While conservatives in most of the rest of the country woke up to a celebration last Wednesday, those of us marooned in Massachusetts found ourselves left high and dry by a red wave that didn’t have quite enough oomph to overcome the leftist machine our home state is so infamous for. In spite of a number of good candidates and a palpable level of Republican voter enthusiasm, most of the races weren’t even close. Many pundits have ascribed this surprising finish in large part to the effectiveness of the organized get out the vote effort that the Democrat establishment, along with their community organizer and union allies, were able to bring to bear. Even the best and most well-funded candidates versus the most scandal-ridden incumbents are hard-pressed to overcome the extra percentage points this structure is able to set into gear on election day.
But what if existing laws and mores were, in fact, violated? That’s where what went on at the polls on Tuesday comes in. I have heard from multiple poll watchers who noted apparent or possible irregularities at the voting places they were stationed, and Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts takes center stage.
During the campaigns in 2008 and 2010 we heard constantly about how the Republicans were the party of big business and evil coporations, now that election 2010 is over, let’s look at which evil corporations supported and bought Congress for the Republicans:
Defense Contractors: 55% Democrat, 44% Republican ($18 million) Securities & Investment: 53% Democrat, 46% Republican ($8.2 million) Hedge Funds: 53% Democrat, 46% Republican ($6.8 million total) Venture Capital: 64% Democrat, 36% Republican ($6.4 million) Private Equity: 56% Democrat, 43% Republican ($4.6 million) HMO/Health services: 58% Democrats, 40% Republicans ($9.4 million) Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: 51% Democrats, 48% Republicans ($10.4 million) Medical Supply: 57% Democrats, 42% Republicans ($4.4 million) Hospitals/Nursing Homes: 63% Democrat, 36% Republican ($14.9 million) Lobbyists:65% Democrat, 34% Republican ($23.5 million) (I especially love this one, how many times have we heard about Republicans and the evil lobbyists from the Democraps...Jay)
In fairness, here are a few industries that did support Republicans:
'There is no specific federal agency' to vette candidates for federal office
A congressional document posted on the Internet confirms no one – not Congress, not the states and not election officials – bothered to check Barack Obama's eligibility to be president, and that status remains undocumented to this day.
It's because state and federal law did not require anyone in Congress or elsewhere to check to see if Obama was a "natural born Citizen" under the meaning of Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, according the document.
The analysis by the Congressional Research Service, a research arm of the U.S. Congress, openly admits no one in the federal government, including Congress, ever asked to see Obama's long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate. It explains no one was required to do so.
The CRS memo also admits that federal elections are administered under state law, a circumstance apparent to lawyers but sometimes complicated for others.
The relevant paragraph:
"The mechanics of elections of federal officials within the several states are administered under state law. The quadrennial presidential election, although required since 1845 to be held on the same day in each state is, in an administrative and operational sense, fifty-one separate elections in the states and the District of Columbia for presidential electors. States generally control, within the applicable constitutional parameters, the administrative issues, questions, and mechanisms of ballot placement and ballot access."
The next key point is that like federal law, neither do state laws require anyone to examine the birth qualifications of presidential candidates.
The states may have discretionary authority to question a candidate's eligibility to run for federal office, but there is no requirement in state law to do so, not when it comes to looking at birth records.
Once more, the memo makes this plain:
"In Keyes v. Bowen, the California Supreme Court discussed a suit against the secretary of state that challenged President Obama's eligibility and the California electoral votes for [the] finding that: 'Petitioners have not identified any authority requiring the secretary of state to make an inquiry into or demand detailed proof of citizenship from presidential candidates,' and thus mandamus (a writ of mandate) was not granted. However, although no 'ministerial duty' or mandatory requirement exists to support a mandamus action, there may still exist discretionary authority in such elections official."
The CRS's conclusion is that Obama could refuse to show his long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate because no state or federal law required him reveal it.
The report said, therefore, Obama could release exactly what information he chose.
"Despite the absence of any formal administrative or legal requirement or oversight at the federal level, or specific state requirement to produce a birth certificate for ballot placement, it may be noted here briefly that the only 'official' documentation or record that has been presented in the matter of President Obama's eligibility has been an official, certified copy of the record of live birth released by the Obama campaign in June of 2008, as an apparent effort by then-candidate Obama to address rumors and innuendos concerning the place of his birth."
The result is that Obama could choose exactly what information – and in what format – he wanted released. He chose the computer-generated Certification of Live Birth, a form from the state of Hawaii that officials there have provided to those not born in the state, to document his eligibility.
The CRS also makes it clear that if the birth requirements of the Constitution are to be taken seriously, new laws at the state and federal levels will be needed to institutionalize government procedures requiring president candidates to come forward with their eligibility documentation.
OK, the election’s over, and the message from most voters was that they didn’t care much for President Obama’s agenda. Now the focus is on the race for the presidency in 2012.
On the Republican side, it’s a dead heat between the ex-governors – Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Sarah Palin of Alaska, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary voters.
