How the Stupid Party Gets Its Name

From RedState

By Erick Erickson

Today was another fine example of how the Republican Party gets labeled as the stupid party.

Senator Dick Durbin hinted two days ago that the Senate Democrats would be unified in their opposition to repeal Obamacare except for one or two. In other words, the GOP had the opportunity to get Democrats to jump ship.

But Democrats have signaled that they want to “fix” Obamacare, not repeal it. So the GOP gladly obliged. Without any obstruction, the GOP went along with the Democrats’ changes to the onerous 1099 provision.

You may say that is a good thing, and you would be right. Except that doing this, instead of keeping the pain in place until Obamacare is repealed, makes the pain less and less. And as the pain becomes less and less because Republicans work with Democrats to “fix” Obamacare, it becomes less and less likely that Obamacare will actually get repealed.

No Democrat had to vote for repeal because they knew they’d get a chance to say they were “fixing” Obamacare. And the headline will now be that the GOP and Democrats in the Senate are cooperating on a “fix” instead of repeal.

On top of that, however, is the stupidity — sheer stupidity — of certain Republicans now trying to undermine the litigation against Obamacare. I’m looking at you Senators Lindsey Graham and John Barasso.

Barasso and Graham have proposed to let states opt-out of having the citizens of the several states be placed in the individual mandate.

If states can opt out of the individual mandate, they no longer have grounds to keep up their lawsuit in federal court. Why? Because if they can choose to opt out of the individual mandate, it is no longer a constitutional obstruction to them.

Further, proposing this and other changes to Obamacare gives Justice Anthony Kennedy plausible grounds to say, “Look! Obamacare is severable and it can survive without the individual mandate.”

Tinkering with Obamacare undermines both the lawsuit against Obamacare and the effort for full repeal. It doesn’t take a genius to know that, but it does take the stupid party to ignore it.

Peggy Noonan: Ronald Reagan at 100

Being a good man helped him become a great one.

From The Wall Street Journal
By Peggy Noonan

At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountain Range where old Hollywood directors shot Westerns, they will mark Sunday’s centenary of Reagan’s birth with events and speeches geared toward Monday’s opening of a rethought and renovated museum aimed at making his presidency more accessible to scholars and vividly available to the public. Fifty percent of the artifacts, officials note, have never been shown before—essays and short stories Reagan wrote in high school and college, the suit he wore the day he was shot, the condolence book signed by world leaders at his funeral. (Margaret Thatcher: “Well done, Thou good and faithful servant.”)

Much recently has been written about who he was—a good man who became a great president—but recent conversations about Reagan have me pondering some things he was not.

He wasn’t, for instance, sentimental, though he’s often thought of that way. His nature was marked by a characterological sweetness, and his impulse was to be kind and generous. (His daughter Patti Davis captured this last week in a beautifully remembered essay for Time.) But he wasn’t sentimental about people and events, or about history. Underlying all was a deep and natural skepticism. That, in a way, is why he was conservative. “If men were angels.” They are not, so we must limit the governmental power they might wield. But his skepticism didn’t leave him down. It left him laughing at the human condition, and at himself. Jim Baker, his first and great chief of staff, and his friend, remembered the other day the atmosphere of merriness around Reagan, the constant flow of humor.

Reagan Super Bowl Tribute

To be shown in Cowboys Stadium just before kickoff

Patrick Haddon Running for SC GOP Chairman

Patrick Haddon

Greenville County Republican Chairman, Patrick Haddon, today announced he will seek the chairmanship of the South Carolina Republican Party.  Haddon, who is also the First Vice Chairman of the South Carolina GOP, is the immediate past State Chairman of the South Carolina Federation of Young Republicans. 

Patrick Haddon's campaign website is here, and today's announcement follows:

I’m Patrick Haddon, and I’m running for Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. This is a pivotal time in our state and nation as more and more people are paying attention to how the government affects their daily lives. We must come together as a party to harness that energy of discontentment to bring about conservative change. Each and every voice truly does matter and can make a difference. The Republican Party is the party of the people.

