Emotionally unstable people, for reasons unknown to me, are frequent fabulists. I guess they need to compensate for the overly emotional life they suffer through. The lies help them cope. They become their reality and calm them.

Zachary Roth is apparently one of those people.

The New York Observer’s beleaguered media editor, Zachary Roth, “has quit,” according to Mediabistro. Word on the street since Roth took over the weekly’s press coverage in August, was that he might have been ill-prepared for the task. Roth was under so much pressure, in fact, that according to a source he broke down in the newsroom at one point.

It seems pretty certain now that he’s trying to rehabilitate himself as a left-wing hit man in the mode of David Brock, etc., by distorting Bobby Jindal’s story and then, as the facts come out, moving the goal posts further and further off the field.

Keith Olbermann suffers the same way, but then Olbermann is bat crap crazy. I don’t know whether this Roth guy is or not. But he’s definitely lying about Bobby Jindal — the liar accusing the honest person of lying. Typical leftist.

By the way, Ben Smith worked at the New York Observer for a while. Did he and Roth know each other there? Is that why he’s trying to carry water for Roth’s story?

At 5:00 p.m. today at CPAC, Rush Limbaugh will close out the show. The audience will be huge. The speech will be awesome. And we’ll be bringing it to you live on RedState.

Oh, and if God smiles on me today, I’ll get to meet Rush.

It may be a Saturday, but things haven’t slowed down.

This is the best CPAC I’ve ever been to.

One of the best decisions made this year by House Republicans was putting Mike Pence in charge of the House Republican Conference. Yesterday at CPAC, he proved it.

Pence was dynamic, powerful, focused, and absolutely willing to call out other Republicans who totally failed the party and the conservative movement.

His theme, from stage, was set early:

How we, as conservatives, respond to these challenges could determine whether America retains her place in the world as a beacon of freedom; or whether we slip into the abyss that has swallowed much of Europe in an avalanche of socialism.

While some are prepared to write the obituary on capitalism and our movement, I believe we are on the brink of a great American awakening.

The crowd really responded, understanding that the GOP needs conservatives and their ideas more than conservatives really need the GOP. The fight for freedom will be based on our ideas, not the left’s. Pence drove this point home with a line that left people in the exhibit hall frozen — absorbing the wisdom of the line:

Fighting for free enterprise means standing up for free markets. The freedom to succeed includes the freedom to fail. We must defend entrepreneurial capitalism against the onslaught of the American left.

Mike Pence gets it.

After the speech, I asked Congressmen Pence how he responds to those who say the GOP leadership failed the GOP. “Not me,” he said. I responded, “Yeah, but . . . what about the leadership? The same guys are there.” He admitted there were problems, but said they are working hard to fix the problems. He pointed to toeing the line on the stimulus. He pointed out Boehner and Cantor’s leadership holding the caucus together. He made a lot of sense.

Below the fold you can listen to his whole speech.

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Brian covered a lot of what Mitch McConnell said here at CPC in an earlier post, but there was one very commendable thing he said.

He took on the administration’s policy related to GTMO. Hopefully this signals a fight.

“Conservatives also believe that the government has no more solemn duty than to protect the people who established it. And on this last point, let’s be very clear about something else: When it comes to Guantanamo, the new Administration needs to show it’s more concerned with safety than symbolism. Many of those still detained are serious threats to the safety of our citizens. In fact, several of these terrorists still proudly proclaim their desire to kill more Americans. The new Attorney General visited Guantanamo earlier this week and he returned with a glowing report. He said it was well-run, that he was impressed with the people in charge, and that every single person there has to be moved out and Guantanamo shut down in less than a year. The Obama Administration needs to answer a question: Where exactly do they expect to send these guys next January? They have no answer. Well I do: these terrorists are right where they belong.“

Welcome to the leftwing asshats coming over to check out this post. Note you’re being brought here instead of to say this post or this post or this post.

“During Hurricane Katrina, I and former Sheriff Harry Lee were with (then Congressman) Bobby Jindal more than anybody else from the federal government. He didn’t wait for cameras or permission — he was boots on the ground, and anyone that disputes that obviously wasn’t in Louisiana.” — Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, Democrat

Something is rotten at TPM.

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Well I’m really flattered. I was headed out of a meeting on the Hill and an unknown number showed up on my cell phone. I usually don’t answer unknown numbers, but I did. I’m glad I did.