Asked who they would vote for if the Republican presidential primary were held today, 20% say Romney, 19% Huckabee and another 19% Palin.
Romney and Palin are tied among male GOP voters, while Huckabee has a slight edge among female voters.
Rounding out the list of seven candidates chosen by Rasmussen Reports for the question, with their levels of support, are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (13%), Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (6%), Texas Congressman Ron Paul (5%) and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (3%). Seven percent (7%) prefer some other candidate, and eight percent (8%) are undecided.
House -
Dist 1 - Jo Bonner-R
Dist 2 - Martha Roby - R
Dist 3 - Mike Rogers R
Dist 4 - Robert Aderholt R
Dist 5 - Mo Brooks R
Dist 6 - Spencer Bachus - R
Dist 7 - Terri Sewell D
House -
District 1 - Thompson - D
District 2 - Herger - R
District 3 - Lungren - R
District 4 - McClintock - R
District 5 - Matsui - D
District 6 - Woolsey - D
District 7 - Miller - D
District 8 - Pelosi - D
District 9 - Lee - D
District 10 - Garamendi - D
District 11 - Harmer - D
District 12 - Speier - D
District 13 - Stark - D
District 14 - Eshoo - D
District 15 - Honda - D
District 16 - Lofgren - D
District 17 - Farr - D
District 18 - Cardoza - D
District 19 - Denham - R
District 20 - Vidak - R
District 21 - Nunes - R
District 22 - McCarathy - R
District 23 - Capps - D
District 24 - Gallegly - R
District 25 - McKeon - R
District 26 - Dreier - R
District 27 - Sherman - D
District 28 - Berman - D
District 29 - Schiff - D
District 30 - Waxman - D
District 31 - Becerra - D
District 32 - Chu - D
District 33 - Bass - D
District 34 - Roybal-Allard - D
District 35 - Waters - D
District 36 - Harman - D
District 37 - Richardson - D
District 38 - Napolitano - D
District 39 - Sanchez - D
District 40 - Royce - R
District 41 - Lewis - R
District 42 - Miller - R
District 43 - Baca - D
District 44 - Calvert - R
District 45 - Bono Mack - R
District 46 - Rohrabacher - R
District 47 - Sanchez - D
District 48 - Campbell - R
District 49 - Issa - R
District 50 - Bilbray - R
District 51 - Filner - D
District 52 - Hunter - R
District 53 - Davis - R
House -
District 1 - DeGette - D
District 2 - Polis - D
District 3 - Tipton - R
District 4 - Gardner - R
District 5 - Lamborn - R
District 6 - Coffman - R
District 7 - Perlmutter - D
House -
District 1 - Jeff Miller, R
District 2 - Southerland R
District 3 - Brown D
District 4 - Crenshaw R
District 5 - Nugent - R
District 6 - Stearns - R
District 7 - Mica R
District 8 - Webster - R
District 9 - Bilirakis, R
District 10 - Young, R
District 11- Castor, D
Distrct 12 - Ross - R
District 13 - Buchanan, R
District 14 - Mack, R
District 15 - Posey, R
District 16 - Rooney, R
District 17 - Wilson, D
District 18 - Ros-Lehtinen, R
District 19 - Deutch, D
District 20 - Wasserman Schultz, D
District 21 - Diaz-Balart R
District 22 - Allen West R
District 23 - Hastings, D
District 24 - Adams, R
District 25 - Rivera - R
House -
District 1 - Kingston, R
District 2 -
District 3 - Westmoreland - R
District 4 - Johnson, D
District 5 - Lewis, D
District 6 - Price, R
District 7 - Woodall, R
District 8 - Scott R
Distrcit 9 - Graves R
District 10 - Broun, R
District 11 - Gingrey, R
District 12 - Barrow D
District 13 - Scott D
House
District 1 - Rush, D
District 2 - Jackson, D
District 3 - Lipinski, D
District 4 - Gutierrez, D
District 5 - Quigley, D
District 6 - Roskam, R
District 7 - Davis, D
District 8- Walsh R
District 9 - Schakowsky, D
District 10 - Dold - R
District 11 - Krinzinger - R
District 12 - Costello, D
District 13 - Judy Biggert, R
District 14 - Hultgren R
District 15 - Johnson, R
District 16 - Manzullo, R
District 17 - Schilling - R
District 18 - Schock, R
District 19 - Shimkus, R
House -
District 1 - Visclosky, D
District 2 - Donnelly D
District 3 - Stutzman - R
District 4, Rokita, R
District 5, Burton, R
District 6, Pence, R
District 7 - Carson, D
District 8 - Buschon - R
District 9 - Young - R
House -
District 1 - Scalise - R
District 2 - Richmond - D
District 3 - Lnadry - R
District 4 - Fleming - R
District 5 - Alexander - R
