NYT’s Richard Thaler savagely attacks Barack Obama.

I know, I’m as shocked as you are: but that’s what happened. You see, Richard Thaler was trying to push back on the entire steadily-rising gas price thing (four bucks a gallon, if you’re lucky), and so in an op-ed today for the New York Times Thaler authoritatively declared:

Here is a one-item test to see whether you are guilty of cloudy thinking about gas prices: Do you believe that they are something a president can control? Many Americans believe that the answer is yes, but any respectable economist will tell you that the answer is no.

Meet the not-respectable economist Barack Obama:

…for those without video, it’s a campaign ad where then-candidate Barack Obama was engaged in some would-be faux populism over Big Oil and how they were causing high gas prices (three-fifty a gallon, back then), and how Obama would do something about it (mind you, what he did about it, apparently contra Thaler, was to turn what was a somewhat temporary spike in gas prices into the new baseline).  In other words, Barry certainly acted like he thought that he’d have some control over the process there, Professor Thaler. Was that acting an artifact of that informal advice to the President you were saying that you gave, Professor Thaler?

Before you turned on this administration, of course.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Isn’t YouTube fun? …And we have years of footage with which to work with, too.

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The World According to David Brock

David Brock says he got famous for calling Anita Hill “a slut.”

That is his own description of how he became famous.

Compounding the irony, David Brock says Rush Limbaugh made him famous. That’s right folks, the head of Media Matters For America, on a personal quest to destroy Rush Limbaugh after spectacularly failing to do the same to Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Anita Hill, and more, actually said, “Limbaugh was making me famous for calling Anita Hill a slut.”

If you haven’t paid attention these past few months, from the Daily Caller investigation into David Brock to David Brock trying to get Rush off the air, David Brock really thinks the world revolves around David Brock. And David Brock tries to set up as much spin as he can to try to make you think the world revolves around David Brock.

In fact, the reality is David Brock has a self-inflated sense of self-worth. He surrounds himself with bodyguards convinced someone somewhere wants to do him harm while he maligns the reputations of others, dabbled in illegal drugs, seemingly suffers from some level of instability, and felt obligated to pay his ex-boyfriend $850,000.00 to keep the ex-boyfriend quiet about Media Matters.

It’s no wonder, with all the stories pouring out about how pathetic David Brock actually is, that David Brock is trying to divert attention to Rush Limbaugh. But you know what? Not only is the effort against Limbaugh failing, it is failing badly.

Consequently, Brock is shifting gears — bragging about the money he is raising, which he actually isn’t, and trying to take credit for Cumulus Media potentially replacing the Rush Limbaugh Show with the Mike Huckabee Show, which so far hasn’t panned out.

First, let’s look at the failing Limbaugh campaign.

David Brock wants you to know he can take out Rush Limbaugh. His effort has been so effective Rush Limbaugh’s ratings are up pretty significantly.

But it is not just that. As I told you would happen, new advertisers are filling the void left by other advertisers fleeing. The hit to Rush’s bottom line really never happened. Not only that, the much ballyhooed memo from Cumulus directing stations to move barter advertisers around Limbaugh’s show has been recinded.

On Monday, the 600 or so radio stations that air Limbaugh’s program were told by his syndicator, Premiere Radio Networks, to resume running “barter” ads during his program. Stations are required to run these ads in exchange for paying discounted fees to Premiere to air Limbaugh’s show. Premiere, which is owned by radio giant Clear Channel Communications, had suspended the “barter” requirement for two weeks in a move widely seen as a way to give advertisers a chance to lie low while Limbaugh was in the news.

So what is Media Matters left to do? Try to take credit for Mike Huckabee’s show potentially replacing Limbaugh. Follow along here.

There is no doubt Media Matters and MoveOn.org are working together on this project. The Washington Post notes that MoveOn.org wants Rush off 180 stations. Media Matters is running an ad campaign in seven markets to aid in that effort.

What they are not pointing out is that Cumulus Media expects to have Mike Huckabee in 140 markets with an initial launch of 50 markets. As I reported last week, Media Matters is running anti-Rush ads on several Cumulus stations that are thought likely to replace Rush Limbaugh with Mike Hucakbee if only to save the stations money. Huckabee, a Cumulus property and a new show, would be vastly cheaper than Rush Limbaugh.

