Jay Bookman

I think it’s important to understand just what the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is demanding in its war against contraception coverage. Here’s USA Today on the matter:

The White House is “all talk, no action” on moving toward compromise, said Anthony Picarello, general counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “There has been a lot of talk in the last couple days about compromise, but it sounds to us like a way to turn down the heat, to placate people without doing anything in particular,” Picarello said. “We’re not going to do anything until this is fixed.”

That means removing the provision from the health care law altogether, he said, not simply changing it for Catholic employers and their insurers. He cited the problem that would create for “good Catholic business people who can’t in good conscience cooperate with this.”

“If I quit this job and opened a Taco Bell, I’d be covered by the mandate,” Picarello said.

In other words, the bishops are not merely …

Continue reading Bishops’ complaint an all-out war on contraception »

Conservative activists are gathering once again in Washington for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, meaning that we’re about to be treated to several days of calmly reasoned discussion, civil rhetoric and acknowledgement that while we Americans can and do disagree with each other politically, we all love this country and want only the best for it.

I’m sure that will be the theme of “Fire From the Heartland: The Awakening of the Conservative Woman,” featuring Michele Bachmann and Ann Coulter. (Later in the conference, Coulter will be available to sign her new book, “Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America.”) And nothing says “big-tent Republicans” more than a panel on “The Failure of Multiculturalism: How the pursuit of diversity is weakening the American Identity.”

At 1 p.m. today, you can bond with like-minded gold bugs at a panel on “The Need for a Twenty-first Century Gold Standard,” and if you strike out there, no worries. Boogie on over to …

Continue reading Welcome to the world of modern conservativism »

From the Wall Street Journal:

U.S. companies, facing slowing markets and rising costs around the world, are taking a new look at their home market.

With growth slowing in China and a slump gripping much of Europe, companies are adding capacity in the U.S., replacing aging equipment and even moving overseas production back from low-cost labor markets, a sign that corporate America could be poised to take a bigger role in the economic recovery….

“It is an environment that feels like it is building momentum,” William Plummer, United Rentals’ chief financial officer, said in an interview. “We are coming out of the depths of the recession and are starting to build momentum on the upside.”

U.S. businesses increased their investments in December. According to the Commerce Department, new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for how much companies spend on equipment, climbed 2.9% from November. That ended two months of declines, suggesting …

Continue reading For Obama, correlation isn’t causation, but … »

Georgians ought to take immense pride in the fact that their state legislators possess more honesty and integrity than those of almost any state in the country.

Or so we’ve been told.

In most other states, as well as in Congress, weak-willed legislators have found it necessary to protect themselves from temptation by limiting or outright banning gifts from lobbyists. Those out-of-state legislators apparently fear that without a limit or ban, they might start to think too favorably of a lobbyist who gives them, say, an all-expense-paid trip to Europe, or sky-box seats to a football game, or free food, golf and lodging at a resort, or a $200 night on the town at a fancy restaurant.

Down in Florida, for example, the only gifts that state legislators allow themselves to take are floral arrangements or similar “celebratory items” to mark the opening day of an annual legislative session. Legislators in South Carolina are equally prone to temptation, which is why the law makes it …

Continue reading All hail Georgia’s incorruptible state Legislature »

The diligent Rick Santorum had earned himself a good night, and last night he got a very good one. Three races were contested — a non-binding primary in Missouri and caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota — and Santorum won all three.

He won easily in Missouri (up by 30 points) and Minnesota (winner by 28). Newt Gingrich was a non-factor across the board, an ominous sign for the Harrisburg Haranguer. His insistent demands that Santorum abandon the race ring even more hollow this morning.

But the real loser is Romney. Four years ago, he won Minnesota with 42 percent. This year, as the inevitable nominee, he came in third behind Ron Paul, getting 17 percent of the vote.

Four years ago, he won Colorado easily with more than 60 percent of the vote. He got 35 percent this year. He also got a lower percentage of the votes in Missouri than in 2008, with Santorum taking well over 50 percent.

