OPINION: New Year's Resolutions

You know about New Year’s resolutions: Lose weight. Exercise. Get organized. Spend more time with family. Get out of debt.

If we actually kept these, then each year we could move on to something different, instead of repeating the same old pledges that we never seem to keep.

Our close relative Uncle Sam has the same problem. Over and over, we hear pledges to reduce spending, cut out waste and fraud, get rid of regulations that kill jobs, and to streamline government.

Psychologists say 90% of new year’s resolutions fail. In Washington, the rate is probably higher.

Things don’t change when our commitments are superficial. Unless we consider all the consequences of political promises, and unless we’re ready to accept those consequences—such as receiving less back from government—then we can’t expect politicians to have any stronger commitments than we have ourselves.

From The Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.

Listen

Iowa Poll: Romney And Paul In Dead Heat

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are nearly tied in Iowa, according to a poll released Friday by NBC News-Marist.

Romney holds 23 percent support among likely caucus voters while Ron Paul comes in with 21 percent.

Newt Gingrich, who initially polled well in Iowa, is now floundering in the Hawkeye state. He comes in behind former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who garners 15 percent support, and Texas Governor Rick Perry, who charts with 14 percent.

The poll comes just days before the Iowa caucus, the official kickoff of the 2012 election season.

The survey polled 433 likely Iowa caucus goers between December 27th and 28th. The full results can be viewed here.

Obama Campaign Hits Romney's Son Over Birther Joke

The Obama campaign is attempting to fundraise off a “birther” joke made by Matt Romney, the son of Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

“This is how the Romney campaign thinks it’s going to win the Republican primary: by pandering to the dead-ender fringe of extremists who still question where the President was born,” an email sent to supporters reads.

The comments in question were made during a campaign event in New Hampshire Friday when the GOP candidate’s son defended his father’s reluctance over releasing his tax returns.

“He’s certainly not afraid of anything, not hiding anything,” Romney said in a video released by the Concord Patch. “I heard someone suggest the other day that as soon as Obama releases his grades and birth certificate and sort of a long list of things, then maybe he’d do it.”

Matt Romney clarified that the statement was not made by his father and in a Twitter post made later, Romney dismissed the apparent gaffe as “a dumb joke.”

OPINION: Are The Days Of Free And Open Internet Over?

There’s a backlash underway against supporters of the Stop Online Privacy Act – known as SOPA. 

The legislation – which is currently stalled in Congress until next month – would give the federal government – working with major entertainment industries – the power to take down websites that may be displaying copyrighted material. 

Domain registrar GoDaddy.com publicly supported SOPA – and now has seen more than 120,000 domain names transferred from its services thanks to a groundswell of Internet activism calling for boycotts on GoDaddy. 

Meanwhile – two main proponents of the Internet censorship legislation – Republican Senator Bob Corker – and Republican Representative Paul Ryan are being target in an online campaign calling for people to dig up dirt on them and ruin their political careers. 

Sadly, the days of a free and open Internet will be numbered if SOPA becomes law.

OPINION: Vote Fraud Is Real

President Obama’s U.S. Justice Department wants to invalidate South Carolina’s new voter ID law, but is ignoring Supreme Court decisions that support such laws.

Liberals often claim that voter ID is unfair to minorities and that voting fraud isn’t a real problem anyway.
Sadly, they use phony math when they claim that it’s discriminatory to expect minorities to have an ID.

Would they undo the security checkpoints at airports because of that? They also should know that for people who don’t drive, states commonly issue other ID cards, often for free.

Voter fraud is real. The infamous ACORN group in 2008 turned in over 400,000 phony or invalid voter registrations. And 55 ACORN workers in eleven states have been convicted of voter registration fraud.

We need common-sense security at the polls with voter ID.

From The Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.

Listen