Humboldt Republican Women: 2011-09-18

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Left Behind: How Democrats Are Losing the Political Center

◼ Even as the terms of the political debate in Washington, in the eyes of many Democrats, have moved steadily to the right, the electorate is increasingly likely to see itself as ideologically closer to the Republican Party than to Democrats. - William Galston at The New Republic

Herman Cain wins CPAC Florida straw poll; with Rick Perry in second place

◼ “Tonight’s winner is Herman Cain,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced. “It shows you something, the road to the White House come through Florida, and it pays to spend time here.” - Washington Times

◼ Cain wins big at Florida Straw Poll - 11alive.com

The Florida Straw Poll touts its record of accurately signaling the GOP's eventual nominee. In the three times it has been held, Ronald Reagan won in 1979, George H.W. Bush in 1987 and Bob Dole in 1995. Each was nominated for president the following year.

◼ I’ve noticed that lately Cain is getting a little more air under his wings in a “I kind of like that Cain guy” sort of way. - Michelle Malkin

◼ The very quick take: excellent news for Cain, who generally shone in Thursday’s debate. - RedState

◼ In winning 37% of the Florida Straw Poll voters, Herman Cain did better than the president did in the actual Florida Primary in 2008. - Don Surber/Daily Mail

◼ ORLANDO GOP STRAW POLL RESULTS UPDATE: Herman Cain Beats Rick Perry - The Other McCain

ANNUAL REPUBLICAN PICNIC IN FORTUNA Sept. 25

Humboldt County’s Republican Central Committee and Humboldt Republican Women Federated will hold the party’s annual picnic at Rohner Park, Fortuna, from 12:30-4 p.m., Sunday, September 25. ◼ MAP

Grilled hamburgers and hot dogs will be furnished. Picnicgoers are asked to bring a salad if their last name begins N-Z and a dessert if A-M, according to Debbie Walker, president of the HRWF. “One of our members, Margaret Stafford, is a renowned pie baker and one her pies will be auctioned at the picnic,” she said. There will be brief speeches by several candidates for office.

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Friday, September 23, 2011

MSNBC's Thomas Roberts: GOP Wants to Go Back to When No Women Voted, 'Slavery Was Cool'

◼ Story at Newsbusted

FACT: A Republican Wrote the 19th Amendment - In 1878, U.S. Senator Aaron Sargent (R-CA) introduced in Congress the proposed 19th Amendment, according women the right to vote. Over the next four decades, it was primarily the Democrats who would oppose the measure. Not until 1919, after the Republican Party won majorities in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, did Congress approve what would become the 19th Amendment. GOP Accomplishments - gop.com

◼ Idiot MSNBC Leftist Says GOP Thinks “Slavery Is Cool” …(GOP Freed the Slaves) - Jim Hoft/Gateway Pundit

Republicans led by Republican President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves during the Civil War.... On the other hand, the KKK, was founded as the the terrorist wing of the Democrat Party.

Obamacare HHS rule would give government everybody’s health records

◼ It’s been said a thousand times: Congress had to pass President Obama’s health care law in order to find out what’s in it. But, despite the repetitiveness, the level of shock from each new discovery never seems to recede. - Rep. Tim Huelskamp/Washington Examiner

This time, America is learning about the federal government’s plan to collect and aggregate confidential patient records for every one of us.

In a proposed rule from Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the federal government is demanding insurance companies submit detailed health care information about their patients.

Memo To GOP: The Foe Is Obama, Not Perry

◼ Despite the "gotcha" sniping at Thursday's debate, Republicans need to keep their eyes on the prize. The target for 2012 is not Santorum, Cain, Bachmann, Romney or Perry. It's the current White House occupant. - Investors Business Daily

Trained Romney outduels Perry in style, substance

Washington Examiner Daily Political Digest: The FOX/Google Debate

◼ link - Michael Barone/Washington Examiner

Perry has spent 10 years as governor of Texas, and only a few weeks preparing to be president of the United States. He still has to think about his answers, and he has seemed fatigued in the second half of all three debates he has entered.

Romney, by contrast, has been campaigning for the presidency for more than four years, and is so trained up that he can seemingly go on autopilot when answering most questions. The results is a smooth, practiced delivery that makes him seem more presidential at this point in the campaign.

◼ Perry is blowing it - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner

Mitt Romney is an incredibly vulnerable Republican candidate, from his numerous policy reversals to his championing of the Massachusetts health care law that served as the basis from Obamacare. But for him to lose, somebody else has to beat him. And like Tim Pawlenty before him, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is blowing his chances to exploit Romney’s weaknesses.

◼ For Romney, it's definitely not over yet - David Freddoso/Washington Examiner

If you'd asked me three months ago, I would have bet good money that Mitt Romney was the one man who could never become the GOP nominee next year. The reason was simple: RomneyCare. He had implemented Obamacare in his state before Obamacare was uncool. It was like Kryptonite.Now, I'm not so sure.

◼ Perry, like Bush, attacks immigration opponents - Timothy P. Carney/Washington Examiner

◼ Romney not a credible attack dog on immigration - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner

◼ Perry spin: Perry on a learning curve - Charlie Spiering/Washington Examiner

"We’re the country that built the Intercontinental Railroad," Barack Obama.

◼ Obama hails America's historic building of 'the Intercontinental Railroad' - Andrew Malcolm/LA Times

That's what the president of the United States flat-out said Thursday during what was supposed to be a photo op to sell his jobs plan next to an allegedly deteriorating highway bridge.

