Dems take control of Congress today

It’s a big day for the Democrats and their friends in the MSM, as the Dems take control of Congress for the first time in 12 years. Here’s a mini-link roundup of stories, opinion pieces, and blogposts related to the swearing in of the 110th Congress:

—– George Will explains in detail to clueless Democrats about how one of their pet issues, the minimum wage increase, doesn’t actually help the people it’s intended to, and he reminds Republicans that they have little credibility with which to stand against this issue because of their pork barrel spending sprees over the last several years. Captain Ed breaks it down:

Will makes a point which many on both sides have missed, which is that the Bush administration’s spending spree makes it politically difficult for them to oppose the increase. After all, Bush signed the pork-filled farm bill in 2002 that benefitted the large farmers more than anyone else, and he signed a highway bill in 2005 that notoriously contained over six thousand earmarks. If the government wants to give away money, why not to the poor?

But that’s precisely the problem. They aren’t giving away money, not from their checkbook, at any rate. They’re distorting a market for a short-term political benefit that will do nothing to raise the standard of living for the people they supposedly want to help. Arbitrarily raising the prices of services and goods in a marketplace causes inflation, not an increase in real value. They’re forcing consumers of labor to pay more for the same service, from which they will get no increased benefit — and that means that they will have to pass the costs along to the consumers of their goods and services, all through the distribution chain.

Yep, and opposition to minimum wage is not just about money, but also merit. Democrats can’t stand the fact that some people have worked their way up the success ladder and are making more money, while others do not (most of the time because they don’t deserve to). Getting an increase in pay based on merit and not based on a government mandate is an idea that doesn’t compute with Democrats who think the government is better suited to determine what an employers workers will make than they are. And unfortunately, this is one of those “feel good” issues that Republicans, who are now in the minority, will not stand strong against because they know it’d be a political career killer, thanks to Democrats who have purposefully demagogued the issue for political gain themselves.

—- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Democratic political enemy Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) is still PO’d over the fact that la Pelosi passed over her for chairman of the House intelligence committee. Get over it, Jane. Didn’t you know that Pelosi is “the most powerful woman in America”? Heck, she said so herself. As a side note, can you imagine if Bush proclaimed himself the most powerful man in America? The far left would foam at the mouth in outrage, and insist that it was proof that Bush was aware of his power and ‘knew how to abuse it’ without consequences.

—- Let’s just hope the “most powerful woman in America” can get her minions back in line. After all, yesterday they scuttled away from the podium in the ‘retreat heard round the world’ – if your party can’t stand up to being confronted by hostile moonbat ‘supporters’ like Cindy Sheehan what does that say about your ability (or lack thereof?) to stand up to Al Qaeda?

—- Oh, and good luck enforcing those ‘ethics rules’, Speaker Pelosi.

—- Senator Hillary Clinton is ‘meeting with allies’ in order to ‘hone’ a 2008 strategy. The NYT has the story.

—- Overrated media darling Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has an opinion piece posted in the Washington Post today that reads like a man who intends to run for president, where he talks about what Dems ‘must do’ to ‘keep’ the trust of the American people. If you’re bored and have nothing pressing to do, here’s the link for your perusal.

—- Speaking of overrated Senators, did you read about Sen. John McCain’s rant regarding the “GD [immigration] fence”? Not that I thought he had much of a chance before, but I think the McCain has just effectively kissed off his chances at a presidential nomination with this comment. (Hat tip: Allah)

—- It might be a new year with a lot of new members in Congress, but House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Charlie Rangel is up to his same old tricks. Jerk.

Comments are closed.