Gallup: Perry Now Leads Bachmann, Romney by 21 Points Among Tea Party Supporters

◼ These results are based on an Aug. 17-21 Gallup poll, which showed Perry overtaking Romney as the front-runner for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination among all Republicans nationwide. - CNS News

◼ Tea Party Supporters Backing Perry for GOP Nomination - Gallup

Obama declares August 26 "Women's Equality Day"

◼ President Barack Obama declared August 26 -- the 91st anniversary of the Constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote -- "Women's Equality Day" in a proclamation on Thursday. - Reuters

Newt talks Job Creation and Energy Development on Hannity

The Best and the Rightest

◼ A new generation of conservative women is stepping forward to dis feminists and cheer low taxes, guns, and motherhood. Nina Burleigh reports on how these “Baby Palins” are going to reshape the 2012 presidential election - Elle Magazine

Behold the new face of conservative womanhood. Young ­women like the Gileses are the unintended, some might say ungrateful, daughters of feminism—and their numbers, by some measures, are growing. The sisters are just two of thousands of young women in cocktail dresses who professed their love for guns, low taxes, and red meat at the Conservative Political Action Conference 2011, an annual gathering of 10,000 political activists, more than half of whom are college-age, nearly all of whom are white. CPAC attracts a spectrum of conservatives, from what used to be called country club Republicans to single-issue pro-lifers to libertarians to the neo­fascist fringe.

◼ ‘Elle’ gets fashion right, conservative women wrong - The Hill
◼ Conservative Women to Elle: Don't Call Us 'Baby Palins' - NewsMax
◼ Elle Talks Conservative Women - Maggie's Notebook

Salmon, Oysters, Ales and Rails

◼ Salmon, Oysters, Ales and Rails on Facebook
Time: Saturday, August 27 · 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: Samoa Roundhouse (right below the Samoa Cook House)

Salmon BBQed Native American style, local beer, BBQed Oysters. A benefit for Clarke Museum and Timber Heritage Society. Music and Speeder rides. Come to Samoa and join the fun.

GOP Field is Set ... For the Reagan Library Debate

◼ Eight Republican presidential candidates will debate on September 7 at the famed Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. - Human Events


Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is currently at the front in many national polls, will join Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Ron Paul on stage.

NBC News and POLITICO will moderate the debate, and it will be co-hosted by NBC Nighlty News anchor Brian Williams and POLITICO's editor-in-chief John Harris.

The debate will be significant because it is Perry's debut on the national debating stage. Even more so, it is first debate in which someone other than Romney will most likely be the leader in the polls.

This dynamic can impact debate strategy in a number of ways.

EDITORIAL: Irene is Obama’s punishment Too much regulation isn’t enough for radical greens

◼ Before Hurricane Irene made landfall, environmental extremists were spouting off three certainties about the storm: It is catastrophic; it was caused by global warming; and it is all President Obama’s fault. - The Washington Times

The American people in their wisdom have begun to tune out the climate-change noise. Global warming ranked last on a March 2011 Gallup poll of the environmental concerns of Americans. In an open-ended June 2011 CBS News/New York Times poll asking what Americans think is “the most important problem facing this country today,” the environment did not even make the list.

Hard-core enviros blame Mr. Obama for failing to lead on this issue. Despite pushing through the most radical pro-green regulatory framework in history, liberals say he hasn’t done enough and Irene is his punishment. No matter, the storm won’t be a total write-off for the left. The White House will at least have another natural disaster to blame for America’s economic woes.

“Business has always had a bad rap. Throughout almost all of history, business has been despised by the intellectuals, it’s been heavily regulated by governments, it’s one of the reasons the world didn’t make much progress…as little as 200 years ago, 85 percent of people on planet Earth lived on less than a dollar a day, 85 percent, we’re down to 20 percent now.”

◼ Whole Foods Co-Founder Defends the Morality of Capitalism

In California: Contempt for Voters in Senate Move on Amazon Tax

◼ The maneuver in the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday to undercut the referendum on the Amazon tax legislation is a glaring example of the contempt with which legislators hold the people's right of initiative and referendum. - Joel Fox at Fox & Hounds

...The process is an integral part of the checks and balances system giving the people control over their government. Clearly, some legislators don't want the voters making decisions at the ballot box on actions taken by the legislature.

Amazon.com challenged a new law that requires online retailers to collect sales tax. A referendum was filed to put the issue before the voters. According to the Los Angeles Times, signature gatherers "already are off the streets, having met their goal well before the Sept. 27 deadline for turning in completed petitions."

