More Electoral Problems for Dems

Yesterday was primary day in Ohio, Indiana, and North Carolina so the Democrats couldn't lose. Turnout for their end was troubling to say the least.

Turnout among Dem voters dropped precipitously in 3 statewide primaries on Tuesday, giving the party more evidence that their voters lack enthusiasm ahead of midterm elections.

In primaries in NC, IN and OH, Dems turned out at far lower rates than they have in previous comparable elections.

Just 663K OH voters cast ballots in the competitive primary between LG Lee Fisher (D) and Sec/State Jennifer Brunner (D). That number is lower than the 872K voters who turned out in '06, when neither Gov. Ted Strickland (D) nor Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) faced serious primary opponents.

Meanwhile, only the Indiana Senate Republican primary was even competitive. Rob Portman and Richard Burr were both odds on favorites and still the Republican turnout was up.

The next electoral test comes on May 18th when John Murtha's old seat comes up in a special election. The Republican has snuck ahead in recent polling and on May 22nd Hawaii's first district will also hold a special election.

Council Submissions

The council submissions are up.

Council Submissions

• Right Truth - Where did Time Square bomber get his money?
• The Colossus of Rhodey – Maybe if the feds just did their job …
• Rhymes With Right - We Will Hear Nothing About This Extreme And Violent Protester Sign
• Joshuapundit - Did Netanyahu Cave On Jerusalem? Yes And No..Bibi’s New Plan.
• The Razor -Dumb Luck Highlights Failure of the Obama Administration
• Wolf Howling -Christian Beliefs Are The New Sins In A Secular Socialist Nation
• Mere Rhetoric - Dubai Courts Launching Full-Scale Campaign Against… Love And Affection?
• Bookworm Room - Sit back and watch as America enters “The Twilight Zone”
• The Glittering Eye - Can It Happen Here?

Non-Council Submissions

• Infidel Bloggers Alliance - Faisal Shazad and the American System Submitted by Right Truth
• The American Interest Online - Better Fifty Years of Europe? Submitted by Colossus of Rhodey
• Doug Ross @ Journal – Free Speech: A Photo Essay Submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Powerline - Investigate this Submitted by JoshuaPundit
• Pajamas Media – Roger L. Simon - Times Square: It’s the jihad, stupid Submitted by The Razor
• Autographed Letter Signed - The Nanny State Diaries Submitted by Wolf Howling
• Commentary Contentions / Jennifer Rubin - Are Jews Really That Gullible? Submitted by Mere Rhetoric
• Pajamas Media / Zombie - South Park is the least of Islam’s problems: The Mohammed Image Archive displays every Mohammed portrait ever created Submitted by Bookworm Room
• The Money Illusion - How far we’ve come Submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Yourish – John Mearsheimer’s speech on Jews: Echoes of the 1930s Submitted by The Watcher

The Fatal Flaw of Regulating Salt

This is a letter to the editor to the Chicago Tribune about a new law that would regulate how much salt can be used by restaurants.

To all the people who are outraged by the "nanny state" taking away their right to high blood pressure through excess salt: Get a salt shaker! Use it as you will!

I'd say that's the fatal flaw in the law. That's an awfully easy way to get around it and yet the law would also a burden on restaurants. All the while, anyone that wants to have a plethora of salt could still get it.

The Corrosive Power of Entitlements

I was at a diner yesterday morning for breakfast when the subject of Greece came up among the staff. One of the staff suggested that the way to have averted the crisis was to have benefits to many of their public employees benefits packages long ago. After all, the employee reasoned, the budget deficit that is causing the country to be on the verge of collapse is due in large part on sweetheart deals to public employees.

It's a simple solution and it would also solve many of our own "unfunded liability" issues in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. They are taking in less and less in revenues and paying out more and more in benefits. So, we must raise the age of benefits, cut the amount of benefits, and/or raise the taxes on benefits.

