'She's my hero': A candid look at the Romneys, the 'most unusual couple in the world'

◼ ...and why Ann is embracing her image as a stay-at-home-mom - AP/Daily Mail

Young Voters Looking for Solutions, Not Celebrity

◼ ...if nothing else, Paul Ryan has solutions. He has a plan to make Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security fiscally sustainable for generations. He has ideas to make the tax code more conducive to job growth. He has a strategy to reform the health care marketplace to actually reduce costs. You name the problem, he’s though critically about it, and had the guts to propose a solution. - College Republican National Committee

“I don’t believe the fact that Ryan is relatively young himself has that much of an appeal,” Levine said. “There a tendency to think young people are just into superficiality, but I tend to find they vote based on their policy views.”

Either way, adding Paul Ryan to the ticket has given Romney a significant boost among one of the toughest demographics. A new poll conducted by John Zogby found that 41 percent of 18-29 year old likely voters support Romney while 49 percent support Obama. Although that may not sound like news, it is a huge shift from 2008 when McCain lost the youth vote 66 percent to 32 percent.

“This is the first time I am seeing Romney’s numbers this high among 18-29 year olds,” Zogby told the Washington Times. “This could be trouble for Obama who needs every young voter he can get.”

Paul Ryan: Medicare Shouldn't Be A Piggy Bank For Obamacare

Must see: Paul Ryan, mom appear in Florida



◼ VIDEO: Paul Ryan Addresses The Villages With His Mother - Real Clear Politics

◼ Medicare in focus as Paul Ryan, mom appear in Florida - Phillip Elliot/AP/USA Today

Ryan on Saturday told a mostly older audience in a large Florida retirement community that Republicans will protect those in or near retirement from Medicare cuts if Mitt Romney wins the White House.

Ryan pointed to his 78-year-old mother who joined him. He says he isn't going to hurt his mother's financial security and wouldn't hurt others, either. He says he saw first-hand Medicare's benefits as a child when his grandmother, with Alzheimer's, moved in with his family.

However, the 42-year-old congressman says the program needs to be overhauled during his generation so his children will be able to count on it, too.

◼ In Florida, Paul Ryan Makes an Emotional Pitch for Medicare Plan - Rebecca Kaplan/National Journal

◼ RYAN IN FL: MY MOM'S MEDICARE IS WHY I'M HERE - Breitbart

◼ Ryan Draws Huge Crowd at The Villages - Mandy/DeepFried Manatees

BIDEN STAFF CAUGHT EDITING PRESS POOL REPORTS

◼ On "Daily Rundown" Chuck Todd, Chris Cillizza, and Jonathan Martin discuss how VP Biden's staff are working hard to keep Biden from hurting himself on the campaign trail - Video at Breitbart



◼ Mark Halperin: 'The Media Is Very Susceptible to Doing What the Obama Campaign Wants' - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard

Unemployment rates rose in 44 U.S. states in July Read more: Unemployment rates rose in 44 U.S. states in July

◼ Unemployment rates rose in nine states that are considered battlegrounds in the presidential election. That trend, if it continued, could pose a threat to President Barack Obama’s re-election bid in less than three months. - AP/Washington Times

Agencies tamp down speculation over hollow-point ammo purchases

◼ Obscure federal agencies triggered a firestorm of conspiracy theories this week after they put out orders for thousands of rounds of deadly hollow-point bullets.

But the agencies, most recently the Social Security Administration, are trying to put a damper on the speculation -- noting the ammunition is "standard issue" and simply used for mandatory federal training sessions.

"Our special agents need to be armed and trained appropriately," said a message on the official blog for Social Security's inspector general office explaining the purchases.

The bullet purchases drew widespread attention as the website Infowars.com published several stories on them that were linked off the widely read Drudge Report and other sites. Infowars.com catalogued a string of recent purchases -- first by the Department of Homeland Security, then by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and then the Social Security Administration.

The Social Security Administration solicitation, posted Aug. 7, called for 174,000 rounds of ".357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition."

But the Social Security Administration statement, posted Thursday, noted that their agents need firearms and ammo in the course of training, investigations and responding to threats against offices and employees.

"As we said in a recent post, our office has criminal investigators, or special agents, who are responsible for investigating violations of the laws that govern SSA's programs," the office said.

The agency said it has 295 special agents across 66 offices in the country. "These investigators have full law enforcement authority, including executing search warrants and making arrests," the statement said. ...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, found itself scrambling to respond to a similar report this week about an order for 46,000 rounds of ammo. Though the agency initially indicated it was for the National Weather Service -- leading to questions about why the National Weather Service could possibly need so many bullets -- a spokesman clarified the bullets are actually meant for the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement. A "clerical error" resulted in the order saying the ammo was for the weather service....

"NOAA officers and agents enforce the nation's ocean and fishing laws to ensure a level playing field for fishermen and to protect marine species like whales, dolphins and turtles," he said....

◼ Exactly why is the government purchasing some two billion rounds of this ammunition, and exactly how many obscure law enforcement agencies exist within the federal government? - Tom Roberson/American Thinker

A Romney-Ryan Administration looking for agencies to cut in the quest to shrink the size of the federal government and get spending under control might find the consolidation or elimination of these multiple law enforcement agencies a good place to start.

Democrats punt on Senate budget bill for third year Read more: Democrats punt on Senate budget bill for third year

◼ link - Stephen Dinan/Washington Times

In a stunning backtrack that virtually guarantees Congress for the third year will be unable to produce a budget, Senate Democrats’ top budget writer Tuesday canceled this week’s expected votes on a 2013 fiscal blueprint....

“This is the wrong time to vote in the committee. This is the wrong time to vote on the floor,” Mr. Conrad told reporters as he announced his strategy. “We do need to try to maximize the chance as we get closer to all the tax cuts expiring and the sequester being imposed that we’re ready to act.”

He said he will still convene the Budget Committee this week and introduce his plan, but won’t hold any votes or debate any amendments.

His move stunned Senate Republicans, who had been preparing amendments for Wednesday and Thursday.

"Run, Joe. Run"

◼ HOPE AND CHAINS: WH hasn't released Biden transcript in 2 months? Aides acknowledge that Biden was vulnerable to a "gaffe-watch," given his reputation. - Michael A. Memoli, Washington Bureau/LA Times

The White House press office has not released a complete transcript of any Biden speech, whether campaign or official, in more than two months. Transcripts for all of Obama's speeches, however, are distributed quickly, as they are for many of the first lady's events.

◼ Palin calls on Obama to dump Biden in favor of Hillary Clinton – as Giuliani questions the vice president's 'mental capacity' after 'put y'all in chains' scandal - Toby Harnden/Daily Mail
◼ REPORT: HILLARY SAID "NO." - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner
◼ Democrats Stuck with 'Old Joe'; No Evidence Hillary Would Take Any Deal. - John Fund/National Review
◼ Obama Has Plenty of Time to Drop Biden - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard

President Barack Obama has slightly more than 22, 21, 20 19 days to drop Vice Presidential Joe Biden from the 2012 Democratic presidential ticket, according to lawyers familiar with the party nominating process. That is, Democrats have until September 6 to formally nominate their presidential ticket which will then be qualified for the 50 state ballots.

How I became George Obama's 'brother'

Dinesh D'Souza

◼ A few days ago I received a call from a man I recently met named George. - Dinesh D'Souza

He was a bit flustered, and soon informed me that his young son was sick with a chest condition. He pleaded with me to send him $1,000 to cover the medical bills. Since George was at the hospital I asked him to let me speak to a nurse, and she confirmed that George’s son was indeed ill. So I agreed to send George the money through Western Union. He was profusely grateful. But before I hung up I asked George, “Why are you coming to me?” He said, “I have no one else to ask.” Then he said something that astounded me, “Dinesh, you are like a brother to me.”

