Blogcon Saturday Night
“Politics goes to those who show up.”—Kristina Ribali
If yesterday was a strong day, today was serious. Jim Pethokoukis told a story about giving a talk in front of a bunch of workers at a military bunker, and at the end one of the guys told him that if they got the warning he wouldn’t bother going into the bunker. Because the future Pethokoukis warned of was too depressing.
He pretty much gave us the same speech. Rather than let the United States recover from the 2008 financial crisis, we have instead spent too much money we don’t have, and added too many regulations that weigh down economic recovery. Which means that we are completely unprepared for the next crisis, which will come when European Union states start to fail.
If he were given a magic economic wand that gave him three wishes1 he would
- Implement the Ryan plan, accelerating it.
- Eliminate taxes on investing.
- Eliminate all public sector unions.
But public unions aren’t the only ones lobbying for money that then gets funneled back to politicians. Venture capitalist John Doerr was called out for getting millions in Obama “stimulus” money for green energy projects while serving on the president’s jobs panel, and also steering donations to Democrats. Tom Borelli called on us to also expose crony capitalism2
Borelli is especially critical of General Electric’s Jeffrey Immelt, calling him “the king of crony capitalism. For the Ayn Rand fans, he is James Taggart.”
Ed Morrissey touched on something I’ve got a post for in the works. A candidate’s record and positions need to be on the table. Thoroughly vette them. Engage in analysis, advocacy, and activism. But don’t paint yourself into a corner you’re going to regret. My own post is going to be “your candidate sucks” and mentioning it now before it’s finished paints me into a corner I don’t want to be in.
There were several people complaining about the box that Democrats try to keep minorities in. Deneen Borelli, author of the upcoming book Blacklash• said,
Our country does not guarantee you success but liberty does guarantee the opportunity to succeed.
Talking about upcoming documentary Runaway Slave, Alfonzo Rachel talked about how, when he tried to educate himself or even just broaden his artistic interests, other blacks would ask him why he wanted to be white.
I keep hearing how the white man wants to keep us down, but you’re the one who wants to keep me in a box.
Truth was also up for discussion. Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs warned that “this is a war on truth. Truth is the new hate speech.” Alfonzo Rachel told us that “you need to be relentless with the truth. They do it with lies.”
In response to BlogCon 2011: Are you ready for that? Checking into a Denver hotel under a phony name with intent to commit capital fraud and a head full of acid? I sure hope so.
A mixed metaphor, it came from the audience.
↑Crony capitalism is to capitalism like the iron horse is to the horse. They’re not exactly opposites but pretty damn close.
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- At least the Solyndra loan was wasted in America: Phineas Fahrquar at Public Secrets
- With the approval of the Obama administration, an electric car company that received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work.
- Atlas Shrugs: Pamela Geller
- You can avoid evil, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding evil.
- Blacklash: How Obama and the Left Are Driving Americans to the Government Plantations•: Deneen Borelli (hardcover)
- “We hoped Obama’s campaign for change would help those who really needed help the most. Instead, his push for expanded government is enslaving the very people he wanted to free.”
- Deneen Borelli
- “Deneen promotes the importance of personal responsibility and the benefits of free market policies as a means for social advancement. She advances these values by writing commentaries and participating in media interviews.”
- James Pethokoukis
- Democrats didn’t much like Senator Pat Toomey’s SuperCommittee budget offer. But it might not be the last time they see something like it:
- Max Pappas at FreedomWorks
- After keepings his distance from the tea party movement since its inception, the ever calculating Mitt Romney has realized he needs the tea party if he is to win his bid to be president of the United States. So he is going to speak at his first tea party event soon.
- Tea party group seeks to oust 'crony' Immelt | FreedomWorks: Stephanie Kirchgaessner at FreedomWorks
- A prominent Republican Tea Party activist has launched a campaign to oust Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric, from his appointment as head of a new advisory panel to President Barack Obama on jobs and competitiveness.
- Tom Borelli
- “Thomas J. Borelli, PhD. is the Director of the Free Enterprise Project at the National Center for Public Policy Research, a Townhall.com Gold partner.”
Update: I misidentified Tom Borelli as Max Pappas. I’ve verified from my photos of the panel that Tom is the one who said what I quoted, and have fixed the post.