Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Quote of the Day!
"Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich by promising to protect each from the other." -Oscar Ameringer
Weakness always invites war | Cal Thomas | Columnists | Washington Examiner
One of the memorable slogans from the Reagan administration was "peace through strength." Reagan believed a strong defense was a safeguard against enemy attacks and the best hope of victory should America go to war.
President Obama is taking the opposite approach. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently announced cuts in defense spending of $487 billion over the next 10 years. Supposedly, these cuts will reduce the federal deficit, but Congress always finds new ways to spend money, so I am not optimistic.
The cuts were announced before critical questions were asked: What is America's role in the world in the 21st century? Where does the military fit into that role?
The administration thinks a sleeker, more mobile military -- like SEAL Team Six, which has had recent successes taking out Osama bin Laden and rescuing hostages from Somali pirates -- is the way to go, but even the highly-trained SEALs can't confront, say, a nuclear threat from Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or China's increasing military power.
The administration says it will preserve its manpower and weapons systems in the Middle East and shift resources to Asia.
Ships and planes take time to build. If America is not building them to ward off present and future threats, someone else -- like the Chinese -- will. The world does not remain stagnant and threats are not always obvious.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2012/01/weakness-always-invites-war/2150796#ixzz1l4qEe9HE
Link:Weakness always invites war | Cal Thomas | Columnists | Washington Examiner
President Obama is taking the opposite approach. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently announced cuts in defense spending of $487 billion over the next 10 years. Supposedly, these cuts will reduce the federal deficit, but Congress always finds new ways to spend money, so I am not optimistic.
The cuts were announced before critical questions were asked: What is America's role in the world in the 21st century? Where does the military fit into that role?
The administration thinks a sleeker, more mobile military -- like SEAL Team Six, which has had recent successes taking out Osama bin Laden and rescuing hostages from Somali pirates -- is the way to go, but even the highly-trained SEALs can't confront, say, a nuclear threat from Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or China's increasing military power.
The administration says it will preserve its manpower and weapons systems in the Middle East and shift resources to Asia.
Ships and planes take time to build. If America is not building them to ward off present and future threats, someone else -- like the Chinese -- will. The world does not remain stagnant and threats are not always obvious.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2012/01/weakness-always-invites-war/2150796#ixzz1l4qEe9HE
Link:Weakness always invites war | Cal Thomas | Columnists | Washington Examiner
Monday, January 30, 2012
Kentucky GOP gubernatorial candidate Phil Moffett to run for House seat
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - A Republican who ran unsuccessfully for governor last year will seek a House seat this year.
Louisville businessman Phil Moffett filed candidacy papers at the Capitol on Monday.
Moffett proved himself a tenacious campaigner last year when he finished second in a three-way race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination to David Williams. Williams, the state Senate president, lost the general election to incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear.
Moffett wants to replace Republican state Rep. Julie Raque Adams in Louisville's 32nd District. Adams is running for a Senate seat and won't seek re-election to the House.
Louisville businessman Phil Moffett filed candidacy papers at the Capitol on Monday.
Moffett proved himself a tenacious campaigner last year when he finished second in a three-way race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination to David Williams. Williams, the state Senate president, lost the general election to incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear.
Moffett wants to replace Republican state Rep. Julie Raque Adams in Louisville's 32nd District. Adams is running for a Senate seat and won't seek re-election to the House.
Not a Winning Argument
Link:Not a Winning Argument
If another resurrection is coming, it didn’t start Sunday. After a week of shaky debate performances and slipping poll numbers in Florida, Gingrich’s appearances on political talk shows Sunday should give his supporters more reason for concern: In attempting to explain his bad week, Gingrich provided answers that directly undermine his claim to be the strongest candidate to take on Barack Obama in a general election.
On Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace asked Gingrich about his tough week. The former House speaker played the victim, noting that he was being outspent and complaining that Mitt Romney has “an amazing ability to raise money from Wall Street” and is willing to engage in “carpetbombing his opponent” and “tearing down his opponent.
If another resurrection is coming, it didn’t start Sunday. After a week of shaky debate performances and slipping poll numbers in Florida, Gingrich’s appearances on political talk shows Sunday should give his supporters more reason for concern: In attempting to explain his bad week, Gingrich provided answers that directly undermine his claim to be the strongest candidate to take on Barack Obama in a general election.
On Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace asked Gingrich about his tough week. The former House speaker played the victim, noting that he was being outspent and complaining that Mitt Romney has “an amazing ability to raise money from Wall Street” and is willing to engage in “carpetbombing his opponent” and “tearing down his opponent.
Today's Freedom Quote
"Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big."
-Theodore Roosevelt
-Theodore Roosevelt
Gingrich Endorsed Health Care Mandate Following Obamacare Press Conference in May 2009
LinkGingrich Endorsed Health Care Mandate Following Obamacare Press Conference in May 2009
The blog Verum Serum has dug up a clip of a May 2009 Newt Gingrich conference call that followed a White House press conference on health care reform. (You can listen to the whole call here.) Gingrich said he was "little bit skeptical but encouraged" by the approach President Obama was taking. He also endorsed the idea that people who didn't buy health insurance would "post a bond." While Gingrich was "encouraged" by Obamacare in its early stage of development, many conservatives were sounding the alarm about the Democrats' plan. See, for example, this article by Yuval Levin and James Capretta from the May 18, 2009 issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD: "Stop ObamaCare: The Democrats' plan would displace tens of millions of happily insured Americans and exacerbate the worst elements of the current system."
The blog Verum Serum has dug up a clip of a May 2009 Newt Gingrich conference call that followed a White House press conference on health care reform. (You can listen to the whole call here.) Gingrich said he was "little bit skeptical but encouraged" by the approach President Obama was taking. He also endorsed the idea that people who didn't buy health insurance would "post a bond." While Gingrich was "encouraged" by Obamacare in its early stage of development, many conservatives were sounding the alarm about the Democrats' plan. See, for example, this article by Yuval Levin and James Capretta from the May 18, 2009 issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD: "Stop ObamaCare: The Democrats' plan would displace tens of millions of happily insured Americans and exacerbate the worst elements of the current system."
It’s time for leaders with less banal rhetoric, better ideas and more courage.
The Political Cowardice of Barack Obama
Soaring rhetoric won't fix the economy.
Steven Greenhut | January 27, 2012
Now, a return to the American values of fair play and shared responsibility will help protect our people and our economy. But it should also guide us as we look to pay down our debt and invest in our future.—President Barack Obama, State of the Union, January 24, 2012
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night was the latest reminder that the state of political discourse in America is shockingly low. I’m not singling out Obama for special condemnation, given that these addresses always are a potpourri of banalities, regardless of which president is offering them. Yet Tuesday’s address was a vivid reminder of the shoddy thinking so common at the highest level of the federal and state governments and why we are—in the more precise, but less lofty words of a former president—in deep doo doo.
Criminologists have remarked on “the banality of crime,” the idea that most criminals are not dark geniuses, but ordinary dolts driven by the basest motives. The State of the Union is the ultimate example for the banality of American politics, of the reality that the people who want to reform us haven’t the slightest clue about anything. They are predictable and bland, traders in base ideas and driven mainly by ego and the desire to help those groups that assure their re-election. California is the starkest example. A friend of mine called the other day and told me that it finally dawned on him that Gov. Jerry Brown, despite his clever word plays is really not so brilliant. Here’s a man who actually believes that raising taxes and “investing” in green jobs will save California.
Politicians from Obama to Brown to Mitt Romney to Newt Gingrich want so desperately to build a legacy, save our state or nation, and create some shining city on the hall, but they want it all on the cheap. Democratic pols want to sound like John F. Kennedy while Republicans sing hosannas to the legacy of Ronald Reagan, but such legacies don’t come from cheap banalities and the retreading of empty words. They come from tackling real issues and fixing real problems. The courage needed to do the latter is in short supply, given that most politicians crave adulation but don’t realize that those who put that first almost assures that they won’t receive it. Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had a historic opportunity to bring the state back from the brink, yet changed course dramatically after his first defeat. He chose to be loved above all else and has ended up a scorned figure.
Many of us had hoped that Brown, who no longer seeks higher office, would embrace the tough work of real governance and take on his own allies—i.e., the public sector unions—who are the key obstacle to reviving California. Instead, he has embraced one foolish answer, a massive tax increase, and has governed in a way that’s not too different from the two failed governors before him. If Brown were a serious man, he would acknowledge that it’s the way the state spends money that’s the problem, not the lack of revenue. But he has taken the easy, banal course and will in time be forgotten. And so too will Obama who continues to believe that government is the font of all wisdom and energy in this nation and that populist attacks on evil-doing mortgage companies are more crucial than serious policy.
“Let's never forget: Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same,” he intoned. “It’s time to apply the same rules from top to bottom. No bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody.”
Banality is one thing, but this veers into dishonestly. No president—not even the terrible one that preceded him—has embraced the culture of bailouts, handouts, and copouts more than Obama. His administration epitomizes the term “crony capitalism,” whereby friends of the leaders get large infusions of taxpayer cash (see Solyndra) and then are full of copouts about why the money disappeared. In his speech, Obama sung the praises of the automobile bailout and called for more bailouts and government investments.
Instead of dealing seriously with the financial crisis, he embraced a kindergartner’s view of what happened (greedy banks foisted bad mortgages on decent people!), called for a special investment crimes unit to crack down on financial wrongdoers, and then pledged a new bailout for homeowners who are underwater in their mortgages, many of whom acted irresponsibly as they bought houses they couldn’t afford and tapped the equity in those houses and spent it on consumer goods. Said Obama, “And while government can't fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn't have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief. And that's why I'm sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low rates.”
Just what we need—yet another irresponsible subsidy courtesy of U.S. taxpayers. In reality, the real estate market needs to hit bottom before it can rebound, and Obama’s plan will only delay the day of reckoning. This is more pabulum and more false hope for people who think the government is going to save them.
Soaring rhetoric and promised bailouts won’t fix what’s wrong in California or in the United States. It’s time for a little reality and some tough choices. It’s time for leaders with less banal rhetoric, better ideas and more courage.
Steven Greenhut is editor of CalWatchDog.com.
Soaring rhetoric won't fix the economy.
Steven Greenhut | January 27, 2012
Now, a return to the American values of fair play and shared responsibility will help protect our people and our economy. But it should also guide us as we look to pay down our debt and invest in our future.—President Barack Obama, State of the Union, January 24, 2012
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night was the latest reminder that the state of political discourse in America is shockingly low. I’m not singling out Obama for special condemnation, given that these addresses always are a potpourri of banalities, regardless of which president is offering them. Yet Tuesday’s address was a vivid reminder of the shoddy thinking so common at the highest level of the federal and state governments and why we are—in the more precise, but less lofty words of a former president—in deep doo doo.
Criminologists have remarked on “the banality of crime,” the idea that most criminals are not dark geniuses, but ordinary dolts driven by the basest motives. The State of the Union is the ultimate example for the banality of American politics, of the reality that the people who want to reform us haven’t the slightest clue about anything. They are predictable and bland, traders in base ideas and driven mainly by ego and the desire to help those groups that assure their re-election. California is the starkest example. A friend of mine called the other day and told me that it finally dawned on him that Gov. Jerry Brown, despite his clever word plays is really not so brilliant. Here’s a man who actually believes that raising taxes and “investing” in green jobs will save California.
Politicians from Obama to Brown to Mitt Romney to Newt Gingrich want so desperately to build a legacy, save our state or nation, and create some shining city on the hall, but they want it all on the cheap. Democratic pols want to sound like John F. Kennedy while Republicans sing hosannas to the legacy of Ronald Reagan, but such legacies don’t come from cheap banalities and the retreading of empty words. They come from tackling real issues and fixing real problems. The courage needed to do the latter is in short supply, given that most politicians crave adulation but don’t realize that those who put that first almost assures that they won’t receive it. Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had a historic opportunity to bring the state back from the brink, yet changed course dramatically after his first defeat. He chose to be loved above all else and has ended up a scorned figure.
Many of us had hoped that Brown, who no longer seeks higher office, would embrace the tough work of real governance and take on his own allies—i.e., the public sector unions—who are the key obstacle to reviving California. Instead, he has embraced one foolish answer, a massive tax increase, and has governed in a way that’s not too different from the two failed governors before him. If Brown were a serious man, he would acknowledge that it’s the way the state spends money that’s the problem, not the lack of revenue. But he has taken the easy, banal course and will in time be forgotten. And so too will Obama who continues to believe that government is the font of all wisdom and energy in this nation and that populist attacks on evil-doing mortgage companies are more crucial than serious policy.
“Let's never forget: Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same,” he intoned. “It’s time to apply the same rules from top to bottom. No bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody.”
Banality is one thing, but this veers into dishonestly. No president—not even the terrible one that preceded him—has embraced the culture of bailouts, handouts, and copouts more than Obama. His administration epitomizes the term “crony capitalism,” whereby friends of the leaders get large infusions of taxpayer cash (see Solyndra) and then are full of copouts about why the money disappeared. In his speech, Obama sung the praises of the automobile bailout and called for more bailouts and government investments.
Instead of dealing seriously with the financial crisis, he embraced a kindergartner’s view of what happened (greedy banks foisted bad mortgages on decent people!), called for a special investment crimes unit to crack down on financial wrongdoers, and then pledged a new bailout for homeowners who are underwater in their mortgages, many of whom acted irresponsibly as they bought houses they couldn’t afford and tapped the equity in those houses and spent it on consumer goods. Said Obama, “And while government can't fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn't have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief. And that's why I'm sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low rates.”
Just what we need—yet another irresponsible subsidy courtesy of U.S. taxpayers. In reality, the real estate market needs to hit bottom before it can rebound, and Obama’s plan will only delay the day of reckoning. This is more pabulum and more false hope for people who think the government is going to save them.