A railroad between continents? A railroad from, say, New York City all the way across the Atlantic to France? Now, THAT would be a bridge!
__________________

FACT: Republicans Established the TRANScontinental Railroad - The 1860 Republican National Convention, in its platform, called for building a railroad to the Pacific.

In 1862, the Republican-controlled 37th Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, establishing the transcontinental railroad. The bill, written by U.S. Representative Samuel Curtis (R-IA), was signed into law later that day by Republican President Abraham Lincoln.

The man honored with driving the golden spike to complete the railroad was former Republican governor of California, Leland Stanford. In 1856, Stanford had co-founded the California Republican Party. He would later serve in the U.S. Senate and found Stanford University. ◼ Read more: GOP Accomplishments

Netanyahu: Palestinians want state without peace

"I think there is something broken in our media and campaign system. I do not think most independents or conservatives understand, or fully appreciate, the tremendous advantages the left derives from having the mainstream media serve as the fully paid, completely sympathetic, Dan Rather-level opposition research team of the Democratic Party."

◼ John C. Drew: Even Republicans Rejected Info About Obama’s Past - Trevor Loudon

Latest brainstorm, spearheaded by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and a handful of other Democrats - Let’s sue companies who don’t hire the unemployed!

◼ The latest brilliant plan to get people back to work seems to focus on… wait for it… punishing potential employers by dragging them into court on a whole new class of discrimination based lawsuits. - HotAir

SOLYNDRA STONEWALLS...

◼ Solyndra executives repeatedly invoke the Fifth - Politico via Drudge (image source)
◼ NYT: 'WHITE HOUSE PUSH-BACK' ON FAILED SOLAR COMPANY... - NY Times
◼ Solyndra failure puts solar industry on defensive - Reuters
◼ CHICAGOLAND: Rahm, Axelrod deny any knowledge... - WLSam
◼ The Solyndra Fraud - The solar-energy company was a con game. - National Review

Stimulus: Obama will raise money in early October with a Missouri businessman whose company benefited from a $107 million federal tax credit to develop a wind power facility in his state

◼ Tom Carnahan, a scion of Missouri’s most prominent Democratic political family, is listed on Obama’s campaign website as a host of a $25,000-per-person fundraiser to be held in St. Louis on October 4. - Politico

His investment firm, Wind Capital Group, was helped by a sizable credit authorized in the stimulus, for an energy project in northwest Missouri.

Republicans argue that it’s inappropriate for the Obama campaign to raise money from a donor who has benefited directly from the Recovery Act.

◼ Obama to raise money at Tom Carnahan's St. Louis home - stltoday

Missouri Republicans today seized on the report of the president's visit, noting the recent criticism of an Energy Deparment loan to Solyndra Inc., the bankrupt California energy company.

Lloyd Smith, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party, said in a statement: "At a time when Barack Obama is under fire for steering hundreds of millions of dollars in stimulus funds to a failed company linked to a major campaign donor, it is stunning that he would come to Missouri and raise money with another recipient of stimulus cash."

SHUTDOWN: Harry Reid kills bill to keep gov't running...

◼ Senate rejects the House stop-gap spending bill. Is a government shutdown avoidable? - Christian Science Monitor

The Senate has voted to reject the temporary spending bill passed by the House late last night.

◼ U.S. Senate to delay disaster bill until Monday - Reuters

◼ Reid Postpones disaster relief vote...for Dem party, fundraiser at island retreat! - Sunlight Foundation/politicalpartytime.org via Drudge

The Fox News/Google Debate (Full Length)

California unemployment rate hits 12.1% as employers slash jobs

◼ State employers reduce payrolls in August for the second month in a row as they see signs of a faltering economy, pushing the jobless rate up from 12% in July. - LA Times

It's a worrisome sign for California's labor market, which has all but ground to halt. California has gained 98,500 jobs in 2011, but almost all of that hiring came early in the year. The state's employers have added just 11,000 jobs since March....

California has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, after Nevada, which saw its jobless rate rise to 13.4% from 12.9% in July. There are 2.2 million unemployed people in California, many of whom exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits months ago.

Barack Obama has done the United States a great, though unforeseen, favor. He has brought to light, as no one else could, many of the pernicious assumptions of our culture from the last half-century. He turned theory and “what ifs” into fact for all America to see, experience, and, yes, suffer through.

◼ The Great Obama Catharsis - Victor Davis Hanson
...From Here On Out - Had McCain been elected, or had Obama proved a canny Clinton triangulator, we would never have gotten out of the bipartisan rut of massive borrowing, growing government, higher taxes, and unionized public employee regulators. But with Obama as the great liberal deliverer and with the masses scared to death of Him, the next president will inherit an America in catharsis. The future is uncertain, but at least now, after our cauterizing, we have some sort of chance to return to the old principles that might save us. Read, and Bookmark, the whole thing

Five Takeaways from the GOP Presidential Debate

◼ Overall this debate probably did less to advance and sharpen the argument among the Republican contenders than any of the earlier contests. But the evening did advance the GOP race on some fronts. - National Journal

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Photo Oops, Obama touts his jobs plan today at an Ohio bridge that won't qualify

"I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm a warrior for the middle class."

◼ ...here's the problem... that could screw up all those envisioned photo op shots of the Democrat and the traffic - LA Times

◼ He referred to it in his Sept. 8 speech to Congress, saying "there's a bridge that needs repair between Ohio and Kentucky that's on one of the busiest trucking routes in North America." - Investors Business Daily

In fact, it's designed to last for decades more.... It is, however, "functionally obsolete," which in this case means it's too small to handle the daily traffic load. While designed to handle 85,000 cars and trucks, it now carries more than 150,000, leading to regular backups.

