Month: January 2015

Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord (D) abruptly resigns, plea-bargains.

You almost have to feel sorry for new Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf (D). The man’s just moved into Harrisburg, gotten his voice mail straightened out, starting to get a feel for the morning commute, and then WHAMM! – his (Democratic) Attorney General (Kathleen Kane) is on the verge of being indicted for perjury and his (Democratic) Treasurer (Rob McCord) is resigning, not to mention preparing to plead out on extortion charges:

State Treasurer Rob McCord, a former Democratic candidate for governor, gave up his post today and apologized to the citizens of Pennsylvania, his government staff and family for threatening two campaign contributors with the loss of state business if they did not give to his campaign.

Note that I said ‘almost.’  Although, to be marginally fair: both Attorney General and Treasurer are elected positions in Pennsylvania. Tom Wolf can probably make a plausible enough case for saying that he didn’t know anything about either scandal, because he just got here and this is the first that he’s really hearing about it. Whether that’ll work on the electorate has yet to be determined. As to whether Treasurer McCord’s sudden fall from grace will induce AG Kane to jump, or perhaps be pushed? – You should probably check with somebody who knows Pennsylvanian state politics better than I do. All I know is that the Democrats are rapidly running out of competent statewide candidates and officials in that state…

Moe Lane (crosspost)

The Left starts to gingerly contemplate reassessing the inevitability of Hillary.

And so it begins:

…if she were to suddenly take herself out of the race in, say, two months’ time, there would be a massive sense of doom within the party. The shock of the decision would reverberate for weeks — and maybe even months — making it hard for anyone looking to fill the void she left behind.

[snip]

Simply put: For Clinton to pass on the race — and especially if she waits until summer to make her decision public — would be absolutely disastrous for her party’s chances of holding onto the White House next November.

Continue reading The Left starts to gingerly contemplate reassessing the inevitability of Hillary.

Meet Carl Heastie, the (likely) new New York Assembly Speaker…

…same as the old Assembly Speaker: “The Bronx Democrat on the verge of becoming the next Assembly speaker paid his baby mama $2,500 from his campaign treasury — raising ethical concerns following disgraced Sheldon Silver’s corruption bust, The [New York] Post has learned.” It’s a fairly picayune, yet hardly uncommon, maneuver: take someone who you’d like to give some money and hire him/her to do a specific job. S/he doesn’t know how to do it? Well, subcontract it out! If you’ve thought ahead then you’ve already overpaid him/her by enough that s/he can just hire somebody to actually do the job at the regular market rate and still come out ahead on the deal. Best part of all? If you do it with campaign money, it doesn’t count. Continue reading Meet Carl Heastie, the (likely) new New York Assembly Speaker…

Think that the Democrats will retake the House in ’16? Fine. Name the seats.

You’re going to see a lot of these types of stories in the next year or so: “House Democrats retake the House? It’s a long shot, but they’re getting ready to try.”  At least, if the 2012 and 2014 election cycles are any indication:

Continue reading Think that the Democrats will retake the House in ’16? Fine. Name the seats.

Is the sudden Democratic fixation on ‘income inequality’ backed by anything except its rear?

Serious question. I mean, you can’t read a Lefty these days (hey, it’s part of the job*) without them going on about how important income inequality is or how the Democrats are going to use income inequality as a springboard to electoral victory or (this is my favorite) how obviously we Republicans know that we have to get serious about income inequality and soon. It’s remarkably uniform on the Other Side, in fact. Remarkably uniform.

…Did I miss a bombshell poll or study? It’s OK to tell me, if I did. I mean, I know that I’m not perfect. Things can get past me and I won’t know until afterward. I won’t feel bad if it turns out that this is one of times when I just missed it; but I could have sworn that I would have seen it if it suddenly became clear that fighting income inequality was seen by the American public as the latest moral equivalent of war…

Moe Lane

*Although I suspect that it would infuriate many Left pundits to find out just how important a part of the job it was.

Tweet of the Day, Well… Yes. Extending Unemployment Benefits Encourages Unemployment. Duh? edition.

Huh?

 

Continue reading Tweet of the Day, Well… Yes. Extending Unemployment Benefits Encourages Unemployment. Duh? edition.

I can tell you EXACTLY what @freddiedeboer can do. (Language warning)

Frederik deBoer can be ripped apart by his own faction for writing this (language warning):

Jon Chait is an asshole. He’s wrong. I don’t want these kids to be more like Jon Chait. I sure as hell don’t want them to be less left-wing. I want them to be more left-wing. I want a left that can win, and there’s no way I can have that when the actually-existing left sheds potential allies at an impossible rate. But the prohibition against ever telling anyone to be friendlier and more forgiving is so powerful and calcified it’s a permanent feature of today’s progressivism. And I’m left as this sad old 33 year old teacher who no longer has the slightest fucking idea what to say to the many brilliant, passionate young people whose only crime is not already being perfect.

…and perhaps he might, in his last metaphorical moments (after all, Mr. deBoer is not actually about to be ripped apart by Maenads) reflect that perhaps he chose unwisely when it came to his basic ideological operating paradigm. Or perhaps he might not. Not really my problem, either way. Continue reading I can tell you EXACTLY what @freddiedeboer can do. (Language warning)