Soaring rhetoric and promised bailouts won’t fix what’s wrong in California or in the United States. It’s time for a little reality and some tough choices. It’s time for leaders with less banal rhetoric, better ideas and more courage.
Steven Greenhut is editor of CalWatchDog.com.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
CARMEN: Newt Gingrich betrayed Ronald Reagan - Washington Times
Because the Gipper is not here to say, “There you go again!” to Mr. Gingrich, and because the choice of a new president is so critical to the nation today, it falls on us who served with Reagan and are still around to tell America the truth about Mr. Gingrich and his repeated attempts to thwart Reagan’s cornerstone achievement: the defeat of global tyranny in the form of the Soviet Union and the final rejection of communism as a failed experiment.
Although Mr. Gingrich was an unknown congressman after being elected in 1978, he was one of the very few Republicans who voted for the creation of the Department of Education under Jimmy Carter, a position Reagan abhorred and a central campaign whipping boy in the 1980 campaign. That telltale vote should have prepared us for Mr. Gingrich’s regular ridicules of the president, but we were too occupied with reversing Mr. Carter’s disastrous economic policies at the time to pay attention to a gadfly at the fringes. Nowadays, Reagan is universally appreciated as a hero of vision and determination, but at that time, the battles we fought were challenging, and popular opinion (at least as defined by Washington) often was against us.
Link:CARMEN: Newt Gingrich betrayed Ronald Reagan - Washington Times
Although Mr. Gingrich was an unknown congressman after being elected in 1978, he was one of the very few Republicans who voted for the creation of the Department of Education under Jimmy Carter, a position Reagan abhorred and a central campaign whipping boy in the 1980 campaign. That telltale vote should have prepared us for Mr. Gingrich’s regular ridicules of the president, but we were too occupied with reversing Mr. Carter’s disastrous economic policies at the time to pay attention to a gadfly at the fringes. Nowadays, Reagan is universally appreciated as a hero of vision and determination, but at that time, the battles we fought were challenging, and popular opinion (at least as defined by Washington) often was against us.
Link:CARMEN: Newt Gingrich betrayed Ronald Reagan - Washington Times
Rasmussen: Romney Heading for Blowout in Florida
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has opened a double-digit lead in Florida as the perception grows among Republican primary voters that he is the strongest general election candidate against President Obama. The state's GOP Primary is on Tuesday.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Florida Republican Primary Voters, conducted Saturday, shows Romney up by 16 points with 44% support. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is a distant second at 28%. These figures reflect a significant turnaround over the past week.
Last Sunday, just after his big win in the South Carolina Primary, Gingrich led Romney by nine.
Rasmussen: Romney Heading for Blowout in Florida
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Florida Republican Primary Voters, conducted Saturday, shows Romney up by 16 points with 44% support. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is a distant second at 28%. These figures reflect a significant turnaround over the past week.
Last Sunday, just after his big win in the South Carolina Primary, Gingrich led Romney by nine.
Rasmussen: Romney Heading for Blowout in Florida
Yes, We Can...
To be clear: There are important differences between Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter, and the eventual Republican nominee, whoever he is, will be no Ronald Reagan. But where the 2012 race resembles the 1980 race is that the public, which still likes Obama personally for the most part, is very much inclined to vote him out of office. They believe he’s overmatched by events.
This doesn’t mean the GOP nominee will win the presidency in 2012. It only means he should.
Link:Yes, We Can...
This doesn’t mean the GOP nominee will win the presidency in 2012. It only means he should.
Link:Yes, We Can...
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Today's Conservative Quote
"Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
T. Roosevelt, 1907
T. Roosevelt, 1907
Obama's Lowball Vision: Tax Success and Growth
You would think that with one of the weakest economic recoveries on record, President Barack Obama would be searching desperately for ways to promote economic growth. It is, after all, an election year. Most pundits and pollsters agree that it's the economy, stupid.
But instead, Obama used his State of the Union speech to rail on about fairness, inequality and redistribution. The Obama strategy is simple: Tax the rich, because they don't pay enough.
The problem is that they do pay enough. According to the Tax Foundation, Americans making $1 million or more pay a 25 percent average tax rate. People in the $50,000 to $100,000 income category -- call it the middle class -- pay 7 to 8 percent.
But no, Obama's one big idea in his Tuesday night speech was a 30 percent minimum tax on millionaires. This, by the way, is really a hike in the capital gains tax. And this Obama penalty is aimed squarely at his likely election opponent, Mitt Romney. Talk about taxing success. Talk about taxing growth.
The capital gains tax is the single most important economywide tax on wealth, risk taking and investment. It's a tax on seed corn. What a brilliant idea, Mr. President.
I remember the late Jack Kemp always saying you can't have successful capitalism without capital. But that wasn't in the president's State of the Union.
It's not as though the economy is prepared to take another tax hit. The fourth-quarter gross domestic product report adjusted for inflation came in at a mediocre 2.8 percent. Wall Street promptly sold off on the news.
And we're now 10 quarters into the tepid Obama recovery, with its average quarterly growth rate of 2.4 percent annually.
Deep recessions are supposed to breed strong snap-back recoveries. But it's not happening -- even after an $800 billion government spending package, a $2 trillion Federal Reserve balance sheet expansion, a zero Fed interest rate (for three years and counting) and a whole bunch of temporary targeted tax cuts.
It's the whole Keynesian bag of tricks, but it's still a very sub-par recovery.
Way back when, Ronald Reagan used the supply-side model and rejected big-government Keynesianism. He permanently lowered marginal tax rates, deregulated the economy, went to a strong King Dollar that collapsed oil and gold prices, and limited domestic spending (as a share of GDP). After 10 quarters of recovery, the Reagan growth rate was 6 percent.
Compare that with Obama's 2.4 percent. Or compare Obama's 2.4 percent with the 4.6 percent post-World War II average recovery rate after 10 quarters. The average is twice as good as Obama's. But Obama is only roughly a third of Reagan. That tells you something.
On top of all this, under current-law Obama policy, the vitally important capital gains tax is going up, even without the millionaire's minimum. Next year, the capital gains tax will revert to 20 percent from today's 15 percent. Then Obamacare will raise investment tax rates by 4 percent, bringing us up to 24 percent. That equals an 11 percent rollback of wealth and growth incentives.
But that's not all, because the capital gains tax is paid on top of the 35 percent corporate tax. So under Obama, a 24 percent cap gains tax is really a 51 percent tax rate on capital.
As Romney found out, even today's 15 percent cap gains tax is really a 45 percent double tax on top of the corporate levy. But there's a better way here: Slash the corporate tax rate, and leave the cap gains rate alone until full-fledged tax reform can take place.
In other words, increase incentives to grow and invest. Make it pay more after tax to invest and take risks. That's a growth prescription, the exact opposite of Obama's redistributionism.
Why is it fair or equal to create a lower tide that pulls down all boats?
I interviewed Romney on CNBC this week, and it's clear that he gets this. And as he aggressively argued in the Jacksonville, Fla., debate, he is proud of his success and doesn't want to give it back to the tax man.
More importantly, Team Romney is cooking up a stronger tax-reform plan. Romney intends to broaden the base by getting rid of deductions, exemptions and loopholes and then bring down the rates. I asked him whether the plan would be ready during the primary season. He said yes.
There is a growing consensus across the country for full-fledged reform of the personal and corporate tax codes. People yearn for simplicity, competitiveness and new incentives. Obama's great mistake in the State of the Union was his lowball vision of class warfare and redistribution when the country wants growth measures.
This November, we'll see a great debate between a big-government entitlement society that emphasizes fairness and a smaller-government growth society based on free market capitalism. Pro-growth tax reform is essential to this debate.
Link:Obama's Lowball Vision: Tax Success and Growth
But instead, Obama used his State of the Union speech to rail on about fairness, inequality and redistribution. The Obama strategy is simple: Tax the rich, because they don't pay enough.
The problem is that they do pay enough. According to the Tax Foundation, Americans making $1 million or more pay a 25 percent average tax rate. People in the $50,000 to $100,000 income category -- call it the middle class -- pay 7 to 8 percent.
But no, Obama's one big idea in his Tuesday night speech was a 30 percent minimum tax on millionaires. This, by the way, is really a hike in the capital gains tax. And this Obama penalty is aimed squarely at his likely election opponent, Mitt Romney. Talk about taxing success. Talk about taxing growth.
The capital gains tax is the single most important economywide tax on wealth, risk taking and investment. It's a tax on seed corn. What a brilliant idea, Mr. President.
I remember the late Jack Kemp always saying you can't have successful capitalism without capital. But that wasn't in the president's State of the Union.
It's not as though the economy is prepared to take another tax hit. The fourth-quarter gross domestic product report adjusted for inflation came in at a mediocre 2.8 percent. Wall Street promptly sold off on the news.
And we're now 10 quarters into the tepid Obama recovery, with its average quarterly growth rate of 2.4 percent annually.
Deep recessions are supposed to breed strong snap-back recoveries. But it's not happening -- even after an $800 billion government spending package, a $2 trillion Federal Reserve balance sheet expansion, a zero Fed interest rate (for three years and counting) and a whole bunch of temporary targeted tax cuts.
It's the whole Keynesian bag of tricks, but it's still a very sub-par recovery.
Way back when, Ronald Reagan used the supply-side model and rejected big-government Keynesianism. He permanently lowered marginal tax rates, deregulated the economy, went to a strong King Dollar that collapsed oil and gold prices, and limited domestic spending (as a share of GDP). After 10 quarters of recovery, the Reagan growth rate was 6 percent.
Compare that with Obama's 2.4 percent. Or compare Obama's 2.4 percent with the 4.6 percent post-World War II average recovery rate after 10 quarters. The average is twice as good as Obama's. But Obama is only roughly a third of Reagan. That tells you something.
On top of all this, under current-law Obama policy, the vitally important capital gains tax is going up, even without the millionaire's minimum. Next year, the capital gains tax will revert to 20 percent from today's 15 percent. Then Obamacare will raise investment tax rates by 4 percent, bringing us up to 24 percent. That equals an 11 percent rollback of wealth and growth incentives.
But that's not all, because the capital gains tax is paid on top of the 35 percent corporate tax. So under Obama, a 24 percent cap gains tax is really a 51 percent tax rate on capital.
As Romney found out, even today's 15 percent cap gains tax is really a 45 percent double tax on top of the corporate levy. But there's a better way here: Slash the corporate tax rate, and leave the cap gains rate alone until full-fledged tax reform can take place.
In other words, increase incentives to grow and invest. Make it pay more after tax to invest and take risks. That's a growth prescription, the exact opposite of Obama's redistributionism.
Why is it fair or equal to create a lower tide that pulls down all boats?
I interviewed Romney on CNBC this week, and it's clear that he gets this. And as he aggressively argued in the Jacksonville, Fla., debate, he is proud of his success and doesn't want to give it back to the tax man.
More importantly, Team Romney is cooking up a stronger tax-reform plan. Romney intends to broaden the base by getting rid of deductions, exemptions and loopholes and then bring down the rates. I asked him whether the plan would be ready during the primary season. He said yes.
There is a growing consensus across the country for full-fledged reform of the personal and corporate tax codes. People yearn for simplicity, competitiveness and new incentives. Obama's great mistake in the State of the Union was his lowball vision of class warfare and redistribution when the country wants growth measures.
This November, we'll see a great debate between a big-government entitlement society that emphasizes fairness and a smaller-government growth society based on free market capitalism. Pro-growth tax reform is essential to this debate.
Link:Obama's Lowball Vision: Tax Success and Growth
The Most Polarizing President Ever
It’s official now. Barack Obama’s ratings are “historically polarized,” according to a new Gallup survey.
Jeffrey Jones of the Gallup organization writes, “The historically high gap between partisans’ job approval ratings of Barack Obama continued during Obama’s third year in office, with an average of 80 percent of Democrats and 12 percent of Republicans approving of the job he was doing… The 68-point gap between partisans’ approval ratings of Obama last year is nine points higher than that for any other president’s third year.” Obama, by the way, holds the record for the most polarized first and second years in office, too. Which means Obama has set a record for polarization every year he’s been in office.
So now is as good a time as any to remind people one of the core claims made by Barack Obama during his presidential campaign wasn’t simply that he would heal the planet; he would also heal the nation’s political breach. He would elevate the national debate. Reason would prevail over emotion. He would do away with what he called the “50 plus one” style of governing. Obama would “turn the page” on the “old politics” of division and anger. He would end a politics that “breeds division and conflict and cynicism.” He would help us to “rediscover our bonds to each other and … get out of this constant petty bickering that’s come to characterize our politics.” He would “cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past.”
The Most Polarizing President Ever: pIt’s official now. Barack Obama’s ratings are “historically polarized,” according to a new Gallup survey. Jeffrey Jones of the Gallup organization writes, “The historically high gap between partisans’ job approval ratings of Barack Obama continued during Obama’s third year in office, with an average of 80 percent of Democrats and 12 percent of Republicans approving [...]/p
Jeffrey Jones of the Gallup organization writes, “The historically high gap between partisans’ job approval ratings of Barack Obama continued during Obama’s third year in office, with an average of 80 percent of Democrats and 12 percent of Republicans approving of the job he was doing… The 68-point gap between partisans’ approval ratings of Obama last year is nine points higher than that for any other president’s third year.” Obama, by the way, holds the record for the most polarized first and second years in office, too. Which means Obama has set a record for polarization every year he’s been in office.
So now is as good a time as any to remind people one of the core claims made by Barack Obama during his presidential campaign wasn’t simply that he would heal the planet; he would also heal the nation’s political breach. He would elevate the national debate. Reason would prevail over emotion. He would do away with what he called the “50 plus one” style of governing. Obama would “turn the page” on the “old politics” of division and anger. He would end a politics that “breeds division and conflict and cynicism.” He would help us to “rediscover our bonds to each other and … get out of this constant petty bickering that’s come to characterize our politics.” He would “cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past.”
