All Things in Moderation

One of the genuine curiosities of the current race for the Republican nomination is
the absence of The Tea Party as a real player. Given that the energy and enthusiasm
in the Republican party appears to reside within The Tea Party it’s worth wondering why
that element of the party appears content, or resigned, to see Romney or Santorum take the
nomination. Neither candidate could fairly be seen to be suited to carry the banner
of limited government.

One possibility seems to be that the Tea Party simply does not have, for now at least,
the kind of organization needed to bring a candidate to the fore. A successful run for the Republican nomination requires organization and funding. That Romney has been able to acquire that organization and funding without significant Tea Party backing, and given that the Tea Party has not brought a viable competitor forward, it may simply be
the case that the Tea Party does not now possess the resources needed to do so.

Another possibility is that the Tea Party has the resources, or could have acquired them in a timely manner, but has elected not to do so. If that is the case, then it seems reasonable to
assume that the Tea Party isn’t well suited to uniting to support a certain candidate, at least in the nomination process. It may be that the Tea Party is more a loose collection of individuals that a group suited to hammering out differences in order to settle on a particular candidate.

Another possibility is that the Tea Party is not, generally speaking, as opposed to government
as its rhetoric would suggest. With the congress, particularly the House, effectively refusing everything, one would expect House Republicans in particular, to be more popular with the Tea Party base of the Republican Party. Polling does not appear to indicate that that is the case. That is to say that, given the rhetoric, one would expect to see intransigent
Republican House members and the House leadership, buoyed by the praises of the base of
the party. That does not seem to have happened. And given all the talk of
smaller government and reducing taxes, one would expect the Tea Party to find, and back
to the hilt, a Republican nominee fiercely determined to do so. That is not the case either.
Furthermore, the Tea Party, taken as a whole, seems reluctant about, if not openly hostile, toward, cuts in medicare and social security, and, perhaps, to a lesser degree defense. With that being the case, it is difficult not to suspect that the Tea Party is principally comprised of older Americans interested in cutting government programs for others and safeguarding the ones that benefit them.

There are other possibilities and more than one, or none, may be correct. Of the three mentioned above, however, the third possibility seems to be bolstered, in part, by the fact that it would place the Tea Party in line with general attitudes. Americans, particularly elderly Americans, have demonstrated little real zeal for reducing the size of government and perhaps the Tea Party, for all its rhetoric, has not broken free of that.

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Vital Statistics:

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I decided I need to get back to my normal routine so here are a few political cartoons that have a bit to say about the state of affairs.  First up a dig at Obama and then the obvious choice of the Republican Primary.  I’m not really sure what to call it so I’ll just let the funnies speak for themselves. 

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OK, Kev, I don’t know how good I’ll be at this, but here’s an attempt to take some of the pressure off of you!

I find this to be wonderful, especially since Jon Huntsman is the only Republican in the field that I’d ever vote for.  Unfortunately, I doubt he’ll make it past South Carolina.

I don’t know if any of you are watching Once Upon a Time on Sunday nights, but if you aren’t I think many of you would really enjoy it.  Hulu has all of the current episodes up until Monday night so you can watch them back-to-back and get caught up in the story if you’re so inclined.

Now for the things that tickled my funny bone today. . .

First up, a nurse vs an Orthopedic surgeon.  Worth it for hearing her call him a slack bloody wanker at the end. . .

Muppet Labs–where the future is being made today.  Wouldn’t this be handy?

And to combine two of Kevin’s favorites, Star Wars meets the Muppet Show!

And finally, not necessarily funny, but the video popped up on the sidebar of YouTube while I was surfing around on it, so here’s one of my all-time favorite songs. . .

What do you guys got??

***

The 5 Reasons Marriage Scares Men. I think many of these could apply to women, although they might be repurposed into the 5 Reasons Why Being Married Disappoints Women. My experience has been that women are usually enthusiastic about the idea of marriage, but not as typically satisfied with the results.

My observation, having been married 19 years now and living with my wife for over 20, is that marriage is a relationship where both partners tend to feel they are compromising, on everything, 90% of the time, and it gets old. For both of them. It’s a recipe for mutual dissatisfaction, especially over the long haul, but having been a parent for 14 years now, I’d definitely agree that I would not want to be a single parent. When your partner is in a mood for the thirteenth-thousand time, and you have to deal with it, you wonder what either of you were thinking when you said “I do”. 😉

Still, the fact is, the house looks a whole lot better—and a whole lot more adult, and clean—than it would if I lived alone in my Layer of Masculinity that I do, on many occasions, pine for. And meals are healthier than having breakfast cereal for dinner every day, which would probably be what I’d do, if left on my own.

