"Why are national liberal groups treating Wisconsin as if it were their last stand?"

◼ "Why are national liberal groups treating Wisconsin as if it were their last stand?" - Althouse re: John Fund's article, What's at Stake in Wisconsin's Budget Battle - Who's in charge of our political system—voters or unions? at the Wall St. Journal

This week President Obama was roundly criticized, even by many of his allies, for submitting a federal budget that actually increases our already crushing deficit. But that didn't stop him Thursday from jumping into Wisconsin's titanic budget battle. He accused the new Republican governor, Scott Walker, of launching an "assault" on unions with his emergency legislation aimed at cutting the state budget.

The real assault this week was led by Organizing for America, the successor to President's Obama's 2008 campaign organization. It helped fill buses of protesters who flooded the state capital of Madison and ran 15 phone banks urging people to call state legislators....

Labor historian Fred Siegel offers further reasons why unions are manning the barricades. [Governor Scott] Walker would require that public-employee unions be recertified annually by a majority vote of all their members, not merely by a majority of those that choose to cast ballots. In addition, he would end the government's practice of automatically deducting union dues from employee paychecks. For Wisconsin teachers, union dues total between $700 and $1,000 a year.

"Ending dues deductions breaks the political cycle in which government collects dues, gives them to the unions, who then use the dues to back their favorite candidates and also lobby for bigger government and more pay and benefits,"

A History of Leadership - Women and the GOP

◼ From NFRW: For more than 150 years, women have been an active and vital force in the Republican Party.

Because it seems only natural for men and women to work together on matters that affect the nation, the GOP has focused not so much on advertising what they are “doing” for women, but instead on simply utilizing the talents and energies of any individual who wants to share in the work for the benefit of our country.

Through the utilization of the unique talents of individual Republican women – as well as the combined energies of multitudes of Republican women – the Republican Party has proven itself to be the party of opportunity, the party of true equality. Following are highlights of the role of women in the Republican Party and examples of the unique and vital contributions women have made to our Party:

Library books courtesy of Humboldt Republican Women

From the left: Kassidy Allardice, Stephanie Lentz, librarian Leanne McCulloch and Mary Scott.

Mary Scott, on behalf of the Humboldt Republican Women's Federated, recently donated several books to the Ferndale High School library. The titles included “Giant Surprise,” “San Francisco's 2010 World Champions,” “Decision Points” by President George W. Bush, “Pearl Harbor” by Newt Gingrich, and “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand. Each year the group selects local school libraries for book donations. ◼ Library books courtesy of Humboldt Republican Women - Humboldt Beacon

Despite pledge for 'aggressive' talks with GOP, Obama has never called House Budget Committee chairman...

◼ Paul Ryan's Charge Up Entitlement Hill - The GOP's fiscal leader explains why House Republicans will vote to reform Medicare and why the public is ready to listen. - Wall St. Journal via Drudge
What's the White House political calculation behind its budget? "The fiscal strategy is to hang on to all the government we've grown, and hopefully rhetoric will get us through the moment. It strikes me as a posture or position to keep the gains of the last two years in place—the bump up in discretionary spending, the creation of these new entitlements—to lock in their gains, bank their wins, and then hang on through the rest of this year. And they believe they have the flourishing rhetorical skills to navigate the politics in the meantime," Mr. Ryan says.

He adds he was hoping for more, counting on at least some leadership on Social Security, but "we've seen triangulation in rhetoric, not in substance."

Gov. Scott Walker to Obama: We’re Focused on Balancing Our Budget. It Would Be Wise for the President to Focus on Balancing His Budget

◼ Gov. Scott Walker to Obama: We’re Focused on Balancing Our Budget. It Would Be Wise for the President to Focus on Balancing His Budget - Gateway Pundit

◼ Wis. governor: GOP won't be 'bullied' by union bill protesters - thehill.com
◼ “There is fear for Scott Walker’s safety but also for that of the Republican legislators as well” - cnsnews.com
◼ Republicans challenging unions in state capitols - apnews.myway
◼ Ohio Senate Bill 5 Would Eliminate Collective Bargaining for Public Workers - yahoo
◼ Public Worker Protests Spread From Wisconsin to Ohio (Update2) - Bloomberg
◼ And in Washington, Gregoire budget would slash programs, cut $4 billion seattletimes
◼ Obama Acted Stupidly In Picking Sides Against The Taxpayers - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
◼ Willie Brown On "Out of Control" Civil Servants - reason.com

The Economist’s Terrible Health Policy Coverage

◼ Addressing "an error-filled piece on the Florida court decision, unsigned (as all Economist pieces are) and published three weeks ago" - redstate
◼ Health Care Dead or alive? - Another blow for Barack Obama’s health reforms is struck by the courts The article in question.

Love this quote from Michael Crichton about the foolishness of trusting mass media. It applies to a number of situations:

Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray’s case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward-reversing cause and effect. I call these the “wet streets cause rain” stories. Paper’s full of them.

In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.