To foil this process, Senator Loni Hancock pulled what amounts to a parliamentary parlor trick by gutting a bill and substituting language similar to the wording in the original tax law calling the revised bill an "urgency" measure. The constitution declares that an urgency measure, which requires a two-thirds vote to pass, is immune to a referendum effort.

TIME Magazine on Ron Paul

◼ The Prophet - TIME (note: bulk of article is behind a paywall)

◼ Ron Paul on Facebook - LIKE to get updates and news.
◼ RonPaul2012 - Official site

NRCC's New TV Ad: We Can't Afford Kate Marshall

NRCC has just released a new ad for Nevada's September 13th special election for Congress on Democrat Kate Marshall's record as Nevada Treasurer. As Treasurer, Kate Marshall claims she steered the state with a "steady hand," but the facts tell a different story. Under Kate Marshall's "steady hand," the state has experienced two credit downgrades, a foreclosure rate that has skyrocketed 240%, and has the highest unemployment rate in the country. Now, Kate Marshall wants to take her "steady hand" to Congress, but can we afford her?

◼ National Republican Congressional Committee Blog

AP Poll: Most Republicans now satisfied with GOP field

◼ Sixty-four percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they are satisfied with their options in candidates to face off against President Obama next fall. That represents an increase since June, when just half of Republicans said they were pleased with the candidates in the field. - HotAir

◼ THE AP-GfK POLL

RNC Celebrates the 91st Anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment

In California: Gov. Jerry Brown to propose California corporate tax changes

◼ The request was part of Brown's original budget plan that was rejected by lawmakers. What's new is how Brown wants to spend the roughly $1 billion that the tax tweak would generate. Instead of using the money for general state spending, Brown wants to give new tax credits to companies that employ people in California. - LA Times

Roger L. Simon: Is Rick Perry a Dope?

◼ Despite being the longest serving governor of one of our most populous states, a state currently generating more jobs than the rest of the country combined (or close), Rick Perry is supposed to be a dummy. At least, that’s what some of the lefty blogs and pundits would have us believe — you know, brainy types like Ed Schultz. - Roger L. Simon at Pajamas Media

Unfortunately, however, the jig is up. As of the last few days “Rick Perry and His Eggheads: Inside the Brainiest Political Operation in America” has been making the rapid rounds on ◼ Kindle (#2 in “politics and current events”). This download is actually a longish chapter excerpted from a work-in-progress by Sasha Issenberg — ◼ “The Victory Lab” — about new, scientifically-based campaign techniques said to be transforming the American electoral process.

The chief architect of Perry’s strategies — and central figure in the chapter — is Dave Carney, a hulking three hundred pound, six foot four political pro from New Hampshire who once worked for George H. W. Bush. Said to be camera shy, if Perry wins, or even if he is nominated, Carney is likely to become as much of a household political name as Karl Rove or David Axelrod.

Nevada Dem Accidentally Sends Out Internal Notes Detailing How Faking Support For Israel A “Useful” Ploy For A Democratic Candidate

◼ Suspicions confirmed. - WeaselZippers
◼ Nevadans were treated to a look inside the campaign of congressional candidate Kate Marshall on Wednesday when her staff sent out a press release that contained internal notes detailing why it would be “useful” for the Democrat to support Israel. - Politico

The section alludes to the fact that Republicans are generally supporters of Israel, noting that Marshall could gain by siding with Israel “in an R district.”

Spending, not entitlements, created huge deficit

◼ The bottom line is that with baby boomers aging, entitlements will one day be a major budget problem. But today's deficit crisis is not one of entitlements. It was created by out-of-control spending on everything other than entitlements. The recent debt-ceiling agreement is supposed to put the brakes on that kind of spending, but leaders have so far been maddeningly vague on how they'll do it. - Byron York/Washington Examiner

BofA and Buffett’s Obama pigout

◼ Buffett’s Obama pigout - NY Post
◼ Will Buffett cash in on a $91 billion bailout? - Don Surber
◼ Berkshire Hathaway Invests $5 Billion in Bank of America - CNBC
◼ OBAMA CALLED ORACLE OF OMAHA BEFORE BIG BUY...

"The president and Mr Buffett discussed the overall outlook on the economy and the reaction to the headwinds we've experienced over the last couple of months," Earnest said.

"They talked a little bit about some possible measures that would spur investment and increase economic growth. And they also talked about some measures that could address the long-term fiscal situation in this country."

Obama still faces daunting challenges in Libya

◼ The overthrow of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's compound Tuesday by rebel forces was widely seen as validation of President Obama's much-criticized intervention into a country ruled by Gadahfi for 40 years. - Brian Hughes/Washington Examiner
◼ Libya's deadliest weapons not yet corralled - AP

No one can be sure who controls the Libyan government's weapons stockpiles, a stew of deadly chemicals, raw nuclear material and some 30,000 shoulder-fired rockets that officials fear could fall into terrorists' hands in the chaos of Moammar Gadhafi's downfall or afterward.