The other day I wrote that people in Missouri, including people who had given Steelman large sums for her governor’s race, were calling to tell me she is a jerk.

I verified the people so I know they are who they say they are. I don’t know why they felt the need to call. They know, I’m sure, that I really like Roy Blunt, but they also know, I’m sure, that Roy Blunt and I do not see eye to eye on a lot of fiscal issues. He’s great on life issues and social issues, but he’s not really a fiscal conservative. And I have real issues with that.

So it’s no surprise, I guess, that people would be calling to push me toward Blunt and away from Sarah Steelman, with whom I share many, many common positions.

Anyway, Sarah Steelman was on the phone.

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See this line?

That’d be one hell of an army of activists ready and willing to help in run for Senator from Arkansas next year.

Maybe he’ll do it. He should.

The Wall Street Journal reports on Obama’s tax increase rather innocuously.

The tax increases would raise an estimated $318 billion over 10 years by reducing the value of such longstanding deductions as mortgage interest and charitable contributions for people in the highest tax brackets. Households paying income taxes at the 33% and 35% rates can currently claim deductions at those rates. Under the Obama proposal, they could deduct only 28% of the value of those payments.

The implications, however, are far reaching.

Arthur Brooks, now the President of AEI, wrote a book called Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism. In the book, Brooks notes that conservatives give more to charity than liberals. George Will, in a column last year about Brooks’ book, wrote

• Although liberal families’ incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).
• Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.
• Residents of the states that voted for John Kerry in 2004 gave smaller percentages of their incomes to charity than did residents of states that voted for George Bush.
• Bush carried 24 of the 25 states where charitable giving was above average.
• In the 10 reddest states, in which Bush got more than 60 percent majorities, the average percentage of personal income donated to charity was 3.5. Residents of the bluest states, which gave Bush less than 40 percent, donated just 1.9 percent.
• People who reject the idea that “government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality” give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.

Liberal activists groups by and large depend on unions. Unions get wages forcibly taken from most workers and do not depend on charitable contributions. On the other hand, churches, faith based out reach groups, and think tanks — the bulk of all three tend to be conservative — depend on charitable giving.

Historically, as taxes have increased, charitable giving has decreased. By raising taxes on the $250,000.00 and over crowd, a segment of the population between $250K and $1 million that is filled with small business owners innovating us out of recession, Obama will significantly impact conservative organizations in a way that won’t affect most liberal advocacy groups.

I’d hate to think they were about to take an action without knowing this detail.

Georgia Power requested that it be allowed to delay the filing of its FCR-21 fuel case before the PSC until March 13, 2009.

The filing would include details on any new fuel increases they’d have to charge to control fuel debt. According to well places PSC connected individuals, there’s a quick turn around on these matters and collection of new charges could happen within 90 days.

In other words, George Power won’t release its fuel increase data until after the legislature votes on SB 31.

So, Georgia Power can get the legislature to increase Georgia Power’s rate, then it gets to raise it rates to cover increased fuel charges and the PSC can’t really decline to let them raise rates on that issue.

Why won’t the legislature wait until after Georgia Power files its FCR-21 fuel case on March 13th to see what the increase in power rates will be?

Here, by the way, is the request from Georgia Power to hold off its filing until March 13th. The PSC granted the delay.

You might want to call your state representative to let him know about this.

GO HERE TO GET INVOLVED AND STOP SB 31

Here are a few things worth noting in the battle over S.B. 31.

I applaud Georgia Power for getting on Peach Pundit to make its case. I’d note a couple of things about the statement:

(A). The statement does not actually say that Georgia Power will lose its bond rating if S.B. 31 fails. Why? Because it would not be true to say that. This is another scare tactic like “We’ll never build another power plant in Georgia if this doesn’t go through.”

(B) The statement does not say Georgia Power will not do the construction if S.B. 31 fails — something its lobbyists have been trying to make us believe would be the case.

Let’s deal with what is really at stake here. S.B. 31 is a vote of no confidence in the PSC. As Don Balfour said, the legislature created the PSC and the legislature can bypass the PSC if it wants.

Except, the PSC was created by the legislature to deal with very complex regulatory issues involving utility monopolies. The combined heft of the state legislature is not as smart in dealing with these matters as the professionals at the PSC.

According to Georgia Power’s post at Peach Pundit:

Senate Bill 31 will not affect the Georgia Public Service Commission’s (PSC) authority to approve the construction of the nuclear units and certify the cost that Georgia Power is allowed to recover. The PSC will monitor the construction of the nuclear units and Georgia Power will be able to recover only those costs that the PSC deems are prudently incurred. Senate Bill 31 only affects the recovery of the related financing costs while the units are being constructed.