The Most Polarizing President Ever: pIt’s official now. Barack Obama’s ratings are “historically polarized,” according to a new Gallup survey. Jeffrey Jones of the Gallup organization writes, “The historically high gap between partisans’ job approval ratings of Barack Obama continued during Obama’s third year in office, with an average of 80 percent of Democrats and 12 percent of Republicans approving [...]/p
Friday, January 27, 2012
Today's Conservative Quote
"It is increasingly clear that the President's vision for America differs from ours. We believe, as President Reagan said in his inaugural address, that "government is the problem not the solution." Only by unleashing the greatness of American individualism can we grow our way out of this recession. I hope the President will come to understand this and that he will work with Republicans to get an overzealous federal government out of the way."
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul
The Real State of the Union
Link to article:The Real State of the Union
Has Barack Obama learned nothing in three years? Last night, during his State of the Union address, he promised "a blueprint for an economy." But economies are crushed by blueprints. An economy is really nothing more than people participating in an unfathomably complex spontaneous network of exchanges aimed at improving their material circumstances. It can't even be diagrammed, much less planned. And any attempt at it will come to grief.
Politicians like Obama believe they are the best judges of how we should conduct our lives. Of course a word like "blueprint" would occur to the president. He, like most who want his job, aspires to be the architect of a new society.
Has Barack Obama learned nothing in three years? Last night, during his State of the Union address, he promised "a blueprint for an economy." But economies are crushed by blueprints. An economy is really nothing more than people participating in an unfathomably complex spontaneous network of exchanges aimed at improving their material circumstances. It can't even be diagrammed, much less planned. And any attempt at it will come to grief.
Politicians like Obama believe they are the best judges of how we should conduct our lives. Of course a word like "blueprint" would occur to the president. He, like most who want his job, aspires to be the architect of a new society.
Is Obama Creating A Nation Of Dependents? Nearly Half Now Get Government Benefits - Investors.com
Is Obama Creating A Nation Of Dependents? Nearly Half Now Get Government Benefits - Investors.com
Obama is creating a dependent nation much like Europe!
Obama is creating a dependent nation much like Europe!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Newt Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi - We Can Solve It
This is the Newt Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi ad for the We Campaign demanding action on climate change! Is this who we want as President?
Newt Gingrich Critical of Reagan in 1986!
“Measured against the scale and momentum of the Soviet empire’s challenge, the Reagan administration has failed, is failing, and without a dramatic change in strategy will continue to fail. . . . President Reagan is clearly failing.” Why? This was due partly to “his administration’s weak policies, which are inadequate and will ultimately fail”; partly to CIA, State, and Defense, which “have no strategies to defeat the empire.” But of course “the burden of this failure frankly must be placed first on President Reagan.”
Cong. Newt Gingrich speech on the floor of the House
Cong. Newt Gingrich speech on the floor of the House
Liberal Media Bias Exposed!
MRC founder and president Brent Bozell today announced the launch of "Tell The Truth 2012", a multi-million dollar campaign to document, expose and neutralize severe liberal bias in the reporting of the 2012 election campaign. It will be the largest undertaking by the Media Research Center in it's 25-year history as America's largest media watchdog organization.
Coulter: Re-Elect Obama:Vote Newt!
RE-ELECT OBAMA: VOTE NEWT!
January 25, 2012
To talk with Gingrich supporters is to enter a world where words have no meaning. They denounce Mitt Romney as a candidate being pushed on them by "the Establishment" -- with "the Establishment" defined as anyone who supports Romney or doesn't support Newt.
Gingrich may have spent his entire life in Washington and be so much of an insider that, as Jon Stewart says, "when Washington gets its prostate checked, it tickles [Newt]," but he is deemed the rebellious outsider challenging "the Establishment" -- because, again, "the Establishment" is anyone who opposes Newt.
This is the sort of circular reasoning one normally associates with Democrats, people whom small-town pharmacists refer to as "drug seekers" and Ron Paul supporters.
Newtons claim Romney is a "moderate," and Gingrich the true conservative -- a feat that can be accomplished only by refusing to believe anything Romney says ... and also refusing to believe anything Gingrich says.
-- Romney's one great "flip-flop" is on abortion. (I thought the reason we argued with people about abortion was to try to get them to "flip-flop" on this issue. Sometimes it works!)
Nearly two decades ago, when Romney was trying to defeat champion desecrator of life Sen. Teddy Kennedy, he sought to remove abortion as a campaign issue by declaring that he, too, supported Roe v. Wade.
(Nonetheless, Kennedy ran a campaign commercial against him featuring a Mormon woman complaining that Romney, as a Mormon elder, had pressured her not to have an abortion, but to give the child up for adoption. Are you getting the idea that Massachusetts is different from the rest of America, readers?)
Romney changed his mind on abortion -- not when it was politically advantageous, but when it mattered. As governor of liberal, pro-choice Massachusetts, he vetoed an embryonic stem cell bill and "worked closely" with Massachusetts Citizens for Life. The president of MCL recently issued a statement saying that, "since being elected governor, Mitt Romney has had a consistent commitment to the culture of life."
He didn't defend his changed position by saying he was a "historian," or denounce people who raised the switch as "fundamentally" dishonest asking "absurd" questions, or go back and forth and back and forth. He just said he changed his mind.
Meanwhile, Gingrich, who has run for office only in a small, majority Republican, undoubtedly pro-life congressional district, lobbied President Bush to support embryonic stem cell research.
-- Romney is now the only remaining candidate for president who opposes amnesty for illegals. (Ever since President Bush's amnesty plan cratered on the shoals of public opposition, no Republican will ever use the word "amnesty," despite wanting to keep illegals here -- just as Democrats refuse to say "abortion," while supporting every manner of destroying human life.)
Romney supports E-Verify and a fence on the border. As governor he promoted English immersion programs for immigrants, signed an agreement with the federal government allowing state troopers to enforce federal immigration laws, and opposed efforts to give illegal immigrants in-state tuition or driver's licenses.
At the same time, Romney says he'd like to staple a green card to the diploma of every immigrant here on a student visa who gets a higher degree in math or science.
Gingrich supports importing a slave labor force from Mexico under a "guest worker" program and wants to create government "citizen review boards" to grant amnesty on a case-by-case basis (i.e. all at once) to illegal aliens.
-- Romney supports entitlement reform along the lines of the Paul Ryan plan, as he has said plainly, but without histrionics, in the debates.
Just last year, Gingrich went on "Meet the Press" and called Ryan's plan -- supported by nearly every House Republican -- "right-wing social engineering."
He apologized for those remarks, then took back his apology, still later doubled down, calling the Ryan plan "suicide," and now -- currently, but it could change any minute -- Gingrich supports Ryan's entitlement reform efforts.
For the latest updates on Newt's position on the Ryan plan, go to http//twitter.com/#whatcheapshotgrandstandymovewillworknow?
-- As for crony capitalism, Romney made all his money in the private sector by his own diligence and talent -- even giving away all the money he inherited from his parents. He's never lived in Washington or traded on access to government officials.
Meanwhile, without the federal government, Gingrich would be penniless. He has been in Washington since the '70s, first as a congressman, then becoming a rich man on the basis of having been a congressman.
Most egregiously, he took $1.6 million to shill for Freddie Mac, one of the two institutions directly responsible for the housing crash that caused the financial collapse. (Or one of three, if you consider Barney Frank an institution.)
If the tea party stands for anything, it stands in absolute opposition to government insiders shoring up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the very time those institutions were blowing up the economy.
-- Romney could not be more forceful in saying he will issue a 50-state waiver to Obamacare his first day in office and then seek its formal repeal. Whether you like a state-wide insurance mandate or not, it's a world of difference when the federal government does it. Conservatives, having read the Constitution, ought to understand this.
It was on account of the difference between state and federal powers that the Supreme Court overturned the federal Violence Against Women Act. The court was not endorsing rape, but reminding us that states make laws about rape, not Congress.
To act as if Obamacare is the same thing as "Romneycare" is just a word game, on the order of acting like a "gun" has the same properties as a "gunny sack," or "fire" is the same thing as a "firefly."
Romney supported the idea of other states doing something along the lines of his health care bill, but always opposed insurance mandates from the federal government (just as I oppose the federal government issuing general laws about rape, but support state laws against rape.)
For those of you who still think Romneycare is the worst possible sin a Republican candidate could commit -- even worse than taking money from Freddie Mac as it destroyed the economy -- that doesn't help Gingrich: He supported Romneycare.
(While we're on the subject, the nation's leading conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, helped draft Romneycare. Indeed, Bob Moffit, Heritage's senior fellow on health care issues, can be seen in the picture of the bill-signing ceremony, standing proudly behind Romney.)
But Gingrich did more than support Romneycare. As former senator Rick Santorum has pointed out, Gingrich supported a FEDERAL individual mandate to purchase health insurance from 1993 until five minutes ago -- i.e., at least until a "Meet the Press" appearance just last May.
Asked by Maria Bartiromo in the CNBC debate last November to explain what he would do to fix health care, Newt attacked the question as "absurd" and said he would need a "several-hour period" to answer it.
In a world where words have meaning, Mitt Romney is not the "moderate" in this race. He is the most conservative candidate still standing, with the possible exception of Rick Santorum, who is bad on illegal immigration. (Santorum voted in the Senate against even the voluntary use of E-Verify by employers, which means he doesn't want to do anything about illegal immigration at all.)
Romney is "moderate" only in demeanor -- which is just another word game. His positions are more conservative than Gingrich's, but he doesn't scare people like Gingrich does. Ronald Reagan and Jesse Helms were moderate in demeanor, too. No one would call them political moderates.
Romney is the most electable candidate not only because it will be nearly impossible for the media to demonize this self-made Mormon square, devoted to his wife and church, but precisely because he is the most conservative candidate.
Conservatism is an electable quality. Hotheaded arrogance is neither conservative nor attractive to voters.
January 25, 2012
To talk with Gingrich supporters is to enter a world where words have no meaning. They denounce Mitt Romney as a candidate being pushed on them by "the Establishment" -- with "the Establishment" defined as anyone who supports Romney or doesn't support Newt.
Gingrich may have spent his entire life in Washington and be so much of an insider that, as Jon Stewart says, "when Washington gets its prostate checked, it tickles [Newt]," but he is deemed the rebellious outsider challenging "the Establishment" -- because, again, "the Establishment" is anyone who opposes Newt.
This is the sort of circular reasoning one normally associates with Democrats, people whom small-town pharmacists refer to as "drug seekers" and Ron Paul supporters.
Newtons claim Romney is a "moderate," and Gingrich the true conservative -- a feat that can be accomplished only by refusing to believe anything Romney says ... and also refusing to believe anything Gingrich says.
-- Romney's one great "flip-flop" is on abortion. (I thought the reason we argued with people about abortion was to try to get them to "flip-flop" on this issue. Sometimes it works!)
Nearly two decades ago, when Romney was trying to defeat champion desecrator of life Sen. Teddy Kennedy, he sought to remove abortion as a campaign issue by declaring that he, too, supported Roe v. Wade.
(Nonetheless, Kennedy ran a campaign commercial against him featuring a Mormon woman complaining that Romney, as a Mormon elder, had pressured her not to have an abortion, but to give the child up for adoption. Are you getting the idea that Massachusetts is different from the rest of America, readers?)
Romney changed his mind on abortion -- not when it was politically advantageous, but when it mattered. As governor of liberal, pro-choice Massachusetts, he vetoed an embryonic stem cell bill and "worked closely" with Massachusetts Citizens for Life. The president of MCL recently issued a statement saying that, "since being elected governor, Mitt Romney has had a consistent commitment to the culture of life."
He didn't defend his changed position by saying he was a "historian," or denounce people who raised the switch as "fundamentally" dishonest asking "absurd" questions, or go back and forth and back and forth. He just said he changed his mind.
Meanwhile, Gingrich, who has run for office only in a small, majority Republican, undoubtedly pro-life congressional district, lobbied President Bush to support embryonic stem cell research.
-- Romney is now the only remaining candidate for president who opposes amnesty for illegals. (Ever since President Bush's amnesty plan cratered on the shoals of public opposition, no Republican will ever use the word "amnesty," despite wanting to keep illegals here -- just as Democrats refuse to say "abortion," while supporting every manner of destroying human life.)
Romney supports E-Verify and a fence on the border. As governor he promoted English immersion programs for immigrants, signed an agreement with the federal government allowing state troopers to enforce federal immigration laws, and opposed efforts to give illegal immigrants in-state tuition or driver's licenses.
At the same time, Romney says he'd like to staple a green card to the diploma of every immigrant here on a student visa who gets a higher degree in math or science.
Gingrich supports importing a slave labor force from Mexico under a "guest worker" program and wants to create government "citizen review boards" to grant amnesty on a case-by-case basis (i.e. all at once) to illegal aliens.
-- Romney supports entitlement reform along the lines of the Paul Ryan plan, as he has said plainly, but without histrionics, in the debates.
Just last year, Gingrich went on "Meet the Press" and called Ryan's plan -- supported by nearly every House Republican -- "right-wing social engineering."
He apologized for those remarks, then took back his apology, still later doubled down, calling the Ryan plan "suicide," and now -- currently, but it could change any minute -- Gingrich supports Ryan's entitlement reform efforts.
For the latest updates on Newt's position on the Ryan plan, go to http//twitter.com/#whatcheapshotgrandstandymovewillworknow?
-- As for crony capitalism, Romney made all his money in the private sector by his own diligence and talent -- even giving away all the money he inherited from his parents. He's never lived in Washington or traded on access to government officials.