One immediate worry, U.S. intelligence and military officials say, is that Gadhafi might use the weapons to make a last stand. But officials also face the troubling prospect that the material, which was left under Gadhafi's control by a U.S.-backed disarmament pact, could be obtained by al-Qaida or other militants even after a rebel victory is secured.

The main stockpile of mustard gas and other chemicals, stored in corroding drums, is at a site southeast of Tripoli. Mustard gas can cause severe blistering and death. A cache of hundreds of tons of raw uranium yellowcake is stored at a small nuclear facility east of the capital.

◼ Nuclear experts warn of Libya "dirty bomb" material - Reuters

A research center near Tripoli has stocks of nuclear material that could be used to make a "dirty bomb," a former senior U.N. inspector said on Wednesday, warning of possible looting during turmoil in Libya.

‘Herman Cain Stands With Us’

◼ A pretty effective 90-second video - The Other McCain

“First, the debate over the alleged Texas miracle is not over whether Texas is in fact a miserable failure,” Krugman writes. “All the critics need to show is that Texas is not in fact the miracle Perry claims. And it isn’t.”

◼ Krugman’s miraculous deception on Texas wages - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner

To start, it’s pretty absurd to set up a standard wherein critics only need to show that Texas’s economic performance can’t be likened to an act of divine intervention....

(C)ost of living data from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, a division of the state’s department of economic development. Texas ranked second behind Oklahoma as the lowest cost state for the second quarter of 2011, when looking at the composite cost index for groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and other “miscellaneous goods and services.” By contrast New Jersey was 44th, California was 45th, New York was 46th and Massachusetts was 49th. That is, the four states Krugman cites are not only more expensive than Texas, but among the costliest states in the country.

◼ Rick Perry and The Political Jobs Numbers - politicalmathblog

We can see that Texas has grown the fastest, having increased jobs by 2.2% since the recession started. I want to take a moment and point out that second place is held by North Dakota. I added North Dakota to my list of states to show something very important. North Dakota currently has the lowest unemployment rate of any state at 3.2%. And yet Texas is adding jobs at a faster rate than North Dakota. How can this be?

The reason is that people are flocking to Texas in massive numbers. Starting at the beginning of the recession (December 2007), let's look at how this set of states have grown in their labor force.

The Donkey Whisperer

Roger Williams for Congress

California: Plunges to bottom in new business creation - lost 4,632 businesses from the prior year

◼ From 2001 to 2009, it ranked first or second. But last year it lost 4,600 businesses. - LA Times

From 2001 to 2009, California ranked either first or second in the nation in creating businesses. But last year, the state plummeted to 50th as it lost 4,600 businesses, according to a study by Economic Modeling Specialists Inc....

Three years ago, California ranked first, with 32,829 net new businesses established. Though the number sank to 12,529 during the worst of the recession two years ago, the state still ranked first, ESMI said.

But last year, amid continuing high unemployment, California lost 4,632 businesses from the prior year, the study found. Only Michigan, among the states and the District of Columbia, ranked worse.

Worth repeating

As parents across the country prepare to send their children back to school, the all-important question, “What should I put in the lunchbox?” looms. And the federal government just might have something to say about that.

◼ The slippery slope of“voluntary” guidelines - The Hill

For example, you might not want to pack PB&J. Although it's a perennial favorite of kids and parents, an overzealous cadre of federal regulators has just issued proposed “guidelines” for youth nutrition that put peanut butter on a lengthy list of foods deemed unacceptable to market to children and, therefore, possibly unacceptable to be served in schools.

This Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children (IWG), comprised of the US Department of Agriculture, the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control, was charged by Congress with the task of studying the issue of childhood obesity and the marketing of foods to children and adolescents. It proposed “voluntary” guidelines now being considered that will undermine parental authority, place a so-called “voluntary” marketing ban on the marketing of numerous healthy foods like cereals and yogurts to children, and inflict economic harm on American consumers, American agriculture and the food industry, among many other sectors of the American economy.

These new guidelines are supposedly “voluntary,” but don’t be fooled. The federal government under both Democratic and Republican Administrations has long been engaged in an egregious and unconstitutional regulatory power grab. The strategy simply is to saddle disfavored industries with regulations disguised as “voluntary,” and therefore not be subject to the normal rulemaking process and judicial review.

Mitt Romney tones down assaults on Obama, tries warmer personal approach in N.H.