None of that can be spun as good news for Romney. His campaign staff is stuck attempting to …

Continue reading Rick Santorum’s belated good night »

OK, let’s deal with the over-hyped controversy over an Obama administration proposal to require religious organizations to cover contraceptives in health insurance provided to their employees. And let’s start by exploring a related issue, the application of gender-bias laws to religious institutions.

As many of you know, churches that are members of the Southern Baptist Convention are not allowed to hire women as pastors. The Baptists base that practice on 1 Timothy 2:12, in which Paul writes that “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.” The Catholic Church follows a similar practice, based on similar reasons.

Ordinarily, it would be illegal under federal law to deny a woman a position of leadership or authority on the basis of gender. I think most Americans probably support those laws by now. However, because the selection of priests and ministers is so central to religious faith, and because those leaders perform an essentially religious rather …

Continue reading The overhyped controversy over contraceptives and the law »

Karen Handel continues to reject claims that the split between Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood was driven by politics, claiming that “the only one making this political has been Planned Parenthood.”

However, Handel also continues to provide strong, convincing evidence that the Komen decision was political right to its core.

Even in her letter resigning as senior vice president for public policy, Handel defends “Komen’s decision to change its granting strategy and exit the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood and its grants.” In other words, the goal was not to avoid grants to organizations under investigation, with Planned Parenthood just a random victim of that change; Komen’s goal was to find some way, some excuse, to “exit the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood.”

In an interview today with Fox News, Handel reaffirmed that reading, saying “it was no secret that Komen and other organizations that are funding Planned Parenthood had been …

Continue reading By Handel’s own testimony, Komen decision was political »

Karen Handel will announce her resignation from Susan G. Komen for the Cure at an afternoon press conference. Given the tenor of her resignation letter, included below, it ought to be pretty interesting.

Dear Ambassador Brinker:

Susan G. Komen for the Cure has been the recognized leader for more 30 years in the fight against breast cancer here in the US – and increasingly around the world.

As you know, I have always kept Komen’s mission and the women we serve as my highest priority – as they have been for the entire organization, the Komen Affiliates, our many supporters and donors, and the entire community of breast cancer survivors. I have carried out my responsibilities faithfully and in line with the Board’s objectives and the direction provided by you and Liz.

We can all agree that this is a challenging and deeply unsettling situation for all involved in the fight against breast cancer. However, Komen’s decision to change its granting strategy and exit the …

Continue reading Karen Handel not willing to be Komen scapegoat, it appears »

In 1996, white voters comprised 83 percent of the electorate. In 2000, they comprised 81 percent of the electorate. In 2004, they comprised 77 percent of voters. In 2008, they comprised 75 percent. In 2012, the number will undoubtedly decline again, and will continue to do so.

The reason is obvious: From 2000 to 2009, the number of non-Hispanic white people living in the United States increased by roughly 4 million. During that same time frame, the population of other demographic groups grew by 22 million, more than five times the growth in white population.

Now look at the chart to the right. Over the past 12 years, the voting breakdown among white voters has remained remarkably stable.  (The notable exception was 2004, when President Bush outperformed historic norms among every demographic group.) As you can see, the numbers in 2000 were almost exactly the same in 2008, and are almost exactly what the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll reports would happen if the …

Continue reading GOP has to solve its problem with minority voters »

From the Wall Street Journal (reg. req):

“DETROIT—Bailed out by the government just three years ago, General Motors Co. has set its sights on a once-unthinkable goal: making more than $10 billion a year.

It already is headed in that direction. On Feb. 16, GM is likely to report 2011 net income of about $8 billion, its highest ever, according to people who have seen the figures. Behind the gain to nearly twice 2010’s $4.7 billion are growth in China and strong profits in North America, where GM has shed billions of dollars of costs and lately has been able to command higher prices.”

As we know, most Republicans, including Mitt Romney, opposed the Obama plan to rescue the U.S. auto industry, predicting it would be a terrible failure. It turns out that happily, they were wrong.

It’s also important to remember how much worse things might have gotten without the rescue effort. Ford, for example, strongly supported the rescue of its rivals out of fear that they too would get …

Continue reading WSJ: General Motors poised to announce record profit »