"Piece of mind?"

These people are running your government and taking over your health care. *shudder*

From the official White House twitter feed:

Google Hangout with @JohnCornyn today 12 pm CT

Later today, Texas Senator John Cornyn is hosting a Google Hangout, and I've been invited to participate.

Should be fun. The festivities kick off at 12 pm CT, and if you want to watch, click here to RSVP.

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?

Clarence Thomas: "This country isn't perfect, but it’s perfectible"

Photo: @JusticeWillett

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas spoke last night at a dinner during the Federalist Society's annual conference in Washington, D.C., and attendee David Lat has a great write-up at the Above the Law blog:

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."

Op-Ed: Obamacare closes door to opportunity

Today, I had an op-ed published in the Austin American-Statesman on the topic of the effect of Obamacare on young entrepreneurs. You can read it on the Statesman's website here, or I've reprinted the text below:

Barbie was right: Math IS hard

Apparently Barbie is a Democrat.

In the early 1990s, the Mattel toy company found itself in hot water when the phrases spoken by the "Teen Talk" Barbie doll included "Math class is tough!"

Mattel removed the offensive quote from Barbie's repertoire, but it looks like they may need to start manufacturing that doll again for young Democrat ladies.

Most epic rap video cameo by a former Congressman EVER

This is amazeballs. Earlier today, Jack Keller, an attorney friend of mine in Orlando, sent me a YouTube rap video he created, "Jack of All Trades," with a featured cameo from a familiar face for Florida politicos:

Welcome to Chicago, Texas! Wait, huh?

Oh, the entertaining perils of using stock photography...

Texas Lieutenant Governor candidate Dan Patrick launched yet another little microsite attacking his Republican primary opponents, and here's a screenshot of the page:

Sebelius offers "dead parrot" defense of Obamacare website

How Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius still has her job is beyond me.

At today's Congressional hearing, Sebelius testified, "The website never crashed." Unfortunately for her, the website had actually crashed just a few minutes before the hearing began, and remained down for much of her testimony, and CNN's split screen display was just priceless:

New video series from RNC highlights problems with Obamacare website

The RNC rolled out a new website and a series of short videos highlighting the many problems with the launch of the Obamacare website and other annoyances with the new health care law.

The videos parody the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads and are posted at obamacarecosts.org. They are also encouraging use of a hashtag, #ImObamacare.

Here's my favorite of the videos:

Questions raised about tonight's straw poll in Harris County

Who's got the short straw? Depends
 on who's picking out the straws.

Coming up tonight: a "Take Back Harris County" rally in Houston, featuring many of the Republican candidates for statewide office as "special guests" and a straw poll.

I always find straw polls to be very interesting political games. I've said many times before that if you give me at least a week's notice and an adequate budget, that I can buy almost any straw poll in the country.

There are several important tricks to understanding straw polls:

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:

Hooray for BOTH of my Senators!

So, the shutdown's over...at least this particular fight is over. We'll probably be right back here in a few months because they only managed a short agreement, but whatever. This image sums up what I, and I think many Americans, are thinking:

Hat tip: Twitchy

Anyway, in the various conservative corners of the internet, a lot of the most impassioned discussion has focused on the roles of certain Republican members of Congress and whether they were "sellouts," "unrealistic," "radical," "RINOs" or a million other unflattering descriptions. Far too much of this chatter was not only petty, it was unproductive or even destructive.

My friend Kathleen McKinley has written a very thoughtful piece for the Houston Chronicle today, focusing on the two Senators from the great state of Texas:

Starbucks awkwardly takes sides in the #shutdown

I woke up this morning and found this email in my inbox from Starbucks, asking me to sign the "Come Together" petition:

Justice Scalia: "A lot of stuff that’s stupid is not unconstitutional"

For my fellow Federalist Society members and legal scholars, here's a treat: a very long and detailed interview with United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in New York Magazine.

In Conversation: Antonin Scalia

Scalia is at his intellectually witty best in the interview, covering a wide variety of political, legal, religious, and cultural topics. 

Some highlights:

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.

#Shutdown doesn't stop WWII veterans from visiting their memorial [UPDATED]

Visiting WWII veterans were confronted with
barricades at the WWII Memorial...but not for long.

There's plenty of room for debate on the merits of this government shutdown, but I'm glad to see that reasonable people are agreeing that our active duty military and veterans shouldn't be harmed. The House unanimously passed a bill to protect military pay that President Obama signed yesterday, Veterans Administration health care functions will continue, among other measures.