◼ Romney was opening two days of busy campaigning across New Hampshire. Earlier Wednesday, he announced the endorsements of several key figures, including former congressman Vin Weber, who had been national co-chairman of Tim Pawlenty’s now-defunct presidential campaign. - Washington Post

At the event here, Romney stood in the Keene Recreation Center, in front of a forest-green Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees scoreboard painted on the cinder block wall, and wove jokes and warm anecdotes throughout his stump speech and answers.

Obama team to Texas Democrats: It’s time to start attacking Rick Perry

◼ Yes, they really do have an online form just for this on Obama’s campaign site. - HotAir

I’m intrigued by the fact that they’re not content to rely on standard oppo research in this case but want man-on-the-street grumbling from Texas liberals instead. Is that because they’re deeply (and understandably) worried about voters being dazzled by Texas’s record on jobs and think that only “eyewitness testimony” from the locals disputing it will be effective? Or is it because Perry has a huge, obvious populist advantage over President Spock such that only fellow salt-of-the-earth southerners might be able to counter it? The “Rick Perry is the liberal antichrist” message will only go so far; to reach undecided voters, they need to start casting doubt on his heartland authenticity too. Rank-and-file Texas Democrats can help.

◼ Obama campaign searching for disgruntled Texans - Charlie Spiering/Washington Examiner

◼ The online form - Have fun.

Meanwhile:
◼ Speaker of Florida House endorses Perry - Joel Gehrke/Washington Examiner

“President Obama’s big-government, Washington experiment has cost our nation more than 2.3 million jobs,” said Speaker Cannon. “Meanwhile, since just June 2009, Rick Perry’s Texas is responsible for approximately 40 percent of the net new jobs in America.”

"America is at a crossroads. Time and time again, President Obama’s agenda has damaged the confidence of the private sector and made it harder – not easier – to create the jobs Americans desperately need,” continued Speaker Cannon. “The President has failed, and it’s time for a different approach.”

"5.9? That's what us Californians use to stir our coffee with"

◼ Jaded West Coast Chuckles Over East Coast Quake - ABC

Dick Cheney's new book: “There are gonna be heads exploding all over Washington"

◼ When former Vice President Dick Cheney releases his memoir early next week, it may cause the second earthquake in Washington, D.C., this month. - MSNBC
◼ In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir at Amazon

“This is America, and to have a memorial service where there’s no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me”

◼ Bloomberg Bans Clergy From 9/11 Ceremony - FOX

Illinois: Loses Most Jobs in the Nation

◼ Policy Chart: Illinois Loses Most Jobs in the Nation - Illinois Policy Institute
It’s too early to know conclusively the full impact of the tax hikes on the Illinois economy. Nevertheless, Illinois’s employment numbers serve as a good reminder that public policies have dramatic consequences for the daily lives of Illinoisans. A combination of high taxes, overspending and red tape do nothing but chase away job creators and leave too many citizens without jobs.

Wisconsin: Oshkosh schools look to save millions

◼ The district could realize millions of dollars in immediate savings by seeking a new provider. Appleton schools stuck with WEA Trust but saved $3.1 million by stirring up competition. The Kimberly school district dropped WEA Trust and saved $821,000. - The Northwestern

Expensive massages, top shelf vodka and five-star hotels: First Lady accused of spending $10m in public money on her vacations

◼ The First Lady is believed to have taken 42 days of holiday in the past year, including a $375,000 break in Spain and a four-day ski trip to Vail, Colorado, where she spent $2,000 a night on a suite at the Sebastian hotel. - Daily Mail via Drudge

◼ Obama 'Family' Vacation Includes Donors, 2 'Receptions' - ABC News

◼ Obama vacation criticism dismissed as ‘cable chatter’ by White House - Washington Post

◼ Mark Levin: Michelle and Barack Obama ‘power hungry,’ ‘arrogant’

◼ U.S. sued over Michelle's secretive 'family outing' - 'How much did the American people spend to send the first lady' on safari? - Bob Unruh/World Net Daily

◼ Judicial Watch Sues US Air Force for Documents Detailing the Cost to Taxpayers for Michelle Obama’s Family Trip to Africa - Judicial Watch

Perry Zooms to Front of Pack for 2012 GOP Nomination

◼ Shortly after announcing his official candidacy, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has emerged as rank-and-file Republicans' current favorite for their party's 2012 presidential nomination. Twenty-nine percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents nationwide say they are most likely to support Perry, with Mitt Romney next, at 17%. - Gallup
◼ Rick Perry leads GOP field in new Gallup poll - LA Times

According to Berkshire Hathaway’s own annual report — see Note 15 on pp. 54-56 — the company has been in a years-long dispute over its federal tax bills

◼ Warren Buffett’s taxing hypocrisy - Net Right Daily

◼ Buffett's Op-Ed Stop Coddling the Super-Rich in the New York Times
◼ Charles G. Koch Responds to Buffett’s Call for Tax Hikes - National Review
◼ Harvey Golub's Response: My Response To Buffett And Obama in The Wall St. Journal.