Meanwhile, without the federal government, Gingrich would be penniless. He has been in Washington since the '70s, first as a congressman, then becoming a rich man on the basis of having been a congressman.
Most egregiously, he took $1.6 million to shill for Freddie Mac, one of the two institutions directly responsible for the housing crash that caused the financial collapse. (Or one of three, if you consider Barney Frank an institution.)
If the tea party stands for anything, it stands in absolute opposition to government insiders shoring up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the very time those institutions were blowing up the economy.
-- Romney could not be more forceful in saying he will issue a 50-state waiver to Obamacare his first day in office and then seek its formal repeal. Whether you like a state-wide insurance mandate or not, it's a world of difference when the federal government does it. Conservatives, having read the Constitution, ought to understand this.
It was on account of the difference between state and federal powers that the Supreme Court overturned the federal Violence Against Women Act. The court was not endorsing rape, but reminding us that states make laws about rape, not Congress.
To act as if Obamacare is the same thing as "Romneycare" is just a word game, on the order of acting like a "gun" has the same properties as a "gunny sack," or "fire" is the same thing as a "firefly."
Romney supported the idea of other states doing something along the lines of his health care bill, but always opposed insurance mandates from the federal government (just as I oppose the federal government issuing general laws about rape, but support state laws against rape.)
For those of you who still think Romneycare is the worst possible sin a Republican candidate could commit -- even worse than taking money from Freddie Mac as it destroyed the economy -- that doesn't help Gingrich: He supported Romneycare.
(While we're on the subject, the nation's leading conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, helped draft Romneycare. Indeed, Bob Moffit, Heritage's senior fellow on health care issues, can be seen in the picture of the bill-signing ceremony, standing proudly behind Romney.)
But Gingrich did more than support Romneycare. As former senator Rick Santorum has pointed out, Gingrich supported a FEDERAL individual mandate to purchase health insurance from 1993 until five minutes ago -- i.e., at least until a "Meet the Press" appearance just last May.
Asked by Maria Bartiromo in the CNBC debate last November to explain what he would do to fix health care, Newt attacked the question as "absurd" and said he would need a "several-hour period" to answer it.
In a world where words have meaning, Mitt Romney is not the "moderate" in this race. He is the most conservative candidate still standing, with the possible exception of Rick Santorum, who is bad on illegal immigration. (Santorum voted in the Senate against even the voluntary use of E-Verify by employers, which means he doesn't want to do anything about illegal immigration at all.)
Romney is "moderate" only in demeanor -- which is just another word game. His positions are more conservative than Gingrich's, but he doesn't scare people like Gingrich does. Ronald Reagan and Jesse Helms were moderate in demeanor, too. No one would call them political moderates.
Romney is the most electable candidate not only because it will be nearly impossible for the media to demonize this self-made Mormon square, devoted to his wife and church, but precisely because he is the most conservative candidate.
Conservatism is an electable quality. Hotheaded arrogance is neither conservative nor attractive to voters.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Multi-Millionaire Brian Williams Hits Romney For His 'Unimaginable Wealth' | NewsBusters.org
In an interview with Mitt Romney following the State of the Union Tuesday night, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams used the tax returns of the former Massachusetts governor as a weapon: "And it's fair to ask tonight, will you be explaining further the story of them, the back story....the amounts we've learned about today equaling unfathomable wealth for most Americans..."
Earlier in the evening, at the top of Nightly News, Williams was equally melodramatic: "...Mitt Romney, chose today to release his tax returns from the year 2010. He did it to help stop the questions about his wealth, but in releasing his taxes, he reveals what most Americans will regard as unimaginable wealth...." Williams signaled the media would not let go of the issue: "The numbers in these returns will likely get talked about for the rest of the way in this campaign."
Williams should be reminded that people in luxury Manhattan apartments shouldn't throw stones. A 2008 Parade magazine profile of the NBC anchor detailed his high-end digs at the top of New York's Bloomberg building, surrounded by famous neighbors: "...gutty Yankees import Johnny Damon and Phillies slugger Bobby Abreu, singer Beyoncé Knowles and, in a corporate Big Love, both former GE chief Jack Welch and current G.E. chief Jeffrey Immelt."
The article goes on to note that apartments in that building at the time ranged from "$2 to $27 million."
In addition, TV Guide's 2011 list of the highest paid people in television placed Williams' salary at $13 million annually.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2012/01/25/multi-millionaire-brian-williams-hits-romney-his-unimaginable-wealth#ixzz1kWVyYDpk
Link:Multi-Millionaire Brian Williams Hits Romney For His 'Unimaginable Wealth' | NewsBusters.org
Earlier in the evening, at the top of Nightly News, Williams was equally melodramatic: "...Mitt Romney, chose today to release his tax returns from the year 2010. He did it to help stop the questions about his wealth, but in releasing his taxes, he reveals what most Americans will regard as unimaginable wealth...." Williams signaled the media would not let go of the issue: "The numbers in these returns will likely get talked about for the rest of the way in this campaign."
Williams should be reminded that people in luxury Manhattan apartments shouldn't throw stones. A 2008 Parade magazine profile of the NBC anchor detailed his high-end digs at the top of New York's Bloomberg building, surrounded by famous neighbors: "...gutty Yankees import Johnny Damon and Phillies slugger Bobby Abreu, singer Beyoncé Knowles and, in a corporate Big Love, both former GE chief Jack Welch and current G.E. chief Jeffrey Immelt."
The article goes on to note that apartments in that building at the time ranged from "$2 to $27 million."
In addition, TV Guide's 2011 list of the highest paid people in television placed Williams' salary at $13 million annually.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2012/01/25/multi-millionaire-brian-williams-hits-romney-his-unimaginable-wealth#ixzz1kWVyYDpk
Link:Multi-Millionaire Brian Williams Hits Romney For His 'Unimaginable Wealth' | NewsBusters.org
Mitch Daniels's Response to the State of the Union | The Weekly Standard
“The status of ‘loyal opposition’ imposes on those out of power some serious responsibilities: to show respect for the Presidency and its occupant, to express agreement where it exists. Republicans tonight salute our President, for instance, for his aggressive pursuit of the murderers of 9/11, and for bravely backing long overdue changes in public education. I personally would add to that list admiration for the strong family commitment that he and the First Lady have displayed to a nation sorely needing such examples.
“On these evenings, Presidents naturally seek to find the sunny side of our national condition. But when President Obama claims that the state of our union is anything but grave, he must know in his heart that this is not true.
“The President did not cause the economic and fiscal crises that continue in America tonight. But he was elected on a promise to fix them, and he cannot claim that the last three years have made things anything but worse: the percentage of Americans with a job is at the lowest in decades. One in five men of prime working age, and nearly half of all persons under 30, did not go to work today.
“In three short years, an unprecedented explosion of spending, with borrowed money, has added trillions to an already unaffordable national debt. And yet, the President has put us on a course to make it radically worse in the years ahead. The federal government now spends one of every four dollars in the entire economy; it borrows one of every three dollars it spends. No nation, no entity, large or small, public or private, can thrive, or survive intact, with debts as huge as ours.
Entire response:Mitch Daniels's Response to the State of the Union | The Weekly Standard
“On these evenings, Presidents naturally seek to find the sunny side of our national condition. But when President Obama claims that the state of our union is anything but grave, he must know in his heart that this is not true.
“The President did not cause the economic and fiscal crises that continue in America tonight. But he was elected on a promise to fix them, and he cannot claim that the last three years have made things anything but worse: the percentage of Americans with a job is at the lowest in decades. One in five men of prime working age, and nearly half of all persons under 30, did not go to work today.
“In three short years, an unprecedented explosion of spending, with borrowed money, has added trillions to an already unaffordable national debt. And yet, the President has put us on a course to make it radically worse in the years ahead. The federal government now spends one of every four dollars in the entire economy; it borrows one of every three dollars it spends. No nation, no entity, large or small, public or private, can thrive, or survive intact, with debts as huge as ours.
Entire response:Mitch Daniels's Response to the State of the Union | The Weekly Standard
Sen. Marco Rubio scolds Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign for calling Mitt Romney “anti-immigrant” - Florida - MiamiHerald.com
Rubio scolds Gingrich camp, says ad bashing 'anti-immigrant' Romney is 'inaccurate, inflammatory'
Sen. Marco Rubio scolded Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign over a Spanish-language radio ad that accuses rival Mitt Romney of being “anti-immigrant”
“This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign,” Rubio told The Miami Herald when asked about the ad.
“The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant,” Rubio said. “Both are pro-legal immigration and both have positive messages that play well in the Hispanic community.”
Rubio’s sharp rebuke comes a day after he subtly corrected Gingrich for comparing Romney to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, branded by conservatives as a turncoat who left the party before Rubio beat him in 2010.
The criticisms from someone of Rubio’s stature in the Republican Party comes as polls show a near-even race, albeit with Gingrich surging.
Rubio plans to stay neutral in the race. He’s a potential running mate whom both candidates would love to have on the ballot. And he’s gaining iconic status among many national Republicans who see him as a face of the future in a nation that’s growing more Latino.
Miami, Rubio's hometown, is a key battleground. The candidates are all wooing the Cuban-exile community here, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the Republican vote in the largest county of the nation’s largest swing state.
Already, about 54,000 early ballots have been cast in Miami Dade, where nearly three-quarters of the Republicans are Hispanic.
Rubio’s statement was fueled by the explosive, partisan debate over immigration, a key issue this election season as both parties aggressively court the Hispanic vote.
Democrats and liberals have tried to paint the Republican candidates as anti-immigrant or even anti-Hispanic for opposing legislation such as the DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants – mainly college students and soldiers.
Rubio, who frets that the DREAM Act gives too much “amnesty” to a broader class of immigrants, and other Republicans have accused Democrats of playing rank ethnic politics.
So when Gingrich’s radio spot described Romney as “the most anti-immigrant candidate,” Rubio and others felt he not only crossed the line – he was adopting liberal criticisms.
Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/01/rubio-scolds-gingrich-camp-says-ad-bashing-anti-immigrant-romney-is-inaccurate-inflammatory.html#storylink=cpy
Sen. Marco Rubio scolds Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign for calling Mitt Romney “anti-immigrant” - Florida - MiamiHerald.com
Sen. Marco Rubio scolded Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign over a Spanish-language radio ad that accuses rival Mitt Romney of being “anti-immigrant”
“This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign,” Rubio told The Miami Herald when asked about the ad.
“The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant,” Rubio said. “Both are pro-legal immigration and both have positive messages that play well in the Hispanic community.”
Rubio’s sharp rebuke comes a day after he subtly corrected Gingrich for comparing Romney to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, branded by conservatives as a turncoat who left the party before Rubio beat him in 2010.
The criticisms from someone of Rubio’s stature in the Republican Party comes as polls show a near-even race, albeit with Gingrich surging.
Rubio plans to stay neutral in the race. He’s a potential running mate whom both candidates would love to have on the ballot. And he’s gaining iconic status among many national Republicans who see him as a face of the future in a nation that’s growing more Latino.
Miami, Rubio's hometown, is a key battleground. The candidates are all wooing the Cuban-exile community here, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the Republican vote in the largest county of the nation’s largest swing state.
Already, about 54,000 early ballots have been cast in Miami Dade, where nearly three-quarters of the Republicans are Hispanic.
Rubio’s statement was fueled by the explosive, partisan debate over immigration, a key issue this election season as both parties aggressively court the Hispanic vote.
Democrats and liberals have tried to paint the Republican candidates as anti-immigrant or even anti-Hispanic for opposing legislation such as the DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants – mainly college students and soldiers.
Rubio, who frets that the DREAM Act gives too much “amnesty” to a broader class of immigrants, and other Republicans have accused Democrats of playing rank ethnic politics.
So when Gingrich’s radio spot described Romney as “the most anti-immigrant candidate,” Rubio and others felt he not only crossed the line – he was adopting liberal criticisms.
Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/01/rubio-scolds-gingrich-camp-says-ad-bashing-anti-immigrant-romney-is-inaccurate-inflammatory.html#storylink=cpy
Sen. Marco Rubio scolds Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign for calling Mitt Romney “anti-immigrant” - Florida - MiamiHerald.com
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
EDITORIAL: Obama's America: A tired old mare - Washington Times
In his State of the Union speech, President Obama will try to make the case that he has been one of the most successful chief executives in American history when it comes to foreign affairs. It takes more than being briefed on the Osama bin Laden takedown to make a great leader. The vast gulf between his promises and results argues against him.
The Obama foreign-policy team came to town with visions of creating a new and more perfect world. It envisaged a break with the policies of the George W. Bush administration, a resurrection of U.S. prestige and a new age of global cooperation and peace. Mr. Obama hoped his pledges to close the terrorist detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; extend full constitutional protection to foreign terrorists; and end the Bush-era enhanced-interrogation techniques - which he called torture - would signal this clean break and immediately establish his credibility.
Link:EDITORIAL: Obama's America: A tired old mare - Washington Times
The Obama foreign-policy team came to town with visions of creating a new and more perfect world. It envisaged a break with the policies of the George W. Bush administration, a resurrection of U.S. prestige and a new age of global cooperation and peace. Mr. Obama hoped his pledges to close the terrorist detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; extend full constitutional protection to foreign terrorists; and end the Bush-era enhanced-interrogation techniques - which he called torture - would signal this clean break and immediately establish his credibility.
Link:EDITORIAL: Obama's America: A tired old mare - Washington Times
Today's Quote
"We also need to encourage Americans to become more fiscally responsible themselves. We can do this by redesigning our tax system into an expenditure tax with a single flat rate. ... We have to substantially reduce the size and scope of the federal government, fundamentally increase the role of the states in choosing their own practices, and bring decision-making closer to the people, not to unelected administrators. These steps are crucial to getting our nation on a path of fiscal, political and constitutional responsibility."