Then there's this delightful story...

A group of WWII veterans from Mississippi visiting the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. as part of an Honor Flight trip decided they were going to visit their memorial, government shutdown or no. From the Twitter feed of Stars and Stripes reporter Leo Shane:

We fight, not because the odds are in our favor, but because we savor freedom

This week, I'm at the State Policy Network Annual Meeting in Oklahoma City, along with a large group of my Texas Public Policy Foundation colleagues. TPPF's Right on Crime initiative sponsored a dinner on Tuesday night, and I thought I'd share some excerpts from the closing remarks delivered by our TPPF President, Brooke Rollins.

Brooke's comments are especially meaningful in light of recent debates and battles we are having in Texas, in Washington, D.C., and in many states around the country.

Looks like Jim DeMint and I have something in common

He's got his eye on us.

...neither one of us should try traveling in Russia any time soon.

Late Wednesday evening, I posted a snarky little tweet in response to Vladimir Putin's New York Times op-ed...

Hey Putin, next time you wanna write a letter to convince America about something, how about you skip saying we're not exceptional? #rude
— Sarah Rumpf (@rumpfshaker) September 12, 2013

L.A. Times stoops to new levels to find racism in Obamacare opposition

The L.A. Times is finding hidden racism in a conservative position? Must be a day ending in "Y."

In an op-ed published on Sunday titled "Obamacare: New fight, old tactics," author Nelson Lichtenstein explicitly states that "[o]pponents of the healthcare law are following in the footsteps of Southern segregationists half a century ago."

Opposition to Syria intervention inspires FreedomWorks to change long-standing policy

Forward? Or For War? Is this the new "red line"?

As POLITICO reported yesterday, conservative organization FreedomWorks had taken the unusual step of publicly opposing the congressional resolution authorizing the use of military force in Syria, and would consider it a "key vote" in its next round of congressional scorecards.

I say "unusual" step because before now, FreedomWorks has maintained a strict policy of staying out of foreign policy issues. It's a risk for political organizations to venture into new philosophical territory, because they build relationships with supporters, stakeholders, and donors based on their areas of expertise and influence, and they may endanger those relationships if the organization takes on new issues and their supporters don't agree with them. 

In Texas, even the Governor's pocket tweets are awesome

Engaging in social media can be a double-edged sword for politicians (Exhibit A: Former Senator Scott Brown's infamous "bqwhatevr" tweets).

Texas Governor Rick Perry sent out a very concise one-character tweet this afternoon...

#Texas Comptroller @SusanCombs at @RightOnline

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation is sponsoring two conferences in Orlando this week, the RightOnline Conference and the Defending the American Dream Summit.

I caught up with Texas Comptroller Susan Combs earlier this morning and we chatted about her efforts to increase transparency in the Texas budget. She has launched a website, TellTheTruthTexas.org, that has a lot of resources for citizens to research their own local government officials, learn more about the debt that your government owes, and ideas for taking action. You can also follow the conversation on Twitter at #TXTransparencyNow.

You can watch our conversation here:

Slate writer who admits she's poorly educated says you're a bad person if you want good schools for your kids

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Dumbest Thing You'll Read Today™...

Slate | If You Send Your Kid to Private School, You Are a Bad Person

Here's the first paragraph:

You are a bad person if you send your children to private school. Not bad like murderer bad—but bad like ruining-one-of-our-nation’s-most-essential-institutions-in-order-to-get-what’s-best-for-your-kid bad. So, pretty bad.

How dare you want what's best for your child! At least the author is nice enough to clarify that pursuing educational opportunities for your kids is not quite as evil as murdering another person. Very generous of her.

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™.

Greg Abbott's goal: "A Texas where any child of any background" can succeed

Earlier today, the Greg Abbott campaign sent out an email thanking everyone who attended his campaign kickoff in San Antonio. The email ended with this paragraph:

Together we will build a Texas that attracts jobs, promotes opportunity and rewards ingenuity – a Texas where any child of any background has a chance to smile, to hope, to dream and to succeed.

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:

Planned Parenthood resorts to blatant lies to fight #prolife bill; UPDATED with information about violent tactics from #prochoice protesters

The special session debate over Texas' abortion bill (HB2/SB1) continues to attract national attention, with both pro-life and pro-choice organizations weighing in. As expected, Planned Parenthood has been one of the ringleaders on the pro-abortion side.