— KW

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Before you make up you mind to re-elect President Obama, here’s what you’re voting for, according to Glenn Greenwald:

Yes, I’m willing to continue to have Muslim children slaughtered by covert drones and cluster bombs, and America’s minorities imprisoned by the hundreds of thousands for no good reason, and the CIA able to run rampant with no checks or transparency, and privacy eroded further by the unchecked Surveillance State, and American citizens targeted by the President for assassination with no due process, and whistleblowers threatened with life imprisonment for “espionage,” and the Fed able to dole out trillions to bankers in secret, and a substantially higher risk of war with Iran (fought by the U.S. or by Israel with U.S. support) in exchange for less severe cuts to Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs, the preservation of the Education and Energy Departments, more stringent environmental regulations, broader health care coverage, defense of reproductive rights for women, stronger enforcement of civil rights for America’s minorities, a President with no associations with racist views in a newsletter, and a more progressive Supreme Court.

The entire essay is worth reading. He spends a lot of time on the dangers of partisan loyalty and how that will only get worse as the election gets closer. I think that’s the biggest problem. The “It’s okay — it’s out team” phenomenon.

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Vital Statistics:

Jobs Friday. Yesterday’s ADP report did indeed signal a stronger jobs report today. Nonfarm payrolls were up 200k, and Nov was revised down. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.5% from 8.7%. Manufacturing was up 23k, and construction was up 17k. On the service side, retailwas up 28k and transport was up 50k. This could be temp jobs related to the holidays, so take the report with a grain of salt when trying to draw conclusions for the economy as a whole.

I think Scott posted something from James Pethokoukis yesterday regarding Obama’s plan to have the GSEs refinance everyone who is current in their mortgage, no questions asked. The hitch in this plan is the originator. Anyone who originates a conforming mortgage for the GSEs has what is called put-back risk. In other words, if it turns out that the originator had done a poor underwriting, the GSE can force the underwriter to buy it back. And for that reason, no originator is going to refi underwater mortgages or people with dented credit. Even if Obama winks at the originators and says “don’t worry about put-back risk,” I doubt that would be enough comfort, since the rules can always be changed retroactively, and any banker with grey hair will remember the supervisory goodwill fiasco from the S&L crisis. Plus, what is the upside of refinancing an underwater loan for 4.2%? The same as the upside of refinancing a 80% LTV loan for 4.2%. In other words, there is no compensation for taking Obama risk. Which is why it won’t have the effect he hopes it will.

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Economics has been blessed with the title “the dismal science”. That title, like most, can
be interpreted in a number of ways and it is, I suspect, often interpreted as a wry
comment on just how dry and dull the decidedly text-laden, and not terribly visual, science
of economics actually is. Economics activity, or the lack thereof, has, however, a
tendency to reveal difficult truths.
Iran appears, at the moment, to be a case in point.
As Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz and a warning to a U.S. aircraft carrier not to return have understandably drawn attention, the Iranian currency, the rial, has lost a third of its value causing a sharp rise in the cost of imported goods and Iranians are reported to be stocking up on goods.
Current economic difficulties appear to be, in part, the result of Iranian domestic economic policy and sanctions.
Furthermore, the future does not augur well. The EU recently imposed curbs on Iranian oil imports to Europe in an attempt to force Iran to abandon efforts to produce nuclear weapons and the Obama Administration has prepared new punitive measures aimed at Iran’s oil revenues.
Amidst all the bellicose statements coming from Iran, the bellicose statements directed against it, as well as all the talk of Iran coming to play a more prominent role in the region, it is worth pausing to note what appear to be real weakness and difficulties with Iran itself.

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10 Toys That Made Sense in Their Era and Nowhere Else.

Fully jointed, too. Hmph.

Women are a Mystery to Stephen Hawking.

The Problem With Carbon Taxes.

How Much Money Will You Spend To Look Stupid While Playing Video Games?

Bradley Cooper as Lex Luthor? That should be interesting.

All I got. Sleep well, peoples. — KW

Mark adds that Texans sometimes can almost unanimously get it right! 

Thinks he is popular in Lubbock…

For those of you who don’t like Craig James — and judging from polls and other measuring sticks, that’s pretty much everybody — his campaign for U.S. Senate has been like the 12 days of Christmas, with enough goodies left over to celebrate the eight days of Hanukkah. And the week of Kwanzaa.
Actually, there’s enough here to carry into the New Year, way past April Fool’s Day (U.S. Sen. Craig James!) and onto the Fourth of July. Maybe even into Halloween. What ridiculous costume are you going to wear? Me, I’m thinking of going as U.S. Sen. Craig James.

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