-- Edwin Feulner
Founder of Heritage Foundation
-- Edwin Feulner
Founder of Heritage Foundation
Romney's 'Prebuttal' of Obama's State of the Union Address | The Weekly Standard
Tampa, Fla.
Though he's dropped behind Newt Gingrich in Florida polls, Mitt Romney sought to project the confident air of a frontrunner Tuesday, as he delivered a speech that ignored his GOP rival and focused solely on President Obama's failed policies and the economy. Speaking to a small crowd of supporters and TV cameras at a drywall factory that had shuttered its doors, Romney said that "in 2008, this plant closed because of the economic downturn. In a normal recovery under strong leadership, it could now be full of workers."
Romney's typical stump speech is heavy on feel-good patriotic talk about how much he loves the song "America the Beautiful," but today's remarks were focused more sharply on Obama. "This president’s agenda made these troubled times last longer. He and his allies made it harder for the economy to recover," Romney said. "Instead of solving the housing crisis and getting Americans back to work, President Obama has been building a European-style welfare state. He has pushed for a second stimulus and deep cuts to our national defense. He’s asking the American people for another trillion dollars – and another term in office."
Romney's 'Prebuttal' of Obama's State of the Union Address | The Weekly Standard
Though he's dropped behind Newt Gingrich in Florida polls, Mitt Romney sought to project the confident air of a frontrunner Tuesday, as he delivered a speech that ignored his GOP rival and focused solely on President Obama's failed policies and the economy. Speaking to a small crowd of supporters and TV cameras at a drywall factory that had shuttered its doors, Romney said that "in 2008, this plant closed because of the economic downturn. In a normal recovery under strong leadership, it could now be full of workers."
Romney's typical stump speech is heavy on feel-good patriotic talk about how much he loves the song "America the Beautiful," but today's remarks were focused more sharply on Obama. "This president’s agenda made these troubled times last longer. He and his allies made it harder for the economy to recover," Romney said. "Instead of solving the housing crisis and getting Americans back to work, President Obama has been building a European-style welfare state. He has pushed for a second stimulus and deep cuts to our national defense. He’s asking the American people for another trillion dollars – and another term in office."
Romney's 'Prebuttal' of Obama's State of the Union Address | The Weekly Standard
Today's Freedom Quote
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."
-- Frederick Douglass
-- Frederick Douglass
Monday, January 23, 2012
Today's Freedom Quote
"The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our own money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the dispensation of the public moneys."
-Thomas Jefferson
-Thomas Jefferson
CURL: The truly dismal state of the union - Washington Times
There is one person — one American among the 300 million of us — who is not to blame for the state of the union. Everyone else, each of you, in some small or large way, bears some share of the blame, but not this guy. Not one little bit.
This guy is Barack Obama. He is not the least bit to blame for the dismal state of the U.S. economy. George W. Bush is, for sure, and that evil Dick Cheney, oh, no doubt. House Speaker John A. Boehner — evil, too — is, of course, to blame. But guess what? So is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and every Democrat in the House and Senate.
Now, President Truman made it very clear: The buck stops with him. No passing the buck for that guy. But Mr. Obama blames everyone but himself. Mr. Bush, he says, left the nation in a ditch, a deep ditch, and he’s been digging out since he took office. And Congress? Those guys are just plain awful, he says. So mean. Wah, they won’t do anything I want done! Mr. Obama feels so sure about it that he’s basing his re-election campaign on bashing Capitol Hill.
Link:CURL: The truly dismal state of the union - Washington Times
This guy is Barack Obama. He is not the least bit to blame for the dismal state of the U.S. economy. George W. Bush is, for sure, and that evil Dick Cheney, oh, no doubt. House Speaker John A. Boehner — evil, too — is, of course, to blame. But guess what? So is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and every Democrat in the House and Senate.
Now, President Truman made it very clear: The buck stops with him. No passing the buck for that guy. But Mr. Obama blames everyone but himself. Mr. Bush, he says, left the nation in a ditch, a deep ditch, and he’s been digging out since he took office. And Congress? Those guys are just plain awful, he says. So mean. Wah, they won’t do anything I want done! Mr. Obama feels so sure about it that he’s basing his re-election campaign on bashing Capitol Hill.
Link:CURL: The truly dismal state of the union - Washington Times
'Reformer' Gingrich embodies what is wrong with Washington | Washington Examiner
'Reformer' Gingrich embodies what is wrong with Washington | Washington Examiner
Basking in his big victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, Newt Gingrich modestly acknowledged that he was not the main reason for his win: "People completely misunderstand what is going on. It's not that I'm a good debater, it's just that I articulate the deeply held values of the American people." Gingrich is right, of course; he does do a superb job of talking about Americans' most deeply held values. The problem is that Gingrich has not practiced them in his professional life. He exemplifies what is wrong with Washington in both parties -- professional politicians say all the right things, but they keep doing the wrong things.
Gingrich talks incessantly about being a "Reagan conservative" who supports "limited government." That sounds good but the reality is that he cashed $1.6 million worth of checks from Freddie Mac over an eight-year period and gave the government-backed mortgage giant rhetorical fodder to fend off reformers in Congress. The reformers, including President George W. Bush, backed off, and Freddie and Fannie Mae plowed forward -- buying, packaging and reselling hundreds of billions of dollars worth of bad mortgages until the housing bubble burst in 2007. The Great Recession of 2008 followed, and the cost to taxpayers so far is $153 billion and counting. And now Gingrich expects to be taken seriously as a radical reformer of the Washington Establishment?
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2012/01/reformer-gingrich-embodies-what-wrong-washington/2123821#ixzz1kKFHI9wp
Basking in his big victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, Newt Gingrich modestly acknowledged that he was not the main reason for his win: "People completely misunderstand what is going on. It's not that I'm a good debater, it's just that I articulate the deeply held values of the American people." Gingrich is right, of course; he does do a superb job of talking about Americans' most deeply held values. The problem is that Gingrich has not practiced them in his professional life. He exemplifies what is wrong with Washington in both parties -- professional politicians say all the right things, but they keep doing the wrong things.
Gingrich talks incessantly about being a "Reagan conservative" who supports "limited government." That sounds good but the reality is that he cashed $1.6 million worth of checks from Freddie Mac over an eight-year period and gave the government-backed mortgage giant rhetorical fodder to fend off reformers in Congress. The reformers, including President George W. Bush, backed off, and Freddie and Fannie Mae plowed forward -- buying, packaging and reselling hundreds of billions of dollars worth of bad mortgages until the housing bubble burst in 2007. The Great Recession of 2008 followed, and the cost to taxpayers so far is $153 billion and counting. And now Gingrich expects to be taken seriously as a radical reformer of the Washington Establishment?
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2012/01/reformer-gingrich-embodies-what-wrong-washington/2123821#ixzz1kKFHI9wp
Florida
Tony Lee : Human Events
After a dominant victory in South Carolina, Newt Gingrich storms into Florida today. Fortunately for Gingrich, he also has two more debates -- tonight and on Thursday. Gingrich is leading by up to eight points, according to an InsiderAdvantage poll. Five of those points, however, should be shaved off because Romney has a lot of absentee ballots that have been mailed in his favor already.
With that said, here are five things to look for going into Florida:
1) In 2008, Mitt Romney narrowly won the white vote (read: he ran to the right of McCain), but McCain won the Hispanic vote and ended up winning Florida. Somehow, Gingrich could actually be positioned to win the more conservative white vote and the Hispanic vote. Should he do this, it gives Gingrich a powerful message that he could also be a better candidate than Romney in the general election in retaining the conservative vote while competing in minority communities.
2) Florida is a closed primary. I wish all primaries would be closed, but Florida is the first one that actually is. No independents, or, inexplicably, Democrats can vote in the primary. Since only Republicans are allowed to vote, this should favor the candidate who is perceived as being more conservative, who is Gingrich.
3) Absentee and early voting. Keep in mind that nearly 200,000 people still have their absentee ballots and have not mailed them in. In addition, early voting has started in Florida, so people can vote throughout the week. This means that every day is a mini primary and events such as debates can make a difference in impacting turnout.
4) Florida is won on television. How much free media Gingrich gets this week versus how much paid media Romney puts up will be worth monitoring.
5) Endorsements. Will Sarah Palin, whose South Carolina endorsement of Gingrich was instrumental in allowing Gingrich to accelerate past Romney, also endorse him in Florida to bring the hammer down on Romney’s candidacy?
After a dominant victory in South Carolina, Newt Gingrich storms into Florida today. Fortunately for Gingrich, he also has two more debates -- tonight and on Thursday. Gingrich is leading by up to eight points, according to an InsiderAdvantage poll. Five of those points, however, should be shaved off because Romney has a lot of absentee ballots that have been mailed in his favor already.
With that said, here are five things to look for going into Florida:
1) In 2008, Mitt Romney narrowly won the white vote (read: he ran to the right of McCain), but McCain won the Hispanic vote and ended up winning Florida. Somehow, Gingrich could actually be positioned to win the more conservative white vote and the Hispanic vote. Should he do this, it gives Gingrich a powerful message that he could also be a better candidate than Romney in the general election in retaining the conservative vote while competing in minority communities.
2) Florida is a closed primary. I wish all primaries would be closed, but Florida is the first one that actually is. No independents, or, inexplicably, Democrats can vote in the primary. Since only Republicans are allowed to vote, this should favor the candidate who is perceived as being more conservative, who is Gingrich.
3) Absentee and early voting. Keep in mind that nearly 200,000 people still have their absentee ballots and have not mailed them in. In addition, early voting has started in Florida, so people can vote throughout the week. This means that every day is a mini primary and events such as debates can make a difference in impacting turnout.
4) Florida is won on television. How much free media Gingrich gets this week versus how much paid media Romney puts up will be worth monitoring.
5) Endorsements. Will Sarah Palin, whose South Carolina endorsement of Gingrich was instrumental in allowing Gingrich to accelerate past Romney, also endorse him in Florida to bring the hammer down on Romney’s candidacy?
Davos elites to seek reforms of 'outdated' capitalism
Economic and political elites meeting this week at the Swiss resort of Davos will be asked to urgently find ways to reform a capitalist system that has been described as "outdated and crumbling."
"We have a general morality gap, we are over-leveraged, we have neglected to invest in the future, we have undermined social coherence, and we are in danger of completely losing the confidence of future generations," said Klaus Schwab, host and founder of the annual World Economic Forum.
"Solving problems in the context of outdated and crumbling models will only dig us deeper into the hole.
"We are in an era of profound change that urgently requires new ways of thinking instead of more business-as-usual," the 73-year-old said, adding that "capitalism in its current form, has no place in the world around us."
Link:Davos elites to seek reforms of 'outdated' capitalism
"We have a general morality gap, we are over-leveraged, we have neglected to invest in the future, we have undermined social coherence, and we are in danger of completely losing the confidence of future generations," said Klaus Schwab, host and founder of the annual World Economic Forum.
"Solving problems in the context of outdated and crumbling models will only dig us deeper into the hole.
"We are in an era of profound change that urgently requires new ways of thinking instead of more business-as-usual," the 73-year-old said, adding that "capitalism in its current form, has no place in the world around us."
Link:Davos elites to seek reforms of 'outdated' capitalism
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Today's Reaganism
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same."
~President Ronald Reagan
~President Ronald Reagan
What Mitt Must Learn from South Carolina | The Weekly Standard
Mitt Romney needs a big idea. And it’s not the one he cited at the beginning of his speech after his humiliating loss to Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina primary Saturday. Executive experience matters, Romney said. He has it and Gingrich, like President Obama, doesn’t.
That’s not a winning argument—far from it. Voters in South Carolina rallied to Gingrich because his campaign is based on a big idea: he’ll crush Obama in debates and win the White House. And he’s fervent and tough in pursuing the presidency, as he showed in denouncing CNN debate anchor John King for raising charges by his ex-wife that he wanted an “open marriage.”
A big idea and passion trump experience. Voters didn’t elect Ronald Reagan because he’d been governor of California. They chose him over President Carter in 1980 because he had a daring plan for reviving the economy and was committed to rolling back Soviet communism.
Romney’s insistence on touting, above all, his years as a corporate turnaround expert at Bain Capital and his understanding of the economy simply don’t cut it in a hotly contested Republican presidential race. Those don’t produce enthusiasm or momentum.
Link:What Mitt Must Learn from South Carolina | The Weekly Standard
That’s not a winning argument—far from it. Voters in South Carolina rallied to Gingrich because his campaign is based on a big idea: he’ll crush Obama in debates and win the White House. And he’s fervent and tough in pursuing the presidency, as he showed in denouncing CNN debate anchor John King for raising charges by his ex-wife that he wanted an “open marriage.”
A big idea and passion trump experience. Voters didn’t elect Ronald Reagan because he’d been governor of California. They chose him over President Carter in 1980 because he had a daring plan for reviving the economy and was committed to rolling back Soviet communism.
Romney’s insistence on touting, above all, his years as a corporate turnaround expert at Bain Capital and his understanding of the economy simply don’t cut it in a hotly contested Republican presidential race. Those don’t produce enthusiasm or momentum.
Link:What Mitt Must Learn from South Carolina | The Weekly Standard
Breitbart.tv » Christie Defends Romney: Newt ‘Has Embarrassed The Party’
CHRISTIE DEFENDS ROMNEY: NEWT ‘HAS EMBARRASSED THE PARTY’
Breitbart.tv » Christie Defends Romney: Newt ‘Has Embarrassed The Party’
Breitbart.tv » Christie Defends Romney: Newt ‘Has Embarrassed The Party’
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Reality Check!
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read: Unfortunately, most voters don't know this.
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealth out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them; and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealth out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them; and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
Just Asking!
