BASEBALL DIARY:
Finally--Rangers 3, Red Sox 0: the Rangers win for the first time in a week. But maybe this will get them going. The team got an excellent start from C.J. Wilson.
Tigers 5, Angels 4: a big win for the Tigers. They salvage in split in Anaheim against a tough club. Justin Verlander struggles, but gives his team a chance to win. Key stat: Tiger relievers have now tossed 15 and 2/3 scoreless innings in a row. And the bullpen won this game, holding a 1-run lead for 4 innings...
POLITICS UPDATE DEPT:
Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is fast becoming a conservative hero. Here's why:
"Faced with an $11 billion hole in a $30 billion budget, Christie used his broad constitutional discretion (New Jersey’s is arguably the most powerful governorship in the Union) to wield not a scalpel or an axe, but a scalpel the size of an axe against a Trenton machine rivaled only by Chicago and Albany in sheer size and scope.
As part of his efforts, he cut state aid to school districts by about 5 percent of their total budgets. Predictably, as school boards across the state pondered cutting programs like music and athletics to make up for the shortfall, the powerful New Jersey Education Association and its affiliates raged at the prospect of layoffs, even though new teacher hires in the state have grown far faster than enrollment, and have continued to grow even as the rest of the economy shed jobs. “Think of the children!” the unions cried. But Christie called the bluff, promising to restore aid for districts whose staffs agreed to one-year pay freezes (not even cuts mind you, much less permanent ones) and to pay 1.5 percent of their salary into their exorbitant benefits packages (the vast majority currently pay 0 percent)."
A conservative who not only talks about bloated government--but does something about. Good for him.
A good point on immigration policy--from Charles Krauthammer:
"...the problem is ultimately that the feds haven't acted. What liberals don't understand who support the rights of illegals in the country is that if the American people had a sense that the borders are secure, they are shut — if we built a fence all the way, and we can — and they had a sense this is the last cohort of illegals (the ten or so million already here) — the majority of Americans including me would be in favor of amnesty. If that’s the last group who are coming in and the border is shut, that would be OK. The problem is that in the absence of any seriousness on the part of the feds to do something like that — two-thirds, three-quarters of the border is unsecured, does not have that fence — people see a revolving door, so that there’ll be an endless entry of illegal immigrants who know that after a decade or two, there’s going to be an amnesty – it’ll start all over again..."
There has got to be a real attempt to secure our borders. It's not about being mean to or punishing recent immigrants, illegal or otherwise. But our borders must be secure, and I think, put that way, most Americans will agree with that. Keep pushing this, conservatives.
In polling news, more good news for Republicans:
"The advantage in public support the Democratic Party built up during the latter part of the Bush administration and the early part of the Obama administration has all but disappeared. During the first quarter of 2010, 46% of Americans identified as Democrats or leaned Democratic, while 45% identified as or leaned Republican."
On the other hand, all this does is get Republicans back to where they were in 2006. As others have said, the GOP still needs to close the sale, and convince more folks they're a better alternative than the Dems. Still work to do there...