District 6 - Cassidy - R
District 7 - Boustany - R
House -
House 2, Dutch Ruppersberger, D
House 3, John Sarbanes, D
House 4, Donna Edwards, D
House 5, Steny Hoyer D
House 6, Roscoe Bartlett, R
House 7, Elijah Cummings, d
House 8, Chris Van Hollen, D
House
House 1, John Olver, D
House 2, Richard Neal, D
House 3, Jim McGovern, D
House 4, Barney Frank, D
House 5, Niki Tsongas, D
House 6, John Tierney, D
House 7, Ed Markey, D
House 8, Mike Capuano, D
House 9, Stephen Lynch, D
Michigan -
House-
House 2, Bill Huizenga, r
House 3, Justin Amash, R
House 4, Dave Camp, R
House 5, Dale Kildee, D
House 6, Fred Upton, R
House 8, Mike Rogers, R
House 10, Candice Miller, R
House 11, Thaddeus McCotter, R
House 12, Sander Levin, D
House 13, Hansen Clarke, D
House 14, John Conyers, D
Minnesota
House
House 1 - Tim Walz - D
House 2, John Kline, R
House 3, Erik Paulsen, R
House 4, Betty McCollum, D
House 5, Keith Ellison, D
House 6 - Michelle Bauchman - R
House 7 - Peterson - D
House 8 - Cravaak - R
House
House 1, Lacy Clay, D
House 2, Todd Akin, R
House 3, Russ Carnahan, D
House 4, Vickey Hartzler, R
House 5, Emanuel Cleaver, D
House 6, Sam Graves, R
House 7, Billy Long, R
House 8, Jo Ann Emerson, R
House 9, Blaine Luetkemeyer, R
New Jersey
House
District 1 - Andrews - D
District 2 - LoBiondo - R
District 3 - Runyan - R
District 4 - Smith - R
District 5 - Garrett - R
District 6 - Pallone - R
District 7 - Lance - R
District 8 - Pascrell - D
District 9 - Rothman - D
District 10 - Payne - D
District 11 - Frelinghuysen - R
District 12 - Holt - D
District 13 - Sires - D
House -
District 1 - Bishop - D
District 2 - Israel - D
District 3 - King - R
District 4 - McCarthy - D
District 5 - Ackerman - D
District 6 - Meeks - D
District 7 - Crowley - D
District 8 - Nadler - D
District 9 - Weiner - D
District 10 - Towns - D
District 11 - Clarke - D
District 12 - Velazquez - D
District 13 - Grim - R
District 14 - Maloney - D
District 15 - Rangel - D
District 16 - Serrana - D
District 17 - Engel - D
District 18 - Lowey - D
District 19 - Hayworth - R
District 20 - Gibson - R
District 21 - Tonko - R
District 22 - Hinchey - R
District 23 - Owens - D
District 24 - Hanna - R
District 25 - Maffei - D
District 26 - Lee - R
District 27 - Higgins - D
District 28 - Slaughter - D
District 29 - Reed - D
House -
Dist. 1 - Butterfield - D
Dist. 2 - Elmers - R
Dist 3 - Jones - R
Dist 4 - Price - D
Dist 5 - Fox - R
Dist 6 - Coble - R
Dist 7 - Kissell - D
Dist 8 - McIntyre - D
Dist 9 - Myrick - R
Dist 10 - McHenry -R
Dist 11 - Shuler - D
Dist 12 - Watt - D
Dist 13 - Miller - D
House -
Dist 1 - Chabot - R
Dist 2 - Schmidt - R
Dist 3 - Turner - R
Dist 4 - Jordon - R
Dist 5 - Latta - R
Dist 6 - Johnson - R
Dist 7 - Austria - R
Dist 8 - Boehner - R
Dist 9 - Kaptur - D
Dist 10 - Kucinich - D
Dist 11 - Fudge - D
Dist 12 - Tiberi - R
Dist 13 - Sutton - D
Dist 14 - LaTourette - R
Dist 15 - Stivers - R
Dist 16 - Renacci - R
Dist 17 - Ryan - D
Dist 18 - Gibbs - R
House
Dist 1 - Roe - R
Dist 2 - Duncan - R
Dist 3 - Fleischmann - R
Dist 4 - DesJarlais - R
Dist 5 - Cooper - D
Dist 6 - Black - R
Dist 7 - Blackburn - R
Dist 8 - Fincher - R
Dist 9 - Cohen - D
House -
District 1 - Gohmert - R
District 2 - Poe - R
District 3 - Johnson - R
District 4 - Hall - R
District 5 - Hensarling - R
District 6 - Barton - R
District 7 - Culberson - R
District 8 - Brady - R
District 9 - Al Green - D
District 10 - McCaul - R
District 11 - Conaway - R
District 12 - Granger - R
District 13 - Thornberry - R
District 14 - Paul - R
District 15 - Hinojosa - R
District 16 - Reyes - D
District 17 - Flores - R
District 18 - Jackson Lee - D
District 19 - Neugebaur - R
District 20 - Gonzalez - D
District 21 - Smith - R
District 22 - Olsen - R
District 23 - Canseco - R
District 24 - Marchant - R
District 25 - Doggett - D
District 26 - Burgess - R
District 27 - Farenthold - R
District 28 - Cuellar - D
District 29 - Green - D
District 30 - Johnson - D
District 31 - Carter - R
District 32 - Sessions - R
Gov - Perry - R
Virginia
Senate -
House -
District 5 - Robert Hurt - R
West Virginia
Senate -
House -
Gov - Manchin - D
.Last updated by Asst Natl Dir Mellie 2 minutes ago.