I listened as the employee presented a perfectly reasonable idea and I couldn't listen any more. This idea, while perfectly reasonable on a policy level, has no political viability. That's because whenever any politician proposes any cuts to benefits, there is another politician ready to demagogue the issue and claim you're going to take what is rightfully someone's right. Those politicians will proclaim that said entitlements are perfectly solvent and under their plans everyone will get their benefits. That's exactly what happened during the Social Security debate in 2005. Any proposed change to Social Security by Bush was met with attacks by Democrats that he "was taking away your social security".

Furthermore, you can bet your opponents will find some $2000 campaign contribution from some donor that they will then claim will benefit from your cuts. Now, suddenly, you're no longer proposing a fiscal solution but a corrupt politician.

The idea proposed assumed that voters are logical. Voters can see when a program has no long term fiscal viability. Of course, if that were true President Obama would never have been president. He promised everything to everyone: free health care, student loans, to pay your mortgage, and only the really rich would pay. That's not viable and yet he won overwhelmingly.

That's what happens as soon as you give out an entitlement. People feel entitled and anyone that dares to take it away gets eliminated.

Greece Secures a Bailout

Greece finalized its bailout from the Eurozone.

Euro-region ministers agreed to a 110 billion-euro ($146 billion) rescue package for Greece to prevent a default and stop the worst crisis in the currency’s 11-year history from spreading through the rest of the bloc.

The first payment will be made before Greece’s next bond redemption on May 19, said Jean-Claude Juncker after chairing a meeting of euro-region finance ministers in Brussels yesterday. The 16-nation bloc will pay 80 billion euros at a rate of around 5 percent and the International Monetary Fund contributes the rest. Greece agreed to budget measures worth 13 percent of gross domestic product.

They say the crisis is over in the Euro's currency but that's only until the next time Greece or another nation winds up in this situation again. That's when not if.

Walmart in Pullman Park?

With the proposal for a Walmart in the Chatham neighborhood of Chicago stalled in the finance committee, there's a proposal that will be on the table soon for another Walmart in Chicago. This one will be in the far Southside of the city and is part of development known as Pullman Park.

This time we're talking about a Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed for an empty lot between 103^rd and 111^th streets next to the Bishop Ford Freeway. Wal-Mart is the critical element in an ambitious development called Pullman Park, which would bring thousands of jobs to the Far South Side.

Pullman Park would transform a 180-acre wasteland that once housed the Ryerson steel plant into a thriving business center for neighborhood stores and restaurants, 800 homes, a hotel, a recreation center, a park … and a Wal-Mart.

There are many similarities between this development of Walmart and the other proposal in Chatham. First, several hundred UNION contractors will be hired to build the store. The store will be self financed by Walmart. As such, this is a shovel ready project and will immediately create jobs during construction. It will also hire several hundred employees once the store is completed. Currently, the planned development is occupied by dirt as that area is not built by anything.

There is one difference between this project and the other Walmart in Chatham. This project will be part of a mini mall development and the developer is counting on Walmart to attract all other merchants into the mall. That means that if the Walmart isn't approved the entire Pullman Park project falls apart. The entire project including the Walmart has the support of the alderman in that ward, Anthony Beale of the 9th ward. Similarly, Alderman Howard Brookins supports the project now languishing in Chatham.

Obama Stands Up for Government

This will be the line most talked about in President Obama's commencement speech from yesterday.

President Obama took aim Saturday at the angry rhetoric of those who denigrate government as "inherently bad" and said their off-base line of attack ignores the fact that in a democracy, "government is us."

Obama used his commencement speech at the University of Michigan to respond to foes who portray government as oppressive and tyrannical -- and to warn that overheated language can signal extremists that "perhaps violence is ... justifiable."

President Obama is certainly racking up statements that will be used against him in ads, speeches, and in debates, and this is one. This past week President Obama had another when he told Americans that at some point you've made enough.