The Voice of Young Conservatives Blog

The latest roundup of news, commentary and analysis from around the web.

Assembled by Avi Snyder

With the Bush-era tax cuts set to expire next January, the news is abuzz with talk of whether or not Democrats will let them expire and raise taxes while the economy is still ailing.  National Review’s Rich Lowry ways in on the subject, detailing the myriad arguments against tax hikes on any Americans no matter their income, and reminding us that here is plenty of spending to trim to offset any potential costs.  His arguments transcend party lines, and even the most devoted Keynesian can see the folly of a massive tax hike before our economy recovers.

Also, watch Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) take MSNBC’s Chris Mathews to school on issues relating to taxes, spending and the deficit.  It looks like Mathews didn’t do very much research on Ryan before the interview.  If he had, he would have knows about Ryan’s concrete proposals to trim government spending and reform entitlements.  It’s always good to watch an informed Republican teach an ignorant Liberal some lessons about economics.

But tax hikes aren’t the only mischief the Dems are up to… They are still trying to push the DISCLOSE Act, which is a blatant attempt to undo the consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United.  Thankfully, Republicans filibustered this latest effort to violate our Constitutional right to free political speech.   Thanks to Senate Republicans for standing proudly united in fighting this bill.

Looks like Democrats are getting more and more worried about November by the day.  With Republicans poised to take over at least one house of Congress this November, Democrats like comedian-turned Senator Al Franken (D-MN) are warning of the dangers of Republican oversight in Congress.  Byron York of the Washington Examiner details the Democrats’ paranoia of some checks and balances in our government, and shows why some serious supervision of Democrats is good for the country.

But, truth be told, if I were a Democrat I would also be worried about Republican oversight, especially with the latest news that long-time Democrat Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is scrambling to cut a deal with the House Ethics Committee in an effort to avoid a sure to be embarrassing ethics trial.  So much for Pelosi’s promise to “clean-up Congress.”

Is it just me, or does the Congressional Budget Office come out with a new report every month talking about the dangers of our National Debt?  Well, they’ve come out with yet another one this week detailing the dire consequences of never-ending and quickly growing budget deficits.  When will the Democrats wake up to the reality that we can’t keep running up our debt?  How many more reports will it take?

Call me a cynic, but I don’t think the Dems will ever wake up to our fiscal crisis.  After all, as Social Security, our biggest federal entitlement quickly approaches insolvency, Democrats haven’t offered a single solution to protect America’s retirement security.  Michael tanner of the Cato Institute, calls out the Democrats for attacking Republican reform proposals, while offering no viable alternative.  Who’s the ‘Party of No’ now?

What does all this news add up to?  It adds up to a tremendous failure on the part of President Obama to live up to his campaign promises.  The man who campaigned as a post-partisan, post-racial, new-breed of candidate has turned out to be a far-left, divisive, politics-as-usual president.  Even Democrats can’t bite their tongues anymore.  Long-time Liberals Pat Caddell and Douglas Schoen have taken to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to call Obama out on his failure.  Maybe with his own party criticizing him, the President will shape up.  But I wouldn’t hold my breath.