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A national pre-election survey of over 14,000 likely voters conducted by the non-partisan organization, The Free Enterprise Nation, indicates that Republicans and independents will participate in a massive turnout on November 2, resulting in a Republican avalanche.
Total of Voters Who Identify Themselves As Independent- 33%
"The high number of independents was pretty unexpected," said James MacDougald, President of The Free Enterprise Nation. "We had always believed that Independents represented 20% rather than 33% of the electorate."
Most Pressing Issue For Voters
1. Unemployment- 51%
2. Federal Deficit- 32%
3. Healthcare Reform, Social Issues, War in Afghanistan- 17%
Are You Financially Better Off Than Last Year?
1. No- 86%
2. Yes- 14%
MacDougald reported that voters of both major parties as well as Independents agreed that Unemployment is the leading issue of the day. There was also common ground among all poll participants when the grand majority agreed that they were no better off financially than last year.
"Favor" or "Oppose" the Repeal of the Recently Passed Healthcare Reform Legislation
1. Democrats- 82% Oppose repeal
2. Independents- 75% Favor repeal
3. Republicans- 95% Favor repeal
Here the common ground between the two major political parties ended, as opinions on the new Healthcare Reform Law fell clearly along party lines.
What surprised MacDougald and other analysts was that the Independents' answers to key questions such as this were often indistinguishable from those of the Republican respondents.
"What is really remarkable," said MacDougald, "is that this election is beginning to look like the opposite of 2008. With this poll, we saw a very high degree of participation by the age group that is 50 or over, and very low participation by those under 35. We believe that these levels of participation will be mirrored at the polls next Tuesday."
Who Is Most Responsible For the Current Weak Economy
1. Republicans- 95% blame President Obama and Congress
2. Democrats- 89% blame President Bush, Wall Street, and big corporations
3. Independents- 68% blame President Obama and Congress
"The problem for Democrats," says MacDougald, "is that Bush, Wall Street, and big corporations are not on the ballot next Tuesday, but Congress is. And that's bad news for the Democrats."
The Free Enterprise Nation is a non-partisan member-based organization representing American employees and businesses in the private sector.
For more information about James MacDougald and The Free Enterprise Nation, please visit http://thefreeenterprisenation.org/ for the latest Election poll results, Columns, and more.
James MacDougald and The Free Enterprise Nation is represented by Eclectic Media Productions National PR firm. Website: http://mediaproductions.tv/
Anyone who has listened to my show or read my blog over the years will know that I have reported on this on several occasions. But here's more evidence to back up my claims !
WikiLeaks’ newly-released Iraq war documents reveal that for years afterward, U.S. troops continued to find chemical weapons labs, encounter insurgent specialists in toxins and uncover weapons of mass destruction.
An initial glance at the WikiLeaks war logs doesn’t reveal evidence of some massive WMD program by the Saddam Hussein regime — the Bush administration’s most (in)famous rationale for invading Iraq. But chemical weapons, especially, did not vanish from the Iraqi battlefield. Remnants of Saddam’s toxic arsenal, largely destroyed after the Gulf War, remained. Jihadists, insurgents and foreign (possibly Iranian) agitators turned to these stockpiles during the Iraq conflict — and may have brewed up their own deadly agents.
In August 2004, for instance, American forces surreptitiously purchased what they believed to be containers of liquid sulfur mustard, a toxic “blister agent” used as a chemical weapon since World War I. The troops tested the liquid, and “reported two positive results for blister.” The chemical was then “triple-sealed and transported to a secure site” outside their base. …
Nearly three years later, American troops were still finding WMD in the region. An armored Buffalo vehicle unearthed a cache of artillery shells “that was covered by sacks and leaves under an Iraqi Community Watch checkpoint. “The 155mm rounds are filled with an unknown liquid, and several of which are leaking a black tar-like substance.” Initial tests were inconclusive. But later, “the rounds tested positive for mustard.”
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 53% of Likely U.S. voters favor repeal of the health care law, including 43% who Strongly Favor repeal. Forty-two percent (42%) oppose repeal of the bill, with 32% who are Strongly Opposed. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Since Democrats in Congress passed the law in late March, support for repeal has ranged from a low of 53% to a high of 63%.
But now 46% of voters say it is at least somewhat likely the law will be repealed, up six points from earlier this month and the highest level measured since tracking of the question began in April. Still, that includes just 13% who say it’s Very Likely the law will be repealed.
Forty-five percent (45%) say it is not very likely the law will repealed, showing no change from earlier this month.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) leads his Republican opponent by 13 percent with eight days left in the campaign.
Forty-six percent of likely voters in Massachusetts's 4th congressional district have said they would vote to reelect Frank, while 33 percent said they'd support GOP candidate Sean Bielat, according to a new University of New Hampshire survey, conducted for The Boston Globe.
