“Vermont” on The Daily Caller

Heritage Action for America, the Heritage Foundation’s grassroots advocacy spin-off, is urging congressional leaders to sign on to Iowa Rep. Steve King’s discharge petition, aimed at repealing Obamacare. (more)

In the British comedy show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” a cartoon God would often send a giant foot down from Heaven to squash malefactors. Some see God’s justice in the non-cartoon world to be similarly imposed, with Him smiting the unjust, albeit minus the giant foot. The Old Testament gives examples that fit this model, but things get complicated upon closer inspection. Was God a little indiscriminate in His actions? While the Israelites were the Chosen People, there must have been a few virtuous souls among the various Runners-Up Peoples that the Israelites, with God’s help, destroyed. The New Testament offers more material for theological puzzlement, for we are urged to love those who do us ill which, one could argue, rewards evil. Our experience of the world adds to the confusion about God’s justice for, while bad things happen to bad people, bad things also happen to good people and, very irritatingly, good things happen far too often to bad people. How simpler it would be, if He actually did send His foot down upon evildoers. Presumably, God has the capacity to dispatch as many giant feet as required and soon the Earth would be thrumming with a divine version of River Dance as He trampled out some of His wrath upon evil human grapes. It would certainly send a strong message to the criminal classes if, for instance, when the police located a killer, God had already dispatched His foot to flatten him. To invoke another television program, imagine an episode of “CSI” in which forensic expert Grissom leans over a paper-thin corpse, scratches his chin, and declares, “He must be the murderer. He’s been God-stomped.” (more)

The Arizona senate race between incumbent John McCain and former U.S. congressman JD Hayworth is heating up over a 2007 infomercial in which Hayworth hawks government money as loans that don’t need to be paid back. (more)

Cupcakes take over DC (more)

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A new leak of radioactive material has been found and fixed at the troubled Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, officials said Saturday. (more)

If there were ever a moment in time to take a stand for American pride it’s now. If we want to preserve for our children the respect our ancestors enjoyed we need to draw a line in the sand and proclaim “enough.” (more)

The European Union (mainly German taxpayers) and the International Monetary Fund (mainly American taxpayers) cobbled together a trillion dollars of loans and loan guarantees for Greece. That bummer bailout was supposed to save the Euro, the EU’s common currency. But the Euro is still in a nosedive and global stock markets are falling too. Why? In a word, the answer is debt. (more)

Americans are now paying $.80 more per gallon for gasoline compared to this time last year. That’s an increase of 39 percent. Specifically, the average price nationally for regular is $2.86, up from $2.06. Drivers who must use mid-grade or premium now pay $3.04 and $3.15 respectively on average. (more)

We all know that the U.S. health care system is broken and most of us know that Obamacare is only adding additional bureaucracy and entitlements (read expenses) to an already unaffordable system. (more)

Four congressmen have now moved a bill to repeal the North American Free Trade Act. Superficially, this means little, as passage of this bill is unlikely in the near future. But more fundamentally, it means a lot, because, unbeknownst to most Americans inside and outside the Washington Beltway, free trade is inexorably losing its base of support on Capitol Hill. (more)

While America has been battered by the ObamaCare Putsch, other events of interest have gone a bit under-reported. One such was an e-mail written by François Houle, Provost of the University of Ottawa, to Ann Coulter in anticipation of her giving a speech on his campus. Its content was publicized by FiveFeetofFury.com and others, including columnist Mark Steyn. The e-mail threatened criminal prosecution under Canada’s hate speech laws or suits for defamation if she promoted “hatred.” More than a few observers believe Houle’s e-mail directly encouraged students at his university to violently prevent Coulter from delivering her speech, thereby violating the hate laws with which he threatened her. Coulter has filed a complaint with Canada’s Human Rights Commission and seems to be enjoying her ironic counterattack immensely. I’d like to send an open letter to Provost Houle in reply to his e-mail. (more)

I am a reluctant witness against the Girl Scouts. I was a Girl Scout myself, and I know of many honorable women who have devoted years of service to this program. But leaders, parents, supporters and concerned citizens need to know that something has gone very wrong with the Girl Scouts. (more)

President Obama wants a health care bill now.  And this time, he swears it will be corruption-free. (more)

The first week of pleasant weather in the nation’s capitol brought out swarms of residents, who brushed off the winter grime by marching on the streets of Washington, D.C.  More than 1,000 health care reform advocates, organized by Health Care for America Now, rallied yesterday in Washington D.C.  The march went from Dupont Circle to the Ritz Carlton hotel, where an association of health insurance companies was meeting. (more)

No easy solution is available in the state budget office’s toolbox to prevent legislators from having to make some difficult and unpopular decisions this year. Across the country, state legislators blame decreased tax revenues as the cause of their budget woes, but in fact the recession has illuminated the underlying problem of state spending increases funded by debt and accounting gimmicks rather than real revenue. (more)

JACKSON, Miss. — Author Barry Hannah, whose fiction was laced with dark humor and populated by hard-drinking Southerners, died Monday at his home in Oxford, Miss. He was 67. (more)

In a speech Wednesday night at the George Washington University, Howard Dean told College Democrats that “the Tea Party is about a generation who grew up in an America where everyone looked like them” and implied that the movement is hostile to President Obama because of his race. (more)

On The Colbert Report, Sanders jokingly compared Bernanke and Ben & Jerry.  Take a guess at who Bernie thought better served the American public: (more)

PRINCETON, NJ — Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana are the most conservative states, with just under half of the residents in each identifying as politically conservative. Massachusetts and Vermont — along with the District of Columbia — have the greatest percentage of self-identified liberals. (more)

Just about every election night, Republican pollster Frank Luntz assembles a focus group of likely voters to help predict election results. Tonight you can see Luntz interview an assembly of Massachusetts voters on Fox at 9:10 p.m. EST. (more)