The Foundation

“[I]n this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” –Benjamin Franklin

Editorial Exegesis

“Congressional Democrats plan massive tax increases and crippling defense cuts after November. Why not now? Because the voters would realize the Obama presidency has set the stage for fiscal catastrophe. ‘The way to deal with sequestration is put revenues on the table.’ That is third-ranking Senate Democrat Charles Schumer of New York’s coded way of telling congressional Republicans that if you want to prevent the budgetary devastation of the U.S. military, you’ll have to break your promises to voters and agree to major tax hikes. After the presidential and congressional elections this November, a lame-duck Congress will address an impending fiscal calamity. Without action, the Bush tax cuts once again are set to expire at the end of the year…. Heritage Foundation senior fellow and former Treasury Department tax economist J.D. Foster recently warned that on New Year’s Day, ‘some $494 billion in tax hikes will crash down on America’s taxpayers and economy’ – not just the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that gave us a boom and cut unemployment to under 5%, but ‘a jump in the payroll tax rate,’ ‘the return of the death tax,’ ‘a bigger, badder’ Alternative Minimum Tax, and the tax hikes for ObamaCare. … This is a gift-wrapped campaign present for Mitt Romney and all those running for Congress this year who believe in prosperity and fiscal responsibility. … Obama and congressional Democrats refuse to do anything to defuse the economy’s ticking fiscal time bomb before the November election. Romney and congressional Republicans should be asking every day between now and the election: Why, aside from politics, are we waiting?” –Investor’s Business Daily

Upright

“Call [Obama] what you want, but don’t tell me he isn’t an extreme leftist by American standards. He might be a moderate in Europe, but not here. If not for strong conservative voices opposing his radical agenda, he would have gone much further: larger and more stimuli, much greater deficits and debt, even higher percentages of people on the welfare rolls and not paying income taxes, an even more lawless Justice Department, a single-payer health care system, the consummation of the war on conventional energy and further wasteful green energy experiments, a more progressive income tax code, a possible value-added tax, more liberal activist judges, greater unilateral disarmament, further relaxation of border control, more government control over business – and more. Thank God for conservative talkers and other voices on the right who aren’t deterred from doing what is right for fear of being called extremists themselves.” –columnist David Limbaugh

“Last week the Washington Post ran a story attempting to portray presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney as a homophobic bully. Despite every effort to contain it, the story imploded, as factual inaccuracies came to light. Furthermore, the victim’s own sisters (he died of liver cancer in 2004) claimed to have no knowledge of incident, with one of them telling ABC News, ‘If he were still alive today, he would be furious.’ Yet as is often the case with highly publicized news stories, other mainstream media outlets attempted to keep the thematic aspect of the piece alive, irrespective of the facts. … Why is it necessary to portray Mitt Romney as a bully? So Barack Obama, the real bully in this presidential election contest, doesn’t look as bad by comparison.” –columnist Arnold Ahlert

“There are only 11 primaries left and all but one – Utah, which was a lock for [Mitt] Romney from the start – will be held within the next 22 days. Why didn’t [Ron] Paul hang in there and play out the string? I assume it’s because two of those 11 are Kentucky and Texas, the latter Paul’s home state and the former [his son] Rand’s. [Rick] Santorum decided to quit before Pennsylvania to spare himself the bad press of a loss on his home field; Paul is taking a more middle-ground approach, trying to minimize the blow to Rand by declaring that he won’t contest those races but refusing to formally suspend so that his supporters still have reason to go to the polls and get him some delegates.” –blogger Allahpundit

“I would like to make a rule that nobody ever again be tried for a hate crime. A crime is a crime, and whether the victim is a black, a Hispanic or a homosexual, should not make the punishment any more severe than if the victim is a WASP. One can safely assume that every crime is hateful to the victim. People who favor concentrating on ‘hate’ rather than ‘crime’ are the same noodle-heads who are unaware that ‘social justice’ is an oxymoron. Justice doesn’t call for adjectives. Once they’re added on, it ceases to be justice, which is why Lady Justice is always pictured blindfolded and why Martin Luther King pleaded for a colorblind society.” –columnist Burt Prelutsky

Insight

“What orators lack in depth they make up for in length.” –Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)

“In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.” –former French president Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970)

The Demo-gogues

Memory lapse: “It was a house of cards and it collapsed in the most destructive, worst crisis we’ve seen since since the Great Depression. And sometimes people forget the magnitude of it, you know, and you saw some of that in the video that was shown. Sometimes I forget.” –Barack Obama

The BIG Lie: “We believe the free market is one of the greatest forces for progress in human history; that businesses are the engine of growth; that risk-takers and innovators should be rewarded.” –Barack Obama, who believes nothing of the sort

Hope: “The question is not whether things will get better, they always do. The question is not whether we’ve got the solutions to our challenges, we have had them within our grasp for quite some time.” –Barack Obama

Redefining marriage strengthens it? “The announcement I made last week about my views on marriage equality… The basic idea – I want everybody treated fairly in this country. We have never gone wrong when we expanded rights and responsibilities to everybody. That doesn’t weaken families; that strengthens families. It’s the right thing to do.” –Barack Obama

Forward! “What made [the Constitution] special was that it made it possible for those who were left out to fight their way back in a constant forward movement. We look forward, not back.” –Barack Obama