Eleven percent said they were undecided, while 10 percent of likely voters said they'd back someone else.
The largest unauthorized disclosure of classified government documents in U.S. history confirms a long-standing assertion of President George W. Bush at the start of the 2007 troop surge: Iran was orchestrating one side of the Iraqi insurgency.
Field reports made public by the website WikiLeaks on Friday show that U.S. military intelligence agencies had many strands of evidence revealing that Iran provided paramilitary training to Shiite Muslim insurgents at the height of the civil war in Iraq.
"This confirms the degree of operational involvement the Iranian Revolutionary Guard used in anti-U.S. operations in Iraq," said Kenneth Katzman, a Gulf affairs specialist at the Congressional Research Service. "It confirms the degree to which Iran was involved in operations that directly targeted U.S. forces."
In September 2007, Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut independent, proposed a resolution condemning the Iranian role in subversion in Iraq. The amendment called for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to be officially designated a foreign terrorist group, something Mr. Bush did in 2008.
Barack Obama, as a Democratic senator from Illinois, opposed the resolution at the time but also used the vote in support of the measure by Hillary Rodham Clinton, then a Democratic senator from New York, to attack her anti-war credentials during public debate in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses.
In a letter to Iowa voters from October 2007, Mr. Obama said the resolution was dangerous because "George Bush and Dick Cheney could use this language to justify keeping our troops in Iraq as long as they can point to a threat from Iran. And because they could use this language to justify an attack on Iran as a part of the ongoing war in Iraq."
Expressing deep dissatisfaction with President Obama’s policies and performance, independents have increasingly sided with conservatives in the belief that government grew too large, too fast under Obama—and that it can no longer be trusted. In the final pre-election Battleground Poll, Republicans hold a 14-point edge among independents and lead overall, 47 percent to 42 percent, in the generic ballot match up.
President Bush spoke Tuesday before a sold-out crowd of 2,000 people during the 76th lecture as part of The University of Texas at Tyler's Distinguished Lecture Series.
He walked on the stage to a standing ovation. People in the audience were pumping their fists and whistling. One audience member shouted, “Bring back Bush,”at one point during the presentation.
He would receive at least two more standing ovations before the end of his speech.
With trademark humor and conviction, he said he sought to lead with vision and optimism and to leave the office equal to or better than it was when he arrived.
“Here's what you learn,” he said. “You realize you're not it. You're a part of something bigger than yourself.”
He also touted his book “Decision Points” which is set to be released in November.
“This will come as a shock to some people in our country who didn't think I could read a book, much less write one,” he quipped. “It's not a judgmental book,” he said. “It's not a Bush is cool (book).”
Bush said he misses certain aspects of the presidency.
“I miss being pampered; I miss Air Force 1; I miss being commander in chief of an awesome group of (people),” he said.
Bush said during his first days out of office, he took his dog Barney on a walk around his new neighborhood in Dallas. The experience also was new to Barney too who saw a neighbor's yard and took the opportunity to relieve himself.
“Ten days out of the presidency, there I was with a plastic bag in my hand, picking up that which I had been dodging for eight years,” he said to many laughs.
Bush said he sat in the White House with his economic advisors Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke three weeks into the economic downturn.
He said Bernanke told him, “If you don't do something significant, you're likely to see a depression greater than the Great Depression.”
“Depression, no depression,” Bush said. “It wasn't that hard for me, just so you know. I made the decision to use your money to prevent the collapse from happening.”
Bush talked about the influence that President Abraham Lincoln had on his presidency. He said he made a point to watch little television and instead to read quite often.
He read 12 biographies about Lincoln during his time in office.
“It's interesting to be making history and reading history,” he said. “I think he's the country's greatest president.”
He called it a “paramount” duty to meet with the loved ones of troops who die in service.
He talked about one man, who after his relative had died in war, asked to receive a waiver so he could serve in his country despite his older age.
“Instead of letting the grief overwhelm him, this man stood to serve our country,” Bush said. “We are blessed with people like that.”
UT Tyler President Rodney H. Mabry called Bush the “most determined, principled, compassionate and successful” president this country has had. He also said the university raised more than $200,000 for scholarships through a dinner that preceded the lecture.
Jesse wrote and sings the song "Here's To All The Soldiers" that I use, with his gracious permission, half way through the Talk Show America show to honor our brave men and women in the US Military and to remind people not to forget we are still fighting a Global War on Terror. Here's another great song he wrote and sings.
Nationally-recognized pollster Scott Rasmussen last night predicted that Republicans would gain 55 seats in races for the U.S. House of Representatives November 2—much more than the 39 needed for a Republican majority in the House for the first time since 2006.
“Republicans should have 48 seats [after the elections next month], Democrats 47, and five seats could slide either way,” said Rasmussen in his banquet address at the Western Conservative Political Action Conference. He was referring to seats in five states in which the Senate race this year he considers too close to call: California, Illinois, Washington, West Virginia, and Nevada (or “that mudwrestling contest,” as Rasmussen described the race between Republican Sharron Angle and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid).