What has happened to our beloved America? First our dysfunctional electorate elected an inexperieced socialist! Now the Republicans may nominate an immoral former Speaker who has no chance of winning.
I think we are suffering from mass insanity.
Steve Manning
I think we are suffering from mass insanity.
Steve Manning
Middle America loves conservatives who stand up to liberal bullies | David Limbaugh | Columnists | Washington Examiner
I wish Republican politicians would have faith in the largely conservative electorate and not behave as though they'll make themselves unelectable unless they pander to Generic Moderate. Who is that guy, anyway? Have you ever met him?
Recently, we've seen a few examples of the liberal narrative's rearing its oppressive head and starkly different reactions to it. The first was Mitt Romney's reportedly telling The Wall Street Journal that as a wealthy person, he thinks he lacks the credibility to aggressively push tax cuts. Mitt is also looking timid about releasing his tax returns.
He needs to fight back -- consistently -- instead of surrendering to the liberal narrative that success is evil. Mitt should take a lesson from Newt Gingrich on counterpunching against false liberal charges and innuendo.
Link:Middle America loves conservatives who stand up to liberal bullies | David Limbaugh | Columnists | Washington Examiner
Recently, we've seen a few examples of the liberal narrative's rearing its oppressive head and starkly different reactions to it. The first was Mitt Romney's reportedly telling The Wall Street Journal that as a wealthy person, he thinks he lacks the credibility to aggressively push tax cuts. Mitt is also looking timid about releasing his tax returns.
He needs to fight back -- consistently -- instead of surrendering to the liberal narrative that success is evil. Mitt should take a lesson from Newt Gingrich on counterpunching against false liberal charges and innuendo.
Link:Middle America loves conservatives who stand up to liberal bullies | David Limbaugh | Columnists | Washington Examiner
Friday, January 20, 2012
Obama chooses American decline - Washington Times
Which nation will be the world’s leading superpower a few decades from now? I fervently hope it is the United States, and I have great faith in American ingenuity. But the Obama administration’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline is a reminder of why our No. 1 position is in jeopardy.
Link:Obama chooses American decline - Washington Times
Link:Obama chooses American decline - Washington Times
Republicans Turn A Democratic Talking Point Against Themsevles - Investors.com
It's the campaign line of the year, and while the author won't be carrying it into the general election, the eventual nominee will.
The charge is straightforward: President Obama's reckless spending has dangerously increased the national debt while leaving unemployment high and the economy stagnant. Concurrently, he has vastly increased the scope and reach of government with new entitlements and oppressive regulation, with higher taxes to come (to offset the unprecedented spending).
In 2010, that narrative carried the Republicans to historic electoral success. Through most of 2011, it dominated Washington discourse. The air was filled with debt talk: ceilings, supercommittees, Simpson-Bowles.
Link to article:Republicans Turn A Democratic Talking Point Against Themsevles - Investors.com
Barack Obama | 2012 Campaign Slogans | Re-election | The Daily Caller
10.) No we couldn’t, but maybe if you gave us four more years we can? Vote Obama 2012.
9.) There is only so low we can go before we bottom out. Vote Obama 2012.
8.) I still have so many speeches left to give. Vote Obama 2012.
7.) We’re not better off than we were 4 years ago, but we are better than we were 400 years ago! Vote Obama 2012.
6.) Goodbye 18-hole Sundays, hello 9-hole Saturdays. Vote Obama 2012.
5.) Give Carter the second term he never had. Vote Obama 2012.
4.) Four words: Attorney General John Edwards. Vote Obama 2012.
3.) Ain’t no party like an Obama inauguration party and you won’t get one if you don’t vote for me. Vote Obama 2012.
2.) Two words: More Biden. Vote Obama 2012.
1.) 9/11 was an inside job. Vote Obama 2012.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/19/what-comes-after-hope-and-change-the-top-10-losing-obama-slogans-for-2012/#ixzz1k16mz6tn
Barack Obama | 2012 Campaign Slogans | Re-election | The Daily Caller
Friday Humor: Anagram
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
When you rearrange the letters:
STRUGGLING INCOMPETENT LIAR
When you rearrange the letters:
STRUGGLING INCOMPETENT LIAR
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Today's Freedom Quote
"Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people."
-Henry Clay
-Henry Clay
Give Em' Hell Newt!
At the final Republican debate before Saturday's South Carolina primary, Newt Gingrich strongly denied his ex-wife's allegation to ABC that he had asked for an "open marriage" prior to their divorce and harshly criticized CNN moderator John King's decision to begin the debate with a question about the story.“I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that," Gingrich said.
Republicans and Democrats equally to blame for standing of Congress | Washington Examiner
Nobody can remember the last time the public approval rating of Congress was so low. That's because it's never before been as low as it is now -- 13 percent positive, according to Gallup. It's not hard to see why: The American people are fed up with the bipartisan corruption, endless partisan bickering and lack of concrete action to address the nation's most pressing problems, especially out-of-control spending and the exploding national debt. When nearly nine out of 10 people disapprove, there is more than enough blame to go around among Democrats and Republicans. Both parties have presided over congressional majorities as Congress sank in public esteem during the past decade.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2012/01/republicans-and-democrats-equally-blame-standing-congress/2110451#ixzz1jxDdoXQ1
Link:Republicans and Democrats equally to blame for standing of Congress | Washington Examiner
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2012/01/republicans-and-democrats-equally-blame-standing-congress/2110451#ixzz1jxDdoXQ1
Link:Republicans and Democrats equally to blame for standing of Congress | Washington Examiner
Newt Gingrich cuts off media when asked about extramarital affairs - The Hill's Ballot Box
Newt Gingrich abruptly ended a press conference Thursday when pressed on his extramarital affairs.
“I’m not going to say anything about Marianne,” Gingrich said with an edge to his voice as he was pressed with questions about an explosive interview his ex-wife Marianne Gingrich has given to ABC. Marianne Gingrich claims her former husband asked her for an "open marriage" so he could continue a romantic involvement with a congressional aide who eventually became his third wife, Callista Gingrich.
“It’s an issue I confront every time is comes up and I confront it exactly the same way it comes up and the people seem to be satisfied by it,” Gingrich said when asked by a reporter if he thought he needed to further address the matter.
Link to entire article:Newt Gingrich cuts off media when asked about extramarital affairs - The Hill's Ballot Box
“I’m not going to say anything about Marianne,” Gingrich said with an edge to his voice as he was pressed with questions about an explosive interview his ex-wife Marianne Gingrich has given to ABC. Marianne Gingrich claims her former husband asked her for an "open marriage" so he could continue a romantic involvement with a congressional aide who eventually became his third wife, Callista Gingrich.
“It’s an issue I confront every time is comes up and I confront it exactly the same way it comes up and the people seem to be satisfied by it,” Gingrich said when asked by a reporter if he thought he needed to further address the matter.
Link to entire article:Newt Gingrich cuts off media when asked about extramarital affairs - The Hill's Ballot Box
Dems propose 'Reasonable Profits Board' to regulate oil company profits - The Hill's Floor Action
Welcome to the new socialist America Utopia!
Six House Democrats led by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) want to set up a "Reasonable Profits Board" to control gas profits.
Six House Democrats led by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) want to set up a "Reasonable Profits Board" to control gas profits.
The Democrats, worried about higher gas prices, want to set up a board that would apply a "windfall profit tax" as high as 100 percent on the sale of oil and gas, according to their legislation. The bill provides no specific guidance for how the board would determine what a reasonable profit is.
The Gas Price Spike Act, H.R. 3784, would apply a windfall tax on the sale of oil and gas that ranges from 50 to 100 percent on all profit that "exceeds a reasonable profit." It would set up a Reasonable Profits Board made up of three presidential nominees that will serve three-year terms. Unlike other bills setting up advisory boards, the Reasonable Profits Board would not be comprised of any nominees from Congress.
Dems propose 'Reasonable Profits Board' to regulate oil company profits - The Hill's Floor Action
Barack Obama nixes Keystone pipeline—Editorial - NYPOST.com
Who knows how many potential jobs President Obama killed yesterday when he bowed to hard-core environmental activists and put an indefinite hold on the mammoth Keystone XL oil pipeline?
Beyond doubt, it was a lot.
At the same time, he planted a big wet one on his greenie base — which he’ll need to hold on to if he’s to win re-election.
Obviously, he has his priorities.
To be sure, the hold Obama placed on Keystone is temporary — but long enough to get past November.
The 1,700-mile pipeline would carry crude oil from the Canadian province of Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries in Texas.
Comment:The ability to refine more oil in America and to produce alternative sources such as cellulosic ethanol are national security issues!
Link to entire article:Barack Obama nixes Keystone pipeline—Editorial - NYPOST.com
Mark Levin: ‘Obama and Democratic Party Have Become Fanatical Utopians’ | CNSnews.com
CNSNews.com) - Mark Levin says that President Barack Obama and the contemporary Democratic Party have become “fanatical Utopians” who recognize no limits on government spending, taxation or regulation.
Levin made the observation in an interview with CNSNews.com about his new book, “Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America.”
“The name of the book is ‘Ameritopia’ because I believe we live today not in the American republic, founded by our forefathers, we live in an Ameritopia,” Levin told CNSNews.com.
Link to entire article:Mark Levin: ‘Obama and Democratic Party Have Become Fanatical Utopians’ | CNSnews.com
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Harry Reid should stop pointing fingers and pass a budget | Washington Examiner
Harry Reid should stop pointing fingers and pass a budget | Washington Examiner
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has a novel conception of his job priorities. One recent day, the Nevada Democrat took it upon himself to lecture Republicans on how they should conduct their business. Claiming Republicans practiced "obstructionism on steroids" in 2011, Reid said he hoped "that they understand that everything doesn't have to be a fight. Legislation is an art of working together, building consensus, compromise. And I hope that the Tea Party doesn't have the influence in this next year that they had in the previous year."
It's no surprise that Reid hopes the Tea Party has less influence in 2012. After all, the Tea Party provided the spark that powered Republicans to an historic 2010 election victory, retaking the House of Representatives with a 63-seat gain, electing more than a dozen new GOP governors and upwards of 700 freshmen state legislators across the country. It was the GOP's biggest off-year election victory since Silent Cal was in the White House. What Reid is likely even more worried about, though, is that Tea Party muscle will give the GOP a Senate majority in November and boot him out of his comfy job.
In those same remarks, Reid offered this laugher about his party's purported efforts in 2011 to break the legislative deadlock between President Obama and Senate Democrats on one side and House Republicans on the other: "I don't think ... anyone can question or they should question our having reached out to Republicans. We've done everything we could to work with them. We're going to continue to do that. In spite of the obstructionism, we have been able to accomplish a lot of good things in the last Congress."
Let it be noted, however, that the most prominent missing item among those "good things" Reid claims to have accomplished was fulfilling one of the Senate's most basic constitutional duties -- approving an annual federal budget. In fact, Reid and his Senate Democratic colleagues couldn't even do that two years ago when Nancy Pelosi was House Speaker and Democrats controlled the lower chamber.
If Reid is serious about working with Republicans and getting some constructive things done for America, the place to start is the federal budget. But nobody should hold their breath waiting for the Senate Majority Leader to think about anything but partisan politics this year. National Journal reports that Reid told a meeting of his Democratic colleagues earlier this week that "the party is positioned to dictate a congressional agenda designed to get most of its congressional members -- and President Obama -- re-elected. Working with the White House, Senate Democrats are plotting a 2012 floor agenda driven by Obama's re-election campaign and the fight for control of Congress. The year will see an intensified version of the course Democrats pursued this fall through votes on the president's jobs bill." In other words, while blasting Republican "obstructionism," Reid is plotting systematic obstructionism throughout the coming months. This is spelled h-y-p-o-c-r-i-s-y.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2012/01/harry-reid-should-stop-pointing-fingers-and-pass-budget/2106356#ixzz1jqLbQYnj
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has a novel conception of his job priorities. One recent day, the Nevada Democrat took it upon himself to lecture Republicans on how they should conduct their business. Claiming Republicans practiced "obstructionism on steroids" in 2011, Reid said he hoped "that they understand that everything doesn't have to be a fight. Legislation is an art of working together, building consensus, compromise. And I hope that the Tea Party doesn't have the influence in this next year that they had in the previous year."
It's no surprise that Reid hopes the Tea Party has less influence in 2012. After all, the Tea Party provided the spark that powered Republicans to an historic 2010 election victory, retaking the House of Representatives with a 63-seat gain, electing more than a dozen new GOP governors and upwards of 700 freshmen state legislators across the country. It was the GOP's biggest off-year election victory since Silent Cal was in the White House. What Reid is likely even more worried about, though, is that Tea Party muscle will give the GOP a Senate majority in November and boot him out of his comfy job.
In those same remarks, Reid offered this laugher about his party's purported efforts in 2011 to break the legislative deadlock between President Obama and Senate Democrats on one side and House Republicans on the other: "I don't think ... anyone can question or they should question our having reached out to Republicans. We've done everything we could to work with them. We're going to continue to do that. In spite of the obstructionism, we have been able to accomplish a lot of good things in the last Congress."
Let it be noted, however, that the most prominent missing item among those "good things" Reid claims to have accomplished was fulfilling one of the Senate's most basic constitutional duties -- approving an annual federal budget. In fact, Reid and his Senate Democratic colleagues couldn't even do that two years ago when Nancy Pelosi was House Speaker and Democrats controlled the lower chamber.
