Closing statements

Revenge vs Love of Country

Desperation in politics has an ugly face.  Obama calls voting the best revenge.  He actually may be prophetic with that comment (ask any broken glass Republican). 

The Closing arguments

Romney’s words vs Obama’s broken promises.

When the only thing you have left is fear itself

Obama has put out an ad which imagines the horror of a Romney presidency.  The signs of desperation are on the air.

The Enthusiasm Gap

The enthusiasm edge is all GOP. 

In Cincinnati a crowd of 30,000 gather to see Romney.  AP reporter Steve Peoples tries to minimize the numbers and say there was low energy. 

Look at the rally from 360 degrees.

Meanwhile Bill Clinton finds a small crowd (1900) in Perrysburg, Ohio.  As Mary Katharine Ham said:

Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I expected far more people and more excitement for Bill Clinton. This is the rock star, in northern Ohio, 10 minutes from an auto plant, where Obama’s support for the auto industry bailout is supposed to carry the state into the blue column.

Romney garners the most newspaper endorsements

To date, twenty-eight large newspapers have decided to drop their endorsement record with President Obama and put their chips all in on Romney.  The blunt explanations for their decisions often gives way to some blistering critiques of the president, leaving the reader no doubt why these papers lost their faith over the last four years.

According to Editor & Publisher, Republican Mitt Romney is stunning the newspaper world, earning 112 endorsements from editorial boards around the country compared to the President’s 84.  Most large market newspapers like the The New York Times and The Washington Post have stuck with Obama, but have ran less than glowing assessments of his accomplishments.  So while a newspaper endorsement may not mean what it once did, these conversions could be telling of a national trend.

Barone Picks Romney

Bottom line: Romney 315, Obama 223. That sounds high for Romney. But he could drop Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and still win the election. Fundamentals.

Video:  PJTV predicts the election

Find out what Stephen Green, Stephen Kruiser and Bill Whittle think.

NYTimes: Pennsylvania is in play

Over the last several days, with polls showing Mr. Obama’s edge in the state narrowing, Republicans have sprung into action and forced the Democrats to spend resources here that could have gone toward more competitive battleground states. 

Conservative super PACs dusted off old advertisements that had not been shown in weeks and shipped them to local television stations from Scranton to Pittsburgh. They ordered millions of dollars in airtime. 

And overnight the race here became the most expensive test yet of whether Republicans and their armies of cash-flush outside groups could unsettle the race at the last minute.

Ohio Union Members caught stealing Romney signs

I used to live in Perrysburg.  Lock ‘em up. 

Catholic for Obama event draws 45 people

The Obama campaign attempted to schedule a rally-like event on a Catholic university campus in the key swing state of Colorado before settling on a dialogue with a co-chair of Catholics for Obama.

“Their original intent was to have more of a rally element to it,” said Paul Alexander, director of Regis University's Institute for the Common Good, which hosted the event.

“We just felt we couldn’t do a rally, but we felt a healthy dialogue among Catholics was important.”

About 45 people attended the Oct. 25 dialogue and small group discussion with Catholics for Obama national co-chair Nicholas P. Cafardi, a law professor and dean emeritus of Duquesne University School of Law.

Obama:  Just vote for MEEEEE!!!

“I’ve said I will work with anybody of any party to move this country forward,” President Obama told a crowd of 2,800 this morning in Hilliard, Ohio. “If you want to break the gridlock in Congress, you’ll vote for leaders who feel the same way whether they’re Democrat, Republican or independent.”