Rasmussen said his polls show overwhelming support among voters nationwide for cutting spending, taxes, and the deficit.
“And by two-to-one, voters say they prefer a congressman who will reduce overall spending to one who promises to bring a ‘fair share’ of government spending to their congressional district,” the veteran pollster said, adding that a plurality of Texas voters backed Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s recent decision to turn down federal dollars a program because federal strings were attached to it.
The Republicans’ strong position three weeks before midterm elections began, Rasmussen recalled, “when every Republican [in the House] said they would oppose the stimulus package. That’s when the generic ballot [showing support for Republican and Democrat candidates nationwide] started to go up.” He also noted that support fell dramatically for the Democratic healthcare reform bill “when the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] figures showed it would cost more than a trillion dollars. And support for it never recovered.”
Two years ago, he recalled, 43% of Americans felt their finances were in good order, 38% felt this way the day Barack Obama was elected, and 35% felt that way on the day he took office as President.
“At the beginning of the year, that figure dropped to 32%,” he added, “and today, it is down to 30%.” Rasmussen also said that more than half of homeowners are “unsure if their home is worth more than their mortgage.”
Rasmussen said that the term packing the most response is “tea party.”
“It generates the strongest reaction, both positive and negative, among voters,” he concluded, “It’s a defining force.”
President Barack Obama's winning coalition from 2008 has crumbled and his core backers are dispirited. It's now Republicans who stand to benefit from an electorate that's again craving change.
Among the survey's key findings:
_73 percent of Obama voters now approve of how he's doing his job, 13 percent don't approve and 13 percent have mixed feelings. Nearly half have a very favorable impression of the president, down from two years ago, when two-thirds felt that way.
_40 percent say they're frustrated by his presidency, 20 percent say they're excited, and 26 percent say they are proud — a marked turnaround from Election Day 2008. Still, 59 percent say they remain hopeful — a reason for optimism as Obama gets ready for his likely re-election campaign.
_30 percent of Obama voters say he is living up to his promises to change Washington, while 19 percent say he's breaking those promises. Half think it's too soon to tell.
_76 percent of Obama voters say they will support the Democrat in their House district, while 8 percent plan to back the Republican and the rest are undecided.
_71 percent of McCain voters say they will vote for the Republican in their House district, while 9 percent plan to get behind Democrats and 20 percent haven't chosen a candidate.
Obama voters who are voting for Republicans or are undecided are especially doubtful about the Democratic Party's ability to handle the economy.
Disillusionment with Obama was evident.
In a reversal from 2008, the survey found that Obama backers who expected change in Washington — 63 percent — now think nothing ever will happen. Just 36 percent still think Obama can do it, while a majority of McCain supporters now say things can change if the right person is elected.
"I was hoping we'd get some more civility up in government. That was implicit in his promise, along with some change. It turns out that he was driving more toward the changes rather than civility," said Gerry D. Kramer, 70, of Georgetown, Texas. He's among the Obama voters who are likely to vote Republican.
"He's not listening to the majority of the people who elected him. It's like he's ignoring his base," said SaraSue Crawford of Jacksonville, Fla., who points to Obama's health care overhaul law. She's deciding whether to support Republicans in the hopes of "shaking up the status quo" and restoring a balance of power in Washington.
"He ran as a centrist. I don't think he's a centrist at all. ... His whole economic platform is the more government spends, the better things are," Bonnaure said. "We have a far-left government. The answers are in the middle."
Johnathan Irish and Stephanie Taylor emerged from a closed family court hearing Thursday afternoon with smiles on their faces and indicated they may be getting back their daughter Cheyenne, whom state officials took from them hours after her birth last week.
Irish said he was instructed to say nothing about the hearing, citing a state confidentiality law, but said: "A picture's worth a thousand words. What's a smile worth?"
All indications were that Irish and Taylor received good news at the hearing.
"I haven't seen you smile in a while," Irish's mother Nancy, who declined to give her last name, said just before embracing her son.
Whoppi and Joyce walk off set on View during O'Reilly interview, Matthews disses Tea Partiers during Chilean Mine rescue, The debates of Reid/Angle,Odonnell/Coons Who won ?, President accuses US Chamber of accepting Foreign donations
Sharron Angle was every bit the hard line conservative she has been portrayed to be. Harry Reid was just as stiff and pedestrian a communicator as he has always been.
Reid was on the defensive, unable to give a straight answer on whether abortion should be covered by President Obama’s health care legislation or whether English should be designated the nation’s official language by constitutional amendment.
Angle was the attack dog, knocking Reid for living in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington, D.C., implying that he had become wealthy through political connections, and challenging his masculinity.
“Man up Harry Reid. You need to understand that we have a problem with Social Security ,” Angle said, arguing for a move toward a privatized form of the entitlement program.
Angle did not run away from some of the more drastic positions she has taken, though she did try to soften the sharp edges. She articulated a belief in a free market capitalist system with virtually no regulatory restraints on large companies and corporations.