Facebook ads supporting State Senator Wendy Davis and the pro-choice cause have been a constant presence in my Facebook feed since the evening of Davis' filibuster, and Planned Parenthood has been a sponsor of many of them. 

Senators Cruz and Rubio mount new attack on Obamacare; opposing new continuing resolution [VIDEO]

Today, Texas Senator Ted Cruz introduced legislation, co-sponsored by Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Barrasso (R-WY), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Paul Isakson (R-GA), and Dean Heller (R-NV), to fully defund Obamacare. The bill is appropriately named the "Defund Obamacare Act of 2013."

Most. Optimistic. Local. News. Station. EVER.

Apparently Central Florida didn't get being the center of a media circus out of its system during the Casey Anthony trial, because here we are again with George Zimmerman.

[Note: I'm not going to comment on the specifics of the trial because 1) I haven't been following it closely enough to feel informed, 2) I'm pretty sure the internet isn't suffering from a lack of people offering commentary; and 3) there's approximately eleventy bazillion things I'd rather write about.]

Anyway! From what I've seen on social media the past few days, the trial has been quite...entertaining. (A witness testified she could hear grass? Huh? Yeah, I'm OK not watching every minute of this.) And then WFTV tweeted this:

Immigration reform poll shows Floridians support secure borders and "registration for undocumented immigrants"

Public Policy Polling conducted a poll of Florida voters earlier this month regarding immigration reform, and there are a number of interesting results. I'd also like to highlight the specific wording used in the poll, because the actual questions asked have a big impact on how people respond to the very complicated issue of immigration reform.

First, immigration reform is definitely a priority for Floridians, with 86% of respondents saying that it's "very" or "somewhat" important to "fix the immigration system" this year. 

The poll also shows that Floridians want immigration reform to include secure borders and a process for people who are here illegally to register for legal status, with a "long list of requirements" to be met for over a decade before they could be eligible for citizenship.

Oops. Maybe Verizon should have revised their privacy policies. [UPDATED]

Another week, another invasion of privacy and violation of rights for regular citizens. It's becoming quite an alarming routine from the Obama administration, isn't it? 

The latest "Are You Kidding Me?!" story is how the NSA has been collecting records from tens of millions of Verizon wireless customers in the U.S. under a top-secret court order, including "the numbers of both parties on a call are handed over, as is location data, call duration, unique identifiers, and the time and duration of all calls." 

Image by Ben Howe

Even Frankie Muniz gets it - Promoting Susan Rice is an #ObamaFail

Susan Rice has been a disaster as UN Ambassador, so of course Obama is rewarding her with a promotion; she will be Obama's new National Security Adviser.

To Those Who Serve

To those who serve in our nation's armed forces - to those who serve now and to those who have served in the past - and to the families who support them...

Thank you. 

We are free because of your strengths and your sacrifices. We set aside Memorial Day to remember, but every day we are grateful.

To the Creep Who Threatened Me on Facebook Last Night

I knew when I started blogging about politics a few years ago that I would likely ruffle some feathers from time to time. That's fine. Politics ain't beanbag, or however the saying goes.

I've had angry comments left by grammatically-challenged trolls, been threatened with lawsuits a few times, and actually had to defend myself against several complaints  filed against me with the Florida Bar and Florida Division of Elections (all of which were found to be without merit and dismissed entirely, with no finding of any wrongdoing on my part). That was some annoying paperwork and took a few months to clear up, but not too bad.

Then, yesterday, I got a message on Facebook from someone unhappy with an old blog post of mine. Someone who thought it was OK to threaten me. 

Semper Lentum (101 uses for duct tape, brought to you by the Marines)

Here's a little something fun for your Tuesday afternoon.

A friend sent me a link with "101 uses" for duct tape that was posted on the Marine Corps Times website:

101 uses for 100-mph tape 

Why it's a big deal that the White House Counsel knew about the IRS audit findings

2013's best new carnival ride, the Obama White House Scandalpalooza, continues to spit out new shocking headlines on a daily basis, and I wanted to put a spotlight on one detail regarding the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS. 

The administration admitted yesterday that the Office of the White House Counsel was informed about the findings of the IRS audit weeks ago - including specifically informing Kathryn Ruemmler, the Senior White House Counsel and the head of the office. 

President Obama somehow knew nothing about the whole mess until he saw it in the press with the rest of us little people. 

Why is this a big deal? 

Because attorneys have a ethical duty to keep their clients informed. 

