Sink, Sank, Sunk

Alex Sink and David Jolly

If Alex Sink thought she'd have an easy path to Congress in Florida's 13th District, she was badly mistaken. Perhaps realizing she cannot run from her past support for Obamacare, she instead continues to enthusiastically promote it during her campaign, leading to awkward moments such as a recent interview in which she referred to job losses caused by Obamacare as "an exciting prospect."

This disconnect with the unpopularity of Obamacare creates an opportunity for Sink's Republican challenger David Jolly and his supporters. American Crossroads released an ad today, titled "Sunk," featuring compelling interviews with Pinellas County seniors that highlight other troubling details from Sink's record:

Lyrics: She's Got #WendyDavisLies

Some song lyrics inspired by Wendy Davis' latest little media snafu...

She's Got #WendyDavisLies

Set to the tune of "Bette Davis Eyes," by Kim Carnes

Her hair is Barbie gold
Her filibuster flies
Her heart is always cold
She’s got #WendyDavisLies
She’ll turn her sneakers on you
The media won’t question her twice
Fundraises in New York, oh
She’s got #WendyDavisLies

How to tell if your Texas friends are good at math

Simple test to see if your friends in Texas are good at math: anyone who says Wendy Davis "raised over $12 million" is NOT good at math.

Liberals worried about cost of government regulations, LOL

We've spent the past few years watching conservatives argue that Obamacare would have disastrous effects on the health care system, in no small part because it imposes a massive regulatory burden on medical providers and insurance companies. Obama and his Democrat Congresscritters have discounted such concerns, characterizing this as a necessary sacrifice to provide health care to Americans.

We see a similar debate regarding environmental issues, where liberal environmentalists preach that the high cost of complying with an increasingly meddlesome and arbitrary EPA is a burden rightfully borne by those evil corporations. 

Now, after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed HB2 (Texas' new law restricting abortions after five months unless the life of the mother was at risk and requiring certain safety standards at clinics) to take effect, the media are reporting that "at least 12 Texas abortion clinics have been closed."

Isn't that just fascinating? I mean, not a single word in HB2 required any clinics to close, so what's happening here?

The real meaning of "pro-life"

There's a interview at National Review by Kathryn Jean Lopez and Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute that's a must read for any supporters of the pro-life cause. Read the whole thing, but I want to draw special attention to this quote:

Schadenfreudalicious

Republicans in 2008: "Obama's ideas for health care reform are not good. We don't like this."

Democrats in 2008: "No, this will be awesome. Just wait."

Ouch: Rep. Bill Young's widow bans Charlie Crist from her husband's funeral

Not welcome.

You know you're a shameless, self-serving political backstabber when...

...your behavior is so unacceptable you get publicly banned from a funeral.

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that  Beverly Young, the widow of Representative C.W. "Bill" Young, who passed away last Friday, sent an email to Florida's former Republican Governor turned Democrat TV huckster, warning him that he was not welcome at the Congressman's funeral this Thursday:

Guest post: Progressivism - The Mentality of "More"

Here is a guest column submitted by my friend Jeff Semon, who ran for Congress last year in Massachusetts' Fifth District. Jeff is the Director of Communications for the Massachusetts Federation of Young Republicans, and you can follow him on Twitter at @JeffSemonMA.

Bipartisan agreement: Alan Grayson is a loudmouth nut

As someone who had the unpleasant experience of having Alan Grayson as my Congresscritter for two years, this story did not surprise me at all:

NBC misses half the story in long-winded attempt to pin blame for shutdown on GOP

Yeah, yeah, keep saying there's no liberal media bias. 

Explain this little gem from NBC News today about who has the power to end the government shutdown:

Senator John Cornyn: Obama's shutdown strategy is to "maximize the pain" of the American people

Cornyn from his days on the
Texas Supreme Court

Last night, Texas Senator John Cornyn held a conference call with conservative bloggers and journalists. As we enter Day 2 of the government shutdown, his comments from just a few hours ago are becoming even more relevant as the day goes on. Thought I'd share some of my notes from the call with you.

EMILY's List Demands Apology from Vogue...Just Kidding!

Elle Woods would approve of
this look, don't you think?

This is cracking me up. Certain voices on the Left whipped themselves into a frenzy of outrage when RedState's Erick Erickson referred to Texas State Senator Wendy Davis as "Abortion Barbie."