So the plan isn't to do extensive repairs on the bridge, but to build an entirely new one right next to it and keep the old one in use.

The problem is that construction work on the $2.3 billion bridge isn't scheduled to start for three or four years, according to the project's official website.

That would appear to put it outside the "immediate" timetable in Obama's jobs bill, which requires the Transportation secretary to "obligate" all the highway funds "not later than two years after enactment" of the bill.

◼ Experts say Obama's visit won't help bridge - Cincinnati.com

McCotter drops long shot bid for GOP presidential nomination

◼ "If they keep you out of the debates, you are out of the conversation and you can't run," McCotter said. "It was sort of death by media." - Detroit News

Watch the Debate Online...

◼ Live Streaming at FOX
◼ And at YouTube

Recorded version will be available soon.

FOX NEWS/GOOGLE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE DEBATE TONIGHT AT 6:00

◼ What Do You Want to Ask the Candidates?
The Sept. 22 presidential debate, hosted by Fox News and Google from 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET (6:00 OUR TIME) in Orlando, Fla., in conjunction with the Republican Party of Florida. Fox News' Bret Baier will moderate, joined by Fox News anchors Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace as panelists.

Fox News and Google will also present public data and Google search trends on air to help provide context to the questions and inform the debate throughout the evening.

Take a look at ◼ Youtube.com/Foxnews to check out some of the latest video entries from voters who want the top-tier Republican presidential candidates to get specific on the subjects that are sure to embody the 2012 presidential election.

Explosive Email Shows Anti-Palin Author McGinniss, Random House Likely Published Literary Hoax

◼ Explosive Email Shows Anti-Palin Author McGinniss, Random House Likely Published Literary Hoax (Updated) - Breitbart's Big Journalism

The awful launch week for the over-hyped, expected bestseller The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, by controversial author Joe McGinniss, just got worse. Much worse.

After a week of universally scathing pans from the reflexively anti-Palin establishment media, McGinniss now faces the fight of his literary life: the accusation that he seems to have knowingly submitted a book to his publisher, Crown/Random House, that was filled with unproved “tawdry gossip” and rumors that lacked “factual evidence.”

◼ Caught: Random House Published Palin Smears After Lawyers Allegedly Told McGinniss No Proof Existed - Breitbart's Big Journalism

◼ SHOCKER: Joe McGinniss’s Credibility Destroyed by E-Mail to Jesse Griffin - The Other McCain

"I'm thinking of running for student council...any tips?"

GLOBAL MELTDOWN: INVESTORS DUMPING EVERYTHING

◼ With no solution in sight for Europe and new fears of a global recession, investors dumped stocks and commodities and ran to the safety of U.S. Treasurys. - CNBC
◼ Dow Drops 400 on Rising Recession Worries - CNBC
◼ Recession fears hammer stocks, commodities - Reuters
◼ World Bank's Zoellick: "The world is in a danger zone" - Reuters (video)
◼ Soros blames Republicans - CNBC

US leads walk out as Iran delivers anti-US speech

◼ American diplomats walked out of the U.N. General Assembly as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a fiercely anti-American speech.
More than a dozen diplomats from other countries, including France, left the chamber soon afterward. - AP

5 Job Destroying Regulations Proposed By the Obama Administration

◼ Think Obama is job-friendly? Think again. - Elisabeth Meinecke/Townhall

Law professor's talk on the Tea Party triggers heated debate

◼ William A. Jacobson, associate clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School and founder of the conservative blog Legal Iinsurrection, ventured into a crowded room at the Cornell Club in Manhattan to assert that the Tea Party is one of the most influential -- and positive -- forces in American politics in a generation. - Cornell University/Chronicle Online
◼ “… like Thomas Paine and other deep thinkers from before the revolutionary war…” - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
◼ Cornell Club NYC last night - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Soros turns up in Obama's LightSquared imbroglio

◼ As Republican lawmakers begin to dig into the White House's cozy relationship with a startup wireless company and the wealthy Democratic donor who owns it, a new character has appeared on the story's edges: liberal superdonor, conservative bete noire and controversial investor George Soros. - Timothy P. Carney/Washington Examiner

In the LightSquared affair, Soros shows up repeatedly.

First, Soros is reportedly an investor in LightSquared. The Wall Street Journal reported in November 2010: "In 2009, while some investors were asking for withdrawals, others were lining up to put money into Harbinger. They included Soros Fund Management, which during the past year became a significant new investor, say people familiar with the matter."

Additionally, the telecom- and tech-related liberal nonprofits Soros funds have gone to bat for LightSquared in its various policy fights. In April 2010, the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission backing Harbinger's business plans and met with an FCC commissioner on the matter. Four groups that belong to that coalition received six-figure gifts from Soros' Open Society Institute the year before.

Six months later, those four Soros-funded groups -- Free Press, Media Access Project, the New America Foundation, and Public Knowledge -- filed a joint comment backing LightSquared in a related regulatory matter.