Rubio on #IRSscandal - "These are the Tactics of the Third World" [VIDEO]

Florida Senator Marco Rubio had harsh words for the Obama administration in a floor speech he delivered today [video of full speech and text of selected excerpts after the break]:

Mmmm, Barbecue

Here's a reason to write a mean letter to your high school guidance counselors: I bet not one of them ever suggested "professional barbecue taste tester" as a career option. See if this doesn't make you bitter:

Texas Monthly | The List: The Top 50 Barbecue Joints

Every five years or so (since 1997), this magazine dispatches a team of trained eaters to travel around Texas incognito, ingesting huge amounts of barbecue. Their goal is to visit as many of the state's approximately two thousand barbecue joints as possible in order to come up with a list of the fifty best. At each joint, the eaters sample at least three meats, a couple of sides, and a dessert. In areas of high barbecue density, they may visit as many as nine places in a day... 

#BlogCon2013

I'm in Dallas today, getting ready to be on a panel at BlogCon, sponsored by FreedomWorks. We're talking about a very important topic: how to spread the conservative message in a way that actually reaches people. My fellow "Culture Warriors" on the panel are John Brodigan, Chris Loesch, Brandon Morse, and Emily Zanotti, so you know it's going to be fun.

Sarah vs. ObamaCare

I've never been a "blog-every-story-every-day" blogger. It's easier to tweet the stories of the day (follow me @rumpfshaker if you aren't already) and occasionally write some longer commentary when I have time and schedule the post to go live the next day. 

I don't often get to break stories. 

But apparently I do today....or, at least, I get to break the story of my little role in a much bigger story.

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:

Uncle Ruslan's American Dream

A friend sent me a Washington Post op-ed by Asra Nomani regarding "Uncle Ruslan," that I highly recommend you read. Seriously, just go read the whole thing and then come back here.

Ruslan Tsarni, as you probably know, is the uncle of the Boston marathon bombers (and no, I'm not saying "alleged bombers." Dzhokhar can sue me. Bring it.) and I was struck by the huge difference between his attitude about America and the views that his nephews apparently held. 

"Uncle Ruslan's" heartfelt press conference last week captured America's attention, partly because of the sharp contrast between the brutality of the bombings and Tsarni's humble attitude and unequivocal condemnation of his nephews' actions:

...And it's only Wednesday

These past few days have been pretty rough.

"Patriots’ Day is a day for Boston."

I only lived in Massachusetts for less than a year and experienced Patriot's Day 2012 as an outsider and a newcomer, having moved up there less than a month before. As a native Floridian, I was mainly glad to see the weather getting warmer and thinking the parties and festivities were fun, but not really getting it. I mean, I hadn't even been to Fenway at that point (later remedied), which I'm pretty sure is a mandatory requirement before making any comments about Boston culture.

Anyway, someone emailed this blog post to me, written by a Boston resident I've never met, but who sums up perfectly how all my Massachusetts friends describe Patriot's Day. It's definitely worth reading in its entirety, but I'll share a few excerpts here:

"Look for the helpers." #PrayForBoston

I spent less than a year in Boston but still have friends there and my heart is heavy and sad seeing the news and photos from the explosions at the Boston Marathon today.

I remembered this quote from Fred Rogers, and found it very comforting:

Arizona Under Fire: What you need to know about the Sheriff Joe Recall Effort

[Editor's note: Hey, look, it's a guest post! I've been a busy bee lately and haven't had as much time as I'd like to blog about all the intriguing things happening, so I've invited a few friends to do a little guest blogging here from time to time. So here's Amy Miller...enjoy! Also don't forget to follow my random mumblings on Twitter.]

I don't normally stick my nose into local or district races, mostly because it conflicts with my philosophy of letting the people choose their own. damn. representatives. That being said, I do believe that the people have a right to know who they're signing petitions against and voting for--especially when the Big Progressive Steamroller of Doom© is calling the shots.

I Smite Thee, in the Name of Andrew!

We miss you, happy warrior.

We lost Andrew Breitbart just over a year ago. 

Since then, there have been endless discussions about how best to honor his memory, pondering over whether anyone could possibly fill his shoes.

As I look back over the past year, I'm sad to admit that I think we as a conservative movement are doing a very poor job of carrying on Andrew's legacy.

Quit being Eeyores. If there's hope in MA, there's hope everywhere.

Since last November's losses at the ballot box, it's become somewhat of a contest on the right to see who can issue the most depressing predictions about the death of the Republican party. Changing demographics! The messaging is awful! Our technology is outdated! 

