Since our first look at President Obama’s initiative to improve the nation’s power grid, I’ve been digging a bit deeper into some of the security threats which the aging infrastructure poses, as well as the inefficiencies in the current system. I follow up on the topic today in my next column at Pajamas Media, so dive in and be frightened. (Not in the Halloween way. This is real.) Terrorists have already knocked out large sections of the grid in South America, securing blackmail...

The Wall Street Journal has a very interesting look at estate taxes (or “death tax” if you prefer) across the nation this weekend. With the federal tax almost entirely going away this year, more and more people are turning to tax and estate planners for help with similar taxes levied by the individual states. (To be clear, the federal estate tax hasn’t disappeared entirely, but the minimum threshold has risen to $3.5M for individuals and $7M for married couples.) There are a 17...

The New York Times notes that there are a lot of nervous Democrats in Washington who have suddenly noticed that the deficit and our national debt have somehow mysteriously spiraled into a range of numbers generally reserved for discussions of the number of grains of sand on the world’s beaches. Is it because of some new found concern for the public purse? Apparently not. But they did remember that many of them will be facing an election next year. Faced with anxiety in financial markets about...

It’s turning out to be an eventful weekend, and Cindy and I will be trying to keep pace with it all on Mid Stream Radio today at 1 pm eastern time. Stop by and join in the chat with your own comments or call in to (646) 595-3963 and give us a piece of your mind! (Well… assuming you have enough to spare, that is.) We’ll catch up with the quickly changing NY 23 race and dig into a few more juicy details of the House health care bill. See you on the radio.

As we dig deeper into the behemoth House health care bill, the blatant honesty of Howard Dean shines through the extensive document. You may recall when the former DNC chair said, “the reason why tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everybody else they were taking on, and that is the plain and simple truth.” Plain and simple indeed, Doctor, and Pelosi’s masterpiece of legislation has delivered...

Just to be clear, I have not read the entire House health care bill which dropped on our heads like a roughly 2,000 page albatross yesterday. (I’ve gotten through the first hundred or so, and my hat is off to anyone who reads fast enough to have finished the whole thing already.) However, Americans for Tax Reform have the manpower to split up the job and have helpfully identified the laundry list of new taxes and fees which will be coming our way to pay for this boondoggle. Here are just a...

Speaking as one who has been critical of most of President Obama’s domestic initiatives this year, I find myself in the curious position of having to praise him three times in one week. First, he moved to finally provide long overdue improvements to the nation’s power grid. Then he worked with Congressional leadership to shut down foreign tax dodge schemes. (Sadly, with Charlie Rangel’s name on it.) And now, in the wee hours of the morning, he visited Dover Air Force Base to witness...

When I read this item at Politico over coffee this morning, I had to double check and see if I hadn’t inadvertently followed a link to The Onion. A new bill is being introduced which would make it far more difficult for people to hide their assets in foreign banks to avoid paying taxes on the money. Good idea! But it’s being introduced, in part, by Charlie Rangel. (I’ll give you a moment to read a portion of the linked article while you stop gagging.) The “Foreign Account Tax...

Exactly how important is it to Americans that their elected officials receive a mathematical majority of votes in any given election in order to carry the vaunted mantle of having a “mandate from the people?” And if we see a continuing trend of voter dissatisfaction with the normal two menu choices and 3rd party candidates carry more and more influence, will this help or hurt our great American experiment in democracy? New Jersey’s gubernatorial race is now showing embattled incumbent...

With our spookiest holiday just around the corner, as is traditional we’ll be having a celebration of the best (and worst!) horror movies on Movie Addict Headquarters today at 4 pm eastern time. Actress Rosemary Gore (pictured here) and Mad Movie Man A.J. Hakari will be joining Betty Jo Tucker and I to review some of the winners and losers of the horror genre. I can always use some suggestions, so feel free to share your own here, or call in to the show from the link above. Here’s a few...

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Obama administration will today unveil something truly useful for us to do with the nation’s tax dollars. The nation’s power grid has long been in decrepit shape, representing inefficiency, a waste of resources and exposure to widespread brown-outs, power failures and potential terrorist threats. We may finally see some badly needed improvements with a move toward a smart grid. The Obama administration is expected Tuesday to name 100 utility...

I wouldn’t have even noticed this article from Peter Singer at the New York Daily News today had I not heard about it on both CNN and MSNBC first. (The frequently preachy Mika Brzezinski was going off on yet another tangent about how there should be a tax on red meat to offset the damage that diners are doing to themselves and the health care system. None of this seems to encourage her to want to tax her own regular diet of Absolut and Ambien, though.) The author begins by attempting to draw...

