"If Republicans win control of both the House and Senate, 'the interests of billionaires will come before the needs of the middle class,' President Barack Obama said at a $32,500-a-plate fundraiser at the $16 million Greenwich, Connecticut, estate of a billionaire named (I'm not making this up) Rich Richman.

"You can't top that remark for hypocrisy or the setting for irony. It isn't the middle class who write $32,500 checks. Those who do expect something in return. They've been getting it. ...

"The top group of fundraisers for Mr. Obama raised $457,834 for his 2008 campaign -- and were approved for federal grants and loans of $11.4 billion, according to the Government Accountability Institute. Selling access to the federal treasury has been a great way for Democrats to raise campaign funds. Since 1989, according to an analysis by Gateway Pundit, big donors have provided $416 million more in direct contributions to Democrats than Republicans."

"In an effort to keep the public calm, the CDC pretended to know more about Ebola than it actually does.

First, the CDC insisted that Ebola is very difficult to transmit from person to person. But, that is clearly not true. This particular Ebola strain appears to be more infectious than others. ...

Second, the CDC insisted that Ebola is not airborne. That is probably mostly true, but it may not be entirely true. While airborne transmission is unlikely to explain more than just a few cases, it is still theoretically possible. ...

Finally, the CDC has relied on a 21-day quarantine period for people who may have been exposed to Ebola. But, a new study by Charles Haas from Drexel University suggests that this may not be sufficient. His research shows that a person has about a 12% chance of being infected with Ebola after the 21-day quarantine period expires."

"Louisville, KY - Barack Obama lost Kentucky in 2012 by 23 points, yet the state remains closely divided about re-electing the man whose parliamentary skills uniquely qualify him to restrain Obama's executive overreach. So, Kentucky's Senate contest is a constitutional moment that will determine whether the separation of powers will be reasserted by a Congress revitalized by restoration of the Senate's dignity.

"Mitch McConnell, 72, is second only to Henry Clay as the state'€™s most consequential public servant. McConnell's skills have been honed through five terms. He is, however -- let us say the worst -- not cuddly. National Review has said he has 'an owlish, tight-lipped public demeanor reminiscent of George Will.' Harsh. But true. ...

"[A] re-elected McConnell, with a Republican majority, would, he says, emulate his model of majority leadership -- the 16 years under a Democrat, Montana'€™s Mike Mansfield. He, like McConnell, had a low emotional metabolism but a subtle sense of the Senate's singular role in the nation's constitutional equilibrium."

"The public-health profession has a clear political orientation, so it's quite possible that its opposition to a visa and travel moratorium is influenced as much by belief in America's responsibility for the postcolonial oppression of Africa, and suspicion of American border enforcement, as it is by a commitment to public-health principles of containment and control. (African countries, unburdened by any such racial guilt, have not hesitated to impose travel bans; Nigeria's travel restrictions are now being credited for its escape from an Ebola incursion.) To be sure, the logistics of such a moratorium would be challenging, but no more challenging than retrofitting American hospitals for Ebola patients."

"[I]t's up to Republicans to expose the bureaucracies and criticize the orthodoxies -- to ask why visas for travel to the United States are still being issued in West Africa and why American military forces are being deployed there without a workable plan or intelligible purpose, why CDC spending priorities are so skewed and CDC management so weak, and why here at home routine police powers aren't being used and routine public health measures aren't being implemented.

"Republicans can also point to an alternate path. They can draw upon genuine experts to explain what should be done. ...

"'Don'€™t politicize the tragedy of Ebola,' the liberal media will say. To the contrary, we say: Don'€™t be afraid to politicize the Ebola crisis -- but in the right way. What we need is politicization rightly understood, in which the opposition party exposes the failures of the administration in power and lays out a path to a better response. In so doing, conservatives -- who don'€™t worship at the altar of liberal bureaucracy and aren'€™t intimidated by the dogmas of progressive orthodoxy -- can make a case for their ability to effectively and faithfully discharge the duties of public office in the 21st century."

"Much public skepticism about the government's response to Ebola stems from the dogmatic pronouncements of Obama administration officials. In a video message early last month on stopping the virus, for example, President Obama asserted that 'we know how to do it.' He was wrong. ...

"To fix his messaging problem, President Obama has appointed political fixer Ron Klain as its new Ebola response 'czar.' Mr. Klain's most significant contribution to public-health spin control came when he was Vice President Joe Biden's chief of staff during one of the worst public-health communications missteps of recent memory. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, Mr. Biden said on NBC'€™s 'Today' show that 'I wouldn'€™t go anywhere in confined places now.' The White House press office scrambled to walk back Mr. Biden's words, which threatened to disrupt public transportation and air travel."

"Something peculiar has happened. As I write, none of the Republican candidates for Senate has become a public embarrassment. On the contrary: For the first time in a decade, it is the Democratic candidates, not the Republican ones, who are fodder for late-night comics. That the Democrats are committing gaffes and causing scandals at a higher rate than Republicans not only may be decisive in the battle for the Senate. It could signal a change in our politics at large. ...

"There is plenty of time for Republicans to have a Macaca moment. But right now, as of October 17, 2014, the Republican Senate candidates have performed better than they have in years. For the moment, today, as you read this, the Democratic candidates are the jokes.

"Savor it."

"Early on, official narratives from the CDC and the president loudly assured Americans that they could catch Ebola only from 'close contact' with exotic 'bodily fluids' like blood and semen. Americans were simultaneously assured that there was no way you could catch Ebola on, say, a bus or a plane, and that they were silly and paranoid to think otherwise. Later, of course, the CDC quietly admitted that the Ebola virus can survive on dried surfaces for hours and could even potentially be passed through a sneeze.

"Oh, well. Details, details. The official, high-level strategy to combat Ebola -- which, it bears repeating, is a contagious virus that can literally liquefy your insides -- appears to be the same foolproof strategy that was recently used to not lock the front door of the White House. It is, in other words, completely devoid of common sense."

"In 1996, the late, great New York Times columnist William Safire published a column, 'Blizzard of lies,' in which he laid out a series of falsehoods by Hillary Rodham Clinton and declared 'Americans of all political persuasions are coming to the sad realization that our First Lady -€” a woman of undoubted talents who was a role model for many in her generation -€” is a congenital liar.'

"Today, Americans of all political stripes are coming to a similar, sad realization about our president. A recent Fox News poll asked Americans 'How often does Barack Obama lie to the country on important matters?' Thirty-seven percent said 'most of the time,' 24 percent said 'some of the time,' and 20 percent said 'only now and then.' Just 15% said 'never.'

"Think about that: 81 percent of Americans believe that Obama lies to them at least 'now and then' on 'important matters.'

"That is simply stunning."

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats' high hopes of mitigating House losses in a rough election year have been dashed by reality.

"The question now is not whether Republicans hold the House - that's a given. Rather, it's how many seats could the GOP add to its majority on Election Day? And how close could it get to its post-World War II high of 246 in Harry S. Truman's administration?"