The Patriot Post® · Thursday Short Cuts

Insight: “When a new source of taxation is found it never means, in practice, that an old source is abandoned. It merely means that the politicians have two ways of milking the taxpayer where they had only one before.” —H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)

For the record: “The people of New Hampshire have a quaint self-delusion that they pick Presidents. In fact, they like to denigrate Iowa specifically by saying ‘Iowa picks corn, New Hampshire picks Presidents.’ The actual truth is that New Hampshire has been on an unrelenting losing streak that goes back over three decades, for both parties. In every contested primary — Republican or Democrat — since 1992, New Hampshire has picked a candidate who either a) lost their party’s nomination or b) lost the general election.” —Leon Wolf

Belly laugh of the week: “I just saw a story the other day showing that if you rank all 50 states across categories like education levels and household incomes, and race and religion, the one state that most closely mirrors America as a whole is Illinois, this state.” —Barack Obama

Delusions: “We saved the economy from a depression. We brought back an auto industry from the brink of collapse. We helped our businesses create 14 million new jobs over the past six years. We cut the unemployment rate from 10% to 4.9%. We covered nearly 18 million more Americans with health insurance. We ignited a clean energy revolution. We got bin Laden. We brought the vast majority of our troops home to their families. We got a lot done. We’re still getting a lot done. And our political system helped make these things possible, and the list could go on. There’s no doubt America is better off today than when I took office.” —Barack Obama

“We don’t have a common basis for what’s true and what’s not. I mean, if I listened to some of these conservative pundits, I wouldn’t vote for me either. I sound like a scary guy. … Nine years to the day that I first announced for this office, I still believe in that politics of hope.” —Barack Obama

Transparency: “I don’t think there is any doubt that [Obama] wants Hillary to win the nomination and believes she would be the best candidate in the fall and the most effective as president in carrying forward what he has achieved.” —former Obama spokesman Jay Carney

Non Compos Mentis: “We haven’t seen a true leftist since FDR, so many millions are coming out of the woodwork to vote for Bernie Sanders.” —Bill Maher

Late-night humor: “Valentine’s Day is the only holiday where a plant suddenly becomes astronomically expensive and we’re OK with it. It would be like if on Easter they charged $20 an egg.” —Jimmy Kimmel