feb 2012 18:12:07 -0500<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Iowa Caucus]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2012/02/26/time-to-end-caucuses-for-president-n42364<![CDATA[Last night President Barack Obama spoke at two &#8220;star-studded&#8221; Hollywood fundraisers. And, according to Politco, he noted to a group of people who make their quite nice livings in theatrics that &#8220;people &#8230; like &#8230; poetry&#8221; rather than the &#8220;prose&#8221; of governing.]]>Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:14:10 -0500<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]><![CDATA[Hollywood]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2012/02/16/never-let-it-be-said-that-obama-takes-governing-seriously-n42252<![CDATA[Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) asked Ben Bernanke at the recent Senate Budget Committee if the lack of Presidential leadership was hurting the US economy. He asked, &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid President Obama has just been phoning it in here the last couple years in terms of our debt and deficit issue. &#8230; Can you speak to how harmful that is in terms of economic growth?&#8221;]]>Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:17:55 -0500<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Ben Bernanke]]><![CDATA[Budget]]><![CDATA[Economy]]><![CDATA[Jake Tapper]]><![CDATA[Jay Carney]]><![CDATA[Ron Johnson]]><![CDATA[White House]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2012/02/08/white-house-advises-senate-to-not-leader-in-an-election-year-n42147<![CDATA[There&#8217;s an interesting scandal right now in New Mexico right now. You see, the New Mexico constitution tries to stop corruption, a real problem in the  state as the Economist recently noted, by requiring that state legislators cannot draw a salary from other sources during the legislative session. But Channel KRQE has reported that there is a set of legislators who do not abide by this constitutional requirement: teachers, and in particular teachers union members. One of the state legislators has come under particular scrutiny, Rep. Cheryl Williams Stapleton, a Democrat from Albuquerque:]]>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:44:58 -0500<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Corruption]]><![CDATA[New Mexico]]><![CDATA[Teachers Unions]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2011/12/15/corrupt-dem-legislator-makes-racist-attack-on-susana-martinez-n41523<![CDATA[So, I confess, I had to look up who Luther Campbell was, aside from a guy who came in fourth in a race for county mayor in Miami-Dade County. He was a somewhat high-profile music promoter, fronting for groups like 2 Live Crew. But it is his electoral experience, as described in his column in the Miami New Times, that draws our attention today. He describes some of the more ugly experiences that someone like him has when trying to put together a campaign in Miami and the strange offers he gets:]]>Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:25:46 -0500<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[election fraud]]><![CDATA[Florida]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2011/11/28/absentee-ballots-and-campaign-shakedowns-in-miami-n41309<![CDATA[For a number of reasons, I tend to avoid claims of media bias, as I am often reminded of Silberman&#8217;s Law, from Rumsfeld&#8217;s Rules, that notes that we often overstate &#8220;conspiracy,&#8221; while &#8220;underestimat[ing] incompetency and fortuity.&#8221; However, I have trouble explaining this one any other way. The New York Times editorial page editor, Andy Rosenthal, says, &#8220;A half-dozen times or so I’ve asked followers of my Twitter feed for examples of voter fraud – particularly of a scale that would justify erecting barriers against whole groups of voters. Haven’t gotten any.&#8221; Now, this was the first that I had heard of it because, well, I don&#8217;t follow Mr. Rosenthal. However, I am not convinced that I will start following him, as he seems unequipped with the basic tools of research.]]>Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:35:56 -0500<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[new york times]]><![CDATA[Voter Fraud]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2011/11/07/nyt-editorial-page-editor-struggles-to-examine-the-record-on-voter-fraud-n41049<![CDATA[I have been writing up a storm about absentee ballot fraud in various places around the country. Today, the FBI arrested eight people in Florida who appear to have committed some pretty severe fraud in a 2010 School Board election in Madison,. The violations are pretty straight-forward, but also pretty brazen.]]>Tue, 01 Nov 2011 21:53:56 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Florida]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2011/11/01/fbi-arrests-8-in-florida-for-absentee-ballot-fraud-n40977<![CDATA[Two weeks ago, we noted a Chicago Tribune story about fraud by either the Indiana Democratic Party or the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigns in the 2008 Democratic Primary in Indiana. Now Indiana Republican Party Chairman Eric Holcomb is doing what I urge GOP chairman to do: document all the fraud that actually happens on the ground and the convictions that occur. I always like to point to the 32 convictions from the 2003 East Chicago Democratic Mayoral primary because the election was overturned, and we have testimony under oath of how the various sides try to cheat each other.  One example was sort of boring. In 2010, a Muncie city councilman who had been on the city council since 1987 was convicted of mishandling absentee ballots. But the tastiest was a new one.]]>Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:20:06 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Indiana]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2011/10/25/indiana-gop-goes-after-election-fraud-65-indictments-in-southern-indiana-n40900<![CDATA[Today the Senate voted for an amendment to give a subsidy to rich people. Not the first time, and it won&#8217;t be the last time. But is a perfect microcosm of today&#8217;s politics and the politics that got us into the housing crisis. Next time any of the Senate Democrats say anything about &#8220;Occupy Wall Street&#8221;, they should get asked a simple question: if you are so worried about the 99%, why are you subsidizing housing for the wealthy.]]>Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:29:31 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Bob Menendez]]><![CDATA[Chuck Schumer]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2011/10/21/senate-gives-money-to-rich-people-wheres-the-ows-outrage-n40866<![CDATA[&nbsp;]]>Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:15:27 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2011/10/20/african-american-former-congressman-supports-voter-id-concerned-about-fraud-n40844<![CDATA[Getting a candidate on the ballot in Indiana is not easy. I know, from first hand experience, that many campaigns struggle to do it. But it now appears that in 2008, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton took a short-cut. They just cheated.]]>Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:30:20 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]><![CDATA[election fraud]]><![CDATA[Indiana]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2011/10/13/fraud-in-signature-collection-for-obama-and-hillary-in-2008-n40765<![CDATA[Today, the New York Times has an editorial attacking so-called voter ID bills. According to Democratic and New York Times (but I repeat myself) mythmaking, voter ID is a racist Republican scheme to stop minorities and Democrats from voting:]]>Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:06:44 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[election fraud]]><![CDATA[new york times]]><![CDATA[Rhode Island]]><![CDATA[Voter ID]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2011/10/10/rhode-island-and-voter-id-n40715<![CDATA[Yesterday the press announced a bipartisan compromise over the FAA. Of course, that wasn&#8217;t what happened. One reporter told me that the deal was bipartisan because &#8220;that was how Reid framed it in his statement.&#8221; What really happened was that Harry Reid and Senate Democrats proved themselves to be venal, the press fell down on the job, the White House had a panic attack, and the bipartisan deal seems to be brokered between the White House&#8217;s token Republican, Ray LaHood and Harry Reid. So here&#8217;s what actually happened.]]>Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:05:50 -0400<![CDATA[Soren Dayton]]><![CDATA[Federal Aviation Administration]]><![CDATA[Harry Reid]]><![CDATA[White House]]>https://redstate.com/soren_dayton/2011/08/05/the-senate-passes-gop-faa-extension-after-white-house-freaks-out-n39943