If that’s the case, then why not let the PSC handle the financing costs?

In fact, if the statement as made is true, there really should be no need to go to the legislature. The PSC should be able to handle it. Why then go to the legislature? Because Georgia Power does not think the PSC will side with it against consumers and the legislature, which can be bought by Georgia Power in ways the PSC is statutorily prohibited from being bought, is convinced through experience or campaign donations that the PSC is broken.

The legislature need only look at the scrambling to undo Governor Perdue’s original transportation plans this year to see that the law of unintended consequences will plague their decision to bypass the PSC. How so?

Well, first it will signal to every lobbyist that for thirty pieces of silver and a blond, female lobbyist under the age of 30, the legislature will bypass all the institutions it has set up to take technical, non-political matters off its plate.

Second, S.B. 31 will add new burdens of compliance on the PSC and the regulatory framework within the PSC. For example, let’s say the legislature eventually realizes S.B. 31 was a bad idea. The PSC will not be able to fix the mess. The legislature will have to undo it.

If the legislature has no confidence in the PSC to do its job right, it should fix the PSC. It should not start whittling away at the PSC’s powers by making an already complex regulatory process more complex. There is no reason, by the way, that this bill *must* be done this year. The legislature can wait a year, come up with a framework to fix the PSC, then actually fix the PSC and let it do its job.

Right now, the legislature wants to carve out a loophole for a utility monopoly to bypass the watchdog without fixing the watchdog. In the process, the legislature is making an organization it apparently does not think can do a good job do an even worse job by carving out loopholes.

And again, the legislature is just providing further incentives for other organizations to bypass state regulatory bodies and go straight to the legislature. It’s an awesome way to generate campaign contributors, but a terrible way to actually govern a state.

GO HERE TO GET INVOLVED AND STOP SB 31

Is Scott Murphy “Mr. Jobs,” or isn’t he? Well he was, then he wasn’t. The website scrubbers apparently don’t want you to know that Scott Murphy considers himself “Mr. Jobs,” probably because all the jobs he created were in India, not New York.

Here is how Scott Murphy, candidate for NY-20, described himself on his website originally:

“Scott Murphy, 38, from Warren County is a wunderkind for creating jobs in upstate New York . . . . Scott’s called ‘Mr. Jobs’ because of his unique experience at helping more than dozen companies in upstate New York.”

Here’s how it reads now:

“Scott Murphy, 39, is literally in the business of creating jobs. Saving and creating jobs, growing small businesses, and finding new ways to tackle old problems - these are the things Scott has done successfully for more than 15 years.”

He’s no wunderkind any more. And he’s no longer “Mr. Jobs.” Why?

Well a wunderkind probably would be smart enough to actually vote regularly before running for office. Scott Murphy didn’t vote for four years from 2000-2004. A wunderkind would also be smart enough to pay his taxes. Scott Murphy has a troubling history of not paying his taxes.

And he’s not “Mr. Jobs” because calling himself that would probably put the spotlight on his job creating ways in India — not New York. Scott Murphy started an company employing Indians and India that now rivals E-Bay. Good for him. Not good for New York.

UPDATED: Ed Morrisey brings us word that Scott Murphy has also accused the United States Military of being a bunch of racists. Writes Ed:

He opined in a Left-leaning campus magazine that the ROTC had no business on college campuses, especially Harvard

Why? Because the military expects people to follow orders and takes advantage of minorities.

Chuck Schumer wants the White House’s Office of Management and Budget to tell states they have no choice in the use of porkulus funds.

Below the fold is the entire letter. It’s is amazing in its reach. In effect, states will have zero discretion in how they spend the money and which parts they take.

This stems from Gov. Bobby Jindal and others saying they would not take the whole package because some parts would force state tax increases to comply with the terms of Porkulus.

Schumer says that’s tough. States will be forced to increase taxes and take 100% of the money if he has his way. And the states will have no discretion.

For instance, at least two governors have proposed rejecting a program to expand unemployment insurance for laid-off workers. Economists consistently rank unemployment insurance among the most efficient and cost-effective fiscal stimulus measures; by one frequently cited estimate, it provides an economic return of as high as $1.73 for every dollar invested. Thus, by denying this provision for their residents, these governors are not just depriving some of the neediest Americans of relief in a dire economy; they are undermining the overall stimulative impact of the package.

