Pelosi to Ryan: Lay down your weapons

Um, no to this hypocritical, laughable demand:

WASHINGTON — Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, sent a letter on Tuesday to Speaker Paul D. Ryan urging him to bar Republicans from using hacked documents in the campaign, arguing that “defending our democracy is more important than any advantage or disadvantage in this election.”

Why would Ryan agree to not use every tool available to the GOP when Pelosi had no qualms about using the most nefarious tactics available when she could?  No Nancy, Ryan won't agree to it for fear of being called Nancy himself.

Pelosi has even framed the notion incorrectly. Democracy demands that inappropriate activities be not only brought to the public's attention but also questioned rigorously.  Who else is going to do that?  The liberal media?  Excuse me while I laugh.

How about instead we wait until the GOP comments are spoken to see what's in them Nancy?

Paul Ryan vs Boehner and Cantor

CAVE...Paul Ryan voted against a clean debt ceiling increase for Democrats in the Senate and White House to spend away.  John Boehner and Eric Cantor on the other hand, have conceded the fight. They are seemingly hoping for a temporary suspension of the label "obstructionist, do nothing Congress" in exchange for the free rein on debt for the most spendthrift cabal in the history of the world.

Revisiting my pre-VP debate predictions

Just prior to the vice presidential debate I quickly threw out some high level predictions.  You can see the original predictions and some rationale behind them here.  How did I do?  Not too badly.

Biden: arrogant, smug, bit of a jerk

There are going to be many takes on the VP debate tonight.  Conservatives will agree Ryan won by remaining calm in the face of Biden's interruptions and those of the moderator as well (anyone have a count on moderator interruptions of Ryan vs. interruptions of Biden?).  Ryan stuck to his points and didn't blow it.  He came across well.  Liberals on the other hand will be excited by Biden's assertiveness.

But there's assertiveness and there's arrogant, smug jerky behavior:

Or this version if you prefer.  Biden at his smug, jerkiest:

Quick thoughts on tonight's VP debate

Just under an hour to go until Ryan versus Biden.  Here's what I expect.

Over/under on Biden gaffes: 1.  Why only one?  The Obama campaign is gun shy from getting stung by Romney on the opening debate.  You'd better believe they've coached the BFDs right out of Biden.  He knows he's not to wander off the script.  But this is Biden we are talking about here.  As much as he tries to stick to the script, under a Ryan counter-point there's a 50/50 chance he'll slip up and offer up some goofball gaffe.

Chance the mainstream media will declare a Biden victory: 45%.  They'll be looking for a reason for a Biden victory, any indication they can cling to, because they want to start the rebound meme. They're worried They can't do it if Biden reverts to form (see gaffes above). But they have an opening.  Biden doesn't need to be the conquering hero, they probably would prefer that Obama does that himself.

Chance Biden makes some outlandishly incorrect claim about Romney or Ryan: 95%.  Ryan, if prepared as much as Romney will be well equipped to refute it.

Chance Biden goes after Romney's flip-flopping: 99.9%.   

Chances the media fact checks every Ryan breath: 100%

Chances the media fact checks 10% of Biden's claims: 0.1%

Over/Under on Biden funny quips: 0.5 (about the same for Ryan)

Chance Ryan wins (excluding media spin): 99.999%

UPDATE:

Over/under on viewers - 23 million

Just what is leadership anyway?

What is a good leader? A leader isn't someone who does the work. A leader is someone who inspires people, or a team, to do it themselves. A leader inspires people to put forth their best efforts. He (or she) brings out their best. A leader also leads by example. A leader has a vision that drives a team in a direction, it does not drag people towards that vision kicking and screaming.

What a leader isn't, is someone who convinces people that they have peaked. An Olympic athlete's coach doesn't tell the athlete to shoot for 5th, or that they can't possibly get any better. He pushes the athlete to go for the gold. The coach, the leader, understands that in every person there is the potential for greatness that is there to be tapped.

Recapping the Ryan plan

In a great piece entitled "Don't Blame the House", at The American Spectator, Peter Ferrara succinctly explains in the first three paragraphs, the Ryan plan, why it's worth it, and why Democrats so vigorously oppose it.

The indisputable facts show that Congressional Republicans have done their job. Months ago, the House Republican majority passed the budget proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). Ryan's budget provided for $6.2 trillion in spending cuts for its first 10 years alone. Over the long run, it drives federal spending to 15% of GDP, well below the postwar historical average of 20%.

Ryan's budget included tax reform to get the economy booming again, with a 25% top income-tax rate for incomes over $100,000 a year, and a 10% rate for incomes below that. The internationally uncompetitive federal corporate tax rate of 35% would be reduced to 25%, which would return federal taxes to their long term, postwar, historical average of 18% of GDP. Because that figure is higher than our spending, the Ryan budget eventually pays off the national debt entirely.

Yes, that takes decades. $14 trillion is a big debt to pay. It takes that long because the careful reforms are designed so that no one is actually hurt by the changes -- senseless Democratic rhetoric to the contrary notwithstanding. The Democrats just don't like it because by reducing government dependency it threatens their political machine.

Read the whole article. The Ryan plan - 2013 should see its resurrection.