Before you ask for more tax money from me, raise the $2.2 trillion you already collect each year more fairly and spend it more wisely.

Joe Biden’s China Walkback

◼ Vice President Joe Biden’s office is making one of the most desperate and hilarious walkback attempts in recent history, claiming that his remarks in support of China’s forced abortion policy actually meant the exact opposite of what he actually said. - John Hayward at Human Events

Here’s what Biden said in his address to Sichuan University: "But as I was talking to some of your leaders, you share a similar concern here in China. You have no safety net. Your policy has been one which I fully understand - I’m not second-guessing - of one child per family."

Now: Biden spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff says, "The vice president believes such practices are repugnant. He also pointed out, in China, that the policy is, as a practical matter, unsustainable. He was arguing against the one-child policy to a Chinese audience," Barkoff added.

Navy SEAL’s Dog Stands Watch One Last Time

◼ Petty Officer Jon Tumilson, one of the Navy SEALS killed when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan on August 6th, was laid to rest over the weekend, and his dog, Hawkeye, wouldn’t leave his casket during the funeral.

FLORIDA: OBAMA JOB APPROVAL: 37% DESERVES RE‐ELECT: 37% YES, 57% NO

◼ His job approval and re-elect numbers are an identical 37/57, while his “image rating” — favorability — is almost as bad - HotAir

Marco Rubio - live at Reagan Library

◼ An Interview with Rubio: from the Reagan Foundation


◼ Marco Rubio wows them in Reagan country - Politico

For Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles who fled their homeland in the late 1950s during Fidel Castro’s revolution, speaking at the Reagan library was a moving experience, and at times his voice quivered. He described his grandfather, an immigrant who loved his native Cuba but viewed America – and Reagan’s presidency – as a beacon of light to the rest of the world.

In Wisconsin: Ever since the union stranglehold on government was broken, schools went from bankrupt to flush with funds, which means they can spend more on teaching.

◼ Wisconsin Unions Can’t Support Themselves - Strata-sphere
◼ The story: Negotiating (Lobbying) No More

The Teaching Assistants’ Association at the University of Wisconsin, after hours of debate, the union’s members voted not to seek state certification to continue to act as a collective bargaining agent.

Union leaders said that they couldn’t function well if they had to effectively be in a perpetual organizing drive for the annual union votes, and also if they had to pay annual fees to be certified. "Our membership was keenly aware of the sort of resources and energy it would take in order to hold on," said Adrienne Pagac, co-president of the union and a doctoral student in sociology at Madison.

In California: Teacher Pension Fund $56 BILLION Short

◼ Teacher pension fund joins California auditor's risk list - Mercury News
◼ CA Teacher Pension Fund Shortfall Grows To $56 Billion - CBS LA

-26

◼ 19% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-five percent (45%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -26 Rasmussen
◼ Gallup Approval Down to 38% Gallup

Obama sets record: $4,247,000,000,000 debt in just 945 days...

◼ NATIONAL DEBT RISES BY $3 MILLION EACH MINUTE...even during his vacation - Andrew Malcolm/LA Times

In fact, it is the belief of the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats that it is perfectly fine to rack up $4 trillion in new debt in three years that is extreme, outrageous and radical. It is the Tea Party whose economic views are mainstream.

◼ WHO’S MAINSTREAM? - Powerline
◼ Spending Cuts, Not Tax Hikes, Best for Deficit: NABE - CNBC

The majority of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics believe that the federal deficit should be reduced only or primarily through spending cuts....

As for how to reduce the deficit, nearly 40 percent said the best way would be to contain Medicare and Medicaid costs. Nearly a quarter recommended overhauling the tax system and simplifying tax rates and exemptions. About 15 percent said the government should enact tough spending caps and cut discretionary spending....

Obamacare is already on its deathbed

◼ Obamacare has never been popular. It debuted with a barely 50 percent favorable rating, which sunk to the low 40s by the time it passed, and stands in the high 30s today. - Conn Carroll/Washington Examiner

The law is unmanageable, unsustainable, unpopular and, according to the 11th Circuit, unconstitutional. If the justices on the Supreme Court have any sense of mercy, they will officially put the law out of its misery and invalidate the entire act.

FCC finally kills off fairness doctrine

◼ The FCC gave the coup de grace to the fairness doctrine Monday as the commission axed more than 80 media industry rules.