Actually, George has a real life brother who just happens to be the president of the United States. (George Obama is the youngest of eight children sired by Barack Obama Sr.) George’s brother is a multimillionaire and the most powerful man in the world. Moreover, George’s brother has framed his re-election campaign around the “fair share” theme that we owe obligations to those who are less fortunate.

One of Obama’s favorite phrases comes right out of the Bible: “We are our brother’s keeper.” Yet he has not contributed a penny to help his own brother. And evidently George does not believe, even in times of emergency, that he can turn to his brother in the White House for help.

So much for spreading the wealth around.

Obama’s refusal to help George is especially surprising because George doesn’t just live in American-style poverty but rather in Third World poverty. He lives in a shanty in the Huruma slum in Nairobi. He gets by on a few dollars a month. Obama also has an aunt named Hawa Auma, his father’s sister, who ekes out a living selling coal on the streets of a small village in Kenya. She says she would like to have her teeth fixed, but she cannot afford it. Obama hasn’t offered to help her either.

What’s going on here? Why is President Obama so hesitant to help family members in need? More, at the link
__________________
Dinesh D’Souza, narrator and co-director of the film "2016 - Obama's America," is also the author of the new book "Obama’s America: Unmaking the American Dream," published this week by Regnery.

CFRW Capitol Update

OFFICIAL CFRW BALLOT POSITIONS
Every year the California Federation of Republican Women makes recommendations on the ballot measures. This November there will be 11 propositions on the ballot. This may seem overwhelming, so every week in the Capitol Update we will highlight one proposition in detail, explaining the measure and hopefully making each one a little less confusing. For now, below is the quick reference guide of the CFRW ballot recommendations.

Prop 30: Governor Brown's Tax Increase - OPPOSE
Prop 31: State Budget Amendments - NO POSITION
Prop 32: Paycheck Protection - SUPPORT
Prop 33: Auto Insurance Coverage - SUPPORT
Prop 34: Death Penalty Elimination - OPPOSE
Prop 35: Human Trafficking Penalties - SUPPORT
Prop 36: Three Strikes Reform - OPPOSE
Prop 37: Genetically Engineered Food Labels - OPPOSE
Prop 38: Tax Increase for Education - OPPOSE
Prop 39: Multi-state Business Tax for Clean Energy - OPPOSE
Prop 40: Redistricting Senate Districts - SUPPORT

It is imperative that the Republican Women get out the vote this election. While everyone is so excited about our Romney/Ryan ticket, we don’t want voters to overlook these important propositions that will have serious implications for California. The Republican Women are informed voters, while the majority of other Californian voters are not. How else can we explain Governor Brown… again? Republican Women must work to inform and educate California voters in all walks of life. We must expand our spheres of influence and step out of our political comfort zones. It is time to politically engage people we wouldn’t have before- our mailmen, our grocers, our dentists, our friends, families and neighbors. This year is critical and we have a golden opportunity here in California to change our course.

These positions made by the CFRW Voting Body are recommendations. Local Republican Women clubs are not bound by these positions. If you have any questions about any position, proposition, or the CFRW rationale, please email the CFRW Advocate at advocate@cfrw.org. The Advocate can also speak to clubs at their meetings, explaining in detail each proposition. If you would like the CFRW Advocate to speak to your club, please email or call the Advocate’s office at (916) 442-4084.
__________________
AB 2179!

AB 2179 is currently in the second reading file in the state Senate, but we need to call our Senators now and let them know we oppose overregulation of hunting and fishing! AB 2179 (Allen, D) would severely hamper a private citizen's right to hunt and fish in California. It increases regulations made by the Department of Fish and Game as well as expands the scope of fishing and hunting "penalties", allowing the Department of Fish and Game to collect civil penalties- or fees- from violators of upwards of $20,000! It allows the Department to authorize and impose these penalties while also allowing them to exempt certain public records from disclosure. They will be able to penalize hunters and fishermen without any accountability!

These seven Senators, below, in particular are important to call! They can swing the vote! Let them know that even though they are not your representatives that their vote will affect ALL of California, not just their constituents!

Senator Lois Wolk: (916) 651-4005
Senator Juan Vargas: (916) 651-4040
Senator Michael Rubio: (916) 651-4016
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod: (916) 651-4032
Senator Mark DeSaulnier: (916) 651-4007
Senator Rod Wright: (916) 651-4025
Senator Ron Calderon: (916) 651-4030

◼ cfrw.org

MORE CALIF. CITIES AT RISK OF BANKRUPTCY

◼ One of the nation's top credit rating agencies said Friday that it expects more municipal bankruptcies and defaults in California, the nation's largest issuer of municipal bonds. - AP

Moody's Investors Service said in a report that the growing fiscal distress in many California cities was putting bondholders at risk....

Moody's reports that some cities are turning bankruptcy as a new strategy to take on budget deficits and avoid obligations to bondholders, an emerging dynamic that could have ripple effects throughout the investment community.

...In California, officials rushed to downplay the report.

◼ City Watch Los Angeles: California is on the way to becoming an enormous version of Detroit - Doug Ross

The reason Democrat politicians and their supporters are completely insane is this: we can see the results of their policies in failed states like California.

Collective bargaining for public sector employees... unchecked environmental radicalism... crony capitalism... incredibly dense layers of regulation... demonization of business and industry... all the primary planks of the Democrat Party at the federal level. The alarm claxons are going off not only in Cali, but also in Washington.

◼ Is California the next Detroit? - Robert J. Cristiano/CityWatchLA

There was little outcry: California has a $16 billion deficit that no one seems to notice. Brown’s budget “assumes” that California voters will pass massive tax increases on themselves. If they do not, the 2013 deficit becomes a mind-numbing $20 billion. The budget, mandated to balance by the Calfornia Constitution, has been billions in the red for 10 straight years. How could Californians re-elect the same politicians year after year that produce budgets with multi-billion dollar deficits?

One Party Rule: Similarly, (to Detroit) California now has one-party rule. The Democrats of California did not need a single Republican vote to pass their budget. They now own the Golden State’s fate. The politicians’ plan to address the nation’s largest deficit is to raise taxes instead of cutting spending. If the Proposition 30 tax increase passes, the deficit would drop from $20 billion to a mere $12 billion.

Democrats have done nothing to cure the systemic problems of a bloated bureaucracy. Brown, referring to the state’s highway system, once said, “If we do not build it, they will not come.” Caltrans stopped building highways under Brown, but the people kept coming. Now 37 million Californians are locked in traffic jams each day.

Brown was rewarded for such prescience with re-election as Governor. California’s egotistical politicians passed AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act in 2006. Dan Sperling, an appointee to the California Air Resources Board, and a professor of engineering and environmental science at UC Davis, is the lead advocate on the board for a “low carbon fuel standard.” The powerful state agency charged with implementing AB 32 and other climate control measures claims the low carbon fuel standard will “only” raise gasoline prices $.30 gallon in 2013. But The California Political Review reported implementation of these the policies will raise prices by $1.00 per gallon.

Detroit was once the most prosperous manufacturing city in the world. Will California follow Detroit down a tragic path to ruin? In 1950, no one fathomed the Detroit of 2010. In 1970, when foreign imports started to make a foothold, the unions and their bought and paid for politicians resisted any change.