Solyndra’s ‘Green Jobs’ meant well-paid employment for lots of well-connected D.C. lobbyists

◼ Solyndra’s ‘Green Jobs’ Included Employment for D.C. Lobbyists — Including Former Democrat Aides
◼ Solyndra’s new lobbyists: William Weld; Hoyer aide - Timothy P. Carney/Washington Examiner

The First Lady wore Katie's Lotus cuff priced at $15,000 with 2.9 carats of diamonds, her Gothic cuff at $15,350 with 2.17 carats in diamonds and the Quatrefoil bracelet at $11,800 with 1.73 carats in diamonds to the Fat Cat Fundraiser

◼ We heard she was on fire but didn't know it was the diamonds - Anne Leary
◼ EAST WING BLING: MICHELLE O'S $42,000 DIAMOND CUFFS... - Culture Map/Houston via Drudge

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

New Blood In GOP Senate Leadership

◼ Lamar Alexander has resigned as Chairman of The Republican Conference, the number 4 slot on the GOP leadership team. - Ace Of Spades
◼ Lamar Alexander to resign from Senate leadership in January - Washington Post

Obama & Solyndra: MAKIN' IT RAIN

Unsound Bites

◼ How can we get away from the straitjacket of the current media “debate” format? - Thomas Sowell/National Review Online

After all the media hype over Gov. Rick Perry’s having called Social Security “a Ponzi scheme,” viewers are no more informed than before as to what specifically is a Ponzi scheme, what are the objections to such schemes, and whether those same objections apply to Social Security.

Even if such questions were answered, we would still not have weighed the alternatives to Social Security. Serious issues like that cannot be covered in sound bites or with “gotcha” questions from the media.
The whole “debate” format, with far more candidates included than have any realistic chance of getting the nomination, means that serious issues cannot get serious attention, because there is just not enough time with so many people. Most of what we learn from those “debates” is who is glib and fast on his feet.

We already have a president who is glib and fast on his feet. But he is a disaster when it comes to the economy, among other things. Do we need more of the same from Republicans?

Obama: No 'Shortcut' to Peace Between Israelis, Palestinians

◼ President Obama said Wednesday there is no "shortcut" to Middle East peace, as he urged the Palestinians to abandon their push for a statehood vote before the United Nations. - FOX

"Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations -- if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now," said Obama, who at the same forum a year ago called for an independent Palestine.

He said the decades-old impasse will be resolved only by "negotiated settlement," something he said could not happen until "each side learns to stand in each other's shoes."

Obama, while stating the vision of Palestinian statehood has been delayed for "too long," used his address to assure Israel that his administration empathizes with its concerns and will stand by the Jewish state.

"Let us be honest with ourselves. Israel is surrounded by neighbors that have waged repeated wars against it," Obama said. While Palestinians must know the territorial basis for their state, he said, the Israelis have be assured of their security.

"Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians, not us, who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them," Obama said.

◼ UN chief urges Israel 'restraint' - Breitbart

◼ Palestinians May Delay Call for Quick Vote - Bloomberg

Allowing the UN’s administrative process to slow down a Palestinian application to the Security Council would give diplomats time to look for an alternative that restarts peace talks. The U.S. is using the time to lean on council members to abstain from voting in favor of the Palestinians, who are fighting to retain supporters.

◼ Obama's UN Speech Continues His Disastrous Israel Policy - Yid With Lid

It's not what he said that should be alarming to friends of Israel, its what he didn't say, namely that Israel needed to be recognized as the Jewish State. Oh he flirted around it sometimes, but carefully negotiated around stating it, an act of appeasement to those who would destroy Israel.

◼ The danger of not vetoing the Palestinian statehood bid - HotAir

◼ The Palestinian bubble bursts again - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

There is only one thing which will bring peace and a real Palestinian state: The acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state within militarily defensible borders.

And that is the one thing the Palestinians as of yet are unwilling to give.

Expect violence.

Twist and fall: Stocks End Sharply Lower After Fed Decision

◼ BEN'S BIG BACKFIRE: The Fed announced it would launch a new $400 billion program in a move to rebalance its $2.87 trillion portfolio—a version of the widely expected Operation Twist—by selling shorter-term notes and using those funds to purchase longer-dated Treasurys. - CNBC via Drudge

Palin to Hannity: "Mark My Word, It Is Going To Be An Unconventional Election"

◼ Palin: 'Still time' for 'unconventional' race - Byron York/Washington Examiner

"...this is going to be such an unconventional election cycle. Because this has been such an unconventional administration that we are fighting so hard and so committed to replacing. It's not just the administration but it's the Senate, those who have followed like sheep behind President Obama... "

Humboldt: Estelle Fennell to announce bid for Board of Supervisors 2nd District

◼ Former Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights Executive Director and Redway resident Estelle Fennell will formally announce her campaign for 2nd District supervisor on Thursday. (September 22nd) - Times Standard

Humboldt: Chesbro Seeks Another Term

◼ Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D) announced Sept. 5 that he will seek re-election to the State Assembly in the new North Coast District 2. - Arcata Eye

◼ 2012 Elex Update: Chezz Clear, Fennell In, Evans Out? - Hank Sims at Lost Coast Outpost

From the Napa Valley Register and the Pee-Dee (Press Democrat), news that Assm. Michael Allen (D-Santa Rosa) is hightailing it out of town rather than go head-to-head with our man Wes “The Chezz” Chesbro — showing, once again, that even an assistant majority leader is no match for the unstoppable juggernaut that is the Chezz.

Michael Reagan a No-Go to Challenge Feinstein in California

◼ Contrary to news report, Michael Reagan, the son of the former president, told Fox News on Wednesday that he is not running for the Senate seat in California currently held by Democrat Dianne Feinstein and hasn't considered the idea. - FOX

"Politics has changed so much since my dad was president and governor. Politics has become so personal and I don't want to put my family in that position. I don't want them on the front pages and if the race was close, that's exactly what would happen. We now go after families and they are no longer off limits and I wont do that to mine," he said.