When Huckabee’s show expands and Cumuls begins the replacement process, MoveOn.org and Media Matters will undoubtedly take credit for something they had absolutely nothing to do with. It is typical David Brock.

But wait . . . there’s more.

It’s not just the craptacular effort to get Rush off the air, David Brock wants you to think he is a fundraising machine. According to the New York Times, he raised $23 million for his various projects in 2010. New York Magazine says the same. He wants to be the guy who takes down Fox, the guy who takes down Rush, and be forgotten as the guy who never took down the Clintons, Anita Hill, or really anyone else.

There’s just one problem.

According to the Media Matters for America (MMFA) and related Media Matters Action Network (MMAN) 2010 990's, their 2010 fundraising was about $14.6 million. The 501(c)3 raised $13.2 million and the 501(c)4 raised $1.4 million. That leaves them almost $9 million short of the $23 million David Brock bragged about (assuming they raised nothing after Brock claimed $23 million in the November 2010 New York Times article).

David Brock also has “Equality Matters”, but that seems to be a project within MMAN, which did not launch until December 2010, and the Progressive Talent Initiative, but that is also a project within Media Matters, not a separate group. And then there’s American Bridge….but that raised $0 in 2010.

In the 990s, a Democratic fundraising shop, Bonner Group, is credited with all, or almost all, fundraising for Media Matters. Isn’t David Brock supposed to be some kind of “legendary” fundraiser? Just get a load of the self-indulgent quotes from Jason Zengerle’s New York Magazine article.

“With doors opened, Brock got busy with what has emerged as perhaps his greatest talent: persuading rich liberals to give him their money.”

“Brock’s fund-raising prowess is the stuff of legend—and some mystery—on the left. He explains it as simply a question of having the right attitude.”

“But Brock’s greatest fund-­raising tool is his personal story…”

“Brock received the news of Beck’s departure just as he was about to walk into a meeting with potential donors at a hedge fund in midtown.”

“In an interview with the New York Times, he boasted of his fund-raising record with Media Matters and predicted even greater success for American Bridge…”

Of course all this bragging may get David Brock and Media Matters into trouble.

Consider these similarly self-indulgent quotes from a New York Times profile of David Brock.

“Certain to set off debate, however, is that Mr. Brock appears to be positioning his new organization so that fund-raising consultants can raise money for Democratic-oriented media efforts not just through American Bridge but also via one of the nonprofit organizations Mr. Brock currently runs, Media Matters Action Network, which does not disclose its donors.”

“The action network, which tracks conservative politicians and advocacy organizations, is organized as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group and is set to take on an expanded role in the 2012 elections, including potentially running television ads, according to an internal draft concept paper about American Bridge’s and Media Matter Action Network’s plans obtained by The New York Times.”

Based on the second quote, shouldn’t every candidate Media Matters supports have to answer to Alan Dershowitz over Media Matters’ well documented anti-semetism?

Adding those quotes to what the Daily Caller and others have turned up, won’t the IRS be interested into Media Matters’ tax status?

Between David Brock hyping his own importance and his fundraising numbers with nothing to really show for either, surely Democratic donors who’ve been far more willing to hold their action groups accountable than the right will start questioning him. And surely the IRS will too.

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The "Don't You Love the citizens United case?" Friday Open thread.

I mean, I personally love the citizens United case. Aside from greeting free speech it seems a positive stimulus for creativity. Check out these latest Spy spoof of American crossroads, with Barack Obama starring as the almost-urban secret agent trying to fumble-finger the rest of us in giving our missile defense plans:

For the record: no, really, Vladimir Putin really does go parade around shirtless, and on a horse. (Bolero) Apparently it plays well in Russia.  As well as planning to give away the store on missile defense; that should cheer the President.  At least the notion is popular somewhere...