GALLUP: ROMNEY 47% OBAMA 45%

◼ "Suppose the presidential election were held today. If Barack Obama were the Democratic Party's candidate and Mitt Romney were the Republican Party's candidate, who would you vote for Barack Obama, the Democrat or Mitt Romney, the Republican?" - Gallup

◼ RNC touts record-breaking July fund-raising - CNN

"Once again, the RNC has set a monthly fundraising record, illustrating the tremendous enthusiasm for a new direction in this country," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus wrote in a statement. "Both small and major donors have contributed to our fundraising success as they continue to express their support for Gov. Romney and our party. This money allows us to get our message out to voters across this country on the ground and on the air. This momentum will carry us to victory in November, when we defeat President Obama and get America working again."

Mitt Romney, along with the RNC and several state parties, raised $101.3 million in July, and ended the month with $185.9 million cash on hand. That was the third straight month the Republican effort outraised President Barack Obama and the Democrats, who brought in $75 million in July.

I am assuming you understand what ordinary income is?

◼ Obama Whiffs on Romney Taxes - No Quarter

RNC on Obama’s interviews: “This is not a parody”

President Obama just wrapped up another hard-hitting interview where he discussed America’s top concerns, like whether our president prefers green or red chiles, his take on “Call Me Maybe,” and what superpower he wished he had. It’s been over eight weeks since President Obama took a question from the White House Press Corps.

◼ Heh. Because it’s Friday, and it’s funny — on air yesterday with Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt, and again today with DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, MSNBC hostess Andrea Mitchell wondered aloud about the growing sentiment that President Obama doesn’t seem to make himself much available for hard-hitting press coverage. - Erika Johnsen/HotAir



◼ Obama's soft-media strategy - Byron Tau & Dylan Byers/Politico

◼ It’s come to this: Newly media-shy president turned down an interview with … Chris Matthews - Allahpundit/HotAir

I don’t blame him. What if Tingles surprised him with a tough question about how difficult it is to deal with Republicans?

California PTA fires back after scolding from Feinstein, Boxer

◼ One day after U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and California legislative leaders called for a cease fire on two competing ballot tax proposals, supporters of Proposition 38 said today that a good start would be for Gov. Jerry Brown's backers to stop actively opposing their measure. - David Siders/Sacramento Bee

Need help protesting the fire tax?

We now have a whole resource to guide you through the process! Just click on the fire extinguisher on our site. ◼ The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association ◼ On Facebook

Parsing the Polls with Michael Barone: Can You Really Trust the Pollsters?

◼ Video at PJTV - Famed pundit Michael Barone joins Glenn Reynolds to discuss the truth behind the presidential polls. Which pollster is to be believed? Should you trust "likely voter" or "registered voter" polls? Will voter turnout mirror Obama's 2008 historic victory or the GOP's 2010 House victory? Do pollsters alter polls so as to improve voter morale and turnout? Hear the anwers. You do not want to miss this insightful discussion.

Poll: Florida voters more afraid of Obama's Medicare plan than Ryan's

◼ Florida voters are more afraid of President Obama's health care overhaul than Paul Ryan's budget plan when it comes to Medicare's future, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday.

The poll of 500 likely Florida voters asked which plan "scares" them more.
Forty-eight percent chose the health care law. Forty-one percent chose Ryan's plan - while 11 percent weren't sure.

The results come as both campaigns elevate the issue of Medicare in their ads, interviews and stump speeches -- particularly in Florida, with its large senior population. Ryan is the author of the controversial budget plan that would, 10 years from now, give seniors the option of using a government payment to buy private insurance. Obama's campaign says the plan would "end Medicare as we know it."

But Ryan and Mitt Romney are firing back, claiming that "ObamaCare" is the one that guts Medicare by "raiding" the entitlement to pay for the health care law. Ryan repeated that line in Ohio Thursday, saying "he raided $716 billion from Medicare to pay for Obamacare. This will lead to fewer services for seniors."

Protesters Occupy Obama Campaign Headquarters, Issue Demands

◼ In what appears to have been a coordinated action Thursday evening, Occupy protesters in Portland, Oregon and Oakland, California staged protests and have occupied the offices of Obama campaign headquarters in both locations. - LIberty Chick/Breitbart's Big Government

Senior Citizens Greet Paul Ryan: ‘Good Luck! Kick Ass!’

◼ The well-wisher, Erma from Howland, Ohio, told me later that she's not worried that Ryan and Romney would end Medicare. "I don't believe it," she said. "Because Obama has a bigger plan to rob Medicare of $617 billion." - John NcCormack/Weekly Standard

"He's going to save Medicare," chimed in Eleanor's friend Karen Combs from Cortland, Ohio. "There's $700 billion under Obamacare coming out of Medicare, and seniors should be more frightened over that."

Victor Davis Hanson: There is no California

◼ A postmodern narrow coastal corridor runs from San Diego to Berkeley, where the weather is ideal, the gentrified affluent make good money, and values are green and left-wing. This Shangri-La is juxtaposed to a vast impoverished interior, from the southern desert to the northern Central Valley, where life is becoming premodern. - Victor Davis Hanson/Townhall

On the coast, blue-chip universities like Cal Tech, Berkeley, Stanford and UCLA in pastoral landscapes train the world's doctors, lawyers, engineers and businesspeople. In the hot interior of blue-collar Sacramento, Turlock, Fresno and Bakersfield, well over half the incoming freshman in the California State University system must take remedial math and science classes.

In postmodern Palo Alto or Santa Monica, a small cottage costs more than $1 million. Two hours away, in premodern and now-bankrupt Stockton, a bungalow the same size goes for less than $100,000.

... in the Never-Never Land of Apple, Facebook, Google, Hollywood and the wine country, millions live in an idyllic paradise. Coastal Californians can afford to worry about the state's trivia -- as their legislators seek to outlaw foie gras, shut down irrigation projects to save the 3-inch delta smelt, and allow children to have legally recognized multiple parents.

But in the less feel-good interior, crippling regulations curb timber, gas and oil, and farm production. For the most part, the rules are mandated by coastal utopians who have little idea where the gas for their imported cars comes from, or how the redwood is cut for their decks, or who grows the ingredients for their Mediterranean lunches of arugula, olive oil and pasta.

On the coast, it's politically incorrect to talk of illegal immigration. In the interior, residents see first-hand the bankrupting effects on schools, courts and health care when millions arrive illegally without English-language fluency or a high school diploma -- and send back billions of dollars in remittances to Mexico and other Latin American countries.

The drive from Fresno to Palo Alto takes three hours, but you might as well be rocketing from Earth to the moon.

WHAT DEMOCRATS MEAN WHEN THEY SAY ‘RADICAL’

◼ link - David Harsanyi/Human Events @DavidHarsanyi

...when the president carves out $700 billion from Medicare as seed money for a new trillion-dollar entitlement project, we are keeping with our nonradical traditions, even if we have to force everyone to participate. When Ryan proposes similar cuts to extend the life of Medicare, he is a granny-starving Pericles....

As it turns out, radicals provide budgets that curb growth by a few percentage points over many years, whereas rational politicians don’t even bother passing budgets....

Boomers don’t want to give up their sweet deal, but the rest of us have reason to embrace Ryan’s “radical” plans, writes Kirsten Powers.

◼ Why The Screwed Generation Is Turning To Paul Ryan - Kirsten Powers/Daily Beast

We’ve finally been vindicated: Members of Generation X have a representative who is anything but a slacker.