Rick Perry - Proven Leadership

◼ Rick Perry's intense new ad. - Althouse

"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it." Judge Learned Hand

"Listen To Us!"

◼ “I voted for him, I’m a Democrat, but Obama who?” - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Capitol dome glows for Alzheimer's awareness

◼ That purple glow on the Capitol dome is in recognition of World Alzheimer's Month and Alzheimer's Action Day on Wednesday. - Sacramento Bee

◼ New hope for Alzheimer's Disease

Sarah Palin within 5 points of Obama, now leads Obama among independents

◼ A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds that Obama looks increasingly vulnerable in next year's election, with a majority of voters believing he'll lose to any Republican... - Miami Herald

The biggest gain came for Palin, the former Alaska governor who hasn't yet announced whether she'll jump into the fast-changing race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

After trailing Obama by more than 20 percentage points in polls all year, the new national survey, taken Sept. 13-14, found Palin trailing the president by just 5 points, 49-44 percent. The key reason: She now leads Obama among independents, a sharp turnaround.

◼ Poll: Palin Picks Up Steam Against Obama - Michelle Malkin
◼ McClatchy-Marist Poll Shows Sarah Gaining Huge Ground With Independents - moms4sarahpalin

Solyndra execs will take the Fifth (UPDATED)

◼ Sept 20 (Reuters) - Solyndra LLC's chief executive and chief financial officer will invoke their Fifth Amendment rights and decline to answer any questions put to them at a Congressional hearing on Friday, according to letters from their attorneys obtained by Reuters.

◼ Email shows Solyndra execs broke pledge to testify - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner

Originally, the company's president and chief executive, Brian Harrison, and W.G. Stover, Jr., its chief financial officer, were scheduled to testify as part of last Wednesday's hearing on questionable loans before the House Energy and Commerce's oversight subcommittee. That testimony was pushed back to this Friday, with the understanding, according to top committee members, that they would answer questions.

But yesterday, the executives informed the committee that they would be invoking their Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and oversight subcommittee chairman Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said this violated "repeated assurances that they would testify voluntarily and answer questions." Today, they've released evidence backing up that view.

"We were sold on a message of hope and change, but now young people are without jobs and can’t afford to pay their bills.”

◼ Republicans are targeting young people, the heart of Barack Obama’s base, with a new television spot aimed at college students and broadcast during the programs they like most. - ABC News

“Bro,” says one young man, “you’re LOSING my future.”

Obama derides fat cats, then meets them for dinner to collect cash: $35,800 a head

◼ Hours after delivering a White House speech that called on wealthy Americans to pay higher taxes, President Barack Obama dined with some of these very Americans in New York. He was expected to raise more than $2 million for his reelection campaign. - Wall St. Journal

◼ Obama Doesn't Mention Tax Hikes on Rich . . . at High-Dollar Fundraiser - Weekly Standard

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Tickets to Monday’s [fundraising] dinner were $35,800 per person, with $5,000 going to the Obama campaign and the rest going to the Democratic National Committee. That’s the maximum contribution allowed by law."

So it's no wonder the president didn't mention his plan to hike taxes on the rich!

Monday, September 19, 2011

WSJ: The rich don't pay lower average tax rates.

◼ The Buffett Alternative Tax - Wall St. Journal

Washington has repeated nearly every economic policy mistake of the 1930s in recent years, so why not repeat one of the bigger blunders of the 1960s too? We refer to President Obama's proposal yesterday for a new "Buffett Rule" to raise taxes on Americans earning more than $1 million a year. This may sound familiar to readers of a certain age, because it is how the current, and much-hated, Alternative Minimum Tax was born.

...the Minimum Tax of 1969 that later became the Alternative Minimum Tax. The AMT now hits some four million taxpayers, and 27% of households that paid it in 2008 had adjusted gross income of $200,000 or less.

Because it hits taxpayers with heavy deductions, the AMT wallops in particular the upper-middle-class suburbs in high-tax states like New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois and California.

There's one small problem: The entire Buffett Rule premise is false...

And what about the economy? Well, the plan Mr. Obama unveiled yesterday along with his Buffett Rule would sock the economy with $1.5 trillion in new taxes over 10 years, or about 1% of GDP. This includes the tax increases built into the 2013 expiration of the Bush-era tax rates but not those of ObamaCare. Anyone who believes this will help an economy that is creating few new jobs and growing by only 1% probably also believes that only the rich would pay the Buffett Alternative Tax.
◼ President Obama took to the Rose Garden podium on Monday to unveil the latest in his series of misleading and unpopular plans to fix the stalled economy. Now he wants another $1.5 trillion in government coffers from higher taxes, and he's waging class warfare to get it. - Emily Miller/Washington Times

The new "Buffett Rule" concept is named in honor of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who says he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.,,, But it's not so: Mr. Buffett is doubly taxed. He paid the highest tax rate of 35 percent on his income. In turn, he invested that money, taking the associated risk, and paid a capital-gains tax on any earnings. His secretary, who Mr. Buffett pays $60,000 a year, is taxed at a lower rate on just her income. The size of Mr. Buffett's deductions is no excuse to raise rates on everyone else's capital.