If Reid is serious about working with Republicans and getting some constructive things done for America, the place to start is the federal budget. But nobody should hold their breath waiting for the Senate Majority Leader to think about anything but partisan politics this year. National Journal reports that Reid told a meeting of his Democratic colleagues earlier this week that "the party is positioned to dictate a congressional agenda designed to get most of its congressional members -- and President Obama -- re-elected. Working with the White House, Senate Democrats are plotting a 2012 floor agenda driven by Obama's re-election campaign and the fight for control of Congress. The year will see an intensified version of the course Democrats pursued this fall through votes on the president's jobs bill." In other words, while blasting Republican "obstructionism," Reid is plotting systematic obstructionism throughout the coming months. This is spelled h-y-p-o-c-r-i-s-y.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2012/01/harry-reid-should-stop-pointing-fingers-and-pass-budget/2106356#ixzz1jqLbQYnj
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Romney says he pays about 15 percent in income tax | Washington Examiner
Excerpt:
The top federal tax rate for investment income - qualified dividends and long-term capital gains - is 15 percent. By comparison, the top tax rate for wages is 35 percent, on taxable income above $388,350. Wages are also subject to Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes.
At 15 percent, Romney's federal income tax rate would still be higher than the tax rate paid by most Americans.
On average, households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will pay a federal income tax rate of 5.7 percent this year, according to projections by the Tax Policy Center a Washington think tank.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2012/01/romney-ill-release-tax-records-april/2103006#ixzz1jlOkEMem
Link:Romney says he pays about 15 percent in income tax | Washington Examiner
The top federal tax rate for investment income - qualified dividends and long-term capital gains - is 15 percent. By comparison, the top tax rate for wages is 35 percent, on taxable income above $388,350. Wages are also subject to Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes.
At 15 percent, Romney's federal income tax rate would still be higher than the tax rate paid by most Americans.
On average, households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will pay a federal income tax rate of 5.7 percent this year, according to projections by the Tax Policy Center a Washington think tank.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2012/01/romney-ill-release-tax-records-april/2103006#ixzz1jlOkEMem
Link:Romney says he pays about 15 percent in income tax | Washington Examiner
As Economy Fails To Ignite, Fed Prepares Next Round Of Quantitative Easing - Investors.com
Alarmed at the economy's slow pace, the ongoing slump in housing and the threat of European debt defaults, the central bank is preparing a third round of "quantitative easing" — the monetary equivalent of a defibrillator paddle placed on the economy's chest.
This is rather strange, given that the previous two attempts — QE1 and QE2— did little to help the economy. Indeed, those efforts may have so distorted markets and interest rates that they held back the recovery.
But say this for the Fed: It didn't sit on its hands. In those first two QE efforts, it bought $2 trillion of government-backed mortgage securities and federal bonds.
The Fed's idea behind this was to hold down interest rates and boost housing — a necessary prelude to reviving the entire economy. Only problem is, it didn't work.
Link to entire editorialAs Economy Fails To Ignite, Fed Prepares Next Round Of Quantitative Easing - Investors.com
Romney for Republicans - Tampa Bay Times
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the Republican presidential candidate best prepared to make his party’s case that change is needed in the White House.
Romney for Republicans - Tampa Bay Times
Romney for Republicans - Tampa Bay Times
Monday, January 16, 2012
New Navy budgets may sink plans for aircraft carriers - Washington Times
On the surface, the Navy’s cherished fleet of 11 active aircraft carriers seems safe from President Obama’s budget slashers.
Conventional wisdom says the requirement to cut $488 billion from the Pentagon within 10 years will not necessitate banishing a single carrier because the president’s military strategy focuses on two carrier-dependent regions: Asia, where China is building a robust navy, and the Persian Gulf, where Iran threatens to block international oil shipping.
As Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta prepares to introduce the strategy’s first budget next month, the Navy has been in a furious fight behind the scenes to protect only 10 carriers, sources familiar with the issue told The Washington Times.
The sources say that, while the fiscal 2013 budget may well continue 11 carriers, the Navy will be down to 10 or even nine carriers within in the next five years.
A carrier typically transports about 80 aircraft and leads a battle group comprising 7,500 sailors, a guided-missile cruiser, two guided-missile destroyers, an attack submarine and a supply ship. Eliminating one carrier battle group would save billions of dollars.
Link to article:New Navy budgets may sink plans for aircraft carriers - Washington Times
Conventional wisdom says the requirement to cut $488 billion from the Pentagon within 10 years will not necessitate banishing a single carrier because the president’s military strategy focuses on two carrier-dependent regions: Asia, where China is building a robust navy, and the Persian Gulf, where Iran threatens to block international oil shipping.
As Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta prepares to introduce the strategy’s first budget next month, the Navy has been in a furious fight behind the scenes to protect only 10 carriers, sources familiar with the issue told The Washington Times.
The sources say that, while the fiscal 2013 budget may well continue 11 carriers, the Navy will be down to 10 or even nine carriers within in the next five years.
A carrier typically transports about 80 aircraft and leads a battle group comprising 7,500 sailors, a guided-missile cruiser, two guided-missile destroyers, an attack submarine and a supply ship. Eliminating one carrier battle group would save billions of dollars.
Link to article:New Navy budgets may sink plans for aircraft carriers - Washington Times
Today's Freedom Quote
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Poll: Romney Has Big Lead in Florida
Mitt Romney has jumped into a wide lead in the Florida Republican presidential primary. Romney leads with 42%, followed by Newt Gingrich with 25%, Rick Santorum with 9%, and Ron Paul with 8%.
Romney leads among registered Republicans with 42% and is followed by Gingrich with 27%, Santorum with 8%, and Paul with 6%.
Romney leads with 37% among likely Republican primary voters saying they are supporters of the Tea Party, followed by Gingrich with 22% and Santorum with 15%. Among likely primary voters saying they are not supporters of the Tea Party or are undecided about the Tea Party, Romney leads with 45%, followed by Gingrich with 27% and Paul with 10%.
Gingrich leads with 34% among men, followed by Romney with 30% and Santorum with 10%. Romney leads with 56% among women, followed by Gingrich with 27% and Paul with 10%.
Romney leads among registered Republicans with 42% and is followed by Gingrich with 27%, Santorum with 8%, and Paul with 6%.
Romney leads with 37% among likely Republican primary voters saying they are supporters of the Tea Party, followed by Gingrich with 22% and Santorum with 15%. Among likely primary voters saying they are not supporters of the Tea Party or are undecided about the Tea Party, Romney leads with 45%, followed by Gingrich with 27% and Paul with 10%.
Gingrich leads with 34% among men, followed by Romney with 30% and Santorum with 10%. Romney leads with 56% among women, followed by Gingrich with 27% and Paul with 10%.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Founding Father Quote
"The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived."
-James Madison
-James Madison
GHEI: The class warfare toxin - Washington Times
GHEI: The class warfare toxin - Washington Times
Wall Street might no longer be “occupied,” but the toxin of class warfare that fueled the movement continues to spread. According to a new Pew Research Center survey, about two-thirds of Americans believe strong conflicts exist between the rich and the poor. The number of those most emphatic on this point has doubled in just the past 18 months.
According to the poll, economic inequality ranks ahead of other, more traditional sources of tension including race, age and immigration status. It’s no accident that belief in America as the land of opportunity has, over the past three years, given way to the feeling that this is a land of envy. Far too much of policy in Washington has focused on redistribution instead of growth. The talk has been of taxing the “millionaires and billionaires” instead of trying to figure out how to make the environment more conducive to private-sector investment that helps everyone.
Wall Street might no longer be “occupied,” but the toxin of class warfare that fueled the movement continues to spread. According to a new Pew Research Center survey, about two-thirds of Americans believe strong conflicts exist between the rich and the poor. The number of those most emphatic on this point has doubled in just the past 18 months.
According to the poll, economic inequality ranks ahead of other, more traditional sources of tension including race, age and immigration status. It’s no accident that belief in America as the land of opportunity has, over the past three years, given way to the feeling that this is a land of envy. Far too much of policy in Washington has focused on redistribution instead of growth. The talk has been of taxing the “millionaires and billionaires” instead of trying to figure out how to make the environment more conducive to private-sector investment that helps everyone.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Political Humor
Update on Sarah Palin and Playboy
Playboy reportedly offered Sarah Palin $4,000,000 to pose nude in an upcoming issue.
Michelle Obama was offered $50 by National Geographic.
In other news........ we all remember when KFC offered a "Hillary"meal, consisting of 2 small breasts and 2 large thighs.
Now, KFC is offering the "Obama Cabinet Bucket". It consists of nothing but left wings and chicken shit.
Just keeping you up to date as this is my civic duty.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Freedom Quote
The chief aim of freedom is to provide both the opportunity and the inducement to insure the maximum use of the knowledge that an individual can acquire.
F.A. Hayek
F.A. Hayek
Worst Economic Recovery Since Great Depression!
"Today, over 4 years since the recession started, there are still almost 25 million Americans unemployed or underemployed. That includes 5.6 million who are long-term unemployed for 27 weeks, or more than 6 months. Under President Obama, America has suffered the longest period with so many in such long-term unemployment since the Great Depression."
Peter Ferrara, Contributor
Forbes.com
Peter Ferrara, Contributor
Forbes.com
Romney Ad: GOP Rivals Taking 'Obama Line' | The Weekly Standard
Mitt Romney has released a new television ad for South Carolina markets. The ad reminds viewers of some of the companies Romney helped start through his work at Bain Capital--Staples, Sports Authority--and then criticizes unnamed GOP opponents for taking the "Obama line" of putting "free markets on trial." Watch below:
Link:Romney Ad: GOP Rivals Taking 'Obama Line' | The Weekly Standard
Link:Romney Ad: GOP Rivals Taking 'Obama Line' | The Weekly Standard
Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S.
Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S.
PRINCETON, NJ -- Political ideology in the U.S. held steady in 2011, with 40% of Americans continuing to describe their views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This marks the third straight year that conservatives have outnumbered moderates, after more than a decade in which moderates mainly tied or outnumbered conservatives.
PRINCETON, NJ -- Political ideology in the U.S. held steady in 2011, with 40% of Americans continuing to describe their views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This marks the third straight year that conservatives have outnumbered moderates, after more than a decade in which moderates mainly tied or outnumbered conservatives.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
A Tea Party State of Confusion
Link to entire article:
A Tea Party State of Confusion
If the 50 states were 50 people, and you had to rank them by ideology, then South Carolina—which holds the second Republican presidential primary on January 21—would be the Tea Partier of the group. Forty-six percent of South Carolinians identify as conservative. Republicans hold every statewide elected office and control both the state house and senate. The governor, Nikki Haley, was on the vanguard of the Tea Party in the 2010 congressional elections, and her predecessor—the right-wing libertarian Mark Sanford—was among the five governors to reject stimulus funds in 2009.
A Tea Party State of Confusion
If the 50 states were 50 people, and you had to rank them by ideology, then South Carolina—which holds the second Republican presidential primary on January 21—would be the Tea Partier of the group. Forty-six percent of South Carolinians identify as conservative. Republicans hold every statewide elected office and control both the state house and senate. The governor, Nikki Haley, was on the vanguard of the Tea Party in the 2010 congressional elections, and her predecessor—the right-wing libertarian Mark Sanford—was among the five governors to reject stimulus funds in 2009.
Today's Reaganism
"In the present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."
-Ronald Reagan
-Ronald Reagan
The good Newt gives way to the evil Newt of Washington fame | Washington Examiner
It was quite a charade while it lasted, Newt Gingrich playing Edmund Burke in the first half-dozen debates among Republican presidential aspirants. The crabby Gingrich posed as a great statesman, lauding at every turn his opponents onstage as men worthy of sitting in the Oval Office, reserving his ire for journalists who had the temerity to ask probing questions. His was to be a positive campaign, rich with ideas and full of creativity and energy. Nothing was more important for Republicans in 2012 than denying Obama a second term, and Gingrich would do nothing to weaken whoever was ultimately selected as the GOP nominee.
It was a good enough pitch that when Herman Cain's star fell, Gingrich's quickly rose. Within a few days, he went from nowhere in the polls to leading, even surging past presumptive favorite Mitt Romney. But then reality reasserted itself. Ads from a super-PAC run by Romney backers criticized Gingrich's love-seat dalliance with Nancy Pelosi on environmental issues. The Paul campaign broadcast a particularly biting spot portraying Gingrich as a hypocritical Washington insider. And exhaustively researched editorials in this newspaper, National Review Online, and the Wall Street Journal revealed in devastating detail Gingrich's profitable influence peddling on behalf of Freddie Mac and pharmaceutical firms.
Almost as quickly as Statesman Gingrich streaked across the political sky, he reverted to the form long known to Washingtonians: Haughty, easily angered, self-centered, vengeful. For reasons known only to Gingrich, his bitterness settled exclusively on Romney as the man responsible for his fall, erupting with a ferocious string of attacks focused on Romney's alleged sins while he headed the Bain Capital .
Link to article:The good Newt gives way to the evil Newt of Washington fame | Washington Examiner
It was a good enough pitch that when Herman Cain's star fell, Gingrich's quickly rose. Within a few days, he went from nowhere in the polls to leading, even surging past presumptive favorite Mitt Romney. But then reality reasserted itself. Ads from a super-PAC run by Romney backers criticized Gingrich's love-seat dalliance with Nancy Pelosi on environmental issues. The Paul campaign broadcast a particularly biting spot portraying Gingrich as a hypocritical Washington insider. And exhaustively researched editorials in this newspaper, National Review Online, and the Wall Street Journal revealed in devastating detail Gingrich's profitable influence peddling on behalf of Freddie Mac and pharmaceutical firms.
Almost as quickly as Statesman Gingrich streaked across the political sky, he reverted to the form long known to Washingtonians: Haughty, easily angered, self-centered, vengeful. For reasons known only to Gingrich, his bitterness settled exclusively on Romney as the man responsible for his fall, erupting with a ferocious string of attacks focused on Romney's alleged sins while he headed the Bain Capital .