Monday’s move is part of the commission’s response to a White House executive order directing a “government-wide review of regulations already on the books” designed to eliminate unnecessary regulations.

Also consigned to the regulatory dustbin are the “broadcast flag” digital copy protection rule that was struck down by the courts and the cable programming service tier rate. Altogether, the agency tossed 83 rules and regs.

The race was widely viewed as a sleepy sideshow — a mere formality that would put David I. Weprin, a Democratic state assemblyman and heir to a Queens political dynasty, into a seat known for its deep blue hue.

◼ NYT Shocked, SHOCKED To Find Voter Anger At Obama In Weiner’s Heavily Democratic District… - Weasel Zippers

Instead, the race has become something far more unsettling to Democrats: a referendum on the president and his party that is highlighting the surprisingly raw emotions of the electorate.

◼ In the Race to Succeed Weiner, a Surprising Anger at Obama - NYT

Of all the places to hear fulminations against President Obama, one of the least expected is the corner of 71st Avenue and Queens Boulevard, in the heart of a Congressional district that propelled Democrats like Geraldine A. Ferraro, Charles E. Schumer and Anthony D. Weiner to Washington.

◼ The race to replace Anthony Weiner in NY-09 has taken a disturbing turn for Democrats. Bob Turner, who lost in 2010 by a wide margin to the disgraced former Congressman, only narrowly trails David Weprin in what had been considered a safe district in the Big Apple. - Ed Morrissey/HotAir

streetartutopia.com

◼ streetartutopia.com

Paul Ryan Not Running for President

◼ Ryan, who began seriously considering a bid in late May after Indiana governor Mitch Daniels took himself out of the race, had consulted with top Republicans, including Karl Rove and Frank Luntz, as he contemplated his political future. And though many of those he talked with told him he would be a viable candidate in such a fluid race, even as a late entry, Ryan ultimately decided to continue his focus on debt and entitlement reform as chairman of the House Budget Committee. - Weekly Standard

Ryan has said publicly he is concerned that those currently running for the GOP nomination are not addressing long-term fiscal and economic issues in a way that makes clear the magnitude of the challenges. He told Milwaukee talk radio host Charlie Sykes on August 12 that he was disappointed in the presidential debate in Iowa and thought the field needed a candidate who could articulate the need for limited government.

RICK PERRY WINS REPUBLICAN STRAW POLL at the HUMBOLDT COUNTY FAIR

Texas Governor Rick Perry emerged as the winner of the Republican Presidential Straw Poll at the Humboldt County Fair which included 10 declared candidates. Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) was second and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, third.

“Nearly 600 fairgoers voted in the poll, during the August 11-21 fair,” according to Peter Hannaford, Humboldt Republican Party chairman. The results:

• Perry 29%
• Bachmann 18
• Romney 15
• Cain 2
• Paul 7.4
• Gingrich 7
• Santorum 1.4
• Huntsman 1.3

Sarah Palin received 4.2 percent as a write-in choice. The rest consisted of scattered single votes, and spoiled ballots/

Voting was open to all registered voters, regardless of party or independent status. Sixty-two percent checked the “Republican” box. “The ballot was printed in six versions, with the names rotating to avoid bias,” Hannaford noted. This is the third Republican straw poll this summer. Bachmann won the July 4 poll at the Eureka Main Street Fair and she and Perry were tied at the Rio Dell Wildwood Days Fair, August 6-7.

###

The Undecided: How Long Will Sarah Palin Keep Us in Suspense?

◼ Palin’s public statements and actions, if taken at face value, though, reveal a person who has called for a candidate to “shake things up,” but who is herself wavering on that “earth-shattering” decision. - Tony Lee/Human Events

Asked what a potential Palin campaign would look like, Palin, according to Real Clear Politics, said, "Each campaign that I’ve ever run in these 20 years of elected office has been kind of unconventional. … We’ve always been outspent two to one, 10 to one, five to one. Never won any polls heading into election night, but usually won the election.”

Palin continued: “So it would be unconventional and very grassroots. Very grassroots. And I wouldn’t be out there looking for hires out of that political bubble that seem to result in the same old ideas, the same old talking points, the things that Americans get so sick and tired of hearing and kind of suffering through.”

◼ Palin event on Labor Day weekend not a campaign launch?; Update: Rasmussen poll shows Palin losing to Obama by 17 points

In a must-read Washington Post op-ed today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor made the connection between the present jobs crisis and the nation’s ongoing debt crisis — and pinned blame for both on President Barack Obama

◼ Cantor: Obama administration’s actions say, “We want to make it harder to create jobs” - HotAir

Cantor also took aim at the president’s reluctance to reform entitlements in the structural way necessary to ensure solvency and reiterated Republicans’ opposition to any new tax increases, writing that tax hikes would only “exacerbate the jobs crisis for the 14 million Americans out of work.”

