Interesting expose of political strategy gone awry:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/432855/marco-rubio-campaign-epic-failure-inside-story

The popularity of Bernie Sanders right now is stunning, especially among the young. But when you consider that most under-30s have no concept of what socialism really is, it is not so surprising. Socialism has killed far more people since the dawn of the 20th century than any other political system, conservatively more than 100 million. Every dopey high school student, college student and millennial should be required to read the following:

https://www.conservativereview.com/en/commentary/2016/02/socialism%20kills

Racialists, leftist racists and radicals have damaged the national conversation beyond repair:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/432800/donald-trump-rhetoric-black-lives-matter-just-bad

Or thanked, depending on your view. Whether you like it or not, much of America is looking for the anti-Obama: a pro-US, anti-PC, protectionist hawk with an authoritarian streak.

Finland is preparing to give every citizen a monthly stipend and shut down its welfare bureaucracy. Leaving the spending choices up to the people. This must make the far-left crazy.

So, if you spend all your money on vodka, cigarettes and lotto tickets, too bad. An interesting blend of socialism and libertarianism. This will save the country billions in admin and compliance costs if it works. A brilliant idea, really. I hope the government there has the guts to not give in if the people want more. It would never fly in the US as the cuts to the government bureaucracy would have the federal unions rioting in the streets, despite the fact that this would be a huge boost to the economy.

http://city-journal.org/html/finnish-model-14302.html

The only mistake was not taking 90% of it.

The far-left Democrats (is there any other kind) have taken to comparing Donald Trump to a Nazi. Clearly absurd:

https://www.billoreilly.com/b/Fascism-and-Donald-Trump/257704526883489500.html

First, a little history on the Nazi Party in Germany.

Nazi was short for “national socialist”. Among other things, the Nazi’s:

Confiscated privately-owned firearms.

Restricted freedom of speech.

Shut down opposition media.

Demonized their opponents.

Persecuted numerous groups opposed to them or seen as undesirable.

Believed in central-planning and heavy government influence in the economy. Participated in what today would be known as “crony capitalism”.

Now tell me, which party does that sound more like to you? As usual, by playing the Nazi card, the far-left is engaging in its normal smear tactics and projecting its own beliefs on others.

There have been a lot of charges of authoritarianism being thrown around by the far-left these days, most of them leveled at Trump but a few at Cruz. This is a classic case of smearing and projection, which is what the far-left traffics in. More on that in my next post, but here is a good article:

Venezuela is imploding under socialism:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/03/08/world/americas/ap-lt-venezuela-chavez-city.html?_r=0

There is some unintentional humor in this article:

“While Chavez City residents don’t see themselves as beholden to the government, they aren’t exactly climbing into the middle class. Many say they love the city because it allowed them to give up the house cleaning or street vendor jobs they hated. The smooth roads and ample parking lots are empty, as few people can afford cars.

“I’m catching up on 25 years of rest,” said Yomilady Segovia, who dropped out of fourth grade to help support her family and spent the next two decades selling coffee and empanadas in a municipal slaughterhouse.

When she got to Chavez City, her favorite thing to do was look out the window at the rain.”

Sounds like a productive existence. Bernie Sanders must be jealous.