PAUL RYAN: STILL WAITING FOR CREDIBLE PLAN FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA

◼ President Insists on Tax Hikes for Job Creators, No Plan to Lift Crushing Burden of Debt

WASHINGTON – “The President’s partisan speech and misguided proposals are disappointing, but not surprising. Having overseen an unprecedented surge in government spending – from his failed stimulus law, to the creation of new trillion-dollar health entitlements, to double-digit percentage increases in the budgets of many federal agencies – the President has finally admitted that he plans to send the bill for Washington’s reckless spending straight to American businesses and families. A $1.6 trillion tax hike on job creators is never a good idea. But taking more money from private savers and investors, and giving it to the same government bureaucrats who brought us the Solyndra debacle, is an even worse idea – especially in a weak economy.

"Unfortunately, none of the President’s proposals this year – from his February budget to his April budget speech, to his recommendations today – offers a credible plan to lift our crushing burden of debt while restoring economic growth. Instead of renewed prosperity, the President has offered us a plan for shared scarcity. The nation deserves better.”

◼ Republicans to President Obama: No, really what is your plan? - Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post

York: Perry locked, loaded for Thursday's debate

◼ Thursday's Republican presidential debate in Orlando will be a key moment for Rick Perry. The newness is off the Texas governor's candidacy, and his support has leveled off and even slipped a bit in some recent polls. - Byron York/Washington Examiner

For Perry, each high-profile appearance is particularly important because many voters, even Republican primary voters, don't really know him. In a recent New York Times poll, 28 percent of GOP primary voters said they didn't know enough about Perry to have an opinion of him, and 17 percent more said they were undecided. Put them together, and that's nearly half the GOP primary electorate that needs to learn more about Perry. Each debate gives those voters more information on which to judge him.

When the president unveiled the second half of his stimulus it became clear that this package has nothing to do with helping people right away or averting a double dip. This is a campaign marker, not a jobs bill.

◼ ...It recycles ideas that couldn’t get passed even when Democrats controlled Congress. - David Brooks/New York Times

In his remarks Monday the president didn’t try to win Republicans to even some parts of his measures. He repeated the populist cries that fire up liberals but are designed to enrage moderates and conservatives.

He claimed we can afford future Medicare costs if we raise taxes on the rich. He repeated the old half-truth about millionaires not paying as much in taxes as their secretaries. (In reality, the top 10 percent of earners pay nearly 70 percent of all income taxes, according to the I.R.S. People in the richest 1 percent pay 31 percent of their income to the federal government while the average worker pays less than 14 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office.)

This wasn’t a speech to get something done.

Liberals vow to challenge Obama in Democratic primaries

◼ President Obama’s smooth path to the Democratic nomination may have gotten rockier Monday, after a group of liberal leaders, including former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, announced plans to challenge the incumbent in primaries next year. - Seth McLaughlin-The Washington Times
◼ Gallup: Obama's Approval at All-Time Low--Among Liberals - CNS News

Obama's approval among liberals hit a high of 92 percent in the Gallup poll in the week that ended on May 10, 2009.... In the seven-day period that ended on Sept. 18, 2011, only 68 percent of liberals told Gallup they approved of the way Obama was handling his job as president.

It's not just millionaires who'd pay more

◼ New government fees pepper Obama deficit plan - More than $130 BILLION in new government fees - AP/Yahoo Finance

Air travelers, federal workers, military retirees, wealthier Medicare beneficiaries and people taking out new mortgages are among those who would pay more than $130 billion in government revenues raised through new or increased fees.

◼ Obama’s Jobs Bill Ends State Sovereignty – Wake Up Governors!! - Trevor Loudon

◼ Top Senate Republican slams Obama deficit plan - McConnell: 'Massive tax hike, phantom savings, punting on entitlement reform' - Reuters

More than three years after getting named to the GOP ticket in 2008, the national media is just now getting around to noticing that Palin isn’t just some rube, but is a grassroots activist with years of both rhetoric and accomplishment in fighting the establishment.

◼ Palin’s smarter than people think, says — Ralph Nader - HotAir

Almost two weeks ago, I noted that the New York Times seemed shocked, shocked that Sarah Palin had suddenly turned into an anti-establishment conservative populist in a Labor Day weekend speech in Iowa. The Gray Lady wasn’t the only media outlet who missed, well, almost all of Palin’s political career. Salon’s Justin Elliott was so stunned by the speech that he turned to Ralph Nader to analyze the sudden new direction taken by Palin. Nader pronounced himself impressed...(Ralph Nader praises Sarah Palin)

Bear in mind that Palin drew an avalanche of media attention in the summer and fall of 2008, with dozens of reporters descending on Wasilla looking for background on Palin. Actually, “background” is too nice a word for it; they were looking for dirt. More than three years after getting named to the GOP ticket in 2008, the national media is just now getting around to noticing that Palin isn’t just some rube, but is a grassroots activist with years of both rhetoric and accomplishment in fighting the establishment. So much for a vibrant, objective national media, eh?

(W)hen it comes to political reporting - especially if honestly following those facts to their natural conclusion will have a negative impact on the Democrat Party or the Obama White House - they seem shamefully compromised.

◼ Liberal mainstream media should try actual reporting for a change - Douglas MacKinnon/Washington Examiner

Obama leans further left

◼ One of the enduring mysteries of the Obama presidency is why he keeps leaning far left when independent voters make it clear they want a centrist in the White House. - NY Post

It is not an academic point -- independents swung the 2008 election his way, and without them, Obama probably can’t win a second term.

Well, consider the mystery solved. The reason Obama keeps tilting left is that so many independents have dumped him and he has almost no chance of getting them back. So energizing libs for a massive turnout is his next-best hope.