GOP Congressman Paul Ryan—the tireless, wonky, 42-year-old workout freak—has made history by becoming the first member of our generation to join a presidential ticket. It should come as a surprise to no one that his calling card is reforming entitlements.

We hear incessantly about how members of today’s screwed generation face the prospect of less prosperous lives than those lived by their parents. But the maiden generation to stare down that gloomy prognosis was Generation X, the tiny slice of America born between about 1965 and 1980. (Ryan was born in 1970.) We were the first generation to be told we would never get Social Security or Medicare even though we would be forced to pay into these programs.

When many X-ers graduated from college, stocking shelves at the Gap was considered a career choice, as jobs were few and far between amidst a major economic downturn. I won’t bore you with the horror show of the low-paying and miserable jobs I had for the first three years after college.

Unfortunately, the future looks as bleak for today’s young people. No amount of coddling by their well-provided-for Boomer parents can save Generation Y and the Millennials from the dire economic conditions they face, including criminal levels of educational debt. Pensions have gone the way of the horse and buggy. You want to retire with health-care benefits, as both my professor parents did? Good luck. As the 1994 movie turned Gen-X mantra has it: Reality Bites.... Read the whole piece at the link

“The Amateur” is No. 1 on Amazon’s list of bestsellers in politics and social sciences, and No. 27 on Amazon’s list of all books selling the best so far this year.

◼ Is “The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House” by journalist Ed Klein the book of choice heading into the political conventions, which begin Aug. 27 with the Republicans in Tampa?

Still in the NYT top 10: “The Amateur,” a stinging portrayal of President Barack Obama’s leadership, ratcheted up to the New York Times No. 2 bestsellers slot, according to the NYT’s latest list released Wednesday, heading toward the top as Americans’ political convention reading begins in earnest this week. The book was No. 5 on the Aug. 19 list and was No. 1 as recently as July 8... on the NYT list for 13 weeks, is currently the only book about President Obama in the Top 10 nonfiction hardcover category.

President Obama hasn’t formally taken questions from the White House press corps in more than two months, while on the campaign trail in Iowa yesterday he made time for reporters from People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight.

◼ ABC’s Jake Tapper: Obama “disses White House press corps” with People, ET interviews - Ed Morrissey/HotAir

◼ President Obama Takes Questions from People Mag, Entertainment Tonight, Disses White House Press Corps - Jake Tapper/ABC

His last news conference was at the G20 in June, when he answered six questions from three reporters on the European debt crisis, the conflict in Syria, and the notion of politics stopping at the water’s edge.

The White House press corps has not formally been given the opportunity to ask questions of the president on U.S. soil since his appearance in the Briefing Room on June 8 (when he said “the private sector is doing fine.“)

His last formal White House news conference was on March 6...

Asked if the president will be holding a full-blown White House press conference any time soon, Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday, “I don’t have any scheduling announcements to make about that.”

◼ Media finally fed up with Obama dodging questions? - Jazz Shaw/HotAir

There seems to be an increasing drumbeat in Washington which is focusing on the new, camera shy tendencies of the President.

◼ ...the White House press corps – had had enough.... - The Hill

◼ Obama's soft-media strategy - Politico

Janna Ryan steps lightly into national spotlight

◼ Paul Ryan’s wife — a former tax attorney, lobbyist and congressional staffer with degrees from Wellesley College and George Washington University Law School — is taking careful first steps into the harsh spotlight that comes with a run for the White House. = Krissah Thompson/Washington Post

VIRGINIA BAKERY REFUSES TO SERVE BIDEN; ANGRY OVER 'YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT' - IOWA DELI CO-OWNER REGISTERS HIS PROTEST AS WELL

◼ VIRGINIA BAKERY REFUSES TO SERVE BIDEN; ANGRY OVER 'YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT' The owner of Crumb and Get It in Roanoke says he doesn't agree with the Obama administration's policies. Watch the newsclip - Breitbart TV

◼ IOWA DELI CO-OWNER CATERS FOR OBAMA, IN A ROMNEY T-SHIRT - Amy Gardner/Washington Post

Ross Murty likes business, but he doesn’t like President Obama.

And so the co-owner of the Village Corner Deli here agreed to cater Obama’s visit Wednesday — but not before donning a T-shirt blaring the message: “Government didn’t build my business. I did.”

◼ Bitterly Clinging … to Their Jobs! - The Other McCain

Ryan pick presents new challenges for Biden

◼ Unlike four years ago, when Biden squared off against an unknown and largely untested Sarah Palin, the vice president is competing against a longtime congressman known for being a quick-minded policy expert. Now, unlike then, Biden must defend the Obama record while, associates say, keeping an eye on a potential 2016 White House bid of his own. - Washington Post

In recent weeks, the campaign has expanded Biden’s portfolio beyond his familiar outreach role to working-class whites, dispatching him to Hispanic and black audiences, as well, where strategists think Biden has established a connection.

“He’s able to talk in clear, personal terms,” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said Wednesday.

CA parks officials apparently used 'Katrina' code in vacation cashout

◼ California parks officials apparently used obscure payroll codes intended for emergencies such as wildfires and disasters like Hurricane Katrina to turn vacation time into overtime pay, the State Controller's Office testified Wednesday. - Sacramento Bee

State managers are generally not allowed to earn overtime, and California's payroll system is designed to block them from receiving it, said John Hiber, chief operating officer with the Controller's Office, at a Senate oversight hearing. But the system has codes that managers can enter for overtime in rare cases such as Cal Fire employees fighting wildfires or emergency workers providing relief in natural disasters as they did in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.

"It appears that because those codes exist that this wasn't picked up (and) that those codes were manipulated to allow this to occur," Hiber testified.

Dishonorable Disclosures

Intelligence and Special Operations forces are furious and frustrated at how President Obama and those in positions of authority have exploited their service for political advantage. Countless leaks, interviews and decisions by the Obama Administration and other government officials have undermined the success of our Intelligence and Special Operations forces and put future missions and personnel at risk.

The unwarranted and dangerous public disclosure of Special Forces Operations is so serious -- that for the first time ever -- former operators have agreed to risk their reputations and go 'on the record' in a special documentary titled "Dishonorable Disclosures." Its goal is to educate America about serious breaches of security and prevent them from ever happening again.

Use of military ranks, titles & photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement of the Dept of the Army or the Department of Defense. All individuals are no longer in active service with any federal agency or military service.

National GOP leaders in Utah for Mia Love campaign

◼ National Republican leaders are in Utah this week for a series of fundraising events for Mia Love, the GOP candidate for Utah’s Fourth Congressional District. - Brittany Green-Miner/FOX 13

Speaker of the US House of Representatives John Boehner (R-Ohio) is in Utah on Wednesday for events at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City.

Former GOP presidential candidate John McCain (R-Ariz.) will participate in a public town hall meeting in West Valley City on Thursday.

Condoleezza Rice, who served as Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, will be in Utah in early September.

Love is running against Rep. Jim Matheson, who has served six terms for Utah’s Second Congressional District.

Change!: Obama 2008 Co-Chair Artur Davis Hits Trail ... for Mitt in Virginia today

◼ ARTUR DAVIS WILL CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA TODAY - Matt Cantor/Newser

The man who seconded Barack Obama's presidential nomination at the DNC in 2008 is now campaigning against the president. Artur Davis was co-chair of Obama's first campaign, but he'll today campaign in Virginia in support of Mitt Romney, a Romney campaign aide tells CNN. Davis served four terms as a Democratic congressman, but announced a switch to the Republican Party in May.

