BRING IT ON! John Derbyshire echos my thoughts as he prepares his tax return.

HEH. Obama’s approval rating hits all time low; search for cool phone intensifies.

AS LOW AS 60%? Obama's new [deficit reduction] plan may actually rely 60% on tax increases.

OBAMA WILL LOSE IN 2012: “The more that people experience his leadership, the less they like his leadership.”

“WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE, you ask, between [the Biden ‘Deficit Working Group’] and the Bowles/Simpson Deficit Commission whose plan went nowhere last year? I … don’t know. The members are different, for one thing. Plus, the Deficit Commission was designed to let Obama avoid leadership on the debt crisis during his first two years in office. The deficit ‘working group’ is really more designed to let Obama avoid leadership on the debt crisis during his second two years in office. So, there’s a difference.”

172 DEMOCRATS VOTE ‘PRESENT’. “Sounds like Obama has set the standard.”

Little wonder the Democrats are not in favor of spanking little children.

BACK TO BASICS for Wal-Mart. Out: upscale organic foods, “green” products, trendy jeans, and political correctness. In: “heritage” products, like inexpensive jeans and sweatpants. Like other real-world experiments, the Wal-Mart story exposes the failure of progressivism in the marketplace.

WE’RE FROM THE GOVERNMENT, and we’re here to help (second item): “So, the purpose of government is to take my money, filter it through a bunch of agencies and contractors, each taking their cut, and then give a small fraction of it back to me to spend on ‘approved’ services. Gives new meaning to the phrase ‘I'm from the government and I'm here to help.’ I wish they would stop helping.” So do I.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL HEAD’S EXIT leaves behind a system in turmoil. What has been left unmentioned in this whole kerfuffle is that safety of flight is solely the responsibility of the person in the cockpit - the pilot. The role of the air traffic control system is to aid and assist, but flight safety has always been the responsibility of the pilot.

IT'S EASIER - and quicker - to list the items that won't cost more in the coming year.

ODDLY ENOUGH, I agree with Paul Krugman: It's time for the Republicans to begin kicking ass and taking names.

UPDATE: Don Surber starts.

MICHAEL BARONE on gangster government: "The law in its majesty applies to everyone except those who get special favors."

A LESSON Democrats will can never learn: “Caring don’t pay the bills.” A truly fine rant about taxes and budget cutting. Here are some nuggets:

(budget cuts) “[T]hat’s like a 600 pound man who’s heart is about to explode congratulating himself that he got a hamburger instead of a cheeseburger… for his fifty-seventh meal of the day.”

(Social Security trust fund) “[E]xpecting congress to save money is like expecting crack whores to save crack.”

(ethanol) “I went from 35 to 27 mpg when they started adding corn and rainbows to my gas.”

Read the whole thing and scan through the comments. Linked from Instapundit.

CLEVER: The Obama administration wants automatic tax increases.

EUGENE ROBINSON on ‘selflessness’. To which I have to respond: “I know you want to help me. Please, don’t.”

I DIDN’T BELIEVE IT when I first heard it on the radio, but ABC News has the video. Talking about gasoline prices, President Obama said (4:23) that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve should be used only for ‘serious disruptions - like [hurricane] Katrina - when the refineries are shut down’ (paraphrased).

I guess an Ivy League education doesn’t include the knowledge that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is crude oil, not gasoline, stored underground in huge salt domes along the Gulf coast.

The guy gives “dumb” a bad name.

VENI, VIDI, VICI:

If Sarah Palin’s not running for president, what a terrible waste that would be of the single best stump speech I’ve heard since, well, Palin’s ’08 convention speech, which just happened to be the single most electrifying political moment of my adult life. … On this day, Tea Party tax-day, Sarah Palin walked into the heart of this nation’s battle, stared down a gallery of Leftist union goons with poise and grace, and articulated our message as well as anyone ever could. Let’s hope this is just the beginning.

I came, I saw, I conquered.