Everybody panic! DOOM! DOOOOOOOOOM!!!

It's frustrating to watch. People who I know are positive in most other areas of their lives, become so negative when talking about the state of conservatism that they make Eeyore look like an optimist.  

Well, here's a little glimmer of hope: Republicans are finding ways to win in Massachusetts.

CNN Fail: Where's the #filibuster news?

It's now 12:30 am ET after over twelve hours of Senator Rand Paul's historic filibuster, and this is the front page of CNN:

Speaker Weatherford's Opening Day remarks reaffirm his opposition to Medicaid expansion

Speaker of the Florida House Will Weatherford delivered his opening day remarks earlier this morning as the 2013 Legislative Session began, and they're worth reading.

Weatherford outlines the ambitious agenda he has set for the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon's discovery of Florida, including reform of the state's campaign finance and election laws, pension system, and schools. 

Notably, Weatherford also continues his strong opposition to Medicaid expansion:

Next time someone says "That's impossible"...

...show them this.

Someone did a mashup of "Head Like A Hole" by Nine Inch Nails, and "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen.

It's one of the more bizarre things I've heard in awhile, but the songs actually fit together shockingly well.

Seriously. Listen for yourself:

The Man in the Arena: Remembering Andrew Breitbart

Today marks one year since I was awakened by a phone call from a friend calling to tell me that Andrew Breitbart had died at 43, far too young. 

Not only had I been lucky enough to get to know Andrew over the last year of his life, he was a huge influence for so many of my friends. In this wonderful world of bloggers, tea party movement organizers, investigative journalists, and other conservative activists in which I have traveled in these past few years, Andrew was our coach, our troop leader, our favorite troublemaker...but most of all, he was our friend. 

And so today, like it was last year, is tough because I am saddened by so many of the beautiful and poignant memories of Andrew shared by so many people I know (his face is a constant presence in my Facebook and Twitter feeds once again this week), but at the same time there is comfort in seeing so many people sharing a deep affection for this great man.

Marco Rubio vs. Lil Wayne

When he's not busy being a champion of free market principles or a water bottle entrepreneur, Florida Senator Marco Rubio is helping all of us decipher the complicated hierarchy of the rap world.

In this fun interview with TMZ as he walked through Reagan airport, Rubio rejects a recent boast by rapper Lil Wayne ("I ain't 2Pac, I'm the new 'Pac"), saying that "There's only one Tupac":

Huh? Senate Prez Don Gaetz compares opposition to Medicaid expansion to segregation

This is one of those "Did I just read what I think I read? No way. Seriously, there must be something wrong with my eyes" type of articles. 

Florida Senate President Don Gaetz has compared those opposed to Medicaid expansion to segregationists. Yes, really.

From the Tampa Bay Times:

Weatherford raises national profile as distance grows between Gov. Scott and conservative grassroots

After a number of articles late last year describing Florida Speaker of the House Will Weatherford as a "rising star" who was following in Marco Rubio's footsteps, he officially took the reins as one of Florida's youngest Speakers with the beginning of the 2013 legislative session and has embarked on an ambitious agenda, including campaign finance and education reform.

This week included two important moments for Weatherford as he continues to raise his national profile.

Sean Bielat not running for MA Senate, launching PAC & supporting conservative candidates instead

Sean Bielat announced this afternoon that he had decided not to enter the race for the special election for the Massachusetts Senate.

Sean is continuing his work with OneClickPolitics.com, as well as "[l]aunching a Political Action Committee (PAC) focused on vetting and supporting New England candidates who can do the most to revitalize the GOP and begin to give voters real choices at the polls."

He had formed an exploratory committee but ultimately decided that this year's election was "simply not the right time for our family:"

New Americans for Prosperity Congressional Scorecard released today

Just got an email from Americans for Prosperity announcing that they have launched their own Congressional scorecard, to evaluate "how focused your legislators are on promoting economic freedom."

Burger King Twitter meltdown

This is why companies need to take their social media seriously, both in terms of having professionals handle their online presence and making sure they take steps to protect the security of the accounts.

Burger King's official Twitter account (@BurgerKing) right now:

OK, @BuzzFeed. Fair's fair. This made me laugh.

I pick on BuzzFeed a bit (and it's well-earned...see here and here, for example), but even I'll admit that the site has its entertainment value, and sometimes they just nail it.

