“Jack Kemp” on The Daily Caller

The Federal Reserve, which has the power to print money, also sets its own operating budget. That’s the wrong kind of independence. Unfortunately, recent proposals to audit the Fed do not address this issue. (more)

Recently, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat and former Bush speechwriter David Frum exchanged blog posts over Governor Mitt Romney’s sincerity and commitment to the positions he takes on the issues (in full disclosure, I was a policy advisor to Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign). Specifically, Douthat writes: (more)

So now comes the latest outrage from Capitol Hill: The U.S. Senate plans to ram through a taxpayer-financed death benefit for the family of recently deceased Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) in a must-pass appropriations bill.  The appropriations provision would award Byrd’s children and grandchildren a “gratuity” of “equal shares” of the late senator’s $193,400 salary that he would have been paid next year if he had lived. (more)

With her recent victory in the Connecticut Republican Senate primary, former wrestling CEO, Linda McMahon, can expect the litany of oh-so-predictable attacks from her Democrat opponents to continue.  There will be the mandatory wrestling references – headlines will use grappling terminology (McMahon Slams Her Opponent), and there will be the clever use of wrestling events in the place of political events (debates will be replaced by cage match references).  But the knee-jerk reaction from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) immediately following her nomination is comical at best, and shows that her opposition is – as they say in the business – green, to say the least. (more)

It took less than an hour after Linda McMahon’s triumph in the Connecticut Republican primary election for Senate Tuesday night for Democrats to throw her past as a pro wrestling CEO in her face, in a volley of attacks that is unlikely to cease until election day in November. (more)

Illinois Republican Rep. Aaron Schock is Alex P. Keaton all grown up. Intensely focused on economics, finance, and achievement from a very young age, Schock, 29, has been on the fast track to success since the fifth grade. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Too many Republican leaders are acquiescing to a poisonous “demagoguery” that threatens the party’s long-term credibility, says a veteran GOP House member who was defeated in South Carolina’s primary last month. (more)

In America, there’s supposed to be a stark separation between sports and real life. Sporting events are designed to be forms of escapist entertainment, much-needed opportunities for Americans to forget about things like budget deficits and political candidates and focus instead on their hometown team. (more)

CNBC host and supply-side economist Larry Kudlow will not say — among encouragement from a group of New York free market champions — if he’s considering challenging Sen. Chuck Schumer for his New York Senate seat up for election this year. (more)

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a weekly column by Lanny Davis, “Purple Nation,” as published in The Hill newspaper. (more)