Hi, Sasha, Malia. Got a second?

I hope that you’re enjoying the White House, by the way.

It’s a pretty cool place for people your age, from what I’m told.

Anyway, I just thought that you should know: do you know Sarah & James Parker? They go to your school.

Yeah, them. Are they nice? I’ve never met them, so I don’t know. I do know that their parents really can’t afford to send them to your school without assistance; it’s called the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, and it lets over 1,700 poor kids in DC get scholarships every year. It’s often called a “voucher” program, although people who like school choice wouldn’t agree: they want everybody to have the chance to pick the best schools for their kid, instead of just a small number. Still, this program is helping people who are usually making about half of much as the federal poverty level; it’s hard to dispute that it’s a good one. I’m sure that Sarah & James think that it’s a good program.

Unfortunately, Senator Dick Durbin (D, IL) wants to throw them out of your school. Continue reading Hi, Sasha, Malia. Got a second?

To those interested in the Flight 1549 lawsuit thing…

…presumably because of reports like this:  honestly, I don’t think that there’s been anything new since I commented on it last time.  The story first broke in January, and doesn’t seem to have changed.

Hope that helps.

Moe Lane

PS: Also, here’s an interesting post on Sullenberger’s recent Congressional testimony on airline safety.

Gregory Craig arranged for lobbyist William Lynn pick?

And he’s the guy doing the vetting now?

Forward Observer is pretty blunt, here:

In 1988, Gregory Craig and William Lynn worked together as legislative assistants for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. Back then, Craig earned $37,375 a year and Lynn $23,734.

This year, President Obama appointed Craig as his White House counsel, a job which paid $172,200 a year during the Bush administration.

One of Craig’s first official acts as White House counsel was to recommend that Obama waive his ballyhooed rules against employing lobbyists in his administration so that Lynn, Craig’s old Senate colleague and a former registered lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon, could become the deputy secretary of defense at $177,000 a year under inherited pay scales.

So much for Obama’s vows during his presidential campaign to break up the old boy network in Washington and not bring lobbyists into his administration.

Continue reading Gregory Craig arranged for lobbyist William Lynn pick?

Hey, remember Jeffrey Toobin?

Sure you do!

[UPDATE]: Welcome, Ace of Spades readers.

He’s the guy that said this, back in the day:

You know, Jeff, I understand that you had some… issues… with the Governor of Alaska. That’s fine; nobody’s perfect, of course. But for the items that you packed into your negative assessment of her moral character, I can’t help but notice something: not once were you even able to imply that she was out shtupping the kid of one of her professional colleagues.

What’s that like, by the way*? Continue reading Hey, remember Jeffrey Toobin?

Le Affaire Ron Kirk: ANDREW MALCOLM FTW!

Glenn Reynolds may love the title (“Another Obama pick owes back taxes, but it’s OK because, now caught, he’ll pay up”), but the first quoted line (“Oh, Sergei, you mean you’ve lost another submarine?“) is what won me over. References to The Hunt for Red October usually do.

But there was one line in there:

(BTW, has anyone checked the tax returns of the Obama vetters who are supposed to be checking the tax returns?)

Yeah. About that, Andrew…

Crossposted to RedState.

AIG To Sue Federal Government.

(Via AoSHQ) I have a suggestion for the Federal government. Find whoever it is that made this decision:

In Twist, AIG Sues Its Benefactor Over Taxes

In the midst of its negotiation with the federal government over revised terms of its bailout, American International Group Inc. sued the U.S. on Friday over a disputed $306 million in taxes, interest and penalties.

The suit steps up a battle with the Internal Revenue Service largely over AIG’s use of a controversial type of “tax arbitrage” transaction that authorities are challenging across the world.

With the company essentially suing its owner, the suit highlights the awkwardness of national control of AIG, which the government rescued from potential bankruptcy in September. If through litigation “you’re moving money from one pocket to another, why should we be paying lawyers to do that?” says David Weisbach, a tax law professor at the University of Chicago.

“AIG is taking this action to ensure that it is not required to pay more than its fair share of taxes,” said a company spokeswoman. An IRS spokesman declined to comment.

Continue reading AIG To Sue Federal Government.

Democrats in Congress: Carbon neutrality for you; not for us.

While it’s really, really easy to laugh at the fact that the environmentalists’ march on the Capitol Power Plant is being hampered by a heavy snowstorm – to blatantly steal from one of my cobloggers, I’ve just come in from shoveling eight inches of global warming off of my front walkway – it’s…

Hold on. I’m actually still laughing.

OK. Continue reading Democrats in Congress: Carbon neutrality for you; not for us.

Controlling the debate.

Dan Riehl makes an excellent point here:

I know what both Steele and Cantor are trying to do below. But they and other GOP members continue to fall into the trap of having a debate on the opposition’s terms. No matter how you slice it, you end up giving them the quotes they want. That isn’t how you win debates in sound bite politics today. You control the debate, or you lose.

Never concede a point. You can agree with one, but never concede it. If conceding it is the price you pay for having the discussion, let the whiny so-and-so pack up his ball and leave. It’s not your job to make the other guy’s job easier by letting him frame the debate in terms that he likes.

Moe Lane

PS: And don’t be shy about rudely interrupting somebody when they try to brazen an everybody-knows past you, too. If he respected you, he wouldn’t have tried it in the first place.

Crossposted at RedState.