Open thread.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

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Re: Santorum speaks at Supreme Court about Obamacare

Santorum made a strong case yesterday at the steps of the Supreme Court that Romney cannot make the case against Obamacare in the general election since Romneycare was the blueprint for Obamacare. What a great move by Santorum on the first day that Obamacare is in the Supreme Court. I think for the first time his message that Romney is uniquely disqualified on this issue is getting heard by a much larger audience. Even with the bulls–t comment a couple of days ago, that was the argument he was making.

This one issue has now become his central issue, and it couldn’t be at a better time. Let’s hope people in Wisconsin are listening:

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David McIntosh for Congress in IN-5

Editor's note: here is the latest confirmation of The Madison Project

It's not often that we have the ability to choose a conservative fighter that pension asked Congress and is looking for a second run.  But with retirement Than Burton's in Indiana's 5th district, we have the prospect to choose a fighter battle-tested in former Congressman David McIntosh.

David McIntosh was Congress elected in 1994 as part of the Republican revolution.  Unlike many of his colleagues leaving McIntosh never his commitment to fight for limited Government.  Nor was he just a bench-warmer.  After a few years in the House, David was recognized as a full spectrum Conservative leader, and in 1998, he became Chairman of the Republican Study Committee.  When Gingrich butted heads with conservatives at the RSC, helped lead the coup against him McIntosh.  McIntosh retired early In 2000 to run for Governor in Indiana, a race he unfortunately lost.

Ideally we'd like fresh blood to fill the ranks of figuring out the conservatives in Parliament.  However, there is nothing better than a former Member who served through similar circumstances and has shown that he is a steadfast and consistent Conservative leader.  There will no doubt be how McIntosh will vote and with whom he will work.  He was not intimidated by Gingrich's heavy-handed leadership; He certainly won't be intimidated by contemporary House leadership.

McIntosh is also a co-founder of the federalist society and has a deep knowledge of the Constitution.  Since leaving office, he has the fight against liberal judicial nominees who try to supplant led of the Constitution.  He is a policy wonk who can articulate conservative ideas from a position of strength.

After a year of growing disappointment with the new Republican revolution, feels a vocation to reenter Congress and McIntosh beef from the ranks of the minority within the majority.  From our perspective, we have too many newly elected Republicans who are faithful to their campaign promises, even in this era of the Tea Party and dedicated conservative pressure groups have failed.  Apropos choose more members who have proven themselves during a time when limited Government was not so popular.  The Madison Project is proud to present David McIntosh to serve this district Indiana, those of the northern suburbs of Indianapolis to support includes.  Let's help a proven fighter sending Congress.

Cross-posted from the Madison Project

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Morning Briefing for March 30, 2012

RedState Morning Briefing
March 30, 2012Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

David Brock says he got famous for calling Anita Hill “a slut.”

That is his own description of how he became famous.

Compounding the irony, David Brock says Rush Limbaugh made him famous. That’s right folks, the head of Media Matters For America, on a personal quest to destroy Rush Limbaugh after spectacularly failing to do the same to Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Anita Hill, and more, actually said, “Limbaugh was making me famous for calling Anita Hill a slut.”

If you haven’t paid attention these past few months, from the Daily Caller investigation into David Brock to David Brock trying to get Rush off the air, David Brock really thinks the world revolves around David Brock. And David Brock tries to set up as much spin as he can to try to make you think the world revolves around David Brock.

In fact, the reality is David Brock has a self-inflated sense of self-worth. He surrounds himself with bodyguards convinced someone somewhere wants to do him harm while he maligns the reputations of others, dabbled in illegal drugs, seemingly suffers from some level of instability, and felt obligated to pay his ex-boyfriend $850,000.00 to keep the ex-boyfriend quiet about Media Matters.

It’s no wonder, with all the stories pouring out about how pathetic David Brock actually is, that David Brock is trying to divert attention to Rush Limbaugh. But you know what? Not only is the effort against Limbaugh failing, it is failing badly.

Consequently, Brock is shifting gears — bragging about the money he is raising, which he actually isn’t, and trying to take credit for Cumulus Media potentially replacing the Rush Limbaugh Show with the Mike Huckabee Show, which so far hasn’t panned out.