No one would dispute that these governors should be given the choice as to whether to accept the funds or not. But it should not be multiple choice.

This is breathtaking. It, in effect, makes the states servants of the federal government. States rights, etc. are out the window. And never mind that the unemployment insurance provisions would force taxes on the small businesses that are currently the only thing propping up the American economy.

This is how it is to be, folks — the federal Emperor and his Imperial Senate ordering fealty and servitude from the states. And if Washington does not get the fealty and loyalty, the states will be cut off, their people hurt, their businesses shut down, etc.

Washington has become Rome. And with Barney Frank up there, we’ve even got the licentiousness and male prostitution rings. Next up: throwing Christians t the lions.

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From ABC News:

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports:  The House Appropriations Committee just posted its $410 billion 2009 Omnibus spending bill.  It’s a doozy.  This is the bill that will fund the government’s operations until the end of the fiscal year.  It’s larded with thousands (so many, I can’t count them all yet) of earmarks and adds up an increase in overall discretionary spending of more than 8 percent, the biggest one year increase since 1978 (with the exception of the spending boost after the September 11 attacks).

And this is a bi-partisan feeding frenzy.  Roughly 40 percent of the money for earmarks (i.e. pet projects inserted by individual lawmakers) have been inserted by Republicans.

The Democrats, back before 2006, blamed the GOP constantly for major increases in discretionary spending. Now it is their turn and it turns out they are worse. 60% of increases by them. Wow.

Tonight, Barack Obama will address the nation. His aides, setting the bar extraordinarily high, say the speech will be Reaganesque.

“The president believes very clearly that we have to be honest with the American people about where we are,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“He will,” Gibbs said, “tell the country that we’ve faced … greater challenges than the ones we face now, but we as Americans always meet those challenges. But in the Reaganesque words, there are always better days ahead.”

Will the President dare to take on the issue of discretionary spending? Will he dare to challenge the Democrats?

I suspect this is the perfect opportunity for him to do so. The Dems are giving him a huge gift, i. e. a massive pig with a target on its rib cage for Obama to blow up and take on the corrupting culture of Washington.

This should, in fact, be the bar tonight. If Obama is willing to take this on, we’ll need to give him credit. If he does not, not only will he not have been “honest with the American people,” but he will not really be setting us up to meet any challenges.

Wow. Well done, Michael Steele.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says that he might support primary challengers against the three GOP senators who voted in favor of the stimulus package.

Asked if he was open to the move during an interview Monday on Fox News’ “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” Steele said, “Oh, yes, I’m always open to everything, baby, absolutely.”

Let’s be clear. This won’t actually happen. There are far too many institutional pressures and rules to make it possible. But signaling that he’d be open to it is enough to encourage a primary opponent and sends a strong message to Arlen Specter.

Specter is, after all, the only one of the three turncoats up for re-election in 2010.

We should, however, be mindful that as much as we don’t like Arlen Specter on 70% of issues, he is still a Republican vote for Republican leadership in the Senate and he knows how to slit Democrat throats with the best of them.

Arlen is in it for himself, not for the party or the voters. He does, however, line up with us on some of the big stuff. That’s to say he’d be worse than a Pat Toomey or most any other Republican, but he’s still better than any Democrat.

Sarah Steeleman is thinking of getting into the Missouri Senate race against Roy Blunt. Those two do not like each other one bit.

Steeleman ran for Missouri Governor and lost in the primary. Her opponent went down in flames in the general election.

Steeleman is making the rounds to all the conservative groups trying to line up support. It is no secret that Roy Blunt, while a conservative standard bearer on social issues, is squishy on fiscal issues. He has been a porker and recalcitrant on many reform issues.

So here is where we find ourselves: Roy Blunt is an extraordinarily nice guy. It’s no secret I have not been a fan of his leadership in the House Republican Conference, but I like him and his staff a great deal.

I don’t know Sarah Steeleman. Looking at her record and her positions running for Governor, I’d say she’d be my ideological pick. But more and more people tell me she’s a jerk. And these are not the types of people who view self-starting conservative women as jerks. These are people who supported her for Governor. They tell me they are deeply fearful that were she to lose the nomination to Roy Blunt that she’d run a behind the scenes slash and burn campaign, which would only help Carnahan.