All Jacket and no bombers

Back in Benghazi, the president who looks so cool in a bomber jacket declined to answer his beleaguered diplomats’ calls for help – even though he had aircraft and Special Forces in the region. Too bad. He’s all jacket and no bombers. This, too, is an example of America’s uniquely profligate impotence. When something goes screwy at a ramshackle consulate halfway round the globe, very few governments have the technological capacity to watch it unfold in real time. Even fewer have deployable military assets only a couple of hours away. What is the point of unmanned drones, of military bases around the planet, of elite Special Forces trained to the peak of perfection if the president and the vast bloated federal bureaucracy cannot rouse themselves to action? What is the point of outspending Russia, Britain, France, China, Germany and every middle-rank military power combined if, when it matters, America cannot urge into the air one plane with a couple of dozen commandoes? In Iraq, al-Qaida is running training camps in the western desert. In Afghanistan, the Taliban are all but certain to return most of the country to its pre-9/11 glories. But in Washington the head of the world’s biggest “counterterrorism” bureaucracy briefs the president on flood damage and downed trees.

I don’t know whether Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan can fix things, but I do know that Barack Obama and Joe Biden won’t even try – and that therefore a vote for Obama is a vote for the certainty of national collapse. Look at Lower Manhattan in the dark, and try to imagine what America might look like after the rest of the planet decides it no longer needs the dollar as global reserve currency. For four years, we have had a president who can spend everything but build nothing. Nothing but debt, dependency, and decay. As I said at the beginning, in different ways the response to Hurricane Sandy and Benghazi exemplify the fundamental unseriousness of the superpower at twilight. Whether or not to get serious is the choice facing the electorate Tuesday.

But let him keep the bomber jacket.

What’s the difference between Sandy and Katrina

"We'regoing to die! We're going to freeze! We got 90-year-old people!" Donna Solli told visiting officials. "You don't understand. You gotta get your trucks down here on the corner now. It's been three days!"

The difference is you actually read about the suffering in Katrina. 

Media coverage:  Is it biased?  Is the Pope Catholic?

It turns out MSNBC is more biased thanFox News is. 

Sandy’s aftermath:  How many voters will skip voting for Obama?

Talk about ham handed, Mayor Bloomberg finally cancels the marathon.  I don’t think his endorsement of Barack Obama will cause a bunch of people in the cold and in the dark to rush out to vote for Obama.  Probably just the opposite. 

The forgiving Obama voter

Yet they'll forgive this president for blasting a smoking $4,500 hole in their household income, and presiding over the doubling of gas prices while throwing useless billions at his green energy fantasy -- no problem.  The Obama voters don't seem to mind that he's got another $1.9 trillion planned in new taxes which will cripple their livelihoods and the larger economy.  They laugh off a national debt of $6 trillion in less than four years -- who cares that debt will drag their kids and grandkids future down into the hole of punishing taxes and depleted incomes to pay it back?  Give the president a second chance?  Heck yes!

Obama’s record on jobs

"Simply put, the President's policies have not produced jobs. During his time in office, 14.7 million people were added to the food stamp rolls. Over that same time, only 194,000 jobs were created -- thus 76 people went on food stamps for every one that found a job. This is a product of low growth. Post-recession economic growth in 2010 was 2.4%, and dropped in 2011 to 1.8%. This year it has dropped again to 1.77%. Few, if any, net jobs will be created with growth of less than 2%."

Benghazi?  What Benghazi?

As the BigThree's evening newscasts ignored the latest in the controversy over the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya for 7 straight days, their morning shows aren't doing much better. On Friday, ABC's Good Morning America and CBS This Morning together devoted less than two minutes of air time - 1 minute, 50 seconds - to the ambush that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three American military veterans.

Benghazi—the plot thickens

Fox News has learned that US military intelligence was reporting as early as 7pm Eastern -- less than four hours after the attack began -- that Ansar al Sharia carried out the attack.  The intelligence was relayed to the military with no caveats, according to a source familiar with the intelligence.  Further, two State Department cables show that Stevens' team warned Washington...US intelligence officials confirm to Fox that in fact there were reports from the ground in Benghazi three hours before the attack on the consulate that a Libyan militia was gathering weapons and gathering steam.

The MSM only has to ignore this for another three days. 

More on the budget



1/10 of 1 percent

 NPR STATEMENT ON THE PRESIDENT'S FY 2012 BUDGET

Public broadcasting received a vote of confidence today from the Obama Administration. THE PRESIDENT'S FY 2012 BUDGET SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS INCLUDED $451 MILLION FOR THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (CPB) for the two year advance appropriation for FY 2014, an increase of $6 million over FY 2013 funding.

NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller said, "We are grateful to the Obama Administration for RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC RADIO to the life of communities across the nation. Every day, over 900 public radio stations present fact-based local, national and international news, as well as local arts, music and cultural programming that can't be found anywhere else."

She concluded, "At a time when our country is confronting many difficult challenges, PUBLIC BROADCASTING IS PROVIDING AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE BY INFORMING AND EDUCATING 170 MILLION AMERICANS EVERY MONTH. This mission is more relevant than ever."

http://www.npr.org/about/press/2011/021411.NPRStatementOnThePresidentsFY2012Budget.html


In an age with the record deficits that we have, this is one appropriation that should be ended. If there ever was an example of welfare for the rich this is one.



President Obama issues a veto threat

President Obama issued a veto threat Tuesday afternoon against the House GOP “continuing resolution” that would fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year, SAYING THE CUTS IN THE BILL WOULD “UNDERMINE OUR ABILITY TO OUT-EDUCATE, OUT-BUILD, AND OUT-INNOVATE THE REST OF THE WORLD” AS WELL AS UNDERMINE “CORE GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS and investments key to economic growth and job creation, and would reduce funding for the Department of Defense to a level that would leave the Department without the resources and flexibility needed to meet vital military requirements.”

Democrats in Congress criticize the GOP cuts, which they say would kick more than 200,000 children out of Head Start, cut $800 per student in the maximum Pell Grant award, eliminate $1.4 billion in funding for science and energy research, and cut $2.5 billion for high-speed rail projects, among other changes.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/02/hours-after-saying-come-let-us-reason-together-president-obama-issues-veto-threat.html


It appears President Obama and the Democrats are playing by the Bill Clinton script. Unfortunately for them this is not the 1990s and they don’t have the American people’s good will. In a budget with over a trillion in deficits, it appears they can’t find a bit of spending that can be cut. That won’t play well in Peoria.



Obama says he'd stop adding to debt, but that's not true

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S CLAIM TUESDAY THAT HIS PROPOSED BUDGET WOULD STOP ADDING TO THE NATIONAL DEBT is wrong — and is proved wrong in his own budget.

"We will not be adding more to the national debt," he said flatly Tuesday at a news conference. "To use a sort of an analogy that families are familiar with, WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE RUNNING UP THE CREDIT CARD ANYMORE. THAT'S IMPORTANT, AND THAT'S HARD TO DO. BUT IT'S NECESSARY TO DO."

However, his budget shows that the gross NATIONAL DEBT WOULD CONTINUE TO RISE EVERY YEAR UNDER HIS PROPOSAL, ALMOST DOUBLING FROM $13.5 TRILLION LAST YEAR TO $26.3 TRILLION IN FISCAL 2021.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/02/15/108796/obama-says-hed-stop-adding-to.html#ixzz1E7ILs8Pv


In the internet age, it is absolutely amazing that politicians will say things that are so patently false and expect to get away with it. I guess the Democrats are channeling Dr. Goebbels.



It's the Deficits That Are Draconian, Not Their Cuts

After the riots in Athens, the Greek authorities decided to enact new laws to deal with their obvious problems. The new laws, which treat rich and poor alike for the first time, have been seen as harsh. THE NAME OF THE LEGISLATOR WHO WROTE THE LAWS IS A MAN CALLED DRACO. The date is believed to be 621 B.C. And more than 2,600 years later, the adjectival form of his name -- draconian -- is still tossed around here in Washington anytime someone proposes real budget cuts.

Of course, most of the Washington hands who hurl the "draconian" charge around probably do not know that Draco's laws were considered "just" according to Aristotle. For the first time in Athenian law, the codes were written down so that even poor people could know what was legal and what was illegal -- thus they could avoid inadvertently breaking the law…..

THE ONLY "DRACONIAN" PART OF DRACO'S LAWS WAS THE PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR VIOLATION, WHICH HE SET AS DEATH FOR ALL VIOLATIONS, whether petty theft or murder.….

So, as we enter budget season in Washington this week, unless the Republican proposals include a death sentence for their violation, NO ONE SHOULD GET AWAY WITH HURLING THE CHARGE OF "DRACONIAN CUTS." THE CHARGE IS BOTH PREFABRICATED AND HISTORICALLY ILLITERATE.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/02/16/its_the_deficits_that_are_draconian_not_their_cuts_108910.html


A bit of history for you so when you hear the charge of draconian cuts you will know the person saying it doesn’t know what they are talking about. A must read if you want to learn a bit of history.

How much does Obama’s budget cut in 2012?

So to assess the administration’s proposal, one very crucial figure to look at is the effect their budget, if adopted, would have on the deficit in the year for which it would actually be the budget—that is, in 2012. You can find that figure on page 172 of the budget (table S-2, here). IT SHOWS THAT BY THE ADMINISTRATION’S OWN CALCULATIONS, THE EFFECT ITS OWN BUDGET WOULD HAVE IN 2012 WOULD BE TO INCREASE THE DEFICIT BY $11 BILLION. In other words, the Obama budget says that if we pass the Obama budget then the deficit for 2012 will be $1.1 trillion but if we don’t pass it then the deficit would be $1.09 trillion

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/259769/year-year-yuval-levin


When you read something like this, you have to figure that President Obama is the most out of touch President since Jimmy Carter.


Obama's Spending Promises, Then and Now

In its 2010 budget, the Obama administration projected that in FY 2012, total federal outlays would add up to $3,662,000,000,000. In its actual FY 2012 budget, the administration is asking for total outlays of $3,729,000,000,000. THAT'S RIGHT: THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION HAS RESPONDED TO SKYROCKETING DEFICITS AND HEIGHTENED CONCERN ABOUT FEDERAL DEBT BY INCREASING THE AMOUNT IT IS REQUESTING FOR NEXT YEAR, compared to its projections of just two years ago, by $67 billion. Only in Washington is this a "cut."

As regards the deficit:

Moreover, in its 2010 budget, the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION PROJECTED THAT IN FY 2012, IT WOULD RUN A DEFICIT OF $581 BILLION, OR 3.5% OF GDP. Now, the administration tells us that its FY 2012 budget will run a deficit of $1.1 trillion, or 7% of GDP, nearly double what it had projected.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/02/028361.php


Does nothing ever go down in Obamaland? Well outside of the number of Democrats in office.


Hundreds protest Wis. plan to cut worker rights

Hundreds of Wisconsin's public employees clogged a hearing for hours and camped out in the state Capitol OVERNIGHT IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO DELAY ACTION ON REPUBLICAN GOV. SCOTT WALKER'S PLAN TO STRIP AWAY MOST OF THEIR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS.

The Legislature's finance committee is preparing to vote on the measure, which would end collective bargaining for all state, county and local workers except for police, firefighters and the state patrol. THE MOVE MARKS THE BOLDEST STEP BY A NEW REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE TO SOLVE BUDGET PROBLEMS BY CONFRONTING ORGANIZED LABOR.

Opponents seized on the finance committee's public hearing on the bill on Tuesday to launch what Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, called a "citizen filibuster" that tied up the hearing for hours. A vote by the committee would set up final votes in the state Senate and Assembly later this week.

VOS, THE CO-CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE, FINALLY ENDED THE HEARING AT 3 A.M. Wednesday, 17 hours after it started. Democrats said they would continue to listen to workers who still wanted to speak. Republicans planned to reconvene later in the day to vote on the measure.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7429435.html


Expect to see more of this. Public payrolls have gotten completely out of hand and they must be rolled back.




What is the new GOP Congress doing to help military voters?

Today the House Administration Committee held hearings on military voting issues in the 2010 election and the lack of Justice Department enforcement. A PJM preview of that hearing and ERIC HOLDER’S APPROVAL OF UNCONSTITUTIONAL BALLOTS TO SERVICEMEMBERS WHICH OMITTED SOME CONTESTS (SUCH AS GOVERNOR) is here. The hearing did not go well for the Department of Justice, and by the end, the testimony of Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez looked less than credible.

http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/02/15/what-is-the-new-gop-congress-doing-to-help-military-voters/


We always hear Democrat decry the use of photo IDs as discouraging voter turnout. It appears that all voters are created equal but some voters are more equal (those that are likely Democrat supporters) than others according to this Administration’s Justice Department.



Japan Just Wasted $78 Billion On 'Fruitless' Projects To Solve Global Warming

Japan spent an impressive $78 billion on global warming research in the past six years. However, NONE OF 214 PROJECTS PRODUCED EFFECTIVE RESULTS, according to an official report featured in Japan Times.

THIS "FRUITLESS" SPENDING IS UNDER SCRUTINY AS THE GOVERNMENT SUFFERS UNDER A HEAVY DEBT BURDEN.

Here's an example of a failed project:

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry spent about ¥1.6 billion on a project to produce livestock feedstuff from unsold boxed lunches from convenience stores. The project was abandoned after its management firm collapsed, the report says.

So yes, you can be glad for now that the U.S. spends so little on science

http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-global-warming-2011-2#ixzz1E7YQ3Gk2


Actually, Obama wants to spend $56 billion on high speed rail. As foolish as that project is, it still appears to be a better on than the Japanese were working on.

November 2010

ObamaCare: The sum of all fears

Mary Katharine Ham of the Weekly Standard and Townhall’s political editor Guy Benson write a devastating expose on the healthcare reform package showing what was promised and what actually was delivered. I hope you read it.

The facts now prove there was plenty to fear in good faith.

Promise #1: If you are satisfied with your existing health care arrangement, you can keep it.

Promise #2: Reform will lower America’s health care spending.

Promise #3: Reform will lower Americans’ health care premiums.

Promise #4: Obamacare will not lead to a doctor shortage, or escalate the primary-care physician shortfall.

Promise #5: There will be no government rationing of medical care.

Promise #6: “The firm pledge” – Ninety-five percent of Americans will not see any form of tax increase because of Obamacare (or anything else).

Promise #7: Health care reform won’t add “a single dime” to the deficit—and will actually cut it.

Promise #8: Health care reform will help businesses—employers and employees, alike.

Promise #9: Obamacare will not allow for funding of abortions with taxpayer money.

Promise #10: Obamacare will not only satisfy each of the promises above, but satisfy all of them at the same time with virtually no downsides

.

All of these were promised and all of these promises were broken.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/08/05/obamacare-the-sum-of-all-fears

The Democrats Birther Strategy

As the midterms approach is becomes more evident the Democrats can't run on their record so they will try to distract the American people. The Birther controversy is their way to try and influence the voters in the middle by trying to say those opposed to Obama are "crazy."

But it doesn't seem to be working.

According to a CNN Poll, only 42% of Americans believe that Obama "definitely" was born in the U.S.

Put differently, 58% are not certain, or believe otherwise. (The other results were 29% probably born in U.S., 16% probably born elsewhere, and 11% definitely born elsewhere, with 2% having no opinion.)

The results, predictably, where higher among Republicans that Obama was not born here, and lower among Democrats. But among independents, the numbers pretty closely tracked the overall numbers, with the exception that only 37% said Obama definitely was born here.

So it seems the independents or at least 63% of them don't consider "birthers" to be crazy.

http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/08/obamas-birther-strategy-has-backfired.html