First, let’s look at the failing Limbaugh campaign.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

Charles Fried has suddenly become a very popular fellow on the Left. The former Reagan Solicitor General and Bill Weld appointee to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is being touted by the Washington Post’s in-house left-wing activists Greg Sargent and Ezra Klein, as well as ThinkProgress and Media Matters and its frenetic professional tweeters Eric Boehlert and Oliver Willis over Professor Fried’s support for the constitutionality of Obamacare. Dahlia Lithwick went further, using Prof. Fried’s prediction of an 8-1 decision as evidence that “[t]he conservative legal elites don’t believe in the merits of this challenge”. It’s not surprising that these folks are in such a rush to get the cover of a former Reagan lawyer to restore their talking point – now in tatters after a week of serious, sober and probing questioning from the Supreme Court – that only an extremist would think there is any constitutional issue at all with Obamacare. But there are some things they’re not telling you about Charles Fried.

Now, let me preface this by saying that I have a lot of respect for Prof. Fried. He was my constitutional law professor and probably the best teacher I had in law school, a brilliant man who had taught just about every area of law under the sun and was especially talented at bringing together the strands of disparate areas of the law. I read his book about his days as the SG before I started law school, and I respected his willingness – as a guy who is not pro-life – to argue, twice, for overturning Roe v Wade. He was also the faculty adviser for the Law School Republicans, which I headed for a time. Prof. Fried has indeed been, in the past, a longstanding member of the GOP legal establishment; he testified in favor of John Roberts’ Supreme Court confirmation, and in 2006 wrote a NY Times op-ed defending his former deputy, Samuel Alito, as “not a lawless zealot but a careful lawyer with the professionalism to give legally sound but unwelcome advice” and “a person who can tell the difference between the law and his own political predilections.”

But if you think brilliant people can’t be horribly wrong, you have not spent much time studying lawyers and the law. And if you’ve been reading the left-wing activists, you might not have learned that the 76-year-old Prof. Fried has not only been a vigorous defender of Obamacare who famously testified that the federal government could mandate that you buy vegetables and join a gym, he also voted for President Obama and wrote him what amounted to a political love letter last summer, wrote a book in 2010 with his son which he characterized as showing that the Bush Administration’s anti-terrorism policies “broke the law” and were “disgusting and terrible and degrading,” and has been a vociferous critic of the Tea Party.

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Meet Jesse Lava, campaign director – campaign director – at Brave New Foundation: progressive, comedy savant, and first-time user of phones. If you’ve never heard of the man or the group, well, no surprise there. But they do exist, and they are hilarious.

Oh Jesse, you so crazy! They eat babies? YOU ARE A COMIC GENIUS! SOMEONE GET THIS MAN AN HBO SPECIAL RIGHT NOW!

The fake sincerity, the outburst of laughter releasing his obvious nervousness … you’d almost think it was a job interview or an audition or an 11 year old who just asked if your refrigerator was running. I’ll hand it to him, though; he did manage not to babble on about the Kochtopus or the Illuminati.

Tonight, Brave New Foundation is debuting a “documentary” titled Koch Brothers Exposed, which if the trailer is any indication, will consist in the main of accusations that the Kochs have lots of money, and that you should probably be upset about that. (George Soros could not be reached for comment.) You can read “sincere” Jesse discussing the premiere here. Just don’t bother trying to click on his link to the film, it doesn’t work. First day on the internet, too, one might assume.

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As a movement, we have enjoyed unparalleled growth over the past few decades, particularly, over the past few years with the advent of the Tea Party. We have more conservative thinkers, writers, talk radio hosts, and organizations than Ronald Reagan would have ever imagined. Most importantly, we have more passion and grassroots activism than ever. However, the most direct way to affect conservative change is to win elections; both primary and general. Writers, thinkers, and speakers help galvanize and unify the conservative movement, but we cannot win elections on superior ideas and arguments alone.

The seminal ingredient to electoral success has not changed; it all boils down to turning out the vote and establishing an efficient and effective ground game to connect with the most consequential voters in a given district. What has changed is electronic communication. The only way to run an effective campaign in this era of mobile devices and social media is to create the perfect synergy between the venues of communication, the voter information, and the GOTV operation.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

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