◼ link - Dan Riehl

"I think the Obama administration has candidly gone too far to the left. You can raise all kinds of questions on whether that's good politics or not," Davis told Wolf Blitzer. "Obviously the election will determine that." Davis will appear at an Arlington event today, where he will "discuss Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s bold ideas to strengthen the middle class and deal with our long-term debt," a Romney insider tells Buzzfeed.

◼ Former Obama campaign co-chair to stump for Romney - CNN

Davis, who is black, may be best known for seconding Obama's nomination at the Democratic National Convention in 2008, when he served as an Obama campaign co-chairman. Davis said he had hoped Obama's presidency would make a huge dent in race relations, as well as move the Democratic Party further to the center.

President Obama is the only one to actually cut over $700 billion dollars from current retirees--and he thinks it's an achievement.

CA State Universities to admit OUT OF STATE grad students only, because they pay higher tuition

◼ California State University departments rebel over resident enrollment dilemma - Matt Krupnick/Mercury News

If you're a Californian interested in taking up graduate studies in January at a California State University campus, think again.

But if you live in another state or country, check it out and sign your check.

Cal State leaders have told the university's 23 campuses they will not be allowed to admit California graduate students for the spring term, which starts in January. Budget cuts made the system in the coming spring term unable to afford residents' heavily discounted education, campus leaders were told.

But nonresident students -- who pay considerably higher fees -- remain welcome, at least at some campuses, and that has become an issue leading some rebellious graduate schools to turn away the non-Californians -- and the financial windfall they would bring.

..."It's appalling, and I would never, ever go along with" excluding resident students, said Maria Nieto, a Cal State East Bay biology professor who coordinates her department's graduate studies. "To say, 'You can accept these students at the exclusion of California students,' goes against the mission of CSU."

The philosophical debate illustrates the tough times facing the university. Budget cuts are shutting out students from schools generations of Californians paid taxes to build.... - Read the whole thing.

Homeland Security finishing acquisition of millions of rounds of high-powered ammo

◼ The Department of Homeland Security is rushing to finish the acquisition of 750 million rounds of high-power ammunition that has already raised many eyebrows. In one week, the DHS should start expecting an arsenal that will make some armies jealous. - Jason Reed/Reuters

The DHS does not, however, answer why exactly they want to give its federal agents tasked with counterterrorism around 750 million rounds of ammo. On paper the proposal says their request is to fulfill training exercise requirements, but why is the DHS equipping their officers with the know-how to shoot a basketball-size hole in a human body?

And for those not keeping score, already this year the DHS has asked for upwards of 150 sets of full-body armor specifically to prepare law enforcement for any protests at the 2012 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the 2013 Presidential Inauguration and other events of national significance. Oh, and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano has admitted that she wants the agency to accumulate more surveillance drones to conduct domestic surveillance for the sake of “public safety.”

But don’t worry: millions of rounds of high-powered ammo, stealth surveillance craft and an army of heavily armored federal agents is all for your own security.

“The most expensive ransom note in California political history” – pass the tax increase or the schools get it.

◼ Gov. Brown Says Prop 30 Taxes Are All About Schools—Not So - Joel Fox/Fox&Hounds

The problem is that this tax increase proposal comes with no reforms for school funding, let alone other big-ticket items like pensions, and is likely a band-aid that would lead to more taxes in the future.

The schools are the focus of Brown’s kick-off at a school location but they are not the focus of the funds raised by the initiative.

The schools get no guaranteed new money from Prop 30. That’s not me saying so, that’s a comment from the California School Boards Association quoted in a Sacramento Bee article. “Despite endorsing Brown’s measure, (California School Boards Association) leaders said they ‘want to make it clear to the public that the governor’s initiative does not provide new funding for schools. Instead, it bolsters the General Fund with new revenue.’”

A Wall Street Journal editorial stated that, “The dirty little secret is that the new revenues are needed to backfill the insolvent teachers pension fund.”

◼ California's Pension Tax - Wall St. Journal Apr. 22

Jerry Brown's tax increase won't finance better education.

ROMNEY SOARS WITH YOUNG VOTERS

◼ Pollster John Zogby of JZ Analytics told Secrets Tuesday that Romney received 41 percent in his weekend poll of 1,117 likely voters, for the first time crossing the 40 percent mark. What's more, he said that Romney is the only Republican of those who competed in the primaries to score so high among 18-29 year olds. - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner Via Drudge

"This is the first time I am seeing Romney's numbers this high among 18-29 year olds," said Zogby. "This could be trouble for Obama who needs every young voter he can get."

...Zogby speculates that Romney's selection of 42-year-old Rep. Paul Ryan helped turn more younger voters to him. "It could be his youthfulness," said Zogby of Ryan. Plus, he said, more younger voters are becoming libertarian, distrustful of current elected officials and worried that they are going to get stuck with the nation's looming fiscal bill.

"They want change," said Zogby.

NFRW Political Briefing - Legislative News for the Week of August 15, 2012

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will allow approximately 800,000 illegal immigrants to earn an additional two years in the United States as reported by the Migration Policy Institute and ABC News.

Under Obama's program, students aged 30 or younger who are enrolled in school on the day they apply for deportation deferral will be eligible to be granted two years reprieve from deportation. Each applicant must demonstrate that they came to the United States before their 16th birthday, lived here for the past five years, and have not been convicted of certain crimes.

The program takes effect August 15th when applications for deferral will begin to be accepted. The application includes a fee of $465, used to fund the program, but exceptions will be provided for minors, homeless youths, those with chronic disabilities, and those whose income falls below a specified percentage of the poverty level.

Those approved will be able to separately apply for work authorization in the United States. In June the Migration Policy Institute estimated that 1.4 million illegal immigrants could benefit from the program. Other program directors claim as many as 1.76 million people could now be eligible.
__________________

Get to Know Paul Ryan

◼ He is a 5th generation Wisconsinite
◼ Worked at McDonald's in high school
◼ Was prom king
◼ Double majored in economics and political science at Miami University in Ohio
◼ Used to play pick-up basketball with NBC's David Gregory
◼ As a staff economist for Rep. Kasten, Ryan supplemented his income by working as a waiter and fitness trainer
◼ Was the legislative director for Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas
◼ Was a speechwriter for Rep. Jack Kemp
◼ When he was elected to the U.S. House in 1998, he was the second youngest member
◼ He and his wife Janna, a tax attorney, have three children: Elizabeth, Charles, and Samuel
◼ Is a fan of Beethoven, Led Zeppelin, and Rage Against the Machine
◼ Does P90X, a cross-training routine, most mornings
◼ First VP candidate from Wisconsin in U.S. history
__________________
Retail, Restaurant Cuts Expected with Advent of Obamacare

Journalist Louise Radnofsky, quoting consulting firm Mercer, has reported that when Obamacare mandates take effect in 2014, employers in the restaurant and retail industries will more than likely be forced to drop their health plans or cut employees' hours. Last week, the Wall Street Journal stated that several retail and restaurant franchisees have said they plan to change worker's benefits.

According to the Mercer survey of 1,203 employers released two days ago, approximately 9 percent of retail and hospitality employers are planning to have to drop existing health plans. The survey alarmingly found that those employers who do not now offer health coverage are more likely to cut employees' hours in order to be in compliance with the law.

The law provides that employers with 50 or more full-time employees--those who work at least 30 hours a week--must offer to those employees "qualifying" health-insurance coverage. If the employer does not offer coverage and at least one employee turns to federal government subsidies to purchase coverage, the employer will have to pay a penalty.