If he's a Republican, then I'm the Queen of England

Spotted by David Guenthner on CNBC this morning:

What Sean Bielat is Doing [UPDATED]

The exciting roller coaster of Massachusetts politics continues...

Ever since Scott Brown shocked the heck out of everyone by declining to run for this year's special election for the Massachusetts Senate race to fill John Kerry's seat (despite all indications that he was in a strong position for that race), there has been a lot of speculation about who would run for the seat, and whether any of the Republicans had a chance.

Today, my phone and email blew up with reporters wanting to know if Sean Bielat, for whose Congressional campaign for MA-4 I had worked on last year, was indeed running for the seat.

A number of media outlets reported today that Sean is running; however, that is not quite accurate.

Ted Cruz is Not Impressed

Too funny. From Twitchy: 

Awesome SOTU GIF: Ted Cruz is not impressed with Obama; McCain does the ‘Shamnesty Shake’ 

There’s no contest. This is the best image to come out of Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.

Just because it's called "Violence Against Women Act" doesn't mean it helps fight violence against women

Today, the Senate voted on the misleadingly-named "Violence Against Women Act," and a number of conservative Republican Senators voted against it. Predictably, the Left is in a self-righteous fury over this, and are falling all over themselves to see who can be the one to call these Republicans women-hating jerks in the loudest voice.

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:

2,400 Miles

Sorry I haven't written much in the past few weeks...I've been busy working on my next move.

Literally. As in, I'm moving.

Moving 2,400 miles. Well, in a bit of a roundabout route...

Public Service Announcement

A little something non-political for your Friday afternoon:

Serious Journalists!

This was too funny not to share...

The Huffington Post describes itself as "The Internet Newspaper." If current trends continue, they may want to change that to "The Internet Tabloid."

Are we going backwards?

Yesterday was Barack Obama's second inauguration as President, and the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as well. As expected, the festivities of the day included a number of references to Dr. King as well as our sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln.

America's first black President, elected to a second term, sworn into office on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, taking the oath with the Bible of the President who freed the slaves. It should have been a triumph for civil rights...but is it really?

Rubio responds to Obama's gun policy announcement

After President Obama had his press conference earlier today announcing his ideas for gun control policies, Senator Marco Rubio's office sent out the following statement in response, "reiterating his support for the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens:"

"Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking"

Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain... only straw.  

Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain? 

Scarecrow: I don't know... But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?  

Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right. 

- The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Oh, Scarecrow, how right you are.

Marco Rubio demands end to "Washington's reckless spending"

Senator Marco Rubio published an op-ed in USA Today yesterday, emphatically stating that any increase in the debt ceiling must be accompanied by real and significant spending cuts, as well as entitlement reforms:

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.

The blind squirrels at the FCC found an acorn!

Credit where credit is due...just as a blind squirrel find an acorn once in awhile, sometimes a government agency gets something right...

Awww. Good job, buddy. You did it.

Earlier this week, Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the FCC would be increasing the amount of unlicensed spectrum available for Wi-Fi internet networks.

Without getting too bogged down in all the scientific details, this means that next time you're at the airport or at a conference, the wireless internet (hopefully!) will be faster.

My plans for world domination are proceeding nicely

Forgive me this little bit of bragging, but I can't help but think this is pretty cool:

SocialSphere | The #MAPoli Top 25 of 2012

Ouch, that's harsh: Congress less popular than head lice and Nickelback

Having a bad day? Take comfort in the fact you're not as hated as Congress.

According to a recent poll by Public Policy Polling, Congress just dropped to their lowest approval rating in American history, a brutal nine percent.

Hey Congress, check this out!

"Honey Boo Boo"

I have done my darnedest to avoid learning what exactly this "Honey Boo Boo" phenomenon is all about. I certainly never planned to blog about the show.

Now, I'm not claiming that my television viewing is any more intellectual than anyone else's, but every time I've seen that annoying kid screeching and making weird faces in the commercials, all I want to do is grab the remote control as fast as I can.

Turns out, however, that maybe we should all be paying a little more attention to this Honey Boo Boo kid...

High Five to Texas, Part II

When I visited Austin in November, I wrote a post about how Texas was great about its dedication to Tenth Amendment principles. It should come as no surprise that the Lone Star State is also strong on the Second Amendment.

Greg Abbott, the current Texas Attorney General, posted a tweet last night that will put a smile on the face of every Second Amendment fan:

Here's what your smaller paychecks get you, America!

I present the bang-your-head-on-the-wall news of the day...