NANNY STATE UPDATE:
Our liberal friends always try to tell us that smoking bans in public places don't harm small businesses, such as bars. But try telling that to bar owners in Elkhart, Indiana:
"Elkhart went smoke-free May 15, 2008, at all public places and workplaces, including restaurants. A one-year exemption let the nearly two dozen bars allow smoking until May 15 of this year.But in the past two months, several bar owners have said they have suffered a 30 percent decrease in business since they went smokeless, said Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore."
By the way, speaking of nanny states, health care reform is coming--lovers of freedom, duck:
"Both those Americans who can’t afford to buy health insurance and those who have decided to get by without it will face the same order from congressional Democrats as they prepare legislation to overhaul health care: buy health insurance. And if they can’t afford the coverage, taxpayers will help them pay for it."
And then there's the Obama "stimulus" plan--which was supposed to be directed towards "shovel-ready" projects and create immediate jobs, but...it isn't:
"Cash-strapped states have used federal stimulus dollars to close short-term budget gaps and avert major tax increases but generally have not directed the money toward long-term expansion, according to a new report. The report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, found that the $787 billion stimulus package is being used to "cushion" state budgets, prevent teacher layoffs, make more Medicaid payments and head off other fiscal problems."
SARAH PALIN UPDATE:
Tony Blankley today makes a very good point--if Governor Palin is done, washed up, finished, as so many Washington insiders want to claim, then why all the attention paid to her?
"Professional politicians and political journalists don't waste energy on political corpses. They reserve their energy -- positive or negative -- for viable politicians.
Thus, an intriguing part of the Sarah Palin phenomenon is the intensity of response to her every word and move -- from both Republican Party and Democratic Party professionals and from the conventional media. The negative but sustained passion being expressed by the professional Washington political class against her tends to belie its almost unanimous assertion that she is washed-up. I happened to be on CNN Friday just as the story was breaking of Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska, and for the next hour, I was the only on-air guest -- Republican, Democrat, journalist, politician -- who was not overtly contemptuous and dismissive of Palin and her political future. On Sunday, as a panelist on ABC's "This Week," I was similarly situated. What is it about Palin that elicits such furious bipartisan Washington dismissiveness? After all, the polls show her to be tied with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee for the very early lead in the 2012 Republican primary. As an outspoken conservative with about an 80 percent favorable rating among Republicans and a high-40s percentage favorable plurality among independents, objectively she should be seen as quite competitive nationally compared with other Republicans, particularly given that Republicans are generically weak and that she has been targeted so viciously by the media."
Read the whole thing. Remember that Democrats and liberal media types had Richard Nixon--who they hated with an even greater passion than they dislike Ms. Palin--dead and buried political numerous times before 1968. But that year, he was elected president.
BASEBALL DIARY: some better news last night. The Tigers beat Kansas City 8-5, as Justin Verlander was tough when he had to be, and players like Marcus Thames and Placido Polanco stepped up offensively. The Tigers could use another win today...
The Cubs, however, once again failed to score many runs, and lost 2-1 to the Braves, wasting a decent start by Carlos Zambrano. The Cubs really need their offense to start producing, especially players like Geovany Soto.
But the Texas Rangers won a big one last night, beating the Angels in California 8-5 and thus getting back into a tie for first place. Credit Derek Holland with good long relief, and Andruw Jones and Ian Kinsler with some big hits.