The Republican brand has value. Protecting what it means to be a Republican and educating our voters on why conservatism makes sense is vital to our organization. We must be bold in standing up for what is right and be a resource to our officials in office who are fighting the good fight. This will start at home, building our grassroots involvement from each individual precinct on up. Many of you have done this. You have worked faithfully towards the 2010 victories nationally, state-wide, and locally. Thank you for your work. We must continue your efforts to put conservatives in office and build the Republican brand to coincide with that goal.

Presidential hopefuls are already visiting South Carolina on a weekly basis. As Chairman I will fight to protect South Carolina’s First in the South primary. Having a strong organization is central to keeping our primary first. We must have the operational funding to do this. I can lead us in that effort and am on-track to have raised over $100,000 by my term’s end as Chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party. Also, the Southern Republican Leadership Conference is coming to South Carolina. Republicans and conservatives from all over the country will be coming to our state to learn, network, and plan for a 2012 victory. This is a chance to bring activists from all over our state together with conservative leaders to ignite our plan for Victory in 2012. As Chairman, I will work tirelessly to promote and protect what it means to be a Republican in South Carolina as we grow our organization and keep South Carolina’s importance on the national scale.

Let’s seize this window of opportunity to build a more conservative, unified GOP in South Carolina.

Ronald Reagan Schools Obama on the Egypt Crisis...31 Years Ago

Great wisdom from one of our greatest Presidents, 31 years ago -- and as relevant and true today as it was at that time.

Hirbet Madras Mosaic Discovered at Site of Zecharia's Tomb

From Arutz Sheva

By Chana Ya'ar

Archaeologists have uncovered an especially large and beautiful mosaic floor as well as numerous artifacts in excavations at Hirbet Madras, in the Judean coastal plain.

The site and its secrets are in the process of being carefully preserved by Israel Antiquities Authority specialists for conservation and future presentation to the public.

According to a release issued by the Authority, the site, identified by scholars as the residence and tomb of the prophet Zecharia, has been included in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's national heritage project.

The excavations were conducted under the aegis of the Israel Antiquities Authority in the wake of an antiquities theft during which robbers attempted to plunder an ancient underground complex.

Hirbet Madras was known as the site of a large, important Jewish community from the Second Temple period. The city was destroyed during the Bar Kochba Revolt in 135 CE.

Also uncovered were the remains of a church, as well as other buildings, caves, agricultural installations and extensive underground hiding tunnels. The site has been identified by scholars as the location of a major community.

(Israel news photo: courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority)

    

In the 1980s, a lintel bearing a unique decoration discovered at the site was found to be identical to a lintel from the Hirbet Nevoraya synagogue in the north of Israel. At the time, Professor Amos Kloner and the late Dr. Zvi Ilan theorized that an ancient Jewish synagogue was located nearby.

In the wake of the illicit excavations by antiquities robbers, the lintel was rediscovered by inspectors from the Israel Antiquities Authority Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Theft. A legitimate excavation of the site soon followed, with the aim of revealing the secrets of the monumental building to which the lintel belonged.

Based on the results of the excavation, a church dating to the Byzantine period was apparently built inside a large public compound from the Second Temple period and the Bar Kochba Revolt. Eight marble columns bearing capitals especially imported from Turkey graced the nave of the basilica.

All of the floors in the building were adorned with spectacular mosaics decorated with fauna and floral patterns and geometric designs, many of which were extraordinarily well preserved, officials said.

Numerous artifacts were discovered in a subterranean hiding complex beneath the entire structure that featured rooms, water installations, store rooms and traps.

Among the items found in the rooms were coins from the time of the Great Revolt (66-70 CE) and the Bar Kochba Revolt (132 - 135 CE), stone vessels, lamps and various Jewish pottery vessels from the period.

NFIB Remembers President Ronald Reagan and His Support of Free Enterprise

In the above video, the National Federation of Independent Business remembers when America had a President who worked to unshackle the dynamism of American free enterprise.  President Reagan joined in celebrating NFIB's 40th anniversary on June 22, 1983.