Sixty years ago today, Princess Elizabeth ascended to the throne becoming Queen of England and of all nations in the British Commonwealth
Should conservatives be concerned about Gov. Chris Christie’s picks to fill the two open seats on the N.J. Supreme Court? Steve Lonegan, who heads about the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), has offered up a reasonable and balanced assessment. Lonegan, a former mayor who challenged Christie from the right in the 2009 Republican gubernatorial primary, is “open but skeptical.” That’s fair. Gov. Christie is clearly playing the diversity game and that does not necessarily mean his two nominees are not qualified. But it is worth recalling that our own Ronald Reagan also played the diversity game back in the early 80s’ when he placed Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court instead nominating Judge Robert Bork. The diversity card came back to bite the conservative movement in a number of ways. As I report here today for The American Spectator , it was O’Connor who upheld the use of race in admissions in the Grutter v. Bollinger ruling involving the University of Michigan Law School. Gov. Christie does deserve credit and praise for challenging the N.J. Supreme Court’s activism and for making judicial overreach a major theme of his administration. (For a fuller explanation, please see last year’s ” Supreme Confidence .”) But elevation of “diversity” above merit could have unsettling policy ramifications. Here is Lonegan’s full statement: With two vacancies to fill on the state Supreme Court, Gov. Christie has an historic opportunity to steer the court in a new direction and restore the proper balance of powers to state government. Four decades of unrestrained judicial activism and social engineering from the state’s high court has done untold damage to the state’s fiscal condition, resulted in an ever-escalating tax burden, and undermined the very fabric of communities across the state. The appointment of conservative, originalist justices to the state Supreme Court is a critical step in restoring the rule of law, putting New Jersey back on a path to prosperity, and completing the ‘New Jersey comeback’ the governor touts. While I am open to considering the nominations of Mayor Harris and Executive Assistant Attorney General Kwon, I remain skeptical for neither of these nominees has served on the bench nor has a record suitable to proper vetting of a potential Supreme Court Justice. At first blush, it appears these nominees may have been chosen more for their demographic profile than their philosophical leaning and if that’s the case, New Jersey taxpayers will have lost a great opportunity we thought would happen when Jon Corzine was defeated.
Continued here:
‘Open, But Skeptical’ Toward Christie’s Court Picks
When Newt Gingrich criticized Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital, he raised the ire of many conservatives and may have unwittingly mobilized a Republican rank and file now prepared to bestow Romney with the GOP nomination on a silver platter. Rush Limbaugh called Gingrich’s criticisms “out of bounds for those who value the free market.” Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was even blunter when he said , “What the hell are you doing, Newt? I expect this from Saul Alinsky!” But perhaps the most interesting defense of Romney came from Mike Huckabee, who took aim at both Gingrich and Texas Governor Rick Perry who famously accused Romney of practicing “vulture capitalism.” Huckabee said , “It’s surprising to see so many Republicans embrace that left-wing argument against capitalism.” Yet in 2008, it was Huckabee who in a campaign ad aimed at Romney said , “I believe most Americans want their next President to remind them of the guy they work with, not the guy who laid them off.” Given that Romney has spent the vast majority of his professional life in the private sector and touts that experience in his bid for the White House, it seems strange that any criticism of that record from his Republican rivals is not only off limits but the equivalent of criticizing free enterprise itself. It is a curious line of argument when you consider that Bain Capital was the recipient of generous government grants, subsidies, and tax breaks and profited handsomely regardless of whether the companies in which it invested prospered or went into bankruptcy. Any business in which one can reap the rewards without suffering the consequences of risk can hardly be characterized as engaging in free enterprise. Well, if Romney can’t do a better job in making the case for his record at Bain Capital much less answer a simple yes or no question about whether or not he is going to release his tax returns, then I’m afraid Mitt Romney still reminds Americans of the guy who laid them off. So long as Romney continues to defend himself in a cold, technocratic manner, he will simply be no match for President Obama. Whatever his faults (and there are many), Obama knows how to relate to the issues in human terms. For instance, last month when making remarks concerning minimum wage and overtime protections for in-home care workers, Obama cited the day he spent back in 2007 with a home health care worker named Pauline Beck in an event called “Walk a Day in My Shoes,” sponsored by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). While it is worth noting that President Obama didn’t mention the SEIU’s sponsorship yet somehow I don’t think it would matter all that much to most of the voting public: When we met, she was getting up every day at 5:00 a.m. to go to work taking care of an 86-year-old amputee named “Mr. John.”
You may remember her from last week : Mia is the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, and is now running for the new district created for Utah as a result of the last census. We had the opportunity to talk about the details of the district, plus her thoughts about the best way to represent it: Mia’s site is here . Moe Lane ( crosspost )
Link:
RS Interview: Mia Love (R CAND, UT-04 PRI).
It is a good thing that elected officials know so much about how to run our lives. First trans-fats, then salt, then sugary drinks, then Alcohol ( well, almost ). NY City Mayor Bloomberg may as well pick up the hatchet used by Carry Nation on her crusades in the 1920′s. For more information on the topic, see Caleb Howe’s article here: The Great Bloomberg Booze Backlash of 2012 . Cross-Posted: TobyToons (Conservative Political Cartoons)
Go here to see the original:
Carry (Nation) Bloomberg Rides Again
