PolitiFact's fingers must be flurrying right now, typing out PANTS ON FIRE! PANTS ON FIRE! quick as they can.

ur results show a significant negative effect of the size of government on growth. [Â…] Interestingly, government consumption is consistently detrimental to output growth irrespective of the country sample considered (OECD, emerging and developing countries).

And this is interesting: When Congressmen and Senators become powerful, their states get more federal money.

That at least must be good, right? They are stealing money from other states to spend in their own. So the negative consequences of government spending are burdened on to other states, partly, and the big earmark states just receive (mostly) the benefit.

That's what you might guess, at least. This study questions that.

The average state experiences a 40 to 50 percent increase in earmark spending if its senator becomes chair of one of the top-three congressional committees. In the House, the average is around 20 percent.

For broader measures of spending, such as discretionary state-level federal transfers, the increase from being represented by a powerful senator is around 10 percent.

In the year that follows a congressmanÂ’s ascendancy, the average firm in his state cuts back capital expenditures by roughly 15 percent.

There is some evidence that firms scale back their employment and experience a decline in sales growth.

So federal spending might hurt growth even when other people are picking up a disproportionate share of the check.

And speaking of PolitiFact, Bookworm has a good piece on the new lies masquerading as the "neutral fact check." Here's are the epigrammatic quotes leading the piece:

“Facts are stubborn things.” — John Adams.

“Ideologues are even more stubborn than facts.” — Bookworm

Posted by: Ace at 09:24 AM | Comments (89)
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Bumped By Ace. I stepped on this last night without seeing it. I just watched it; it's one of the funnier Downfall parodies.

I am expressly not endorsing Hitler's message here (which is weakly pro-Romney; then again, it's Hitler, so I don't know how much this endorsement is worth). Hitler spreads insults around the field, so, to that extent, Hitler is a fair-minded, honest analyst, who probably would be a good debate moderator.

I'm linking it because it's actually pretty funny. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (101)
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Ben Domenech has some questions for Ryan. He's not sure how these proposals would actually reform the program.

While the initial reaction will be negative for Wyden giving Ryan political cover for premium support, in the long game he has nothing to lose here. Ryan, on the other hand, has a lot to lose - he is a thought leader, sometimes viewed in the press as the thought leader, on budget and entitlement policy for the right... which means he gave up a lot more to do this and his movement has more impact on his party.

My concern is that Ryan's timing and the nature of this plan will be viewed as a walkback, one that weakens the hand of Republicans going into the presidential, and creates conflict for his fellow House and Senate members who stuck their necks out to support his budget and now will be confronted by more questions.

The blueprint for the plan is hard to understand, and seems to be a hodgepodge of smaller-bore widgets that don't seem likely to reduce Medicare costs.

I gotta tell ya, it reads more like a campaign document than a real plan.

The National Journal summarizes:

People 55 and over now would be unaffected by the proposal. But starting in 2022, it would introduce a “premium support” system that would allow seniors to choose between enrolling in traditional Medicare or in a Medicare-approved private plan.

"Doing it this way harnesses the power of choice and competition," Ryan said.
“Unlike Medicare Advantage, these private plans would compete head-to-head with traditional, fee-for-service Medicare on a federally regulated Medicare exchange,” the lawmakers wrote in a Wall Street Journal commentary.

Unlike similar proposals, including those from presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, the Wyden-Ryan plan includes a number of consumer protection provisions designed to ensure that competing plans maintain similar benefits to those of traditional Medicare.

Part of the plan insists that these private plans be just as "comprehensive" as Medicare.

But if they're just as comprehensive, why would they be cheaper? It's my opinion that a major driver of costs is that the actual service-user is not, in any real sense, the service-payer; he's held harmless as to costs, and doesn't have much interest in patrolling his medical bill for those $100 bills for crutches or $30 fees for aspirin.

If it's the same flawed model, now just administered by a government-regulated corporation, where exactly will the downward pressure on prices come from?

Good Summary: Yuval Levin thinks this is more of a reform than Domench does, and is keener on it.

Posted by: Ace at 08:01 AM | Comments (122)
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Of course they mean GOP candidates make appeals to "anti-abortionists," but that isn't even remotely what the report actually describes.

Several GOP candidates attended the screening of a pro-life documentary created by Mike Huckabee and Citizens United. They gave short speeches about their pro-life values and pro-life (or "anti-abortion," as the CNN writer, producer Shawna Shepherd, terms it) agendas.