Link to article:The good Newt gives way to the evil Newt of Washington fame | Washington Examiner
No Superpower Here | The Weekly Standard
With the end of the Cold War in sight, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell in the George H. W. Bush administration was asked how big the U.S. military should be. He replied, “We have to put a shingle outside our door saying, ‘Superpower Lives Here.’ ”
Barack Obama has taken the shingle down
Link to article:No Superpower Here | The Weekly Standard
Barack Obama has taken the shingle down
Link to article:No Superpower Here | The Weekly Standard
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Gingrich Friends Worry He Has Gone Rogue - Reid Wilson - NationalJournal.com
COLUMBIA, S.C.--Friends and allies of Newt Gingrich, alarmed at his recent attacks that seem straight out of the Democratic playbook, worry that the former House speaker may be doing his party's eventual presidential nominee serious damage--and that he won't listen to veteran Republican strategists urging he back off.
For a moment in early December, Gingrich envisioned himself as the likely GOP nominee, and the likely president. But like Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who had a similar moment of clarity snatched away at the hands of George W. Bush in 2000, Gingrich’s plummet to earth appears to have knocked his political judgment off kilter. Several people who have known Gingrich for decades say that he was enraged after a group of Romney supporters poured millions of dollars into negative advertisements in Iowa, a move that ultimately helped bring down Gingrich’s campaign, and that the former congressman is now lashing out because of that.
Gingrich’s broadsides highlighting Romney's tenure at Bain Capital in two debates this weekend were but a prelude of what’s to come. A super PAC backing Gingrich has already reserved more than $1.5 million in airtime in South Carolina over the next two weeks, according to figures made available to National Journal, for an advertising blitz that will hammer Romney's business record. And on Wednesday, his campaign was floating a new Internet video that highlights Romney’s gaffes over time. If it is deemed successful, the campaign plans to broadcast the ad.
Link:Gingrich Friends Worry He Has Gone Rogue - Reid Wilson - NationalJournal.com
For a moment in early December, Gingrich envisioned himself as the likely GOP nominee, and the likely president. But like Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who had a similar moment of clarity snatched away at the hands of George W. Bush in 2000, Gingrich’s plummet to earth appears to have knocked his political judgment off kilter. Several people who have known Gingrich for decades say that he was enraged after a group of Romney supporters poured millions of dollars into negative advertisements in Iowa, a move that ultimately helped bring down Gingrich’s campaign, and that the former congressman is now lashing out because of that.
Gingrich’s broadsides highlighting Romney's tenure at Bain Capital in two debates this weekend were but a prelude of what’s to come. A super PAC backing Gingrich has already reserved more than $1.5 million in airtime in South Carolina over the next two weeks, according to figures made available to National Journal, for an advertising blitz that will hammer Romney's business record. And on Wednesday, his campaign was floating a new Internet video that highlights Romney’s gaffes over time. If it is deemed successful, the campaign plans to broadcast the ad.
Link:Gingrich Friends Worry He Has Gone Rogue - Reid Wilson - NationalJournal.com
Newt Gingrich: I crossed the line - Jonathan Allen and Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Newt Gingrich signaled Wednesday that he believes his criticism of Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital is a mistake — and that he’s created an impression that he was echoing Democratic rhetoric.
Gingrich conceded the problem when pressed by a Rick Santorum supporter at a book-signing here Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71336.html#ixzz1jBQBgS3K
Link to entire article:Newt Gingrich: I crossed the line - Jonathan Allen and Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com
Gingrich conceded the problem when pressed by a Rick Santorum supporter at a book-signing here Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71336.html#ixzz1jBQBgS3K
Link to entire article:Newt Gingrich: I crossed the line - Jonathan Allen and Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com
Romney & Bain: Intention versus Method - By Jim Manzi - The Corner - National Review Online
Yuval, Avik Roy, Ramesh, Michael Walsh, and Jonathan Last at The Weekly Standard, among many others, have all written perceptively about the relationship between Mitt Romney’s work at Bain Capital and our political economy.
I think that this paragraph from Jonathan Last gets to the nub of the issue:
Romney’s work at Bain differs in some important ways from how he has characterized it thus far. When Romney says that his goal at Bain was to “create jobs,” that’s not entirely true. As a private equity firm, Bain’s goal was to maximize return on investment (ROI) for a small group of high net worth investors. Sometimes that meant giving seed money to a promising start-up. Sometimes it meant rescuing a company and turning it around. Sometimes it meant finding revenue streams a company hadn’t realized—including government bailouts. Sometimes it meant off-shoring a company’s jobs. And sometimes it meant finding a company whose component parts were worth more than the whole—and dismantling it.
Without respect to the electoral politics and messaging for a moment, the predominant form of “bad” capitalism in contemporary America is created by the joining of a capitalist enterprise with the coercive power of the state, not by the impurity of the motivations of the capitalist. This distinction is crucial for defenders of free enterprise.
Link to article:Romney & Bain: Intention versus Method - By Jim Manzi - The Corner - National Review Online
I think that this paragraph from Jonathan Last gets to the nub of the issue:
Romney’s work at Bain differs in some important ways from how he has characterized it thus far. When Romney says that his goal at Bain was to “create jobs,” that’s not entirely true. As a private equity firm, Bain’s goal was to maximize return on investment (ROI) for a small group of high net worth investors. Sometimes that meant giving seed money to a promising start-up. Sometimes it meant rescuing a company and turning it around. Sometimes it meant finding revenue streams a company hadn’t realized—including government bailouts. Sometimes it meant off-shoring a company’s jobs. And sometimes it meant finding a company whose component parts were worth more than the whole—and dismantling it.
Without respect to the electoral politics and messaging for a moment, the predominant form of “bad” capitalism in contemporary America is created by the joining of a capitalist enterprise with the coercive power of the state, not by the impurity of the motivations of the capitalist. This distinction is crucial for defenders of free enterprise.
Link to article:Romney & Bain: Intention versus Method - By Jim Manzi - The Corner - National Review Online
TEXT: Mitt Romney's New Hampshire Victory Speech - National Journal Staff - NationalJournal.com
TEXT: Mitt Romney's New Hampshire Victory Speech - National Journal Staff - NationalJournal.com
"The middle class has been crushed. Nearly 24 million of our fellow Americans are still out of work, struggling to find work, or have just stopped looking. The median income has dropped 10% in four years. Soldiers returning from the front lines are waiting in unemployment lines. Our debt is too high and our opportunities too few."
"The middle class has been crushed. Nearly 24 million of our fellow Americans are still out of work, struggling to find work, or have just stopped looking. The median income has dropped 10% in four years. Soldiers returning from the front lines are waiting in unemployment lines. Our debt is too high and our opportunities too few."
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Romney doesn't need to apologize for his Bain career!
One of the oldest tactics in a political campaign is to try and turn an opponent’s biggest asset into a big liability. One of Mitt Romney’s supposed big pluses is that he’s a “conservative businessman” who knows how to fix the U.S. economy. But now Newt Gingrich (or at least his SuperPac) is launching an expensive attack to rebrand Romney as a Gordon Gekko whose “business success comes from raiding and destroying businesses.”
Well, the Wall Street Journal has just published its investigation into Romney’s record at Bain Capital. The paper “examined 77 businesses Bain invested in while Mr. Romney led the firm from its 1984 start until early 1999, to see how they fared during Bain’s involvement and shortly afterward.” And here is what it found:
– 22 percent either filed for bankruptcy reorganization or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain first invested, sometimes with substantial job losses.
– An additional 8 percent ran into so much trouble that all of the money Bain invested was lost.
– Ten deals produced more than 70 percent of the dollar gains.
– Bain produced about $2.5 billion in gains for its investors in the 77 deals, on about $1.1 billion invested.
– Overall, Bain recorded roughly 50 percent to 80 percent annual gains in this period, which experts said was among the best track records for buyout firms in that era.
– Academic research has shown that buyout firms during this era exited their deals on average after 5½ years, but in a large percentage of cases were still involved beyond seven years. … If the Journal analysis were limited to bankruptcies and closures occurring by the end of the fifth year after Bain first invested, the rate would move down to 12 percent. That measure would exclude several cases that have brought Mr. Romney political criticism, where businesses filed for bankruptcy seven or eight years after Bain’s investment.
So what does it all mean? Well, Romney was really good at what he did. And what he did, initially, was venture capital, providing dough to promising young firms. Then he shifted to private equity, which is a) using investor money and debt to take over a business, b) attempting to improve its profitability (which may mean cutting the workforce), and c) selling the business and, as the WSJ, puts it, “extracting fees and sometimes dividends.”
Link:Romney doesn’t need to apologize for his Bain career
Well, the Wall Street Journal has just published its investigation into Romney’s record at Bain Capital. The paper “examined 77 businesses Bain invested in while Mr. Romney led the firm from its 1984 start until early 1999, to see how they fared during Bain’s involvement and shortly afterward.” And here is what it found:
– 22 percent either filed for bankruptcy reorganization or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain first invested, sometimes with substantial job losses.
– An additional 8 percent ran into so much trouble that all of the money Bain invested was lost.
– Ten deals produced more than 70 percent of the dollar gains.
– Bain produced about $2.5 billion in gains for its investors in the 77 deals, on about $1.1 billion invested.
– Overall, Bain recorded roughly 50 percent to 80 percent annual gains in this period, which experts said was among the best track records for buyout firms in that era.
– Academic research has shown that buyout firms during this era exited their deals on average after 5½ years, but in a large percentage of cases were still involved beyond seven years. … If the Journal analysis were limited to bankruptcies and closures occurring by the end of the fifth year after Bain first invested, the rate would move down to 12 percent. That measure would exclude several cases that have brought Mr. Romney political criticism, where businesses filed for bankruptcy seven or eight years after Bain’s investment.
So what does it all mean? Well, Romney was really good at what he did. And what he did, initially, was venture capital, providing dough to promising young firms. Then he shifted to private equity, which is a) using investor money and debt to take over a business, b) attempting to improve its profitability (which may mean cutting the workforce), and c) selling the business and, as the WSJ, puts it, “extracting fees and sometimes dividends.”
Link:Romney doesn’t need to apologize for his Bain career
Israel preparing for nuclear Iran: report
Israel is preparing for Iran to become a nuclear power and has accepted it may happen within a year, the London Times reported on Monday citing an Israeli security report.
The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) think-tank prepared scenarios for the day after an Iranian nuclear weapons test at the request of former Israeli ambassadors, intelligence officials and ex-military chiefs, the paper reported.
Israel has so far maintained it will do all within its power to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities, but has shifted its position following recent United Nations' reports, according to the Times.
The UN atomic agency said Monday that Iran is now enriching uranium at a new site in a hard-to-bomb mountain bunker, in a move set to stoke Western suspicions further that Tehran wants nuclear weapons.
Link to article:Israel preparing for nuclear Iran: report
Obama's New Chief of Staff: Former Hedge Fund Exec. at Citigroup, Made Money Off Mortgage Defaults | The Weekly Standard
President Obama's first chief of staff Rahm Emanuel once sat on the board of troubled federal mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Bill Daley, the president's chief of staff whose departure was announced today, was previously a top executive at financial firm J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. So of course there should be little surprise that Obama's latest chief of staff, announced today by the president himself, also has deep ties to the financial industry himself.
From 2006-2008, Jack Lew was chief operating officer of Citibank's alternative investments division. And it was his division that made billions of dollars betting "U.S. homeowners would not be able to make their mortgage payments," as the Huffington Post reported.
The piece also reported: “Lew made millions at Citi, including a bonus of nearly $950,000 in 2009 just a few months after the bank received billions of dollars in a taxpayer rescue, according to disclosure forms filed with the federal government. The bank is still partly owned by taxpayers.”
Link:New Chief of Staff: Former Hedge Fund Exec. at Citigroup, Made Money Off Mortgage Defaults | The Weekly Standard
From 2006-2008, Jack Lew was chief operating officer of Citibank's alternative investments division. And it was his division that made billions of dollars betting "U.S. homeowners would not be able to make their mortgage payments," as the Huffington Post reported.
The piece also reported: “Lew made millions at Citi, including a bonus of nearly $950,000 in 2009 just a few months after the bank received billions of dollars in a taxpayer rescue, according to disclosure forms filed with the federal government. The bank is still partly owned by taxpayers.”
Link:New Chief of Staff: Former Hedge Fund Exec. at Citigroup, Made Money Off Mortgage Defaults | The Weekly Standard
Majority of Conservatives See Romney as "Acceptable"
Mitt Romney is the now the only candidate that a majority of conservative and moderate/liberal Republicans nationwide see as an "acceptable" GOP nominee for president. Conservative Republicans are more likely to say Romney would be an acceptable nominee than either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum.
Link to entire article:Majority of Conservatives See Romney as "Acceptable"
Link to entire article:Majority of Conservatives See Romney as "Acceptable"
Monday, January 9, 2012
NUGENT: Diversity perversity - Washington Times
Diversity is America’s greatest strength, according to the left and its socialist, Marxist, commie cohorts and co-conspirators running rampant across the country.
If you listen carefully to these America-hating, social-engineering liberals, virtually all behavior, conduct, morals and beliefs make America stronger.
This, of course, is toxic, brain-dead logic that leaves ordinary Americans shaking and scratching their heads in confusion and disgust. We recognize bull dung when we hear, see and smell it, and we have no desire whatsoever to embrace it.
The left’s definition of diversity does not make America stronger. It is weakening and destroying America. Let’s be bold and honest: The left’s version of diversity is repugnant.
Hey, I’m your biggest supporter if you want to swan-dive naked into a pool of goat urine. What I will never support is trying to make it mandatory for everyone to do it.
Those Americans who stand up to the left’s diversity mantra are pilloried and labeled as pernicious, vile, intolerant, racist, backward Bubbas.
Link:NUGENT: Diversity perversity - Washington Times