The survey results show that many retail employers that are close to the 50 worker threshold believe it might make sound financial sense to cut employees' hours and avoid the Obamacare penalties all together.
__________________◼ NFRW (National Federation of Republican Women)
President: Rae Lynne Chornenky
124 N. Alfred Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: (703) 548-9688
Fax: (703) 548-9836
www.nfrw.org
mail@nfrw.org

Ryan Plan Would Save Medicare; Obamacare Will Destroy It

◼ The Obama campaign has wasted no time trying to scare the elderly with lies that Mitt Romney’s selection of Representative Paul D. Ryan as his running mate signifies Romney’s plan to destroy Medicare. - Front Page

Not only is the Obama administration robbing Medicare to pay for its new Obamacare entitlement, but Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) and the regulations being churned out by the Department of Health and Human Services are all about top-down, government mandated health care rationing which will potentially deny seniors the means to pay for life-saving treatments if such treatments are not deemed cost-effective for elderly patients.

Giuliani Wonders Whether Biden Has ‘Mental Capacity’ for Presidency

◼ link - Robert Costa/National Review

Allen West Easily Wins Republican Primary Race

◼ Congressman West opened up large leads and according to the Palm Beach Post, was winning both St. Lucie and Palm Beach counties by more than 60 percentage points. -CBS

To vote for Obama after years of grotesque economic mismanagement that has no precedent in history, that exceeds the worst actions of Andrew Jackson or Ulysses S. Grant, is not the instinct of an American, but a selfish greedy looter scrambling to grab a few dinner rolls off the tray while the ship is going down.

◼ The Most Divisive Campaign in American History - Sultan Knish

...There isn't any inspiration here. Just paranoia over everything from gay marriage to abortion to racial profiling to illegal immigration. A dozen illegal benefits being handed out with the explicit threat that they will be lost if Romney wins. A dozen mini-civil wars being stirred up to divide Americans and set them at each other's throats for the benefit of the Obama campaign.

From Occupy Wall Street to Wisconsin, from Trayvon Martin to Chick-fil-A, the goal of these manufactured conflicts has been to divide and conquer the electorate by emphasizing group rights over individual economic welfare.

Obama can't win on the economy. He can't win on foreign policy. He can't win on any aspect of his administration. All he can do is stir up violence and then promise to heal the country in his second term while winking to all the representatives of the grievance groups. It's not a new game, but the Democratic Party has never played it quite this baldly in a national election. And if it succeeds, then national politics will have finally been reduced to the level of a Chicago election.....

"You Guys Sound Like An Extension Of Obama Campaign"

◼ Classic Newt, nailing the Obama Lapdog Piers Morgan of CNN (HotAir). - Marooned in Marin

...Ryan and Romney represent a different approach. And I think there’s this mantra you guys almost sound like you’re an extension of the Obama campaign. The Ryan/Romney plan empowers middle class Americans to get a job. When they get a job, their income goes up. They pay more taxes. They are independent. They’re able to live their own lives....

Mitt Fires Back: “Mr. President, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago and let us get about rebuilding and reuniting America.”

◼ Mitt went off today following the Obama Campaigns outrageous racist attacks on the GOP nominee. - Jim Hoft/Gateway Pundit
◼ Romney slams Obama in tough new speech - Emily Goodin and Justin Sink/The Hill

Mitt Romney used a tough new campaign speech to personally blast the Obama campaign on Tuesday, saying comments earlier in the day from Vice President Biden are “what an angry and desperate Presidency looks like.”

“Mr. President, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago,” Romney said while campaigning in Ohio.

Romney was responding to Biden’s suggestion that the GOP ticket’s economic policies would “put y’all back in chains.”

..."His campaign and his surrogates have made wild and reckless accusations that disgrace the office of the Presidency. Another outrageous charge came a few hours ago in Virginia. And the White House sinks a little bit lower," Romney said.

"This is an election in which we should be talking about the path ahead, but you don't hear any answers coming from President Obama’s re-election campaign. That’s because he's intellectually exhausted, out of ideas, and out of energy. And so his campaign has resorted to diversions and distractions, to demagoguing and defaming others. This is an old game in politics; what’s different this year is that the president is taking things to a new low."

Romney's remarks echo those of his campaign spokeswoman, who earlier in the day called Biden's remarks a "new low."

"It's the economy. We need to elect somebody that understands business, that understands the economy, can do a strategic plan and get us moving again"

◼ Guess who's pumped about #PaulRyan? Small business owners: - CNBC via #DefendRyan

Small business reaction to Paul Ryan's place on the presidential ticket is rolling in, and some of the feedback so far is positive.

"I like his passion," says Marc Schupan, chief executive of Schupan & Sons, a small business based in Michigan that handles aluminum orders and industrial scrap metal recycling. Leadership qualities he's looking for in a candidate include integrity, tenacity and compassion. "And I believe he has all three," said Schupan on CNBC's "Street Signs" Monday.

"The important thing right now is, what's wrong with our country," says Larry Mocha, chief executive of Air Power Systems, an Oklahoma-based small business that manufacturers air-cylinder controls.

"It's the economy. We need to elect somebody that understands business, that understands the economy, can do a strategic plan and get us moving again," said Mocha.

Schupan said he likes the fact Ryan is looking ahead to solutions.

"You don't wait to dig a well until you're thirsty," said Schupan... More at the link.

WSJ: Obama Lied About Mitt's Tax Plan

◼ Mathematically Possible. Correcting the false assumptions of Obama's tax gurus.

It isn't easy being the intellectual frontmen for President Obama's re-election campaign, as the boys at the Brookings-Urban Institute Tax Policy Center are discovering. Their ballyhooed study of Mitt Romney's tax plan looks worse with each new examination.

Mr. Romney's tax plan would cut income tax rates across the board by 20%, while cutting loopholes that mostly benefit those in the highest income classes. The Tax Policy Center claims it is "mathematically impossible" to finance the rate cut without jacking up taxes by $86 billion on the middle class and poor. Mr. Obama has jumped on the study to support his claims that Mr. Romney would raise taxes, though the Republican has proposed no such thing. (See "The Romney Hood Fairy Tale," August 8.)

...The AEI analysis warns that these numbers change from year to year, but it concludes that by eliminating these two deductions and a few other smaller ones, Mr. Romney can make his math add up. In other words, poof, no tax hike on the middle class.

This won't stop the Obama campaign from making its false claims, but it ought to at least embarrass the media into questioning them. It should also embarrass the analysts at the Tax Policy Center who claim to be nonpartisan, above-the-fray economists but somehow always seem to provide analysis that serves those who want to raise tax rates.

Videos surface of Dems, including President Obama, praising Paul Ryan

◼ Before Paul Ryan was pinned as an "extreme" and "radical" ideologue, Democrats actually kind of liked the guy.

Several clips of prominent Democrats -- including President Obama -- praising Ryan have surged through the Internet in the days since Mitt Romney tapped the Wisconsin congressman as his running mate. They once called his ideas "serious" and "honest," which is not what the Obama campaign and its affiliates are saying about him now.
Arguably the most robust praise came from Erskine Bowles, the White House chief of staff under former President Bill Clinton who recently co-chaired President Obama's deficit-reduction committee.

In a late 2011 talk at the University of North Carolina, Bowles told the audience "this guy is amazing."

◼ Exclusive: Bowles on Ryan: ‘I’m not going to act like I don’t like him’ - Jamie Weinstein/Daily Caller

Erskine Bowles is not backing away from his previous praise of Rep. Paul Ryan now that the Wisconsin congressman is on the Republican presidential ticket.