As Cantor writes, the president’s class warfare rhetoric belies his purported concern for cooperation and action — and his willingness to raise taxes on even non-millionaire-and-billionaire households, like individuals reporting income of more than $200,000 and families and small businesses with incomes of more than $250,000, hints at the underlying agenda of his administration, which is, quite simply, to grow government.

◼ Removing the obstacles to economic growth - Eric Cantor/Washington Post

In a must-read Washington Post op-ed today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor made the connection between the present jobs crisis and the nation’s ongoing debt crisis — and pinned blame for both on President Barack Obama

◼ Cantor: Obama administration’s actions say, “We want to make it harder to create jobs” - HotAir

Cantor also took aim at the president’s reluctance to reform entitlements in the structural way necessary to ensure solvency and reiterated Republicans’ opposition to any new tax increases, writing that tax hikes would only “exacerbate the jobs crisis for the 14 million Americans out of work.”

As Cantor writes, the president’s class warfare rhetoric belies his purported concern for cooperation and action — and his willingness to raise taxes on even non-millionaire-and-billionaire households, like individuals reporting income of more than $200,000 and families and small businesses with incomes of more than $250,000, hints at the underlying agenda of his administration, which is, quite simply, to grow government.

◼ Removing the obstacles to economic growth - Eric Cantor/Washington Post

Fox News Sunday: Bill Burton vs. Karl Rove

Libya: Rebels take Tripoli, Gaddafi on ice

◼ It’s been six months since Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi gave his “I am still in charge” speech, ranted about rats and drugged-up children, and appealed to his “son” Barack Obama for help. - Michelle Malkin
◼ Libyan Rebels Enter Tripoli, Reportedly Arrest Qaddafi's Son - FOX
◼ Gadhafi regime appears to 'crumble' - CNN
◼ Jubilant Rebels Control Much of Tripoli - NYT
◼ Rebels move into central Tripoli - BBC
◼ Al Jazeera Liveblog
◼ A Few Caveats About Qaddafi and Libya - commentarymagazine
◼ On Martha's Vineyard, Obama monitors Libya news - LA Times

Obama doesn't expect another recession

◼ President Obama insisted the U.S. was not in danger of falling into another recession, but acknowledged in a televised interview aired Sunday that his reelection would hinge on the economy. - LA Times

He criticized Republicans for recent "brinkmanship" over raising the nation's debt ceiling but said he "absolutely can do business with them." ...Obama said he would push Democrats to find "common ground and compromise." ..."And if that's happening on both sides, there's no reason why we can't solve problems," he said.

◼ Obama Likely To Propose Job-Training Program, Tax Credits, And Infrastructure Spending - Business Insider

(Like other jobs proposals that have been reported in recent weeks, this news is presumably another White House trial balloon).

Even Dems Lose Faith In Obama's Economics

◼ In a portentous development for President Obama's favorability, the bottom has fallen out of the base of support

Before July's 51%, until then the lowest of the president's term, though still positive, the average among Democrats giving him good grades was 59%. So this month's rating represents a 37% drop.

◼ Every day, thousands more Americans are giving up on Barack Obama’s presidency. - Powerline

It was only three months ago that you could hardly open a newspaper without encountering columns full of growing predictions about the revolution sweeping the Middle East. Now the Arab Spring is swiftly becoming the embarrassing relative in the journalism family. The predictions as silly as crystal healing and alien visitations.

◼ Burying the Arab Spring - Daniel Greenfield/Canada Free Press

Lawsuit reform could be big in 2012

◼ Nobody knows where Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign will go or how far, but one thing is certain: The Lone Star State has been growing new jobs faster than any other state for the past decade and, since he has occupied the governor's chair for most of that time, Perry is eager to talk about why that happened and what needs to be done to duplicate it nationally. - Washington Examiner Editorial

Experts and pundits can debate exactly how much of the credit should go to Perry, but there is little doubt that people across America are paying attention. One of the factors Perry repeatedly cites as playing a central role in the Texas economic success is lawsuit reform. Insuring equity and fairness for all defendants and plaintiffs, he argues, is essential to creating a business environment that encourages job creation and economic growth.

