Thursday, May 28, 2009

Jennifer Granholm flunks history

The Governor of Michigan thinks that her state built the B-1 Bombers that won WWII.
As the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II, Michigan was called upon in a time of crisis to transition our auto manufacturing base to tanks and B-1 bombers.
The B-1 Bomber took its first flight in 1974, which was a little late to have much effect of the Luftwaffe. To be fair, Michigan did build the nuclear submarines that defeated the Royal Navy in 1912, and the X-Wing fighters that flew air support over Grenada. That's what you get for going to Berkeley and Harvard Law.

PS- Of course, this was just a slip of the keyboard by whichever staffer ghost-wrote her piece (badly) on the Huffington Post. Such errors are only signs of low intelligence when committed by Republicans.

Hattip: American Princess

Grim Ferry Tales

Our friend Scott St. Clair has been doing great work at the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, investigating waste and mismanagement on the taxpayer-subsidized ferry system.

One page reads: "Ferry Tales: A tragicomedy about failure, folly, and
foolishness at Washington State Ferries."

Volunteers have been handing out the pamphlets to passengers waiting in line at ferry docks.

Scott St. Clair, who did the research that went into "Grim Ferry Tales," says the goal is pull back the curtain and give people a glimpse of how their tax dollars are being
used and misused at W.S.F.

"We wanted to take a look at some of the issues inside the ferry system," he said.

The pamphlet hammers WSF for letting unions control what hours ferries and the ferry repair shop operate. It also goes after the ferry system for not building the boats that were promised after a gas tax hike six years ago.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

What's happening at NH Watchdog?

Lots of good stuff at NH Watchdog:

Fosters rails against raising the gas tax.

PJ O'Rourke documents our slide into a banana republic.

Charlie Arlinghaus wants to make us more like Canada.

An Ohio Police Chief tries to blackmail voters into higher taxes.

China warns the Federal Reserve about printing too much money.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Sonia Sotomayor getting Nomination

Wow, got one right. President Obama will nominate New York appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Liberals are thrilled that Obama will nominate a woman and a Hispanic, which seem like really trivial reasons to anyone who believes people should be judged "not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Opposition will likely center around a recent piece in the New Republic by Jeffrey Rosen questioning Sotomayor's legal temperment:
The most consistent concern was that Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it. "She has an inflated opinion of herself, and is domineering during oral arguments, but her questions aren't penetrating and don't get to the heart of the issue."
Conservatives will point to a video where Sotomayor says that appeals courts are where policy is made as proof that she's an activist judge:


To be fair, she doesn't seem to say that policy should be made at the appeals court; only that it does.

I'd be more concerned about her tendency towards judicial errors. Three times, she has been reversed by the Supreme Court, not for some disagreement over proper interpretation of the Constitution, but for legal slopiness. She has repeatedly failed to correctly apply the law. That's not a good trait on a Court that deals with complicated technical issues of the law more often than with the controversial big-ticket items like the death penalty, abortion, and gun control.

Barring any unpaid taxes or similar scandals that seem to attract Obama nominees, Sototmayor will be confirmed. I hope for a vigorous and healthy Senate debate. Given the makeup of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I'm not holding my breath.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Memorial Day

I've been lucky enough that both my grandfathers made it back from WWII, and my father came home from Vietnam. Today, we remember those who didn't make it back; who gave their lives to defend our freedom.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Frank Guinta Interview

RedHampshire has posted an extensive interview with Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta, who has announced his candidacy for New Hampshire's First District.

Honoring New Hampshire's Veterans

Over a NHWatchdog, I've posted a graph showing when all of the estimated 122,000 veterans in New Hampshire served.

NH Veterans by Date of Service
NH Veterans by Date of Service Grant Bosse This graph shows the number of New Hampshire veterans and when they served. It was prepared by the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy Lead Investigator Grant Bosse, and released on Memorial Day, May 25, 2009.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Mandating Paid Vacation

Over at NH Watchdog- Mandating Paid Vacation.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

First post in forever

I know. I've been giving all the blog love to NH Watchdog, your best source for coverage of the New Hampshire budget, but I felt it was time to get things going again over here at the personal blog.

In case you missed it, here's my story on Tom Thomson taking over as Honorary Chairman of Americans for Prosperity NH at RedHampshire, and an article in Foster's about the possible impact on local school districts if the Senate cuts Building Aid.