Author: Moe_Lane

NH’s Division of Economic Development achieves genius. #rsrh

The Internet meme that refuses to die, thank God:

Keep your stimulus packages and job-creating proposals.

Budget shortfalls, be warned, New Hampshire has a new weapon in its economic arsenal: Three Wolf Moon.

The shirt that sparked an Internet sensation has been named the state’s official T-shirt of economic development.

As you can see, I have added the Three Wolf Moon to my Blogging Wish List. I do not know how I have managed to survive without it thus far, honestly.

A bit… petulant to cut 9/11 health funding, no?

[UPDATE]: Welcome, Instapundit readers.

I mean, I get the central message: “Fine. You want me to cut spending? I’ll cut spending! I’ll show you! I’LL SHOW YOU ALL!”

The Obama administration stunned New York’s delegation Thursday, dropping the bombshell news that it does not support funding the 9/11 health bill.

The state’s two senators and 14 House members met with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius just hours before President Obama implored in his speech to the nation for Congress to come together and deliver a government that delivers on its promises to the American people.

So the legislators were floored to learn the Democratic administration does not want to deliver for the tens of thousands of people who sacrificed after 9/11, and the untold numbers now getting sick.

…but I have to point out – like Dana Loesch – that not all programs are created equal, either. This is like something out of an 80s sitcom:

– Bringing Up Barry! (Tuesdays, 8 PM EST): When Barry gets in trouble at school for splurging the Chess Club’s entire budget on a pizza party, it’s up to John to talk to him about spending wisely. But Barry goes too far and hides with the school’s fuses to save money. Wacky hijinks ensue as Sarah tries to talk him out of the furnace room in time to save the Valentine’s Day dance!

Special Guest Star: Erik Estrada, as hip ‘rap’ DJ Ricky Mark.

Or something like that.

Moe Lane

PS: Really. This is how it’s coming across.

Crossposted to RedState.

Fortunately, they will ignore Tom Jensen utterly.

He’s been making the tactical error of not telling Democrats what they want to hear lately*, so any excuse to discount this cold water on GOP party disunity is a good enough one, right?

In the wake of NY-23 last fall a lot of Democrats hoped that the ideological war within the Republican Party would impede GOP progress in 2010. I just don’t see it though.

Take a look at Florida- yesterday’s Quinnipiac poll showed Marco Rubio getting 82% of the GOP vote against Kendrick Meek and Charlie Crist getting 80%. The Rubio people might be disappointed if Crist still manages to win the primary, but they’d still vote for him to keep Democrats from increasing their margin in the Senate. And the Crist people might think Rubio is too far to the right, but that would probably be outweighed by a feeling that Meek is too far to the left.

Then again, they may not have much of a choice.  If you look at the NJ and VA gubernatorial races, one glaring difference between the two is that in NJ hope didn’t actually die, choking, for Democrats until the actual day of the election; but in VA it was blatantly obvious that Deeds had achieved DOOM about a month previously.  One major reason?  In NJ, third-party candidate Daggett kept polling absurdly high – as in, double digits.  That kept it from being immediately obvious that Corzine didn’t actually have a chance, which meant that by the time it was obvious the psychological impact had been lessened.  Not relevant for Corzine, true… but NJ Democrats only lost one seat in their state legislature’s election, while VA ones lost a net six.  Because VA Democrats despaired, and their visible despair was likely infectious.

In other words: clinging to the belief that the GOP is going to fragment any day now may not turn defeat into victory – but it could keep defeat from turning into rout, lower down on the ticket.  So don’t expect this meme to go away; even if playing more or less to lose is not even remotely a viable route to victory…

Moe Lane

*Yes, I recognize that you could make the argument that he’s been telling Republicans what they want to hear.

Crossposted to RedState.

Mark Pryor tosses more dirt on health care rationing’s grave.

The Hill article is surprisingly garbled – I assume that they’ll clean it up this morning – but the original article (“Pryor: Health care reform may not happen this year”) is a lot clearer. The short version is that they’re back at the ‘discussion phase’ for a health care rationing bill, which is legislature-speak for “we’re going to drop the subject, and hope that you will, too.” Every day that it doesn’t get done is a day closer to the day that it won’t get done, and if it’s not done this year, it definitely won’t get done. At least, by Democrats.

And as for reconciliation…

Some have suggested the Senate could use the reconciliation process, which would require 51 votes instead of 60, to pass a bill satisfactory to both chambers.Several moderate Democrats, including Arkansas’ Blanche Lincoln, have said they oppose that idea. Lincoln said Tuesday the process should be transparent and should not involve “last-minute efforts to force changes.”

Pryor told reporters today he was not necessarily opposed to the idea, but it was not his first choice and he doubted it would happen.

“I think it’s people talking right now over on the House side trying to figure out a way forward on health care, but my sense is, in the end reconciliation will not even be attempted,” he said.

Because somebody had to say it, it seems. Pryor’s not up for re-election until 2014, so he can safely shrug off the idea of reconciliation… and, honestly? By now that actually-strictly-defined-procedure has become the equivalent of “and then a miracle happens*” for a certain segment of the Left. At some point somebody needs to explain to them why it’s not a cure-all.

Or why the current ruling party has a sudden disinclination to encourage simple-majority legislating in the Senate.

Moe Lane

*Or, possibly, “And then the NPC casts Wish.”

Crossposted to RedState.

What’s wrong with liver?

Seriously, Jimmie: you’re missing out. My mom used to cut up some liver, bread it, then bake until cooked; end result was essentially liver [Scottish clan prefix]nuggets, which we ate cheerfully, and with ketchup.

I should get that recipe, although regular liver’s good, too.

Moe Lane

PS: Corned beef and cabbage, on the other hand… don’t look at me like that. Traditional Irish cooking is one of the reasons behind the Irish diaspora.

I’ll be on Fausta’s BlogTalkRadio program this morning… #rsrh

…at 11 AM. The conversation is ostensibly about the SotU, but I tend to ramble all over the rhetorical landscape when I’m not being actively prodded back into line. Then again, I plan to be at least a little sarcastic on the way that you still can’t trust the White House staff to get even the most elementary details right…