The American Mind

The Tennessee Republican Party took at shot at Michelle Obama’s “proud” comment with Nashville citizens saying why they were proud of the U.S.

Time for you to break out your video cameras and make a video telling the world why you’re proud of the U.S. Up load them to YouTube and leave a comment. If anyone wants to take this another step whyareyouproud.com is available. If anyone needs help building a site let me know (sean–at–theamericanmind–dot-com).

[via Hot Air]

UPDATE: I’ve been told whyareyouproud.com had been snapped up. Nice to know someone takes my advice.

For more user-generated fun SproutBlog offers this deal:

Convince us that Barack Obama eats brains, win a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD special edition DVD.

It’s no surprise food prices have gone up, but the government reports they haven’t risen this much since 1990:

Food prices have risen 6.1 percent in the past three months on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. The one-month rise between March and April of 0.9 percent was the biggest since January 1990, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The rise in prices covered all categories of food but was most severe among such staple goods as grains and oils — goods where inflation has touched off food riots in some less developed countries and led to concerns about supply shortages.

The costs of cereal and bakery products increased 1.4 percent from March to April and have risen nearly 20 percent in the past three months on a seasonally adjusted basis. Prices for fats and oils jumped more than 5 percent in April, on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, and have increased more than 26 percent in the past three months. Prices for sugars and sweets increased more than 10 percent during that same period.

President Bush’s chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Edward Lazear, told Congress that increased ethanol production accounts for only 1.2% of food price increases. He disagrees with the IMF who argues biofuels have caused half of the increase.

Bravo to Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI). He went to the well of the House and urged members to vote against the farm bill.

John Aravosis finally realizes the Clintons are all about themselves:

The Clintons don’t give a damn about our party. Their party, their church, is themselves. To hell with everyone else. I actually liked Hillary up until a few months ago. Other bloggers used to tell me that Joe and I were too nice to Hillary. People just assumed that we were endorsing her. Now I actually loathe her. She makes me yell at the TV like she’s George Bush, and no one other than George Bush makes me yell at the TV - until now. I actually can’t stand her or her husband any more. I defended her. I defended her husband. And now I’m actually wondering if the Republicans weren’t right about them. That’s how bad she has damaged her reputation. People who actually liked you, who actually helped you, who actually defended you, LOATHE you now. Call me a Clinton-hater all you like, but people like me were the ones who had your back. And we never will again.

Welcome to the club. What took you so long?

“Go Away You Horrible Human Being” [via memeorandum]

• U.S. foreclosures are up 65%.
• Consumer prices rose only 0.2% in April. That wasn’t as high as expected due to unchanged energy prices.
• Tom Meyers “likes” the new farm bill so much he’s thinking of planting soybeans, corn, and cotton in front of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s offices.
• Dean Baker wishes the Wall Street Journal talked to economists who thought the economy was in trouble before it was.
• Zachary Karabell thinks many are overreaching to the economy.

I hold my head in shame for missing Friedrich Hayek’s birthday. He only changed the way I look at economics and social science. He is my intellectual idol.

Don Boudreaux offered a quote from Law, Legislation, and Liberty, Vol. 1: Rules and Order. I’ll give you a passage from “The Use of Knowledge in Society“:

I am convinced that if it were the result of deliberate human design, and if the people guided by the price changes understood that their decisions have significance far beyond their immediate aim, this mechanism [the price system] would have been acclaimed as one of the greatest triumphs of the human mind. Its misfortune is the double one that it is not the product of human design and that the people guided by it usually do not know why they are made to do what they do.

[via Pejman Yousefzadeh]

Another special election means another loss for the Republicans:

Democrat Travis Childers won Tuesday’s Mississippi special election runoff for Sen. Roger Wicker’s (R) former House seat, handing Democrats the biggest of their three special election takeovers this cycle and sending a listless GOP further into a state of disarray.

