Hits and Misses: 5-12-09

From 'round the sphere today...

Palin cleared of ethics charges

While it hasn't received a lot of attention lately, liberals have made a virtual cottage industry of filing frivolous ethics complaints against Sarah Palin, to the point of her racking up around half a million dollars in legal fees just to defend herself.  Well, yesterday she was cleared of two of the charges.  So what were they?  The first was filed because she announced her position on a controversial ballot measure requiring tougher environmental standards for new mines.  Gasp!  Second, she used funds from her political action committee to travel to an a National Right to Life rally in Indiana.  Double gasp! 

It seems to me that this "ethics" stuff (usually the result of regulations and laws pushed in the name of "reform", when it's really about politics) has less to do with "ethics", and more to do with the result of criminalizing politics itself.

Armstrong Williams calls out Colin Powell

Powell has been making a John McCain like practice of criticizing his own party (especially conservatives) over the past several years...(even to the point of not supporting John McCain for President, albeit for the wrong reasons).  Today Armstrong Williams responds in his latest column.  Williams points out that Powell has said the GOP is in trouble...he's just wrong about why.  Powell says that "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."   Not sure what he's smoking, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal.  Williams maintains that "the primary purpose of a political party is to advocate a certain political philosophy; not to maintain power at the expense of its core principles. If a party fails to maintain power because of poor implementation of its philosophy, it needs to change the politicians implementing the philosophy...."  He suggests Powell should go join Arlen Specter in his "new" party.  Ditto.

Social Security and Medicare losing money

The trustees for Social Security and Medicare are expected to report today that the programs are losing money faster than had been expected.  In other news, the sun came up in the east this morning..  With all of the attention that has been paid (rightfully so) to rampant government borrowing and deficit spending...and an Obama budget plan that almost doubles our deficit in ten years time, there's really been no attention paid to the big deficits in Social Security and Medicare - and the tremendous impending debt those programs will leave for the next generation to face.  (And, of course, this doesn't begin to consider the added costs of millions of illegal immigrants the amnesty supporters would add to the cost of the system). 

Hopefully, the ugly report the trustees will deliver will spark a larger conversation about spending and debt.