NRO: Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the GOP’s high priest of pecuniary politics, has ascended to the chairmanship of the House Budget Committee. Across the land, fiscal conservatives applaud the rise of the 40-year-old wonk. But the cheers in Congress are more sporadic: Unflinching endorsements of Ryan’s fiscal blueprint are rare. Apparently, the new majority is in no mood — yet — for a full-spectrum fight on entitlements. […] […]

Is Jeb Bush in his ear, warning him that it’s safer politically to brand yourself “center-right” and “civil” than to get all that TEA Party stink on you? Is he watching what the media and the left have been able to do to a female former Governor — turning her “toxic,” even among those who call themselves conservative, despite her being one of the most forceful advocates of conservatism and

“Obama Launches Rule Review, Pledging to Spur Jobs, Growth”. Uh huh. Between this, his Tucson speech, and his new-found religiosity, we’re watching the machinations of a long con. Seeing “pragmatic” conservatives tripping all over themselves to fall for it a second time? Oddly bemusing — if remarkably surreal. (h/t TerryH)

The new civility continues! Toward the end of the town hall meeting Saturday morning, one of the shooting victims, J. Eric Fuller, took exception to comments by two of the speakers: Ariz. state Rep. Terri Proud, a Dist. 26 Republican, and Tucson Tea Party spokesman Trent Humphries. According to sheriff’s deputies at the scene, Fuller took a photo of Humphries and said, “You’re Dead.” Deputies immediately escorted Fuller from the

The new civility! So as to give Mr Fuller something to think about while he’s recuperating, let me note that, should someone become so angered by his plight that they decide on his behalf to exact revenge on Governor Palin, or Mr Beck, or Spearker Boehner, or Sharon Angle — even after we’ve learned that the shooter, Jared Loughner, was hardly some sort of TEA Party adept — the blood

Rep Bachmann should have been more careful. She had to have known that, if pared down on both ends, the intent of her statement could be purposely taken out of context and used against her. True, she may not have intended her use of “armed and dangerous” to mean, literally, that she desired her constituency to take up arms against the government. But had she been more careful with her

But really. Be civil. That’s what’s important. Well, that, and a clean planet — even if that means gas at $5 a gallon, and the price of food and clothing doubling. Energy and food costs don’t show up in inflationary stats, anyway, you see. So it’s almost like they don’t exist! Move along. Nothing to see here.

Those facts? The intimation, through a graphic featuring Jared Loughner, that vitriolic rhetoric from the right-wing is the proximate cause of the Tucson murder spree — and will be the cause of future violence, as well. Radley Balko: It’s a powerful image. I saw it at the gym on a number of muted televisions, and it stuck with me. It’s also complete bullshit. […] This is just an egregious assault

TEA Partiers? That’s so last month. The GOP establishment will take it from here: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and other Republican leaders are launching a new effort Thursday to reach out to Hispanic voters. The Hispanic Leadership Network is meant to help Republicans and conservatives listen to the Hispanic community and, in the process, figure out how to win more of their votes. Hispanic Republican candidates had some big

“EPA vetoes water permit for W.Va. mountaintop mine”: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is making good on a 9-month-old threat and revoking a permit for West Virginia’s largest mountaintop removal mine. The agency said Thursday that Arch Coal’s Spruce No. 1 mine in Logan County would cause irreparable damage to the environment. The nearly 2,300-acre operation would bury 7 miles of streams. EPA says it would likely hurt downstream water