1. If At First You Don’t Succeed

2. The Immigration Policy of Absurdistan: Legal is Illegal; Illegal is Legal

3. Because They Won’t Attack Hillary Clinton, They Attack Josh Trevino

4. On Immorality

5. The Cost of Bailouts: Cronyism

1. If At First You Don’t Succeed

First off this morning, I hope you will call Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) today at (202) 224-5323 and tell him thank you for standing up to both Democrats and Republicans yesterday in a valiant attempt to force transparency on debt talks.Johnson declared his intend to grind the Senate to a halt by ceasing to give his consent to further Senate business by unanimous consent. The Democrats and a few Republicans ganged up on him, which can bruise the ego of a freshman Senator.Senator, I know you are reading. Don’t stop now. Be bold and do more of this. The rest of you should call and give him some encouragement on this.Second, I know many conservative congressmen are reading this Morning Briefing. I want to address them directly. You should stop dragging your feet hoping to get the votes for the Lee-Cornyn-Hatch Balanced Budget Amendment or the Walsh version in the House.You aren’t going to get the votes. You just aren’t. Go on and have the vote. You are going to lose. But then do something for me, will you?Make it clear that until you do get the votes necessary for passage you will obstruct and block an increase in the debt ceiling.I know I am asking you to do something unusual in Washington. Typically, in Washington, you get your vote, you lose, and you move on. But Washington politics as usual is what got us into this mess.So hold the freaking line. Hold the debt ceiling hostage. If the Democrats want the debt ceiling raised, they need to send Lee-Cornyn-Hatch out to the states for ratification. They can fight to stop it there. But do this for me — draw a line in the sand.You force a vote and then another vote and then another vote until you get the two-thirds needed in both houses and don’t you dare give up fighting against the debt ceiling increase until you get that two-thirds vote. The rules in this fight must be different. You must keep blocking until they give you what you want.Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. The Immigration Policy of Absurdistan: Legal is Illegal; Illegal is Legal

Imagine for a moment that a pack of strangers – ranging from hooligans to plain homeless – illegally entered your home and started raiding the pantry, stealing your possessions, stuffing up the toilets, and sleeping on your bed. When you call the police to come down and remove them, you are told they cannot assist you because they lack the power to profile the unwanted guests from other members of the household. As desperation sets in, you join with your neighbors to chase them out. Much to your chagrin, lawyers for the intruders impel the courts to issue a ‘cease and desist order,’ obstructing efforts to deny the intruders anything, including the twinkies in the pantry. Moreover, teams of advocates for these brazen burglars begin to record the contact information of those locals who desire to stop the illegal entries.Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Because They Won’t Attack Hillary Clinton, They Attack Josh Trevino

The left is in a tizzy because some “well meaning” people are on a flotilla to Gaza and Josh Trevino dares to say what so many of the rest of us are thinking — if Israel takes out the flotilla in self defense, so be it.Frankly, from my vantage point, I can’t see any other rational position — particularly for those who support Israel, particularly for conservatives.Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. On Immorality

The Democrats, in particular Joe Biden and Barack Obama, are out to make the moral case for tax increases. They claim the Republican position is immoral.This is what happens when we debase morality in our American political culture.For perspective, when Barack Obama was a state senator in Illinois, he was the only state senator to speak in opposition to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. He stood up and made the case that if an infant is born alive in the process of an abortion, the doctor who botched the abortion should be able to finish off the kid, even though the child had exited the womb alive.That, my friends, that is immoral.Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. The Cost of Bailouts: Cronyism

One of the reasons that I was against the bailouts, both bank and auto, was the effect I feared it would have on the way business is conducted. It’s easy to point to a TARP loan being repaid (with interest) and declare victory for bailouts. But to do so assumes that all consequences of government intervention in private enterprise have been realized.One of the main concerns from opponents of the bailouts was cronyism. And cronyism is rearing it’s ugly head these days.Case in point, Dan Akerson of General Motors.Please click here for the rest of the post.