A widely praised lawsuit reform measure Perry signed into law earlier this year was not the state's first experience on the issue. In 2003 and 2005, Texas adopted, also with Perry's active support, medical malpractice lawsuit abuse reforms that soon thereafter began to produce remarkable results. Within three years of the reforms' enactment, medical malpractice insurance premiums for doctors were reduced by 35 percent, saving physicians more than $200 million. That in turn reversed a growing doctor shortage in Texas by attracting a vast new influx of doctors fleeing other states with less enlightened laws to open up practices in Texas. That influx in its turn provided incentive for nearly three dozen insurers to offer new medical insurance products that helped drive down costs and improve services for doctors and patients alike. read the rest...

Obama appears to be running as if this is 2008, not 2012 — and as if the enormous damage of his presidency will be stuffed down a memory hole.

◼ Obama’s Dissociative Disorder Ploy - Commentary Magazine

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal contains these two priceless paragraphs:

President Barack Obama pitched himself onto the political scene as a man who could rise above partisan politics, and despite presiding over a bitterly divided government, he is starting the 2012 campaign still casting himself as that guy.

On a three-day midwestern bus trip, Mr. Obama tried to portray himself as an outsider. “The only thing that’s holding us back right now is our politics,” he said three times at a town-hall-style meeting here on Wednesday. “That’s the message we need to send to Washington,” he said, as if he wasn’t part of Washington.

The mind reels at the brazenness of this strategy.

◼ Campaigning as Mr. Outsider - President Obama, Touring the Midwest, Seeks to Portray Congress as the Problem - Wall St. Journal

Jon Huntsman: Trust Science on Global Warming

◼ Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman leveled criticism again Sunday against Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and his positions on evolution and climate change.

Huntsman said taking a position like Perry's "that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the National Academy of Sciences has said about what is causing climate change and man's contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science and, therefore, in a losing position."

◼ Hunstman Unleashes on Fellow GOP Candidates - FOX

◼ DNC Shows Love For Jon Huntsman - ABC

McCain: Gadhafi Will Be Gone In a 'Matter of Hours'

◼ “We will be rid of a guy who has practiced the worst kind of brutalities,” added McCain, one of the leading foreign policy experts in the Senate. - Newsmax

"I grieve a bit because this conflict didn't have to last this long," McCain told CBS' Norah O'Donnell. "The United States' air power could have shortened this conflict dramatically. Unfortunately we chose not to. We led from behind."

It seems that the Secretary of Education needs to repeat a course or two on research, honesty, and integrity.

◼ Dallas Morning News: (Education Secretary Arne) Duncan flat-out lied about Texas education - HotAir

We shouldn’t hear lies come out of the mouth of the nation’s top education official... when he discusses the record of millions of students and dedicated educators....

Here’s another clue: Texas caps student-to-teacher ratios in primary and secondary education by statute at 22:1. That limitation has been in place during the entire time that Perry has been governor in Texas. The nation’s Secretary of Education apparently doesn’t know how to do research before positing claims, or — as Jones accuses — deliberately lied for political purposes.

The obvious political purpose is to attack a Republican challenger to his boss, which would put Duncan out of work. Jones offers another motive: Perry’s refusal to join Duncan’s Race to the Top. Perry balked at the program as part of his general opposition to federal interference in state jurisdiction, which Jones calls “political,” but offers it as a reason that Duncan would want to make Texas’ education efforts look deficient. This one is a MUST READ

What if Obama quit?

◼ Nothing says that Obama has to run for a second term in office. - Ed Morrissey/HotAir

Obama’s numbers are plummeting in places Democrats can hardly afford to lose. In Pennsylvania, where Obama will top a ticket that also includes Bob Casey’s bid for a second Senate term, he’s either at 43% approval (Quinnipiac) or at 35% (Muhlenberg). Wisconsin turned Republican last year and a series of elections this year confirmed it, and Herb Kohl’s seat in the Senate is up for grabs. Obama can be expected to drag down the ticket in Virginia (James Webb’s seat is open), Florida (Bill Nelson), Ohio (Sherrod Brown), Maryland (Ben Cardin), and Michigan (Debbie Stabenow). Obama is underwater in New York and New Jersey already, two normally staunch Democratic states, both with Senate races on the line as well. If Obama runs at the top of those tickets, he might eke out victories in the two states, but his presence on the ticket will depress Democratic turnout and might endanger Kirsten Gillibrand and Robert Menendez; Democrats would almost certainly have to spend a ton of money to bolster them that they’d normally spend elsewhere.

Democrats will be looking at a massacre in the Senate, and that’s not even including already-endangered seats in Nebraska, Missouri, Montana, and New Mexico, which just elected its first Republican woman governor last year. Democrats could wind up losing enough seats to give Republicans a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate if Obama chases away the white working-class vote that he’s been alienating for the past two years on ObamaCare and now his disastrous economic performance. If unemployment starts rising and growth remains low in the next few months, Democrats may insist on Obama finding a graceful exit before the primaries.

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