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California businessman with a superficial understanding of the United States Constitution.  


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BastiatJunior's Profile

Name:
BastiatJunior
Hometown:
Annapolis, MD (originally)
Joined:
Jul 3, 2012

Recent Comments

BastiatJunior

13/13

Face it.  We, as a group, are good at science.  What a coincidence that there is a large number of global warming skeptics here!

BastiatJunior

Andrew Alain

Dave Carter: ...We can't out liberal the liberals.  And if we provide citizenship, the left will demand free college tuition, affirmative action, the right to bring extended family, a national holiday, ad infinitum, until the whole thing implodes from its own weight...   · November 18, 2012 at 6:53am

I don't disagree, but I think we may just have to retreat to more defensible ground. ..

We can't out-liberal the liberals, but we can outflank them.  Liberals like immigrants (legal and illegal) to collect welfare and vote.  What they don't like is immigrants WORKING.  Remember, they have the unions to contend with.  Guest worker programs are the way to beat them without violating conservative principals.  And maybe we can de-emphasise workplace enforcement, since business owners aren't always at fault here.

Our current emphasis on workplace enforcement is a mistake.  Between that and rulings by liberal judges, we have a situation where illegal immigrants can receive welfare, but they can't work.  Worst of both worlds.

BastiatJunior

Andrew,

I think its a good idea.  It addresses the rule-of-law issue while at the same time stopping the deportation of people's grandmothers.

Hostility to immigration (even illegal) has never been a good fit for an entrepreneurial movement such as ours, but we do need to respect the rule of law.  Your suggestion addresses both issues.

I would add two things to it.  1)  Link it to completing the border fence.  That way when liberals delay its completion, we can turn it around on them.  2) Increase legal immigration.

We can outflank the liberals on immigration without violating our principals.

Would it help us win more Hispanic votes?  Maybe/ Maybe not.  Regardless, it's the right thing to do.

BastiatJunior

Eeyore: Ummm...6:34pm 65.9% chance.

That's kindalike 2/1. Still, why not something like ~54/46? · 3 hours ago

You're right.  I had a brain hiccup.

BastiatJunior

Obama's handlers should have taught him to sit up straight. When Obama hunched forward and glared at Romney, he looked like Snoopy doing his "vulture" routine.

Does that kind of weirdness help him with his base?

BastiatJunior

 "On January 20th, [1973] there will be approximately 30 seconds when Nixon isn't President.  Enjoy it while it lasts!!" said my father when I was 13 years old.  I enjoyed those 30 seconds.

And Watergate was a blast!  I spent the summer of 1974 glued to the TV watching the hearings and hoping Nixon would be caught.  When Nixon resigned, it seemed too good to be true.

In 1976, I wondered "Who is this crazy old coot who thinks he can be President!?  He's an ACTOR!!" I briefly rooted for Jerry Brown and then became a big Jimmy Carter fan.  We needed change and Carter was the man to do it!

I defended President Carter long after others had given up on him, but his weakness in the hostage crisis made me throw in the towel.  We needed someone else!  As a registered independant, I briefly rooted for Ted Kennedy, George H. W. Bush and John Anderson.  I was disappointed when it came down to a choice between Reagan and Carter.  I held my nose and voted for Reagan.

Reagan started to amaze me from his first day in office and  I never looked back!

BastiatJunior

I agree with a lot of the comments above.

I would like to add John Tamny for economic commentary and the late great Robert Bartley for that and everything else.

If you could combine Will's grasp of domestic issues with Krauthammer's understanding of foreign policy, you'd have the perfect columnist.

Well ... maybe Bolton would be better on foreign policy.

BastiatJunior
Brian Watt: Young Teddy's escapades are not mentioned - perhaps that's for the sequel...The Swimming Lion. · 4 hours ago

Good one! :-)

BastiatJunior
flownover: Is that the show where the guy is cooking meth in big quantities ?
I knew those Kennedy's were into something nefarious !  · 8 minutes ago

Haven't got to that part, yet.

BastiatJunior

If Romney promised to pick a pro-lifer as his VP, that trumps any perceived good Condi would bring to the ticket.

Ain't gonna happen.

BastiatJunior

Road to Freedom - Arthur Brooks

The True Gold Standard - A Monetary Reform Plan without Official Reserve Currencies by Lewis E. Lehrman (Oct 4, 2011)

Any book about free trade or maybe about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff's contribution to the Depression.

BastiatJunior

Larry Koler: Great questions, Jr. I especially like "Can I deduct my speeding tickets from my federal income taxes, because they are taxes paid to my state?"

Will and Krauthammer are part of the ruling elite. These people really aren't on a left-right spectrum like we are -- they are on an inside-outside spectrum and they occupy the inside track. They peddle conventional wisdom -- otherwise known as the opiate of the masses.

Krauthammer not so much, I realize but I do worry about him. George Will is a complete sell-out and worthless to our side. It's too bad really. · 15 hours ago

Thank you, Larry!  As it turns out I ws wrong about Krauthammer's position on this.

BastiatJunior

tabula rasa

Roberto: Bloom County. 

I still have a soft spot for the ridiculous absurdity of it all.

Mr. Breathed's sketches are entertaining but one must move on. · 11 hours ago

I was born and bred a conservative--yet Bloom County has always been my favorite. If I search long enough, I think I have all of the collections. 

Was it really that political?  I just remember it being hilarious.

All in the Family:  What if you always thought that Archie had it right (except for the racial stuff)? Meathead was always a leech. · 2 hours ago

Edited 2 hours ago

All in the Family:  That's a good point about Meathead being a leech (and a preachily condescending one at that), but Archie's views (like his admiration for "Richard E. Nixon") were always being held up for ridicule.  Then there was the "conservatism=racism" theme of the show.

That said, I admire Archie too.  Here are some great quotes of his.

BastiatJunior

Nick Stuart: Stipulating ad arguendo that Robert's brilliantly clever, astonishingly subtle Strategm of Strategems is in fact what he intended.

Too complicated, too many moving parts, nobody's that smart.

Especially being predicated on purchasing the goodwill and good faith of the Left (of which they have none). · 51 minutes ago

Nick, your last point is particularly well taken.  Will they respect the Chief Justice in the morning?

BastiatJunior
Edited on July 3, 2012 at 2:42am
BastiatJunior

"All In the Family" , "Good Times" and the Unitarian Church.

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