We cannot afford to lose Missouri in 2010. If Steeleman wants in, I’ve got no problem. But I am deeply, deeply concerned that even a number of her supporters from her last race are concerned about her entry and attitude.

I hope she thinks carefully before pulling the trigger on a run.

Let’s presume just for the sake of argument that Jim Bunning needs to retire. Let’s just presume that. He hasn’t raised much money. He barely won re-election six years ago. He’s got foot in mouth disease. Let’s presume he needs to go.

We should not then presume to make the mistake that David Williams is the answer.

State Senate President David Williams (R) met last week with National Republican Senatorial Committee officials about a 2010 Senate bid, in the most public sign yet that GOP leaders could be looking for someone other than Sen. Jim Bunning (R) to carry the party banner next year.

As Kentucky’s Club For Growth chapter notes, David Williams’ candidacy should be dead on arrival.

Williams supported one of the largest tax increases in Kentucky history after claiming he’d hold the line on taxes. He is, in effect, a Kentucky version of George H. W. Bush and his “read my lips” pledge.

If Kentucky wants to replace Jim Bunning, that’s fine. But we should hope they don’t replace the conservative stalwart with someone more squishy than Mitch McConnell.

Dem-lite is no way to run.

The Hill reports Mitch McConnell said two things worth commending him on:

“When our good friends on the other side of the aisle say raising taxes on the wealthy, they really mean small businesses,” McConnell said on CNN’s “Late Edition.

and

“I think nationalizing the banks is an absolutely wrong thing to do.”

Good for him. While I’ve got serious disagreements with some of things McConnell does, it is great to hear him take these two positions. He is absolutely right and I hope he pushes his Senate GOP colleagues to hold the line on both issues.

Citibank does not need nationalization. It needs bankruptcy. Just because it has a bunch of foreign investors does not mean it should get out of the process a lesser entity would go through.

Amen and Amen.

“There’s some in our party that want to assume that government is the answer to all of our problems,” Bush said at a meeting of young Republicans, as reported by the Orlando News. “You know who I’m talking about,” he added, referencing Crist.

I have no doubt Charlie Crist wants to run for President of the United States. The guy would be worse than John McCain.

Multiple people tell me that Mel Martinez contemplated leaving his seat early, but Crist talked him out of it because Crist thought he’d be under too much pressure to appoint Jeb Bush to the seat.

Why doesn’t Crist like Jeb? Because Jeb is an effective conservative. Charlie Crist is not. Witness Crist going wobbly on tax increases to balance Florida’s budget. Crist is much more interested in protecting endangered animals than Florida’s tax payers.

It is incumbent on conservatives to begin now building up a great storehouse of Crist anecdotes showing how terrible he is so that he’s radioactive by 2012.

He would be wholly unacceptable as a Presidential nominee for the GOP. Crist has no principles beyond an instinct toward sticking his finger in the wind. And through his appointments within the Republican Party apparatus in Florida, he is tearing down a once very strong party.

Good on George P. Bush for standing up and telling the truth.

We should carry this headline into 2012 and club Charlie Crist like a baby seal with it: “Obama Teams With Florida Governor to Push Stimulus”.

As President Obama hosts a summit Monday on “fiscal responsibility,” Democratic leaders in Congress this week are preparing to ram through the House a massive spending bill that includes thousands of unscrutinized pork-barrel earmarks and the largest increase in discretionary spending since Jimmy Carter - a bill written in secret, which to date, no one in America other than the Democratic congressional leadership has read.

Connie Hair notes

The omnibus spending bill was originally placed on the legislative calendar over two weeks ago, yet that proved inconvenient to ramming through the obscene “stimulus” bill. Shaky Blue Dog Democrats — in what passes for their idea of fiscal responsibility this Congressional session — were not comfortable with trying to pass the bloated trillion dollar “stimulus” spending bill while porking up another half-trillion in omnibus spending.

As was the case with the Obama-Pelosi “stimulus” bill, Democrats appear determined to keep this massive spending bill under wraps, too, so the American people won’t know what’s in it, and Republicans will not have time to read what has historically been a bill literally thousands of pages in length.

Brian Darling, Derek Hunter, and I have up the second of what we hope will be a weekly rebuttal to Obama’s Weekly Address to the Nation.

This week, the President directly engages in Karl Marx double speak and goes through a litany of ways Porkulus will help. Of note, all the ways listed are via government, not the private sector.

So listen here or go to iTunes and download to your iProduct. And enjoy.

Here’s a hard link to the podcast.

or listen here: