The economy grew at 4.8% last quarter

Democrats see bad news.

Mass. House overrides Gov. Romney's vetoes

Remember the $295 "fee" for companies that don't provide their employees health insurance? Well it looks like it's on its way back. Gov. Romney seemed to concede that it was likely in his Hardball interview a few weeks back, still, that's disappointing.

Nintendo Wii

Ladies and gentlemen, we have the worst marketing blunder of all-time!. Wii, as in "we" is the name of Nintendo's newest console. I wonder exactly who they payed to come up with a name that's a euphemism for urine and the penis.

I'm a Nintendo fan from way back, and I was looking forward to the Revolution Wii because I'm not willing to pay $400 (rumors of $500 for the PS3) before I get a single game and because that new controller looks really cool (the game can detect where you're pointing it and whether it's being tilted). However, Nintendo's lack of seriousness again makes me question whether they'll find support for this system.

Ah well, Wii, I hardly knew ya.

Don't want to hear about gas prices

That is all.

Mighty Mitt Romney!

American Spectator article.

Truth!

This piece makes a great point about one of the most maddening processes in this country: adoption. Adoption is one of the best things a person can do in their life. Instead of aiding these people, we've made things so difficult that it's easier to go to China than to bang your head against our current system.

This doesn't sound like a federal issue, but the president can surely use his bully pulpit to start bringing some sanity to this issue.

Happy Easter everybody

There are some changes in the works around here. Starting next week I'll be more prone to blog on general GOP news instead of only 2008. Perhaps I'll even invite a few extra bloggers to help spice things up a bit.

Romney on Hardball

Governor Romney made an appearance on Hardball last night to discuss his health care bill. Despite some cheapshot Mormon questions to start off the interview, Chris Matthews seems to be enamoured with the governor. Not something to be too excited about coming from Sen. McCain's biggest fan. But at least he's enthusiastic about a positive program.

It's also nice that Gov. Romney is getting to take a victory lap and raising his profile a bit more. He'll be primed and ready to stake his claim to the nomination when he leaves the governor's mansion in 2007.

Can't wait.

Edit: Video!

"Good Government"

That's the title of the Gov. Romney's piece in the Wall Street Journal. In it he makes a great case for the new Health Care Bill in Massachusettes. I certainly hope it works as well as he lays out (and that the backdoor forced subsidation doesn't make it past his veto) as its an innovative market-based solution to one of the toughest problems to tackle without going socialist.

Personally, I can do without any Republican saying the words "good" and "government" in the same sentence. But I'll let it pass this once.

We have video!

"Borrowed" from The Political Pit Bull.



Enjoy!

Time for the GOP to move beyond President Bush

That's the basic message of this post. Personally, I jumped ship during the Harriet Miers debacle. I'm still a supporter of the president, but I can't say that it with anything approaching the same zeal as I could back then. I will also be voting in the fall. God help me I'll even hold my nose and vote for Katherine Harris as the next senator from Florida.

I like to think of myself as a positive person though. I don't just run away when I feel disillusioned. I look for the next cause, the next battle to be fought. That's a large part of the reason I've decided to move forward and begin looking for a suitable successor.

If you feel discouraged as well, remember, we're conservatives. Faith in a better tomorrow is one of our most attractive features.

Romney's chances gooing from "good" to "excellent"?

This week's passage of the Massachassettes healthcare bill appears to have given Gov. Romney some momentum amongst some thinkers. I'm a bit on the fence about this healthcare bill. It is a very promising piece of legislation coming from a blue state, though, and will be interesting to watch.

If it's a success over the next two years that becomes the model other states follow, it may well, indeed, be a huge step forward in pushing Gov. Romney into the forefront.

More Power Rankings

ABC has another list of likely nominees. Gov. Romney comes in a pretty distant third. Stunningly, they place Sen. McCain as a greater favorite than Sen. Clinton and declares that he has the most internet support of any Republican. Tough to take that sort of analysis seriously.

RedState has a revised table.

Moving up a notch

At least according to National Journal.

It's also good to see someone acknowledging that Gov. Romney will have the resources necessary to mount a serious campaign.

Hat tip electromneyin2008.

Well that's disappointing

Interesting write-up from MSNBC.com. Sadly there's one politics-as-usual quote:

Those who are here paying taxes, and not taking government benefits, should begin a process toward an application for citizenship as they would from their home country.

I suspect he was startled by the protests last weekend. Time to get used to such things. I said it before and I'll say it again: It's all about securing the borders. Until then, everything else is a waste of our time.