If the candidates made appeals to "anti-abortionists" that is, people particularly opposed to abortionists over and above those simply opposed to abortions, it's not evident from the report. And that's a key distinction.

I hate to go all dog-whistle, but that's exactly what this CNN report is doing. CNN is suggesting that the candidates are appealing to folks like Scott Roeder, the man who gunned down notorious abortion doctor ("abortionist") George Tiller a few years ago.

Liberals have been slowly losing the abortion battle over the course of the past thirty years. Several Supreme Court cases have chipped away at Roe v. Wade and states are increasingly showing a willingness to push the boundaries when it comes to restricting the availability of abortion on demand. My own generation is the most pro-life generation yet.

Just as we're seeing with the global warming lunatics, it's no surprise that pro-abortion activists are getting nastier as they lose ground.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:51 AM | Comments (160)
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Republican Paul Ryan and Democrat Ron Wyden propose a premium-support revision to Medicare. It sounds like they're trying to put out a housefire with an eyedropper to me, and I doubt the rest of the Donks will go for it any case. Medicare is un-salvageable in anything like its current form. However, I think Ryan is simply trying to move the ball forward however he can; he's trying to go the "realist" route. But the inevitable will happen: Democrats will hate it because it goes too far for them, the GOP base will hate it because it doesnÂ’t go far enough (I am in this camp, frankly), and nothing much will get done.

Good news! I was wrong about this whole DOOM thing! Everything is perfectly fine and thereÂ’s no reason to worry about anything any more. Go about your business, citizen, and be happy!

Wait, hold on here. Remember what I was saying about that DOOM thing being a mistake and how everything was fine? Well, it turns out that we really are DOOMed after all. At least until 2031. Sorry about the mix-up. It's DOOM as usual for the forseeable future.
more...

Posted by: Monty at 05:00 AM | Comments (204)
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Miss me yet?

Posted by: andy at 02:50 AM | Comments (215)
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It's really poor quality and from what I see doesn't seem very interesting at all, so if you don't see it before they take it down, don't feel bad.

Posted by: Ace at 07:48 PM | Comments (189)
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The 40 Best Conservative Blogs of 2011

As compiled by John Hawkins of Rightwing News based on a proprietary algorithm that's primarily determined by whether he likes a blog, how often he visits, and how quickly the checks cleared. Here are the 4th quarter rankings:

_{40) Wintery knight
39) Creative Minority Report
3 American Power
37) Conservatives4Palin
36) This AinÂ’t Hell
35) Gay Patriot
34) I Own The World
33) The Conservative Commune
32) American Glob
31) MaggieÂ’s Farm
30) PattericoÂ’s Pontifications
29) The Mellow Jihadi
2 The Jawa Report
27) QandO
26) Riehl World View
25) Megan McArdle
24) Big Hollywood
23) Vox Popoli
22) Jammie Wearing Fool
21) The Lonely Conservative
20) Althouse
19) YidwithLid
1 IMAO
17) Big Government
16) Legal Insurrection
15) The Campaign Spot
14) Redstate
13) Verum Serum
12) Weasel Zippers
11) Atlas Shrugs
10) The Corner
9) Moonbattery
Naked DC
7) Michelle Malkin
6) Big Journalism
5) Gateway Pundit
4) Newsbusters
3) Ace Of Spades HQ
2) Instapundit
1) Hot Air}

Woo-hoo - we're number threeeeee baby!

And lookout Insty cause there's a moron horde coming your way who are not afraid to attack your trash! more...

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:19 PM | Comments (916)
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They had demanded that, to offset the payroll tax cut they want to continue.

They're dropping that demand.

I suppose their next offer will be "we don't pay for it at all and just put it on the tab."

So I don't think it's a huge victory. But maybe it's progress towards something.

Via @slublog

To celebrate, here's a collage of portraits of an old guy.

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Posted by: Ace at 04:18 PM | Comments (101)
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Someone out there is robo-polling to see how he'd fare against Barack Hussein Obama:

Note: Not saying Jeb is putting out feelers. Just saying 3 ppl emailed to say they're getting polled about him in NH.

@mattklewis is saying the same thing, people tipping him about robo-polls for Jeb.

Doesn't mean Jeb Bush is involved or was even asked. Could just be those big-money donors, like the ones who tried to persuade Christie, casting about for alternatives.

Posted by: Ace at 04:01 PM | Comments (46)
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