Tight poll numbers: “When your name is Barack Obama it’s always tight” –Barack Obama

Fauxcahontas: “You know, I’m proud of my Native American heritage. I’m proud of my family. It’s now the case that people have gone over my college records, my law school records, every job I’ve ever had to see that I got my work. I got my jobs because I do my work. I work hard. I’ve been a good teacher.” –Massachusetts Democrat senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren, who doesn’t seem to be able to prove her supposed Cherokee heritage

Dezinformatsia

We’ll have a gay old time: “The racial struggle of America is more intrinsic to our entire national drama than other struggles for equality. And also, President Obama very markedly did not order any change in policy this past week with his comments. But I think they’re similar in a president deciding that there is a change underway in public opinion and he’s going to side in favor of a group that at that moment he views as being unfavored and even mistreated.” –U.S. News & World Report editor and former Carter speechwriter James Fallows

Deflection: “When I think about what some people, and I hear what some folks are saying about this issue, I wonder if in 10 or 20 years when those sound bites are played back to them if they’re going to cringe and want to go and hide somewhere. … I don’t understand why people don’t get that and why people keep … injecting religion into an issue that has to do with rights.” –CNN’s Don Lemon advocating for marriage redefinition

“If Clinton Was ‘Black,’ Is Obama ‘Gay’?” –CNN website headline

Comparing Ann Romney to Hitler: “[T]hey also have out this new Super PAC ad out about basically: Is Ann Romney under attack for being a mother? To me, it’s still kind of amazing that they’re still milking this thing. You know? It can’t only be me that kind of initially saw Ann Romney as maybe a sympathetic or neutral figure but who is increasingly seeing her as someone who is kind of insufferable because of the way she’s milking this thing. … In a lot ways, the column [written by Ann Romney] was totally anodyne, right? She’s, you know, yes, motherhood is beautiful. I found that phrase, ‘the crown of motherhood’ really kind of creepy. Not just because of it’s somewhat – you know, it’s kind of really authoritarian societies that give out like a Cross of Motherhood. They give out awards for big families. You know, Stalin did it, Hitler did it.” –Newsweek and Daily Beast columnist Michelle Goldberg

Newspulper Headlines:

Out on a Limb: “2012 Election a ‘50-50 Proposition’ for Obama, Top Pollster Says” –Chicago Tribune

And Other Fabulous Accessories: “Obama Buckles on Gay Marriage” –The Washington Times

Because He Wants to Use Them for MREs: “Why Is Obama Considering Degrading Our Military Dogs’ Training?” –AmericanThinker.com

Obama Ate Them!: “Lawmakers Question Lack of Watchdogs at Federal Agencies” –FoxNews.com

Elizabeth Warren Isn’t, That’s for Sure: “Are the Indians for Real?” –CBSSports.com

We Blame George W. Bush: “It Will Be Hot in Texas This Summer” –The American Spectator website

Bottom Story of the Day: “38 Percent of All 911 Calls in NYC Are Accidents, Most Are ‘Butt Calls’” –Huffington Post

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

Village Idiots

Tax everybody more: “"We are all going to have to contribute to this, and if middle class people’s wages were going up again, and we had some growth to the economy, I don’t think they would object to going back to tax rates [from] when I was president.” –the first black president, Bill Clinton

Go forth and pester: “We have come so far, but we have so much more to do for our children. Are you in? I mean, are you ready to roll up your sleeves and work, and talk, and get people signed up, and call on the phone, and talk to the people who don’t want to talk to you and convince the neighbor that doesn’t understand?” –Michelle Obama

“His views on LGBT rights are crystal clear, and this administration has taken actions that are unparalleled to support those rights.” –White House Press Secretary Jay Carney

Get a life: “Congratulations, Mitt Romney! You’re the presumed GOP nominee and all you had to do was threaten to let our employers take away our contraception coverage threaten to let our insurance companies charge us more, just because we’re women and threaten to get rid of Planned Parenthood, a life-saving source of healthcare for million of women So this November, we’re gonna remember how you threw women under the bus, just to get the nomination.” –MoveOn.org advertisement

Short Cuts

“President Obama stayed overnight in Beverly Hills Thursday where he was cheered by people for his gay marriage stand. He caught a break. Beverly Hills is a town where the only people who are opposed to gay marriage are gay people who are already married.” –comedian Argus Hamilton

“I think I speak for most heterosexual males when I say I’m not homophobic but chick-o-centric. Let’s keep it positive, okay? It’s not that we dislike gays … it’s just that we really like girls.” –columnist Doug Giles

“President Obama officially announced he is in favor of gay marriage. Of course, this is a monumental event. This is the first time Joe Biden said something Obama didn’t have to apologize for. … In fact, he changed his campaign slogan from ‘forward’ to fabulous.” –comedian Jay Leno

“A new Obama ad calls Romney a ‘vampire’ for what his firm did to jobs. But vampires are very popular these days; maybe that’s how Romney closed up the gender gap. If Romney is a vampire towards jobs, what’s Obama? A zombie plague?” –humorist Frank J. Fleming

“HotAir.com’s Ed Morrissey notes (via Rory Cooper of the Heritage Foundation) that Obama has inserted his name into the official White House website biography of every president from Coolidge to George W. Bush. Example: ‘In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule.’ Obama is under the mistaken impression that America’s symbol is the bald ego.” –The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team