Obama Explains That When He Says ‘Creating Jobs’ He Means ‘Raising Taxes’

◼ That’s the upshot of the presidential speech this morning, during which Obama promised to veto any deficit-reduction legislation that does not include a tax increase on the rich - The Other McCain
◼ Obama Bizarrely Invokes George Washington To Defend His Proposed Tax Hikes - weaselzippers
◼ Obama Invokes George Washington to Defend His Proposed Tax Hikes - CNS News

As the Obama agenda proves increasingly impotent, Americans have witnessed Obama's czars crash and burn or run for cover over the past thirty months.

◼ Obama's style of management--bypassing the senate-confirmed agency heads--has failed to yield the results promised to the American people. You would think Obama would give up on the failed idea of using a curious collection of White House czars to manage complex economic and regulatory issues. No way. - Townhall

Instead, in the American Jobs Act, Obama is proposing a new group of czars as a part of his "jobs" act-- the American Infrastructure Financing Authority (AIFA) czars....

Here we go again. No doubt, Obama hopes that few legislators or American citizens will read the deadly details buried within the 199 pages of his proposed American Jobs Act that will establish this latest czar-ship, nor understand just how expensive AIFA is going to be.

OBAMA'S JOBS BILL WON'T BE READY UNTIL NEXT MONTH, AFTER ANOTHER VACATION...

◼ Obama's urgent jobs plan: Right now, 'right now' means sometime next month maybe - LA Times (image source) via Drudge

Everybody remembers the urgency of President Obama's attitude toward the awful jobs situation.

Back in early August, Obama said the jobs situation was so urgent that he was going to give another speech about it -- in a month or so, in September after his vacation on Martha's Vineyard....

The president was in such a hurry to get this new spending going, everyone remembers, that during that address he said the phrase "right now" seven times. He didn't actually mean right now that night because the NFL season was opening a few minutes after his remarks.

But Obama did want to show how really urgent he said the situation was, even though it had taken him 961 days as president to say them....

So, given the president's professed urgency, the next day, Sept. 9, everyone asked where was his jobs legislation?

And, well, it seems the urgent jobs bill hadn't actually been written yet but should be ready in a week or two. When the laughter died, the White House said on second thought the legislation would be ready for a photo op the next Monday.

Well, here we are on the next Monday after that next Monday and we've just learned from the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, that actually it seems that body won't really be seriously getting into the legislation for a while yet. The Senate has some other more important business to handle. And then there's this month's congressional vacation, which in Washington is called "a recess," like elementary school.

◼ Dick Durbin and the Fierce Moral Urgency of … Next Month - HotAir

$1,500,000,000,000 IN NEW TAXES - $3 in tax hikes for every $1 in spending cuts

◼ Obama to propose $1.5 trillion in new tax revenue - AP via Drudge
◼ Time for an invervention, Obama’s on a tax hike bender - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Five days ago Obama unveiled a “jobs plan” which included tax hikes of $467 billion, $400 billion of which were on individuals making $200,000 (and couples making $250,000).

Tomorrow Obama will unveil a “deficit reduction plan” which will include $1.5 trillion in new taxes including an extra tax on people making $1 million or more.

In 6 days, Obama will have proposed over $2 trillion (that trillion with a ”t”) in new taxes, above and beyond what we already pay.

◼ Stocks Skid 2%, All Dow 30 Components Fall CNBC
◼ $3 in tax hikes for every $1 in spending cuts... - Washington Times
◼ Obama’s Magic Math for Savings and Call for $1.5 Trillion in New Taxes - RedState

It's the Chicago Way, but instead of a paving or trucking contract, it's a "green" solar panel contract.

◼ Obama's Solyndra scandal reeks of the Chicago Way - John Kass/ Chicago Tribune

"The optics of a Solyndra default will be bad," according to a Jan. 31 email from an Office of Management and Budget staffer printed in the Washington Post. "If Solyndra defaults down the road, the optics will arguably be worse later than they would be today. … In addition, the timing will likely coincide with the 2012 campaign season heating up."

I love the use of "optics." It's one of those bloodless words finding favor these days.

"Optics" suggests bureaucrats might think in terms of symbolism, political hieroglyphs, in grand vistas, rather than in hard numbers, like the $535,000,000 that went poof.

But it's not their money, is it? It's ours.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Newt Gingrich on the Gibson Guitar Raids

‘Millionaire Tax’ Tweet of the Day

◼ at Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Why Obama should withdraw

◼ (T)here is good news for the president. I checked the Constitution, and he is under no compulsion to run for re-election. He can scrap the campaign, bag the fundraising calls and never watch another Republican debate as long as he's willing to vacate the premises by Jan. 20, 2013. - Steve Chapman/Chicago Tribune

That might be the sensible thing to do. It's hard for a president to win a second term when unemployment is painfully high. If the economy were in full rebound mode, Obama might win anyway. But it isn't, and it may fall into a second recession — in which case voters will decide his middle name is Hoover, not Hussein. Why not leave of his own volition instead of waiting to get the ax?

◼ Time for panic at the White House? Some say yes - Michael A. Memoli, Washington Bureau Chicago Tribune
◼ Top 10 Reasons Obama Should Not Run for Re-Election - The Street
◼ What should the White House do? Panic! - James Carville, CNN Contributor

◼ Astonishing: Chicago Tribune Editorial Explains “Why Obama should withdraw” - NoQuarter

It's no surprise that many Democrats are running away from Obama. But here's the problem: He did what Democrats wanted him to do. Health care, stimulus, taxes, you name it...

