From the UL:

President Obama has threatened to veto a bill that would require federal regulations to be cost-effective and receive more public input. He said it would be too burdensome on the federal government. This is not a story from the satirical news site “The Onion.”  The House passed the Regulatory Accountability Act last week

The Hill had more – the irony abounds:

“The Regulatory Accountability Act would impose unprecedented and unnecessary procedural requirements on agencies that would prevent them from efficiently performing their statutory responsibilities,” the White House said late Monday in a policy statement. “It would also create needless regulatory and legal uncertainty and further impede the implementation of protections for the American public.”

Well, golly – make businesses obey government regulations that have been imposed unprecedented and

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• You don’t need that
• I don’t know of anyone who says they need that
• It’s about the quality of life“
• It is the cost of civilization

America has ALWAYS been an aspirational society: dream it, work for it…and sometimes, get it.  The moral has always been look up – there is the possibility of making it.  Not a guarantee, not a safe bet, but we have always told our children that it was possible; the American Dream.

But if you have listened to Obama, he’s always talked about reaching for the middle class – never higher.  All of his rhetoric has always about that “class” but never higher.  He’s always tried to change, to transform, that highest of aspirations – not to be your best, just average.  Just a person, like any other – not a superstar or a standout.  For you are the Little People, there is no “need” for better; to wit (reformatted, emphasis mine). And what better way to “nudge” that decision to lesser status than by deciding to take some of that “college” money away – Obama’s State of the Union “aspiration for more Federal Government money” is to tax Johnnie and Jamie’s formerly tax advantaged college fund

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Friday that middle-class families concerned about President Obama’s plan to raise taxes on their college savings should just send their children to community college.

Not to strive for better, not to strive for more rigorous, not for more prestigious; just settle.  It fits in with the mantra – let government take care of you.  And if you do, there is no “need”

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From The Hill:

The new Republican-controlled Senate has already voted on more amendments in one week than the Democratic-controlled Senate considered in all of 2014.

Republican senators applauded the feat when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced it on the Senate floor.

“We’ve actually reached a milestone here that I think is noteworthy for the Senate. We just cast our 15th roll-call vote on an amendment on this bill, which is more votes — more roll-call votes on amendments than the entire United States Senate [did] in all of 2014,” he said.McConnell made his announcement while colleagues were in the midst of churning through a batch of 10 amendments

Gosh, the only big differences I know of in the Senate are:

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You can listen to the audio here or watch it here but Jorge Mesa-Tejada was kind enough to send in some text to buttress the segment on which he spoke about looking over School District Budgets:

HOW TO READ AND UNDERSTAND A SCHOOL BUDGET

 Taxpayers are usually mystified when they are handed out a thick package of charts, tables and numbers when they arrive at School District’s Public Budget Hearings and/or Deliberative Sessions.  How do you cut through all that fog and get to the items that are meaningful to you? How will that affect your taxes next year?

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In New Hampshire, only criminals get to carry concealed firearms without permission, giving them a significant force advantage over women, the elderly, the handicapped, gays, minorities, everyone.

Given this advantage, if they were going to testify at a hearing on Constitutional carry–there happens to be just such a hearing this Thursday–would the criminal encourage equality of force for law-abiding citizens or would they testify against it?  Would they encourage a level playing field or fight to keep their advantage?

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It seems everyone can be “big hearted” when it isn’t their own money being spent (emphasis mine) but it is ONLY because of the raw naked force of Government demanding it.  The Left is perfectly fine with both the premise (“why ISN’T it moral to force redistribution?”) and the action (“If you don’t, we’ll either take more from you, take your Freedom away and put you into the klink, or (even better), both”).  It seems like the Republicans….

Dear Mr. Obama:

In last-night’s State of the Union address you said “And to everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it.  If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.”

The premise of your plea is mistaken: raises aren’t given by votes, by you, or by Congress: they’re given only by employers.  And employers must fund these higher payments out of the revenues they earn by competing successfully in markets.  Employers, therefore, can afford to raise their workers’ pay only if their workers become more productive – an outcome that is not achieved by a legislature waving its wand over workers’ paychecks.

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“The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that membership in a labor organizations had fallen to it lowest level yet, comprising just 11.1 percent of all wage and salary workers.  The number was a modest decline of 0.2 percent from the previous year and continues the movement’s gradual decline over the last few decades. It has dropped nine percentage points from its high of 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year the Labor Department began tracking the number.

The BLS’s data showed that just 6.6 percent of private sector workers now belong to a union, while 35.7 percent of all public sector workers — people employed by the government at some level — are members. Overall, there are 14.6 million people in unions, with the private sector ones only slightly exceeding the public sector ones in total numbers, 7.4 million to 7.2 million.”

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During our interview with Rep Victoria Sullivan (Hills 16) this morning, she mentioned a parent finding a note in their child’s lunch box. Here’s the story from Yahoo! Parenting…

Dr. and Mrs. Puckett, 

The cafeteria reported to me that Alia’s lunch today included 4 chocolate bars, a bag of marshmallows, Ritz crackers and a pickle. Please see that she packs a proper lunch tomorrow.”

On Tuesday, Puckett uploaded a photo of the note to Facebook with the caption: “Big brother……….At least get your facts straight before intruding. I was aware of her lunch contents. Four pieces of ham, low fat string cheese, pickles, 4 marshmallows, and a small piece of dark chocolate (she did have 2 extra pieces, one for her brother and another for a friend who we know well and her parents are ok with this). There were no crackers. Sure, I’d liked her to pack a few more veggies and maybe a piece of fruit, but we compromise on pickles occasionally. How would you respond to this note?”

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David Corn, pretty much far Left as one can get without being BFF with Castro bros (ok, maybe he’s standing between them in that picture over there) is now welcoming Mitt Romney as a brother-in-ideology (reformatted, emphasis mine):

It is time for liberals to cheer Mitt Romney.

Not because his possible entry into the 2016 Republican presidential contest could cause chaos for the GOP. But because Romney, apparently seeing the error of his “severely conservative” ways, has become a progressive crusader. Initial news reports noted that Romney was telling Republicans privately that should he mount a third presidential bid he would run to the right of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, an all-but-announced contender. Yet in public remarks, Romney has been sounding like a born-again lefty. At an investment management conference in Utah this week, Romney told the crowd that a new-and-improved candidate Romney would focus on climate change, poverty, and education.

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