Great stuff from CNBC's Kudlow, a discussion about President Obama's stimulus spending between Kudlow, former Clinton Administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich, and National Review's Kevin Williamson. Best part is at the end when Reich accuses Williamson of "Herbert Hoover economics" and Williamson says "Nah, Hoover was an activist."

Another great Williamson line, "We spent $1 trillion and only managed to get a couple of dozen monkeys high on cocaine."

Most excellent.

We don't or haven't talked much about abortion on Lasting Liberty. This is due in large part to cultural issues having taken something of a backseat to the more pressing issues of runaway government spending, Obamacare, and the prosecution of two wars. Furthermore, with President Obama occupying the Oval Office, we know that pro-choice judicial and high court nominees are going to dominate.

That said, George Will's recent piece on Sen. Boxer's (D, CA up for reelection) borderline extremist abortion views is quite interesting. 

…. Since MSNBC is down in ratings, they ought to sell a little book called MSNBC Mad Libs. Then have viewers fill them out and send them in for MSNBC anchors to read live on air. Sample: President Obama’s new energy proposal is (awesome/brilliant/Lincolnesque). It will help create (5 million, 5 billion, 5 trillion) new green jobs. It is paid for through taxes on the (evil/Hitlerian/child-molesting) oil companies. Unfortunately, Republicans are being (obstructionist/racist/poo-poo heads) and holding up the legislation. Then, since the mad libs will be indistinguishable from what is actually said on MSNBC, have viewers try to guess which one is the mad lib…

… I know, I know, you can often flip the game and play it during Hannity on Fox News, too…

…Perhaps the worst aspect of media bias in this country has to do with how reporters and newscasters assign motive. All too typically, a Republican will be cast as having some alterior or nepharious motive while the Democrat’s motive is pure. Case in point is the immigration debate where Democrat’s want “comprehensive immigration reform” out of good-heartedness and a sense of social justice, not because they want to add a huge new block of Democrat voters. Meanwhile, Republicans oppose such efforts out of xenophobia and mean-spiritedness, not because they want existing laws enforced and a better more organized way of keeping track of who enters the country…

… Candidates are often said to be judged on whether voters would want to have a beer with them or not. The more I think about it, the less I would want to have a beer with President Obama. He’d talk too much and try to be an expert on everything. And nobody wants to have a beer with that guy… 

… That sect of people on the right known as “birthers” who think President Obama was secretly born in Kenya remind me of those parents and coaches in Little League who require kids to wear those ridiculous, big helmets with the facemasks on them—just because they go way too far doesn’t make their underlying principle wrong. In the case of Little League, it is completely unnecessary and silly for parents and coaches to require the stupid facemask helmets, but their underlying concern for their kids’ safety is completely right and good. The notion that President Obama was born in Kenya is wrong, unhelpful, and a little batty, but the underlying principle that he is unfit to be president is completely accurate…

… I don’t know, but the whole LeBron James saga didn’t stir my passions one way or another. But for those who criticize LeBron’s decision here’s a little thought exercise: You are a top 5 person in the nation in your field. You are offered the chance to team up with your close friend who is also top 5 in your field and work together, in South Beach with no state income tax while single and in your twenties. Is anyone turning that down? Seriously?...

… I believe there are very few political writers who are worth reading every time that they write.  For me, that list includes Charles Krauthammer, Jonah Goldberg, and Mark Steyn. Quickly moving towards that list is NY Times conservative columnist Ross Douthat…

... Thanks, don't forget to tip well.

… The gulf oil spill has been a story with several interesting layers. But from a presidential politics stand point, I feel a bit for President Obama. He could have been personally designing a device to stop the spill the past couple of months or on vacation in Maui the whole time and I’m not sure that it would have made a lick of difference. However, when you set yourself up as the president who will make the ocean levels recede and the nation heal, you shouldn’t be surprised when people criticize lack of results. Ultimately, this is another case of government impotence. Remind me again which political philosophy discourages massive federal involvement...

… I did not care much for the Elena Kagan hearings. I thought they were uninformative and unhelpful. I wish Kagan had lived up to her own standard, answering questions directly instead of dodging and deflecting. That said, I still think Ms. Kagan ought to be confirmed. She’s qualified, experienced, and those who moaned about the Democrats blocking President Bush’s nominees were right to moan, but must be consistent in their belief the President gets his choice of judges, save for egregious circumstances. And I think Miguel Estrada would agree…

… Hayek is making a comeback. Thanks to Glen Beck’s recommendation, The Road to Serfdom by Hayek reached the top of the Amazon bestseller list recently—which ought to make us all feel good about our nation. Say what you want about Beck—he’s over-the-top, he’s not a great writer, and he wanders into many areas I’m not comfortable going. But in asking people to not take his word for things and to read people like Hayek, works like The Federalist Papers, and look into the philosophical roots of progressivism, Beck is dead-on right…

… So Vice President Biden goes to a custard shop in Wisconsin (sounds like one of those Rabbi and Priest walk into a bar jokes…). After getting his custard and asking what he owed for it, the proprietor made a crack to the extent of “lower our taxes and we’ll call it even.” Instead of coming back with a pointed retort, oh such as, “We’d love to, believe me, but we’re focused on getting the deficit down…” Biden instead calls the guy a smartass. Wonderful. Good thing he didn’t ask for the Attorney General to be replaced or we may have had a fistfight. I miss the days when our VP didn’t cuss at ordinary citizens, choosing to instead save the expletives for Sen. Patrick Leahy…

… This Al Gore sexual assault allegation is quite a story. Although I must confess I’m not shocked because what he did to Tipper onstage at the 2000 Democratic National Convention can potentially be construed as sexual assault depending on what statute you’re using. Add this to the John Edwards story, and let’s check the scorecard: The candidates the Democrats ran for VP in 1992, 1996, President in 2000, and VP in 2004, turned out to be at worst a criminal and at best, shady and unpresidential (and that’s without even going into the impeached, disbarred, adultering, Bill Clinton). Kind of makes you think the ’08 ticket missed a slogan: Obama-Biden ’08, No Sexual Deviants!…