There were winners and losers from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s decision not to run for president in 2012, according to Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post. Winners include Michele Bachmann (“With Huckabee out of the race, the Minnesota congresswoman would be the best-known social conservative in the contest”) and Fox News Channel (“Fox is now largely free of the problems caused by having potential presidential candidates on its payroll”). Losers include social conservatives (“Huckabee was, without question, the socially conservative candidate with the best chance of winding up as the party’s nominee”) and humor (“Whatever else you think of Huckabee, the guy has a sense of humor — about himself and politics”).
All the talk by conservative GOP lawmakers about limited government, free markets and the rule of law seems to go out the window when the issue is abortion. The most egregious example: The Legislature passed a bill in the last moments of the session that previously hadn’t cleared either chamber, a clear violation of rules. The bill prohibits private insurance companies from offering abortion coverage as part of a comprehensive insurance plan to private companies to be paid for with private money. Talk about government interference in the private sector. But it’s about abortion, so lawmakers don’t care.
“While the White House clamors about ‘big oil’ and industry profits as the culprit for high gasoline prices, President Obama has once again demonstrated his lack of economic sophistication and understanding of current law,” argued Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, in a Washington Times commentary. He said that fewer tax breaks for oil and gas would mean higher prices for consumers. “In reality, it is the small drillers who benefit most from these tax credits. . . . In an era in which we are striving to reduce foreign dependence and deal with high unemployment at the same time, it really does not make much sense to punish domestic drilling — a solution that kills two birds with one stone.”
Fewer than half of American eighth-graders know the purpose of the Bill of Rights, and only 1 in 10 grasps the checks and balances among the legislative, executive and judicial branches, the New York Times reported. The discouraging findings come from the annual National Assessment of Educational Progress tests. The NAEP results “confirm that we have a crisis on our hands when it comes to civics education,” said former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who founded icivics.org, a nonprofit group that teaches civics to students. O’Connor also warned, “We cannot afford to continue to neglect the preparation of future generations for active and informed citizenship.”
There were winners and losers from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s decision not to run for president in 2012, according to Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post. Winners include Michele Bachmann (“With Huckabee out of the race, the Minnesota congresswoman would be the best-known social conservative in the contest”) and Fox News Channel (“Fox is now largely free of the problems caused by having potential presidential candidates on its payroll”). Losers include social conservatives (“Huckabee was, without question, the socially conservative candidate with the best chance of winding up as the party’s nominee”) and humor (“Whatever else you think of Huckabee, the guy has a sense of humor — about himself and politics”).