“I like him,” Bowles, the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and co-chairperson of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, told The Daily Caller in a phone interview.

“I think he’s smart. I think he’s intellectually curious. I think he is honest, straightforward and sincere. And I think he does have a serious budget out there — it doesn’t mean I agree with it by any stretch of the imagination. But I’m not going to act like I don’t like him or that I don’t have some real respect for him.”

Enthusiasm

◼ Romney campaign: $7.4 million raised online since Ryan was named VP - AllahPundit/HotAir

In 72 hours, @mittromney & @paulryanvp raised $7.4 million online with over 101,000 donations — Andrea Saul (@andreamsaul) August 14, 2012

It’s a testament to the phenomenal excitement that greeted Palin’s selection in 2008 that Team McCain raised $8.8 million in just 48 hours after she was named VP. As for Ryan, Ed noted on Sunday that Team Mitt collected $3.5 million on 41,000 donations during the first day after he was introduced, which tells us two things. One: As you might expect, the bigger donations from more ardent Ryan fans came flooding in right away. Over the first 24 hours, the average contribution was north of 85 bucks. Two: Although it took them two more days to raise just a bit more money than they did on day one, they’re still averaging 30,000 donations per day over the last 48 hours. That’s the smaller-money donors flowing in now to show their support too, which has driven the average contribution down to a shade above $73.

Here's the booth right after set up yesterday

(photo courtesy Gary Frank)

◼ The Humboldt County Fair is an annual reunion for the whole county, and you're invited! Live and satellite horse racing, mule racing, carnival rides and games, death defying stunts, live entertainment, competitive and interesting exhibits, plenty of livestock events, great fair-time foods, special programs, and the old-fashioned fun of a county-wide "family" reunion. Stop in and say "HI"

Paid In

◼ New Ad Attacks Obama on Medicare - MICHAEL D. SHEAR and SARAH WHEATON/New York Times

Mitt Romney‘s campaign signaled that it intended to fight rather than run from Democratic attacks over Republican Medicare policies, unveiling a new ad that stresses that President Obama cut $700 billion from the program.

◼ Panic: Dems say Romney’s Medicare ad ‘could cost us the election’ - Joel Gehrke/Washington Examiner @Joelmentum

Tables turned: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have started attacking President Obama for cutting Medicare in order to pay for Obamacare, and Democrats now fear the attack “could cost us the election,” according to a new email....

Ryan elaborated on the attack during an interview last night. “We’re the ones who are not raiding Medicare to pay for Obamacare,” he told Fox News’ Brit Hume. “We’re the ones who are repealing President Obama’s 15-person bureaucratic board that will put price controls on Medicare that will lead to denied care for current seniors.”

Owner complains Obama’s beer tent stop cost him $25,000

◼ Obama’s fair stop Monday evening required shutdown of the popular Bud Tent, the heart of fairgrounds nightlife at the intersection of E. 33rd Street and Grand Avenue. Fairgoers eager to greet the president were ushered inside, screened and scanned by the Secret Service and penned in by yellow caution tape. The entire production required at least two hours, and the president’s sleek black coach bus pulled away from the Bud Tent by 8:30 p.m.

There are “two sides to this story,” said Mike Cunningham II, the third generation owner of the 65-year-old Bud Tent.

On one hand, Cunningham, 39, appreciated the historical significance of Obama’s visit: His great-grandfather, Lloyd Cunningham, was secretary of the fair board from 1942 to 1962 and was on hand to greet then-President Dwight Eisenhower when Ike visited the centennial fair in 1954 with Iowa’s own President Herbert Hoover in tow. (That was the first of four visits by sitting presidents, followed by Gerald Ford in 1975, George W. Bush in 2002 and Obama on Monday.)

On the other hand, the small business owner side of Cunningham fumes that the president “put a damper on what I’m trying to do here.” His Bud Tent was shut down at the most lucrative time of day, with a popular rock cover band, Hairball, about to perform at the Susan B. Knapp Amphitheater next door ­ with legions of thirsty fans.

“I was in a position to make a campaign donation against my will,” said Cunningham, a Republican.

◼ Awful!… Obama Buys Round of Beers at Iowa Beer Tent… Except for the Romney Supporter (Video)

Obama Seeks To Rekindle Faded Iowa Magic On 3-Day Tour

◼ Obama’s schedule in Iowa represents a significant investment of time in a swing state that’s worth just six electoral votes, a fraction of Ohio’s 18 or Florida’s 29. - Margaret Talev/Bloomberg (Image via Drudge: TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING AGAIN...)

SUNUNU SLAMS CNN'S O’BRIEN: ‘PUT AN OBAMA BUMPER STICKER ON YOUR FOREHEAD’

◼ Sununu: Soledad, stop this! All you’re doing is mimicking the stuff that comes out of the White House and gets repeated on the Democratic blog boards out there….” - Breitbart TV

Long History

3 things every voter needs to know about Paul Ryan’s Medicare reform plan — in 100 words

◼ The Paul Ryan veep pick — and the truth about his Medicare reform plan

1. No one over the age of 55 would be affected in any way.

2. Traditional Medicare fee-for-service would remain available for all. “Premium support”—that is, government funding of private insurance plans chosen by individuals—is an option for those who choose it. No senior would be forced out of the traditional Medicare program against his will.

3. Overall funding for Medicare under the Ryan-Wyden plan is scheduled to grow at the same rate as under President Obama’s proposals. Is this “gutting Medicare” and “ending Medicare as we know it”? In reality, it’s the market giving seniors cheaper, higher quality choices they can take if they wish, with the traditional program remaining an option.

◼ TOP DEMOCRAT: RYAN BUDGET IS “SENSIBLE, HONEST, SERIOUS” - Stephen Hayward/Powerline

Erskine Bowles, former chief of staff to President Clinton and a leading Democratic grandee, calling Paul Ryan “amazing,” and saying his budget proposal is “sensible, serious . . , and honest” (and also admitting that Obama’s budget proposals are neither serious nor honest).

The fact is that Ron Wyden built a plan with Paul Ryan to save Medicare while introducing a private marketplace for insurance for those who choose that option

◼ Yes, Ron Wyden built that Medicare plan with Paul Ryan - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

But, as Wyden predicted in the introduction to the plan, “the partisan attacks [will] begin to escalate and the 2012 election ads [will] start to air.” And now Wyden is running for cover under air assault from Democrats once again.

Mark Levin - Neil Cavuto 8-13-2012 interview

2016 The Movie Trailer

◼ http://2016themovie.com

ROMNEY DESTROYS HECKLER: 'MR. PRESIDENT GET YOUR CAMPAIGN OUT OF THE GUTTER'

◼ Video at Breitbart TV

Medicare will go bankrupt in 12 years, according to the program’s own trustees, and has become the largest driver of our $16 trillion debt. President Obama hasn’t done a single concrete thing to prevent these outcomes.

◼ Ryan touched the third rail - Romney’s VP pick was first to legislate Medicare reform - Emily Miller/Washington Times

On Monday, Mr. Romney said his vice-presidential candidate has “come up with ideas that are very different than the president’s. The president’s idea, for instance for Medicare, was to cut it by $700 billion. That’s not the right answer. We want to make sure that we preserve and protect Medicare.”

...starting with his first blueprint as budget committee chairman in spring 2011, Mr. Ryan took the behemoth health care program head-on. He proposed giving vouchers to seniors to pick from better, private insurance companies instead of being stuck in the government-run Medicare system. The program would start in 2023 to bring free-market competition into Medicare so prices could go down while quality improved....