◼ Obama plagued by Democrats' ingratitude - Byron York/Washington Examiner

...the president's approval ratings are hitting new lows, with his job approval rating bouncing around the high-30-percent to low-40-percent range in recent Gallup Polls. The numbers are even worse -- about 70 percent disapproval -- for Obama's handling of the economy. Independent voters, the key to the president's election in 2008, have abandoned him right and left.

Given all that, it's no surprise that many Democrats are running away from Obama. But here's the problem: He did what Democrats wanted him to do. Health care, stimulus, taxes, you name it -- Obama did what his party wanted. Not what the public at large wanted, but what many Democrats wanted. And now, as the negative electoral consequences of their own priorities stare them in the face, those Democrats are blaming the president.

Paul Ryan: Class warfare = bad economics. Let's work together to promote growth.

LOCAL: Upcoming November 8 Election

◼ Election Calendar

Sept 29– Oct 18 Counties Mail Sample Ballot Booklets
Oct 11* Last Day to Register to Vote to Ensure Receipt of Sample Ballot
Oct 11* – Nov 1 Vote-by-Mail Ballot Application Period

Between these dates voters may apply for a vote-by-mail (VBM) ballot from the elections department.

Nov 8 General Election Day

◼ Candidate Guide

Includes list of Open Seats

◼ HUMBOLDT COUNTY Candidate Contact Information

◼ Candidate Mass Mailing Requirements [pdf]

◼ Political Signage Requirements

◼ Arcata [pdf]
◼ Eureka [pdf]
◼ Fortuna [pdf]
◼ County Property [pdf]

Carolyn Crnich: County Clerk/Recorder/Registrar of Voters
Voter Registration Election Manager: Kelly Sanders

ELECTIONS & Voter Registration
3033 H Street Eureka, CA 95501
Phone: 707 445-7678
Hours: 8:30 a.m. to Noon/1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Questions or comments? --- Email: humboldt_elections@co.humboldt.ca.us
*Deadline falls on a weekend or holiday and in most cases has been moved to the next business day.

LIST OF DECLARED CANDIDATES:
◼ Special District Board Candidates Finalized - Ryan Burns, The Journal

Humboldt Community Services District

Frank Scolari, Dave Saunderson, George Davis, Kevin H. McKenny

McKinleyville Community Services District

Helen Edwards, John W. Corbett, David Elsebusch

Manila Community Services District

Mike Seeber, Geronimo Garcia, Joy Dellas, Robert Rose, Zachary Brian Thomas, Susan Opalach, Jan Bramlett

Willow Creek Community Services District

Joe O’Hara, Judy M. Gower, Bruce Nelson, Tom O’Gorman, Marc J. Rowley

Resort Improvement District 1

Susan L. Fox, Roger Boedecker, Mark Mitchell, Dennis D Harper, Nanette Corley, Chet Edeline

Blue Lake Union School District

Lex Rohn, Lisa Hooven, Mandi Lewis, Lana Manzanita

Ferndale Unified School

Rey Urbach, Emil Feierabend, Kristina Radelfinger

Eureka Unified School District, Ward 4

Judy Anderson, Susan L. Johnson

Fieldbrook School District

Richard Grissom, Linda F. Broadman, Jeremy Sargent

Fortuna Union High School District

Kenneth A. Steele, Anita L. Gage, Charles Giannini

Klamath Trinity Joint School, Area 6

Robin Wild, Darlene Magee

Local Measures: Measure U -- Fortuna Union and Rohnerville Elementary School District

◼ Smart Voter

The ' We Like Women Party'

◼ Secretary of State Elections Info - California: Political Bodies Attempting to Qualify for the June 5, 2012, Presidential Primary Election

American Third Position; Americans Elect; California Moderate Party; Christian Party; Conservative Party; Constitution Party of California; Dharma Party; Federalist Party; New Revolution Party; Open Party; Reform Party; The Humane Party of California; The People's Party of California; Twelve Visions Party of California; Utopia Manifesto Political Party; We Like Women Party; WHIG Party; Working Families Party of California

Weekly Republican Address: Rep. Peter Roskam

◼ Delivering the Weekly Republican Address, Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) talks about how excessive federal regulations are hurting job creation in America, and discusses the House’s efforts to address the problem. - Office of Speaker Boehner

‎"“Small business owners are fighting every day to create and innovate, but continue to face government barriers to job creation. Among them: our unsustainable debt, the constant threat of higher taxes, and excessive regulations."

The campaign and the perpetual Obama need to find enemies has completely overtaken fiscal policy. Obama has ceased even pretending.

◼ Can’t Obama just find someone to publicly flog and be done with it already? - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Faced with a Congress that opposes many of the suggestions he has made for job growth and deficit reduction, the president is increasingly making proposals that seem designed to garner popular, even populist, support — Republicans call it “class warfare” — so as to draw contrasts with Republicans for election 2012. - Jake Tapper/ABC News

◼ (T)he “Buffett Rule” - NY Times

Mr. Obama will not specify a rate or other details, and it is unclear how much revenue his plan would raise. But his idea of a millionaires’ minimum tax will be prominent in the broad plan for long-term deficit reduction that he will outline at the White House on Monday.

◼ Obama to Propose ‘Buffett Tax’ on Monday - Michelle Malkin

Obama almost pulled it off. The Great Recession conveniently allowed the president to start the spendathon under the guise of economic stimulus

◼ Quotes of the day - HotAir

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