Republicans retain control of New York State Senate!

Sort of.

How did I ever miss this? From the National Journal:

After weeks in which control of the New York state Senate was uncertain, the group of breakaway Democratic senators has struck a deal with Republicans to share control, the groups announced Tuesday.

The agreement means that the Independent Democratic Caucus will have formal recognition as a permanent third conference in the state Senate. Dean Skelos, the GOP Conference leader, and Sen. Jeffrey Klein, the IDC leader, will share “joint and equal authority.” The title temporary president will alternate between the two men every two weeks.

Continue reading Republicans retain control of New York State Senate!

Michigan to be scene of the Right-to-Work War of 2013?

It’s an interesting situation up there in Michigan: as the Detroit News rather sourly notes, the Republicans control the legislature and the governorship, while the extremely-Big Labor-friendly Proposal 2 went down in flames (58/42, not that the Detroit News wanted to mention that statistic).  This opens up the possibility of right-to-work legislation being introduced in either the current or the next state legislative turn; it also opens up the virtual certainty of a Big Labor response that will make the Wisconsin recall meltdown look like… well, I was going to write ‘a petulant, foot-stamping, and ultimately impotent temper tantrum conducted by spoiled brats with no conception of how the world really works,’ except that that was what the Wisconsin recall meltdown really was.  Anyway, it’ll be worse in Michigan.  To the point where things may start actually be set on fire.

But does it matter?  …Maybe not.  Consider the chart below:

State Sen House Cong
MI N/A -4 0
OH 0 1 0
WI 3 2 0

Continue reading Michigan to be scene of the Right-to-Work War of 2013?

Susan Estrich’s barren complaints about Obama’s future tax hike plans.

If she was a guy, I’d be calling said complaints “impotent.”

[snip of all the reasons why Susan Estrich reflexively – and, alas, stereotypically – voted for Barack Obama]

I did not vote for Obama because I think I am paying too little in taxes.

While I think that it’s adorable that Susan Estrich thinks that Barack Obama cares about why anybody did or did not vote for him, it’s also pretty much irrelevant.  What’s got her guts in an uproar is apparently rumors that the President wants to cap charitable deductions and lower the mortgage interest deduction… coupled with the sudden and unwelcome realization that Republicans are maybe going to smile nastily and let Obama do just that… Continue reading Susan Estrich’s barren complaints about Obama’s future tax hike plans.

RS Interview: Jon Golnik (R CAND, MA-03).

MA-03 is a NE Massachusetts district currently represented by Niki Tsongas – and if you’re wondering who that is, don’t worry: nobody else particularly remembers her, either.  It’s an interesting district: represented by one of the more reflexively liberal Congresswomen in the House, but it has a history of voting for Republicans.  The current Republican candidate Jon Golnik is hoping to capitalize on that; we spoke to him this morning on the subject, as well as the race and Massachusetts generally.

Jon’s site is here.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

The NYT needs to read *itself* on the Syrian rebel situation.

Because first it’s writing things like this: “Most of the arms shipped at the behest of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, and not the more secular opposition groups that the West wants to bolster, according to American officials and Middle Eastern diplomats,” and then it visibly wonders why it is that such a thing could be happening.  Well, it’s probably happening at least in part because the Saudi and Qatar governments are being bullied by the Obama administration into not providing official support for the rebels, leaving private subjects in both countries to take up the slack: ” …there are signs of an uptick in the number of young men crossing illegally into Syria from Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries, and of private fund-raising efforts across the gulf to help the rebels acquire heavier weapons.”  Note: both quotes are from the New York Times. Continue reading The NYT needs to read *itself* on the Syrian rebel situation.

Obama: ‘protecting’ American lady-parts. Egyptian ones? …Well, not so much.

Let’s connect the dots:

One. This is from the official Tumblr of the Obama re-election campaign (click it fast, because it won’t be there soon): [UPDATE: Well, that was fast.]

 

Two. We are giving aid to Egypt.  Which is to say, we are giving Egypt $450 million of your tax money.

Three. Egypt, of course, is run by the Muslim Brotherhood.  This is what the Muslim Brotherhood thinks of Female Genital Mutilation:

  • Saad El Katatny, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in parliament, says his movement is not opposed to the child law as a whole, rather “just those provisions that run counter to the norms, customs, and nature of the Egyptian people.” Aspects of the law that he takes issue with include articles that make it illegal to try children as adults, permit birth certificates for the children of unwed mothers, restrict corporal punishment, raise the marriage age to 18 years, and reinforce a standing ban on female circumcision.” (2008)
  • Female Advisor to Egyptian President: Girls Not Circumcised “Lacking in Faith” Earlier this week, Egypt’s Tahrir News conducted an interview with Dr. Amina Kamal, advisor to President Morsi on Women’s Affairs, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party, and a member of the Constituent Assembly.” (2012)
  • A number of Egyptian human rights groups have submitted a communication to the Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud against the Muslim Brotherhood`s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) to investigate the complaints of people in the village of Abu Aziz in the Minya governorate, south of Cairo, over the existence of a large medical convoy organized by the party that wanders streets and does medical examination on people, including female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, in violation of Egyptian law, conventions and treaties signed by Egypt.” (2012)
  • Muslim Brotherhood (MB) MP Mohamed el-Omda objected to the criminalization of female circumcision in the presence of his three daughters and his mother.” (2012)
  • For those wondering why on earth (in spite of the many rebuttals from Islamic clerics that FGM is distinctly un-Islamic) the Muslim Brotherhood have decided to virtually campaign on their support of it? Perhaps a view down the lens of social currency is helpful. Certainly we are not unfamiliar here in the UK with the idea of politicians aligning themselves with moral currencies such as marriage and sexuality in the face of the rapid decline of monetary capital. The Muslim Brotherhood also find that taking the [dubious] moral high-ground of chastity and honour avails them the opportunity to triumphantly reach into the heart of the vast majority of economically deprived Egyptians without offering any actual policies to relieve their hardship.” (2008)

Four.  Let’s look at that Tumblr again, shall we?

 

Five.  I think that I do agree with the Tumblr, after all: American women should vote to protect lady-parts.  Which is to say, they should be voting for Romney-Ryan.

Moe Lane (crosspost)