It would have been a win-win if not for House Democrats launching the biggest “Mediscare” onslaught in history, immediately running attack ads in 25 targeted districts, including Mr. Ryan‘s. One advertisement claimed each congressman “voted to end Medicare, forcing seniors to pay $12,500 for private health insurance, without guaranteed coverage.”

This wasn’t true... More at the link

Yet another so-called “Recovery Summer” has come and nearly gone and Americans are still reeling from the failures of Obamanomics. It’s been a full year since Treasury Secretary and admitted tax cheat Timothy F. Geithner announced, “Welcome to the recovery.”

◼ Desperate Democrats reek of fear - Dr. Milton R. Wolf/The Washington Times

Recovery? The gross-domestic-product growth rate slowed to 1.5 percent. The unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent. Twenty-three million Americans are unemployed. A nearly $16 trillion debt looms large. A record 45 million Americans are on food stamps. More than 100 million are on some form of welfare. America’s credit rating has been downgraded.

The president’s response? “We tried our plan — and it worked.” This was his plan? Now his only plan is to attack Mitt Romney.

That giant crackling sound you hear is Team Obama burning through tens of millions of dollars to attack the presumptive Republican presidential nominee....

The campaign of hope and change is now the gang of false blood libel. Team Obama actually blamed Mr. Romney for the tragic cancer death of a woman named Ranae Soptic....

When confronted with (the) facts, the Obama campaign — and there’s no easy way to put this — did not tell the truth. It was caught red-handed. Recognizing the radioactive and demonstrably dishonest claims put forward by the Obama-friendly super PAC Priorities USA, top officials in both the Obama campaign and the White House falsely claimed that they were unaware of the patently dishonest Soptic story. Bald-faced falsehoods and falsehoods about falsehoods....

Forget governing a nation. Team Obama isn’t even competent enough to lie with enough believability that its lapdogs in the media can cover for it. Perhaps even they can smell the sulfuric stench of desperation and dishonesty wafting from the “Yes we can!” White House.

POLL: GOP has 13-point 'engagement' advantage...

◼ Poll: GOP more engaged in 2012 - Kevin Cirilli/Politico

“In most prior election campaigns, Republicans have typically paid a higher level of attention to the election than Democrats. However, the current 13-point Republican advantage is larger than Gallup has measured in recent presidential election years,” Gallup wrote.

Big business sees California's global-warming law as a job killer, a $1 billion tax that could force some of the state's heaviest industries to flee

◼ In the market's first full year, California industries are expected to pay $1 billion or more for allowances. The cost could grow to $6 billion a year in 2015. That's when the market will expand to include oil refiners paying for the greenhouse gases emitted by cars and trucks on California roads. - Dale Kasler/Sacramento Bee

GOP sues to force Obama compliance on Fast and Furious

◼ House Republicans on Monday asked the federal courts to intervene and force the Obama administration to turn over documents from the botched Fast and Furious gun-walking operation, escalating what had been a simmering constitutional crisis. - Stephen Dinan/The Washington Times

House Speaker John A. Boehner said President Obama and his team were ignoring a congressional subpoena — something the courts have long recognized as valid — and said lawmakers were left with no choice but to ask the third branch to referee.

“By stonewalling Congress and ignoring a contempt order, the Justice Department has left the House no choice but to take legal action so we can get to the bottom of the Fast and Furious operation that cost border agent Brian Terry his life,” Mr. Boehner said.

◼ Holder Testimony Questioned in New Black Panther Party Scandal - The Moral Liberal

Helen Gurley Brown dies; editor of Cosmo and author of ‘Sex and the Single Girl’ was 90

New Obama panic: Romney crowd sizes

◼ The recent frantic email theme to supporters from Team Obama about Mitt Romney's run-away fundraising successes has been expanded to the crowd size gap between the thousands who rushed out over the weekend to see Romney and new running mate Rep. Paul Ryan and the hundreds who cheered on President Obama. - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner @SecretsBedard

The big worry expressed in a new email from Obama's Chicago HQ: "The Republican base is energized." The reason: Romney attracted 15,000 at a rally over the weekend.

The email:

Paul --

I just got this disturbing report: Yesterday's Romney-Ryan rally in North Carolina pulled in an overflow crowd of 15,000 people.

There's no spinning that number. It's a LOT of people, and the Republican base in energized.

And that's not all. Since the VP announcement, Romney's campaign has brought in over 70,000 donations from his Tea Party base.

Democrat's demagoguery on Ryan reveals Left's shallowness

◼ When Mitt Romney chose Ryan this weekend as his running mate, the liberal freakout was telling. - Timothy P. Carney/Washington Examiner @tpcarney

Attacking the budgets Ryan authored, they have trotted out the hoary line that Ryan would "eliminate Medicare," and push grannie off a cliff.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina wrote that Ryan's "plan also would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system, shifting thousands of dollars in health care costs to seniors."

The "end Medicare as we know it" mantra highlights two ways in which it is the Democratic Party that is deeply unserious.

First, it echoes Obama's mendacity. Second, it reflects the party's irresponsible insistence on looking the other way while driving our government full speed toward the cliff of insolvency....

Medicare's insolvency is a hard problem. It's politically perilous territory. Paul Ryan has entered this territory with a difficult compromise proposal. Democrats have stood back and lobbed an artillery barrage of demagoguery, because that's all they have.

Well, that and Joe Biden.

Obama Campaign Defends President's $700 Billion Cuts to Medicare...

Obama's Deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter

◼ Eliminating Medicare as we know it - neoneocon

Get ready to hear a lot of this sort of thing: “Paul Ryan’s plan would ELIMINATE MEDICARE as we know it.”

The words “eliminate Medicare” will be said with great emphasis, and the phrase “as we know it” will be much softer in volume and spoken a lot quicker. The idea is to have the listener focus in fear on the first phrase, with the second as an almost meaningless afterthought.

What will be left out? Oh, just about everything: the fact that Medicare “as we know it” is already unsustainable, the fact that Medicare “as we know it” would also be “eliminated” by Obamacare, and of course the actual facts of Ryan’s actual plan... More at the link.

◼ Maddow Left Sputtering By ‘L’ Word - The Other McCain

If you had President Obama's record, what would you do?

Video: Romney, Ryan play offense on Medicare in 60 Minutes appearance

◼ (T)he 60 Minutes audience got a chance to see this swipe at the Mediscaring that had already begun over the weekend after Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan for his running mate. It turns out that Ryan and Romney both agree that the best defense is a good offense:



Romney answered critics who say Ryan’s Medicare plan will hurt the ticket’s chances, especially in Florida.

“There’s only one president that I know of in history that robbed Medicare, $716 billion to pay for a new risky program of his own that we call Obamacare,” Romney said.

“What Paul Ryan and I have talked about is saving Medicare, is providing people greater choice in Medicare, making sure it’s there for current seniors. No changes, by the way, for current seniors, or those nearing retirement. But looking for young people down the road and saying, “We’re going to give you a bigger choice.” In America, the nature of this country has been giving people more freedom, more choices. That’s how we make Medicare work down the road.”

This is the part that readers claim was edited out of the broadcast, which if true would be journalistic malpractice:

Ryan added, “My mom is a Medicare senior in Florida. Our point is we need to preserve their benefits, because government made promises to them that they’ve organized their retirements around. In order to make sure we can do that, you must reform it for those of us who are younger. And we think these reforms are good reforms. That have bipartisan origins. They started from the Clinton commission in the late ’90s.”