On education, she did not make an argument for abolishing the Department of Education but she did say that since its inception the quality of education has diminished in America. Education policy and money should be decided at the state and local level, she said.
“We need to take our 10th Amendment rights, put that education as close to the local level as possible, where parents and teachers make the policies,” she said.
In a study released today by the Cato Institute, Duke University professor Chris Conover estimates how much ObamaCare and related provisions will reduce economic output:
The Congressional Budget Office has projected the 10-year, on-budget cost of [The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. ObamaCare] will be just over $1 trillion. This paper estimates PPACA will impose an additional, hidden cost of $157 billion to $494 billion in the form of reduced economic output. Related provisions (such as the so-called “doc fix”) could drive the economic losses to $550 billion, or more than half of the bill’s official cost estimates.
Conover will present his paper at a Cato policy forum at 10 a.m. today. Click here to watch online.
A book was thrown at Barack Obama’s head during his Germantown rally yesterday in Philadelphia, while a streaker also tainted the event that was supposed to rally Obama’s hardcore base of predominantly black supporters. Few white people were to be seen in the crowd in the Germantown neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia, known for its huge African-American population. The tainting of what was supposed to be a pump-up rally of the last few vestiges of Obama’s remaining support in the country instead degenerated into something of a debacle, with the Secret Service now facing questions regarding their apparent laxity in security that actually allowed a book to narrowly miss hitting Obama’s head and a flabby streaker to disrupt the rally.
The launching of a book towards Obama’s head is particularly significant because of the large African-American contingent in the crowd of about 18,000 people. African-Americans are still one of the only demographics in the US who haven’t completely abandoned Obama as he is being increasingly exposed as an inept commander-in-chief who has failed to turn around a struggling US economy. In fact, according to polls, African-Americans are still gung-ho for Obama…almost as if…as if…they only watch MSNBC, read the New York Times, and get all their analysis from the likes of that extremely angry-yet-barely-watched Keith Olbermann and his radical buddy, Ed Schultz.
Recent numbers from a Gallup poll differ greatly from the unemployment situation report released from The Department of Labor. Why is that? Americans For Limited Government’s Rick Manning explains.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that among all Likely Voters 31% believe most members of the Tea Party are racist. Nearly half (48%), however, say most Tea Party members are not racist. Another 22% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
But 56% of Democratic voters say most members of the small government, anti-tax movement are racially biased. Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans and 55% of unaffiliated voters reject that assertion and say most Tea Party members are not racist.
During a televised debate, Rory Reid, the son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), said he does not support the legal challenges against the health overhaul. Yet, he does believe that President Obama’s signature achievement could negatively affect Nevada.
“I don’t deny, however,” Rory Reid said, “that Nevada needs to be vigilant on this issue. The law that was passed gives time for the new system to go into effect, but there is potential for it to put significant pressure on states because Medicaid rates could go up significantly.”
Jay Are's Take: Obviously Rory's statement means that ObamaCare could have a negative affect on ALL states !
Friday's Unemployment Rate Report Likely to Understate
The government's final unemployment report before the midterm elections is based on job market conditions around mid-September. Gallup's modeling of the unemployment rate is consistent with Tuesday's ADP report of a decline of 39,000 private-sector jobs, and indicates that the government's national unemployment rate in September will be in the 9.6% to 9.8% range. This is based on Gallup's mid-September measurements and the continuing decline Gallup is seeing in the U.S. workforce during 2010.
However, Gallup's monitoring of job market conditions suggests that there was a sharp increase in the unemployment rate during the last couple of weeks of September. It could be that the anticipated slowdown of the overall economy has potential employers even more cautious about hiring. Some of the increase could also be seasonal or temporary.
Further, Gallup's underemployment measure suggests that the percentage of workers employed part time but looking for full-time work is declining as the unemployment rate increases. To some degree, this may reflect a reduced company demand for new part-time employees. For example, employers may be converting some existing part-time workers to full time when they are needed as replacements, but may not in turn be hiring replacement part-time workers. Another explanation may relate to the shrinkage of the workforce, as some employees who have taken part-time work in hopes of getting full-time jobs get discouraged and drop out of the workforce completely -- going back to school to enhance their education, for example, instead of doing part-time work. It is even possible that some workers may find unemployment insurance a better alternative than part-time work with little prospect of going full time.
Regardless, the sharp increase in the unemployment rate CLICK HERE
A federal judge in Michigan just now upheld this year's health care legislation in the first significant challenge to its constitutionality.
Ruling against a lawsuit brought by the conservative Thomas More Law Center, Judge George Steeh, a Clinton appointee to the Eastern District of Michigan, found that the Commerce Clause applies to health care, and that penalties imposed on people who don't buy insurance aren't an unconstitutional "direct tax."
An Associated Press-GfK poll shows whites without four-year college degrees preferring GOP candidates by twice the margin of the last two elections, when Democrats made significant gains in the House and Senate. The poll, conducted last month, found this group favoring GOP hopefuls 58 percent to 36 percent — a whopping 22 percentage-point gap.