Reality check: none of these people seemed to have any problem with similar insults being flung at Sarah Palin, and Davis is a very attractive, slender blonde who is known for wearing stylish clothes. I've heard more than one friend who's worked in the Capitol mention her seemingly endless collection of Louboutin shoes. Forgive me for thinking that this isn't really the Worst Insult Ever™.

Texas campaign finance reports show strong launch for Abbott, daunting hurdles for Davis, solid potential for Staples

Few things get a political news junkie's heart racing like a new batch of campaign finance reports. Pavlov's dog has nothing on how we drool over the lists of figures...who raised how much, how much cash on hand, who wrote all those checks, and so on.

For candidates, early campaign finance reports often take on make-it-or-break-it importance, especially for candidates seeking a new, higher office. The latest campaign finance reports here in Texas certainly seem poised to crush the dreams of some, while boosting others.

Matt Mackowiak, proprietor of Must Read Texas, posted a chart on Facebook earlier tonight with the figures for the top races in Texas:

Florida Democrat State Rep. Mike Clelland finds himself in hole; keeps digging; accomplishes nothing

Gotta love politicians...seems like they are skilled at putting their feet in their mouths like nobody else out there.

President of the Foot-in-Mouth Club for this week is freshman Florida State Representative Mike Clelland, a Democrat who benefited from an Obama reelection year boost (which will not be factor when Scott Plakon faces off against him in 2014) and represents a very Republican district in Seminole County.

Clelland jumped into the spotlight earlier this week, when he made comments about a proposed amendment to a bill regarding physical fitness requirements for firefighters that were interpreted by many as disparaging to women. As Tom Tillison at BizPac Review reported yesterday:

Metahypocrisy at BuzzFeed

Sometimes the story isn't really the story...

Yesterday, BuzzFeed posted an article, "7 Things Democrats Would Have Freaked Out About If Bush Had Done Them."

Now, BuzzFeed isn't exactly known for being necessarily friendly to conservatives. Their treatment of a recent interview with Senator Marco Rubio drew criticism for its slanted portrayal of him, although Rubio handled it with his typical grace. Still, yesterday's post was a pretty vicious takedown of the Left's hypocrisy about certain foreign policy decisions by the Obama administration:

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings wants to use drone planes

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings

Privacy-schmivacy. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings wants to use drone planes to spy on us:

Orlando Sentinel | Sheriff's Office wants to fly drones over Orange County skies

The Orange County Sheriff's Office is experimenting with two surveillance drones that it hopes to turn loose over Metro Orlando skies this summer.

New poll shows Scott Brown in "strong position" for special election

New reasons to smile

Boston's NPR radio station, WBUR, conducted a poll earlier this week that shows Scott Brown is in a "strong position" to rejoin his colleagues in the Senate, assuming John Kerry is appointed to be Secretary of State, triggering a special election.

The poll was conducted with 500 registered voters on Monday and Tuesday, and Brown's favorables are very high, even though it is less than two months after he lost a brutal campaign battle against Elizabeth Warren. 

In praise of simplicity

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'Tis the gift to be free...

- lyrics from "Simple Gifts," traditional Shaker folk song written and composed in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett

I'm writing from a coffee shop in Washington, D.C. this morning and my online news feed is full of discussions about this fiscal cliff mess: what the President is proposing, how the Republicans are reacting, whether there is any chance of a deal, how bad it will hurt our economy if we go off this fiscal cliff, whether it's even remotely possible to avoid it, and so on.

What frustrates me is that, as usual, the debate in this town misses the main point - neither side is taking any steps to address why we're in this mess in the first place.

Yawn. The news we all knew was coming.

Democrats, you can have him.

It's official. Our former governor and World's Tallest Oompa Loompa, Charlie Crist, became a Democrat today. 

Anyone who posted this news on Twitter as "BREAKING" as anything other than tongue-in-cheek should be thoroughly mocked, as this was one of the most predictable moves in politics since dinosaurs crawled the earth.

As the Tampa Bay Times reported earlier tonight:

I debated Alan Grayson...well, sort of...

Earlier this month, I debated the once-and-future Congressman (sigh...) Alan Grayson on Fox 35 Orlando regarding whether ObamaCare was at fault for announced layoffs at Orlando Regional Healthcare Systems. 

Well, OK, I didn't really debate him in person. But we were both invited to comment on the story and I believe my analysis up very well against Grayson's predictable talking points: