Bluey Blog - Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey

links for 2008-05-14

• If housing bill makes it out the door, veto it - Editorial, Orange County Register

  President Bush has threatened to veto a mortgage crisis “relief” bill that the House passed Thursday, 266-155, in the face of that threat. If the Senate doesn’t change the bill substantially – and perhaps even if it does – he should carry through on t

  (tags: housing congress bush)

• Constituency of One - David Freddoso, National Review Online

  Of all of the current Congress’s attempts to manage the U.S. economy — housing bailouts, “stimulus” packages, an energy bill that bans light bulbs — the farm bill is probably the most exasperating.

  (tags: farm congress)

• McCain’s common ground with evangelicals - Stephen Dinan, Washington Times

  For John McCain, global warming is the magic silver bullet, the issue that will unite liberals, moderates and evangelical conservatives into a powerful electoral force that will push him into the White House.

  (tags: mccain 2008 global_warming)

• McCain’s Assault on Reason - Roy Spencer, National Review Online

  John McCain’s global-warming speech on Monday made it clear that there will be no presidential candidate this year willing to question the assertion that global warming (a.k.a. “climate change”) is manmade, or the assertion that we can fix global wa

  (tags: mccain 2008 global_warming)

Honoring the 2008 Phillips Fellows

It’s always a treat to attend the Phillips Foundation Journalism Fellowship Awards Dinner at the National Press Club. Last night’s celebration — my third year at the dinner and Missy’s second — was no different. Chairman Tom Phillips and John Farley put together a great event with an impressive list of attendees.

Eight young journalists were awarded prizes ranging from full-time $50,000 scholarships to $25,000 part-time awards. This year’s class of fellows includes to good friends of mine, Jonathan Last of the Weekly Standard and J.P. Freire of the American Spectator. Frank Shakespeare, former director of the U.S. Information Agency, director of Radio Free Europe, chairman of the Board for International Broadcasting, and U.S. ambassador to Portugal and the Vatican, was presented with the foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Congats to all the winners, who I’ve listed below along with a short bio and project description.

• David Donadio, 27, op-ed editor and manager of editorial services at the Cato Institute. Project: “The Free Press in the Free Market: A Study of How the Internet is Transforming the Newspaper Business.”

• Travis Kavulla, 23, a contributor to National Review and National Review Online. Project: “Africa’s New Christianity and the Future of American Influence.”

• Emily Krone, 28, senior education and immigration reporter at the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill. Project: “Unchartered Territory: Can Entrepreneurial Charter Schools Achieve the Scale and Sustain the Quality to Transform the American Public School System?”

• Lygia Navarro, 29, a freelance journalist in Oakland, Calif. Project: “Civil Society and Democracy in Latin America.”

• Cheryl Chumley, 40, a staff writer at Potomac News in Woodbridge, Va. Project: “National Heritage Areas: A Blot against Property Rights or a Boon for the Nation?”

• Matthew Continetti, 26, an associate editor at The Weekly Standard. Project: “The Single Society: The Social Transformation Changing American Business, Politics, and Culture.”

• J. Peter Freire, 25, managing editor at The American Spectator. Project: “The University Shakedown: How Universities Take Donations but Refuse Input from Donors Based on the Myth of Academic Freedom.”

• Jonathan Last, 33, a staff writer at The Weekly Standard and a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Project: “The Fertility Rate and America’s Future.”

And finally, a brief note about the fellowship program. If you are a print or online journalist with less than 10 years of professional experience, please consider applying next year. The foundation has awarded 76 fellowships since 1994 for journalism projects based on American culture and a free society.

links for 2008-05-13

• Jindalmania - Megan McArdle, The Atlantic

  I saw Bobby Jindal talk last week at the National Press Club. He’s being widely touted as McCain’s potential running mate, though I agree that this would be a mistake–for Jindal. No one should run for office this year as a Republican who doesn’t have to.

  (tags: bobby_jindal mccain 2008)

links for 2008-05-12

• Will McCain Back Global Warming Bill? - Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post

  Sen. John McCain’s comments about climate change Friday have sparked a flurry of speculation among national environmentalists, who are now optimistic the presumptive GOP nominee will vote next month for a bill limiting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

  (tags: global_warming mccain 2008)

• Shine more light on union finances - Editorial, Washington Examiner

  A milestone will be reached Tuesday when Elaine Chao becomes the longest-serving secretary of labor since Francis Perkins was appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

  (tags: unions labor transparency)

• The Union Police - Editorial, Wall Street Journal

  Unions keep losing membership as a share of the national workforce, which explains why organized labor’s main political focus is changing the rules to force more workers into unions.

  (tags: unions labor politics)

• Backlash grows as Congress moves toward housing rescue - AFP

  As Congress moves to aid distressed US homeowners, the prospect of a new rescue is drawing fire from a diverse array of activists, economists and consumers opposing what they call a bailout.

  (tags: housing congress)

• Wind ($23.37) v. Gas (25 Cents) - Editorial, Wall Street Journal

  Congress seems ready to spend billions on a new “Manhattan Project” for green energy, or at least the political class really, really likes talking about one. But maybe we should look at what our energy subsidy dollars are buying now.

  (tags: energy environment global_warming)

links for 2008-05-11

• A taste of the trade wars to come - Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian

  At least in Oregon, the Republicans seem to be looking forward to taking on Barack Obama over the issue of trade.

  (tags: obama 2008 trade)

• Kevin Cahill Joins Football Coaching Staff - CSTV

  University of Maine head football coach Jack Cosgrove announced on Wednesday that Kevin Cahill has joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach in charge of running backs.

  (tags: new_york_mills sports)

Obama Gets Cozy With Big Labor

Today on Townhall I write about Sen. Barack Obama’s ties to Big Labor. In the wake of his promise to the Teamsters to relax union oversight, it’s become clear that union bosses finally see an opportunity to undo much of the transparency and accountability the Bush administration has achieved for rank-and-file workers over the past seven years.

links for 2008-05-10

• Big Government churns out more Democrats - Timothy Carney, Washington Examiner

  Tax and tax. Spend and spend. Elect and elect!” New Deal architect Harry Hopkins may not have actually spoken those words, but they have nonetheless been the working motto of Democrats for 75 years.

  (tags: democrats taxes spending)

• Obama’s Faulty Tax Argument - Andrew G. Biggs, Wall Street Journal

  As the presidential campaign heats up, a key issue is whether to extend the 2001 and 2003 income tax cuts, which expire in 2011. John McCain wants to make the tax cuts permanent. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton want to let the rates rise.

  (tags: obama 2008 taxes)

links for 2008-05-09

• Judging McCain - Quin Hillyer, American Spectator

  Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s speech on judges on Tuesday was a mostly successful effort in his continuing attempt to rebuild bridges with conservatives justifiably angry at him about both issues and attitudes, not to mention anger, in his

  (tags: mccain 2008 judiciary)

• In Defense of RINO Hunting - Pat Toomey, Wall Street Journal

  The Club for Growth Political Action Committee has long been attacked for intervening in Republican primaries and targeting the party’s most economically liberal incumbents.

  (tags: republicans elections 2008)

• EU trade chief hits at Democrat hopefuls - Alan Beattie, Financial Times

  Peter Mandelson, European trade commissioner, has said the protectionist stances taken by the US presidential candidates risk taking the world trading system back by decades.

  (tags: europe democrats hillary_clinton obama 2008)

• Oink! Oink! Oink! Congress goes hog wild with farm bill - Editorial, Washington Examiner

  There will be unmelted snowballs in Hades before this Congress agrees to cut out the pork in the farm bill headed for a vote within the next week, so President Bush should get his veto pen ready.

  (tags: farm congress spending pork)

• The 2007 Congressional Scorecard - Club For Growth

  Club for Growth is publishing this scorecard so our members and the public can monitor the actions and the voting behavior of members of Congress on economic growth issues.

  (tags: congress politics)

• Leave Bobby Jindal Alone - Ragnar Danneskjold, The Jawa Report

  I’m getting so completely sick and tired of hearing otherwise sensible people angling for Gov. Bobby Jindal for McCain’s VP.

  (tags: bobby_jindal mccain 2008)

• Former Lobbyist Holds Obama Fundraiser - Amanda Carpenter, Townhall

  Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has promised he would not accept campaign donations from lobbyists, but apparently former lobbyists don’t fall into his self-imposed ban.

  (tags: obama 2008)

• Poll: Americans almost evenly split on home bailout - Beth Braverman, CNNMoney.com

  Americans remain split on whether homeowners about to default on their mortgages should receive special treatment to help them keep their houses, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Poll.

  (tags: housing congress)

• McCain’s not-so-secret plan to lose Michigan - Susan J. Demas, Lansing State Journal

  Say you’re running for president and dropping by the most economically ravaged state in the nation.

  (tags: mccain 2008 economy)

My Question for Barack Obama

The Republican National Committee is collecting questions for Sen. Barack Obama on anything you want to ask. You can send a text question or videotape one and post it on YouTube. It’s a clever way to finally throw some hardballs at Obama. I posed mine about earmarks — specifically Obama’s conflict of interest problem.

links for 2008-05-08

• Cut your carbon footprint … take the car - Neil Reynolds, Globe and Mail

  British environmentalist Chris Goodall asserted last year, in his provocative book How to Live a Low-Carbon Life, that driving your car to the supermarket could be better for the environment than walking there.

  (tags: energy environment food)

• Democrats’ Energy Plan: Tax, Sue, and Investigate - John Cornyn, Townhall

  More than two years ago, now-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues promised what they called a “common sense” energy plan to bring down prices at the gas pump.

  (tags: energy pelosi congress gas)

• Rep. Young Proposes Higher Gas Taxes To Tamp Down Demand - Ashley Johnson, CongressDaily

  Accusing Congress of “pandering to the general public,” Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, Tuesday defended oil companies and proposed a $1-per-gallon gas tax to bring down demand.

  (tags: congress gas energy)

• Clinton Sidesteps Chance To Send Earmark Provision To Floor - Ben Schneider, CongressDaily

  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, clinging to a slim chance of winning the Democratic presidential nomination, passed up a chance to send an earmark reform measure to the Senate floor last week

  (tags: hillary_clinton 2008 pork earmarks congress)

• Cleaner Air May Threaten Amazon Rainforest - HealthDay News

  Cleaner air may actually threatenthe Amazon rainforest, according to Brazilian and British climate scientists.

  (tags: environment)

• McCain’s quest for the Hispanic vote - Editorial, Washington Times

  In order to remain competitive in the general election, John McCain will have to perform a Herculean task: Court the Hispanic vote without alienating the base of the Republican Party.

  (tags: mccain 2008 immigration)