Childers led GOP candidate Greg Davis 53-47 with more than 90 percent of precincts reporting. Turnout increased substantially over the 67,000 voters who cast ballots in the April 22 open special election, with more than 100,000 voting in the runoff.

Childers, who beat Davis 49-46 three weeks ago but came up just shy of a race-ending majority, joins new Democratic Reps. Bill Foster (Ill.) and Don Cazayoux (La.) to give Democrats a trifecta of upsets in conservative House districts over the last two months.

The loss could send shockwaves through the Republican Party, where murmurs about a leadership shakeup have become more and more audible.

Democrats are backing up the assertion that they remain on the offensive in the cycle following a 30-seat gain, which has historically not been the case after a “wave” election.

Wicker’s former district voted 62 percent for President Bush in 2004 and, by that measure, is one of the most conservative seats Democrats have taken from the GOP over the last 18 months, including the 2006 election.

House Majority Leader John Boehner has a new slogan to lead Congressional Republicans into the fall’s elections, but will there be substantial ideas behind it to get people to want to vote for Republicans?

Patrick Ruffini has issued a good rule of thumb:

I’m not going to say that heads roll because of these three elections alone, but if we fail to recapture the House or make surprising headway towards that goal, we need to be pretty firm that the current leadership must resign en masse. Boehner and Blunt have six months to turn this ship around.

In fact, this should become a standing rule: You lose, you resign. We will start winning a lot faster once there are consequences for losing.

Boehner et al, you’re time is running out.

“Childers Victory Gives Dems a Third Straight Takeover”

[picture via pnoeric]

Robert Stacy McCain doesn’t think conservative pundits are fessing up to the potential Republican bloodbath in November:

So far as polls can forecast, then, Republicans are sailing for a November electoral disaster on the scale of 1964 or ‘74. Meanwhile, we see the GOP standard-bearer distancing himself still further from the party’s conservative base, e.g., endorsing the global warming hoax.

What we don’t see, however, is conservative pundits bluntly acknowledging this pessimistic picture, or naming names in terms of who is responsible for the startling decline of GOP fortunes since 2004.

I can name a few names: Tom DeLay, Dennis Hastert, and the the Republican Congressional leadership who let the federal government expand by passing things like the Medicare prescription drug entitlement; Donald Rumsfeld for not focusing on counter-insurgency in Iraq; but most importantly to President George Bush for signing bills that let spending get out of control and doing a miserable job communicating to the public about the struggle in Iraq. I could continue, but I don’t want to get depressed. What a long way the Republicans came from the Class of 1994 and calls for nuking the Department of Education

Who do you blame for the Republicans' fall? Play along and name some names in the comments.

"Polls and Possibilities“

Those who think man-made global warming is no worry and those who can’t stand Sen. McCain running away from conservatives will scream knowing the McCain campaign is selling “green” schwag. The $50 (!) polo shirts are biodegradable with 70% bamboo and 30% cotton. Clothes made out of woody grass doesn’t sound comfortable. The hats are made out of organic cotton, and the coffee mug contains some biodegradable plastic. All items have the ubiquitous recycling logo replacing the McCain star.

It drove Mark Levin over the edge.

I’m surprised McCain isn’t selling branded carbon offsets.

What about Mike Huckabee as Sen. McCain’s running mate? Politically it’s not a horrible idea.

A potential plus with Huckabee on the ticket would be his ability to generate earned (free) media. He ran for a long time on a tiny staff and little money. McCain’s fundraising has been pitiful. The personable and tireless Huckabee would stretch out the limited funds McCain will have until he gets his public funds for the fall general election.

Another plus is Huckabee might inject some life into McCain’s eCampaign efforts. After Rep. Ron Paul I think his campaign did the best job activating his online grassroots supporters. Huckabee talked directly to allied webloggers; the campaign used a real-time counter for fundraising, highlighted user-generated videos, and pushed people to the activist forum Huck’s Army.

What would be most beneficial to McCain would be Huckabee’s ability to shore up the Christian conservative vote. Such a pick would take advantage of the identity politics displayed by them this season. Those who thought it was the social/Christian conservatives’ time to lead the GOP would be pleased with the #2 slot.

At the same time it would alienate economic and libertarian conservatives who despise Huckabee’s Arkansas tax hikes and his nanny state pronouncements. And let’s not forget about border security conservatives who would be irate with a McCain/Huckabee ticket. And that’s counting Huckabee’s conversion/pandering.

Another downside to Huckabee would be the close scrutiny Huckabee would get from a unsympathetic MSM. Huckabee enjoyed the same lack of vetting that Sen. Obama has recieved. What the media and opposing campaigns failed to point out was Huckabee’s dark side. While governor of Arkansas he had a habit of holding grudges and inflicting revenge on political enemies. That’s a 180-degree contrast with his national media brand of God, sunshine, populist emoting, and smiles. Huckabee’s shine would vanish once reporters started digging into his Arkansas record.

I can understand the anger that would be generated with Huckabee on the ticket, but voting for Sen. Clinton? Yeesh. I’d rather vote for Bob Barr.

We’re seeing McCain trying to build a different coalition. He’s pushing global warming to get some young voters and swing voters. At the same time he’s not reaching out to the conservative base and isn’t generating excitement with the business donors. By choosing Huckabee we’d see McCain going along with Ed Rollins’ claim that the Reagan coalition is dead. It does prove the Right needs to rethink how it approaches government and politics to win elections and advance limited government.

“Report: Huckabee Tops McCain’s VP Shortlist?”

[picture via Jonathan D. Blundell]

Owen Robinson spotted announcement that Gov. Jim Doyle signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Kingdom involving climate change. He thinks it’s unconstitutional. From my glance it looks more like feel-good symbolism over substance. It “encourages collaboration between Wisconsin and the U.K. in researching and sharing new technologies, experiences, and solutions, as well as efforts to educate the public on global climate issues.” There’s nothing binding here; some unconstitutional treated was brokered. In short, it’s a lot of talk, but enough to Doyle’s office could pump out a press release. Not a lot will probably come of it either.

“Doyle Ignores Constitution”

There’s plenty of talk about Sen. McCain’s cap-and-trade idea to reduce carbon emissions. So I devoted this edition to it.

• Greg Mankiw wants the government to sell the credits to create a quasi-Pigovian tax.
• The Wall Street Journal editorial board hates the idea.
• Robert Lawson would prefer the government give the carbon credits away.
• Larry Kudlow grimaces at the potential complexity of the system.

To Hot Air commenters:

Sen. John McCain isn’t a liberal. The GOP isn’t controlled by liberals and moderates. (Do name names if you think so.) McCain won the nomination because conservatives were divided among the other candidates, none who really inspired (including my guy, Fred Thompson). No other candidates crushed him when he was down, so he ended up being the last man standing. No conspiracy required, just simple math.

As hard as it seems there are good things about McCain. He wants to win the Iraq War, he wants to control federal spending, he doesn’t like ethanol subsidies, and he will make sure we get half-decent Supreme Court justices.

Yes, McCain is far from perfect. He’s wrong on political speech (campaign finance reform), is a global warming fan, and doesn’t want to cut taxes much besides the corporate rate. These are significant problems but don’t ignore the positives.

I’m not asking you to be a McCain cheerleader. I’m not pleased with a lot of what he’s doing. I’m not even asking you give him money or volunteering for him. For that McCain will have to do a much better job asking–something I doubt he’ll do. I’m asking you to get a grip. Complain and rip McCain all you like, but do it with some sense of rationality.

Speed Racer wasn’t so hot at the box office. The live-action movie with Lite Bright backgrounds based on a bad cartoon failed to knock off Iron Man.

You have seen Iron Man, haven’t you?

[picture via zarzoso]