Join us again today, Saturday Oct. 24, at 1 pm Eastern time on Mid Stream Radio, where Cindy and I will field questions on the current “ridiculous” constitutionality flap, the special elections in New York and New Jersey, along with anything else that crosses our minds. Call in with your own thoughts at (646) 595-3963, or join in the online chat if you’re registered (for free!) ahead of time at the BTR home page and grab a nickname. See you on the radio.

When I received my daily polling update from Rasmussen this weekend I’ll admit that I was in for a surprise. The polling agency went back to the well with their periodic series of questions as to which party Americans trust more on the top ten issues of the day. You wouldn’t be able to tell from a lot of the media circus we watch on a daily basis, but the Republicans actually ran the table. For the first time in recent years, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on all 10 key...

There’s something almost adorable about the way some people with a limited grasp of our nation’s constitution attempt to lean on, twist and otherwise molest the document in an attempt to support their own world view. The latest incident came after a reporter asked Nancy Pelosi where the Constitution empowered Congress to enact an individual health insurance mandate. Her response, calling the question itself “ridiculous,” has brought one of the old legal bogeymen back into...

As Joe Windish pointed out earlier, a cadre of villainous progressives are apparently launching a book of their own on the same day that Sarah Palin’s memoirs, Going Rogue, will hit the shelves. Titled “Going Rouge,” the jacket has an almost identical cover picture of the half term Alaska governor and the only other change to the text is the substitution of “An American Nightmare” in place of “An American Life.” (While we’re on the subject, isn’t...

We’ve already held a number of discussions here about the campaign of NY23 Republican hopeful Dede Scozzafava and her dimming prospects for a seat in Congress. However, today marks one of the more strange moments in political history. As highlighted by Allahpundit at Hot Air, the candidate apparently does not have anyone advising her with the political chops required for such a race. Apparently, somebody in her office thought it would be a nifty idea for her to hold a presser outside the office...

Proponents of government run health care are already cheering the definitive, solid as a rock, above question results of a new Washington Post / ABC poll which indicates that 57% of Americans favor a so called “public option” in any proposed health insurance reform. Well, that certainly settles that once and for all, doesn’t it? Not so fast, skippy. (Courtesy of Hot Air) My first clue that the new WaPo/ABC poll had big problems in its sampling came from question 38 of the raw data...

Returning to the Nov. 3 special House election in NY-23, (which I mentioned on Sunday) we find the embattled, moderate to liberal Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava demonstrating how to lose a race in a district your party has held for more than one hundred years. When a reporter shows up to ask you about your position on some uncomfortable topics, you can respond in a number of ways. You could just spill your guts honestly, attempt some spin, or even reply with a gruff, “No comment.”...

Following on the heels of yesterday’s much debated column on the civil war among the Republicans, we clearly had far too many liberals feeling smug and self-satisfied to let it stand. With that in mind, I would like to present the companion piece, published today at Pajamas Media, titled, “The Modern Left Abandons Classic Liberalism.” In this piece I take a look at some of the best, most noble aspects of classic liberalism and the positive impact it has had on American society,...

Yes, my friends. It has been rumored on a few Democratic sites I check in on from time to time, but opportunity is slipping away before your very eyes. Rasmussen is bringing disastrous news for the Obama faithful this week in the form of a new poll. While you’re all focusing your attention on what the new Democratic majority is up to, it seems that prospects for a Sarah Palin 2012 GOP nomination are fading away like dreams of spring during autumn’s first hard frost. Read on from the...

With a title so inviting of hyperbole and hysteria, the first question which likely comes to mind may be, “Is he talking about a fight within the Republican party or open combat in the streets?” It’s a fair question, and to be honest, I’m not sure which we should focus on right now. What I do know is that we are living in a period where persons with my particular hybrid, hard-to-pigeonhole political persuasions have a lot to concern them. First, we have an era of government...

The the relative quiet of an off year election, there are still some special elections to watch. One of them is taking place up near the Canadian border with New York in the largely rural, mountainous 23rd district. (You may recall that I usually spend part of my summer up there fishing with disappointing results.) This district is about as conservative as they come in the Empire State, and Republicans have held that seat continuously since the late 1800′s. That may be about to change, though,...

In case you find yourself stuck with the kind of weather we’re getting in Upstate New York this weekend and have nothing better to do, tune in to Mid Stream Radio at 1 pm eastern (10 am pacific) for your weekly dose of bombastic political rhetoric and absurd analysis. The only thing off the table today is Balloon Boy, but everything else is fair game. Follow the link above to listen, join in the chat or call us at (646) 595-3963 with your own deranged ramblings. See you on the radio!

Senator David Vitter, (R – La) along with his somewhat questionable and controversial activities in the past, also comes up with some good ideas. He demonstrated this talent once again recently when he suggested that maybe the next census should be sure that it’s only counting legal citizens. As Ed Morrissey points out, the consequences of screwing this up can be serious indeed. Each seat represents 690,000 American residents at the moment, although in 2000 it would have been closer to...