August 22, 2012

TOWNHALL
Seriously: Liberals Are Cheap with Charity
by John Ransom
August 21, 2012

A new study produced by the Chronicle of Philanthropy shows that 14 out of the top 20 states in charitable giving are red, or Republican states, while 12 of the bottom 15 are blue, or Democrat states.

“The nation's sharp political divide can provide a clue to fundraisers,” writes the Chronicle. “The eight states that ranked highest in The Chronicle's analysis voted for John McCain in the last presidential contest while the seven lowest-ranking states supported Barack Obama.”

The study also found that the more religious states- which also happen to be more Republican- tend to give more than the less religious states.

But wait.

No, no, no: This can’t mean what we think it means.

It can’t mean that liberals are just cheaper than conservatives, despite outward appearances.

Let’s disregard what the data tells us, and go to that bastion of deconstructing EVERYTHING, white, liberal academia- with just a hint of Native American to satisfy a quota- so they can tell us what the study REALLY means.  

So to make that point  – in other words to make the point that liberals AREN’T really cheap- we need to cue the liberal social scientist whose job it is to explain to us that the results of the study don’t really say what they say.

We'll let Professor Running Mouth explain it.

From USAToday: 

Alan Wolfe, a political science professor at Boston College, said it's wrong to link a state's religious makeup with its generosity. People in less religious states are giving in a different way by being more willing to pay higher taxes so the government can equitably distribute superior benefits, Wolfe said. And the distribution is based purely on need, rather than religious affiliation or other variables, said Wolfe, also head of the college's Boisi Center for Religion and Public Life.

Read more: http://goo.gl/oBZrG

NATIONAL REVIEW
Pennsylvania Takes On Voter Fraud
By The Editors
August 20, 2012

Pennsylvania is a state infamous for its history of voter fraud, and problems persist: Last month, Philadelphia city commissioner Al Schmidt reported that he’d found numerous violations in just a small sample of his city’s precincts. But now the state has taken a step toward cleaning up its elections.

Last year, following on the heels of other states such as Georgia, Kansas, Indiana, Rhode Island, Texas, and South Carolina, Pennsylvania enacted a voter-ID requirement. This is a commonsense reform, and polls show that Republicans and Democrats alike support it. Liberal interest groups, however, claim that voter ID disenfranchises voters who cannot afford IDs and therefore is tantamount to Jim Crow.

Several such groups, including the ACLU, the NAACP, and the League of Women voters, sued to prevent the law from going into effect. The lawsuit was without merit, and fortunately, a state judge refused to issue an injunction against the law last week.

Pennsylvania’s new requirements are easily met; anything from a passport, to a military ID, to a driver’s license, to a student ID may be used to vote. Further, just like every other state that has implemented a voter-ID law, Pennsylvania will provide a free ID to anyone who doesn’t already have one. The state even allows voters to cast a provisional ballot if they sign an affirmation that they can’t afford the supporting documentation needed to get an ID. There is simply no way that this law could prevent an eligible voter from casting a ballot.

Read more: http://goo.gl/wJKEi

HUMAN EVENTS
What Happens if Akin Leaves the Race?
by John Gizzi
August 20, 2012

In an interview Sunday with KTVI-TV that has been has been run and re-run repeatedly throughout Missouri and across the country, GOP Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin said: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Within hours, denunciations of Akin from Democrats — notably incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill — as well as Republicans were being pounded home relentlessly. By Monday morning, there were calls for Akin to step down as the nominee from GOP Sens. Scott Brown (Mass.) and Ron Johnson (Wisc.). In addition, Human Events has learned that Kimmy Brauer, Missouri’s top Republican fund-raiser, has told the congressman that she has canceled an event she had planned for him.

At press time, Akin insisted “I’m not a quitter” and several supporters such as Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council had urged him to stay and fight. Our calls to his office were answered with a message that the answering machine was full.

But, with Tuesday (Aug. 21) the final date for removing oneself from the ballot (10 weeks before the election), talk was growing over “what happens if Akin goes.”

The Litton precedent

The last time there was a vacancy in a major party’s Senate nomination was 1976. That was when Rep. Jerry Litton won the Democratic primary for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Stuart Symington and was killed in an airplane crash on the flight to his victory party. Once the shock had abated, the state Democratic committee selected the runner-up to Litton in the three-candidate primary, former Gov. Warren Hearnes, as the new nominee. Hearnes went on to lose to Republican John Danforth that November.

Should Akin relinquish the nomination Tuesday, the 68-member Republican state committee will meet in a short time and choose a new nominee. Betting is strong in state GOP circles that both of the runners-up to Akin in the primary Aug. 7 — millionaire businessman John Brunner and former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman — will compete in a political dogfight. Both are considered strong conservatives and each received about 29 percent of the vote in the primary, with Brunner, who spent $8 million of his own money on the race, having a slight edge.

There are other names mentioned for the GOP nod, among them State Auditor Todd Schweich or former Sens. John Ashcroft and Jim Talent. However, Republicans warn that selection of a candidate who has not competed in the primary gives McCaskill a fresh issue about an opponent who was chosen by the party elite rather than the people.

As to what will happen or whether the embattled Akin stays or leaves, no one knows. But it appears we’ll know soon enough.

Read more: http://goo.gl/ZntjX