Quickies: the recall edition

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A round-up of news items, articles, columns and blog posts that caught our eye this past week.



If you read nothing else today or this week, please check this out:

Future tense, X: The fourth revolution: On the possibility of a forthcoming political revolution.

We are unfamiliar with the author, James Pierson, but in about 15-20 minutes, you get a sweeping historical narrative of the American political scene and a glimpse into what, perhaps, the future holds.





Have you heard? All that money in politics is a bad thing. For a campaign and its supporters that were downright giddy just 2-3 months ago over the prospects of raising $1 billion are now blaming all that money in politics for the drubbing the took in Wisconsin. Make no mistake, given the hype and what was at stake, Scott Walker's victory (being the first governor to beat a recall effort) was monumental.

B-Daddy has some thoughts here:

In Wisconsin, Walker's victory was by a significant amount, not a landslide, but the 7% margin left no doubt as to the significant strength of his position. I have seen headlines that I refuse to link calling the election close. I have also seen headlines that this is the "death of democracy." Normally, when we elect politicians, we complain that they don't keep their campaign promises. How ironic that Scott Walker was recalled for keeping his.

Imagine that. A pol actually carrying through upon which he campaigned.

The liberal-Left will continue to blame money and messaging for their losses instead of choosing any real introspection. This was an extremely ill-conceived fight of their own making. They chose, they fought, they got their asses kicked, they whined. Rinse and repeat.






Have you heard? Pt. II. All that money in politics is bad... but no one seems to have a problem with all that invasion of privacy in politics:

The depth and breadth of the Obama campaign’s 2012 digital operation — from data mining to online organizing — reaches so far beyond anything politics has ever seen, experts maintain, that it could impact the outcome of a close presidential election. It makes the president’s much-heralded 2008 social media juggernaut — which raised half billion dollars and revolutionized politics — look like cavemen with stone tablets.

Here's some thoughts and a wrap-up of local election results from Sir Charles of DooDoo Economics who was hanging out at Golden Hall in San Diego this past Tuesday:

In San Diego, during a conversation with a young establishment Republican, we commented, "we are tea partiers here to make sure the good guys win." The look of alarm on his face was disarmed by my friendly smile.

The election results were terrific with one major exception. First, the good news:

1.Carl DeMaio, a San Diego mayoral Republican candidate and fiscal reformer won, but will be in a clearly defined run off against establishment Democrat Bob Filner.
2.State Proposition 29. Increased cigarette taxes failed with 51% voting against.
3.San Diego Proposition A. Bars the city from requiring Project Labor Agreements on municipal construction contracts passed decisively (58%)
4.San Diego Proposition B. Reformation of San Diego City Employee Retirement Benefits passed overwhelmingly (66%).
5.El Cajon Proposition D. Proposed Charter City passed (57%). Grants the city of El Cajon increased flexibility in it's budget.

The bad: State Proposition 28. The deceptively worded expansion of term limits was passed.

DeMaio sponsored Prop. B and was solidly behind Prop. A. Given his backing of both measures and the margins by which they won (and the fact there were 2 other Republicans in the primary splitting the vote), we predict DeMaio to win going away (12-15 points) against Filner. Tuesday was indeed a good day here in America's Finest City.





And Leslie at Temple of Mut chimes in:

I was delighted to see that Carl DeMaio will be in contention for Mayor this November, opposing the odious Bob Filner. Fiscal sanity made a big return in the Golden State, as pension reform won not only in San Diego but it much bluer San Jose as well. It seems our politically connected union-leader-lead-opponents, as in Wisconsin, are going to use the courts to challenge the voter-passed reform measures. Current San Diego Mayor, Jerry Sanders, predicts that DeMaio will get the Walker-recall-treatment if he wins in November.

Given what happened in Wisconsin, we don't see that happening but were that the good Lord should find favor upon us to make that a reality. Bring it!





Shane Atwell on the nature of collective bargaining:

I thought I'd take this opportunity to remind you that the 'right' to collective bargaining is just like any other entitlement. It is an entitlement on the part of unions to be heard and negotiated with by employers. Collective bargaining' forces employers to negotiate with employees by virtue of their having banded together into a group.

In a rational world employees would have the right to associate, but not to force recognition. They'd have the right to charge dues, but not to compel dues. They'd be able to post notices, but only if they got the permission of whomevers property they wanted to post on. They'd have the right to hold elections (privately or with permission), but not to compel access to employee records.

Oddly enough, once union dues became voluntary instead of mandatory, public union rolls in Wisconsin fell off by 50%.


And were sure that Dr. King would be pleased to know that protecting the bargaining "rights" of middle class government workers was being framed as a civil rights issue.





So, you're tired of all these words? How about some pictures, then?



Via W.C. Varones:




Heh.






Via Sarah at Lipstick Underground:




As we are fond of saying... Governing a constitutional republic is, like, hard.




Tough week for the President, huh? First Wisconsin, then Bill Clinton is knee-capping him over Bain, then the White House leaks fiasco and finishing things off on Friday with his economy is "doing fine" comments.


From the L.A. Times:

Aware that the lagging economic recovery could dull President Obama's reelection chances, Democrats have taken solace in a potential trump card — a Republican challenger they have ceaselessly portrayed as out of touch, based as much on Mitt Romney's verbal miscues as on his personal wealth and business record.

But, as the president sought to recover the upper hand after recent campaign setbacks, a rare rhetorical slip-up of his own Friday threatened to undermine his effort. In a White House news conference focused on the threat the worsening Eurozone crisis poses to the U.S. economy, Obama said Congress needed to act on his jobs plan to boost hiring in state and local governments. "The private sector is doing just fine," he argued.

The Times fails to mention the 15 or so jobs-related bills passed by the House that Harry Reid and the Senate refuse to even take up. Please remember this the next time you hear the "obstruction" or "do-nothing" charge leveled at Republicans.



And dig this:

His larger point — that layoffs by state and local governments continued to be a weak spot as the private sector added jobs — is backed up by the data. The most recent jobs report found that while the economy overall added 69,000 jobs, the private sector alone added 82,000.

The $800 billion stimulus bill (see: Porkulus) that was enacted in February of 2009 was, in large part, pay-back to the public sector unions at the state and local levels. A massive papering-over of state budget deficits and the states did nothing to correct the structural inadequacies that led to the deficits in the first place, hence the layoffs. Game. Set. Match. Own the economy, Barry.




OK, gang. That's it for today. We'll catch up with you tomorrow.


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