The Exercise of Vital Powers

Significantly, a key player in their press conference was Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief who is now one of McCains most visible economic advisors.(source)

This incompetent woman managed to take a healthy and vibrant Fortune 50 company and run it into the toilet. If there were a tracking stock for China (of for that matter Bangladesh) it would be a good investment with her around the West Wing.

Still, if any of us had been secluded for the past seven years, a description of the Bush years without attribution would likely have had most any Republican assuming a Democrat had been in control. Is there an explanation for this? The first one would be that all politicians disappoint. By definition. Beyond that, given the statist direction taken by the Republican party in this decade, it’s fair to ask if it any longer represents laissez-faire growth. Many would point to the even harsher anti-growth views held by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but it seems a lot of their stances at present are pure politics.

Even if they’re not, it would be hard to find an administration in modern times that has been more interventionist than the present one. That in mind, stinging losses for the GOP may be just what the doctor ordered. Indeed, maybe the pain of being out of power will force them to look inward, and in doing so, perhaps understand that when a Democrat runs against a Democrat, a Democrat always wins. ( RealClearMarkets - Articles - Is the GOP Still the Party of Economic Growth?)

I’ve come to the conclusion that the FairTax no longer represents fundamental pro-growth tax reform.

It has taken me awhile to resolve my feelings for the FairTax. Unlike Indy and others, I think the bill would benefit our economy and country greatly. I think it might be one of the few ways out of this mess our congress critters have made with entitlements. I think a consumption tax is a better way to raise revenue than a tax on productivity. I think the FairTax would encourage savings and investment, bring foreign capital to our shores, strengthen the dollar and lower the price of oil.

The problem is that the FairTax promoters and supporters jumped onto the Mike “I’m happy to raise taxes in anyway you want” Huckabee bandwagon. How is it that people who want to lower taxes and improve government would vote for someone who increased the tax burden of his state by 50%?

I began to realize that the FairTax promoters would use any means available to promote their idea and the FairTax supporters would buy it. The FairTax movement stopped being for better public policy and became a cult.
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From Cato-at-liberty:

Last week, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) vetoed a transportation bill that included a provision objecting to the federal REAL ID Act. The bill would have required the federal government to pay 95 percent of the cost of issuing national IDs before Minnesota would participate.

Here is your stupid government regulation of the day:

Mayor Dave Heilmann said the Illinois Department of Transportation determined the signs violated the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. He said had Oak Lawn not removed the signs, the city could have lost federally funded projects.

The public safety campaign to cut down on speeding through stop signs began in September 2007. Slogans such as “right there pilgrim,” “and smell the roses,” “do not pass go” and “means that you arent moving” were placed near or under 50 stop signs.

At the time, Heilmann said he thought the remarks would get motorists to pause, if for nothing else, to read the phrases.

From the The Topeka Capital-Journal:

A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday ordered liens on the Westboro Baptist Church building and the Phelps-Chartered Law office.

If the case presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett is upheld by an appeals court, the church, at 3701 S.W. 12th, and the office building, at 1414 S.W. Topeka Blvd., could be obtained by the court and sold, with the proceeds being applied toward $5 million in damages Bennett imposed on church members for picketing a military funeral.

Phelps is the asswipe who protests US Military Funerals claiming soldier’s deaths are due to our tolerance of Homosexuals.

He can’t even manage to rig a fake election.

He put himself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

Science fiction author Arthur C Clarke dies aged 90:

Science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died aged 90 in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, it was confirmed tonight.

The visionary author of over 100 books, who predicted the existence of satellites, was most famous for his short story “The Sentinel,” which was expanded into the novel on which Stanley Kubricks “2001: A Space Odyssey” was based.

He was also credited with inventing the concept of communications satellites in 1945, decades before they became a reality.

He first introduced me to the concept of the Space Elevator.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has resigned.

This is how conspiracy theories get started…….

Star-Telegram.com: | 02/21/2008 | Police concerned about order to stop screening
DALLAS — Security details at Barack Obamas rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.