Gallup's generic ballot for Congress among registered voters currently shows Republicans with 46% of the vote and Democrats with 43%, similar to the 46% to 46% tie reported a week ago. However, in Gallup's first estimates among likely voters, based on polling from Sept. 23-Oct. 3, Republicans have a double-digit advantage under two separate turnout scenarios.
I recently caught the last five minutes of Rocky, the classic movie starring Sylvester Stallone. During the finale, Championship Boxing Exhibition, Rocky, the extreme underdog amateur, was knocked down several times by powerful punches from the reigning champion. Upon being knocked down yet again, Rocky’s coach instructed, “Stay down!”
I thought, that is exactly what many family and friends, who love us, advise when the goin’ gets tough: “Quit. Give up on your dream.” Like such family and friends, Rocky’s well-intentioned coach did not get it. Instinctively, Rocky knew he had to get back up, or he would never be able to look at himself in the mirror again. Even after seeing the scene for the gazillionth time, when Rocky struggles to his feet and battles the champion to the final bell, I still get a lump in my throat.
Rocky strikes a universal chord. I was in college when the movie was first released in the ’70s. Several of my fellow black friends were militants running around touting “Black Power” with raised fists. And yet they were crazy about the Italian Stallion, Rocky.
Rocky is universally loved because he tells us that no matter how much life beats you down, if you can find the strength to pick yourself back up, you are a winner. Rocky also tells us that certain things are worth fighting for — risking losing for the dream of winning. Rocky epitomized the American Spirit.
And then, along came the Obama administration. In fairness, while no other president has promoted entitlement and American unexceptionalism more than Obama, we have been traveling down this entitlement road for quite awhile.
Like Rocky’s coach, but for sinister reasons, Obama and liberals advise Americans, “Stay down! Striving for personal success is evil. You’re entitled to the fruit of the labor of someone else. Illegal immigration is fine. Enforcing the law is insensitive, heartless, and racist. Competition damages self-esteem. Capitalism is unfair. Expecting immigrants to learn English is cruel and racist. We expect very little of you.”
In keeping with their constant appealing to our lower nature and “don’t strive for excellence” mindset, liberals coach minorities with messages like “You’re victims of American racism. You deserve handouts. America is controlled by rich white people.” Much has been written about the Left’s “bigotry of low expectations” in regards to minorities.
No longer do we celebrate the “Rockys” of America — folks who sacrifice, take risks, and struggle to achieve a better life for their families and themselves. Obama and company demonize achievers, calling them selfish and greedy exploiters of the poor.
In the name of “social justice,” King Obama has begun confiscating and redistributing the wealth of Americans who were knocked down by life several times but courageously kept struggling to pick themselves back up and became winners. Reading the biographies of the wealthy will confirm that most of them took risks and experienced failures; many faced bankruptcies, lost marriages, and tremendous sacrifices and struggles. But they kept getting back up.
Not only has Obama vowed to confiscate the wealth of these “American Rockys” — and in his own words, “spread it around” America — but he intends to redistribute their hard-earned money around the world.
Some say the American Dream is dead. Nobody wants to work hard to achieve a goal. They believe liberals have successfully divided Americans into various victimized groups, all believing they are entitled. These fatalists say far too many Americans would rather sit on their butts and wait for whatever entitlement crumbs the government throws their way.
I do not believe we have reached such an ugly un-Rocky/un-American critical mass. Traveling on the Tea Party Express, I have attended hundreds of Tea Parties across America. Rocky is alive and well in the hearts and minds of millions of Tea Party patriots who still celebrate ambition, courage, and personal achievement. These folks are downright repulsed by the idea of government controlling outcomes, dictating who wins and who loses.
Daily assaults by Obama have severely beaten down the spirit of America. He proclaims that the U.S. is no longer — nor should it be — the world economic leader. So how many more Obama brutal punches can the spirit of American exceptionalism endure? Will it survive the Obama regime?
Yes, it will. No matter how many times the American spirit is knocked down, it always gets back up. Tea Party patriots have declared, “King Obama, you’re dethroned! We’re taking back America!” Adriannnnnn, I LOVE YOU!!!
Despite reports from local Massachusetts media, Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat, remains confident he will win his re-election in November against his Republican opponent Sean Bielat. Former President Bill Clinton appeared with Mr. Frank recently at a political rally in Taunton last week, and Mr. Bielat claimed, according to reports, that Mr. Clinton was brought in to help buoy Mr. Frank.
"The notion that it’s a sign of panic is just silly. That’s just politics when they don’t have anything else better to say. It’s a tougher race, because once I became chairman of the [banking] committee in 2007, the right-wing media talk show hosts decided to target me," said Rep. Frank, when I asked him about his race during Wednesday votes on Capitol Hill. "They were frankly worried about what we would do, and I also have people who were angry about the financial reform bill."
While House Democrats at large are experiencing a tough re-election cycle, the Massachusetts Democrat who heads up the House Banking Committee believes the factors affecting his race come down to how he is being portrayed in the media.
"I’ve had Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck basically say things about me that weren’t true and if people say things that aren’t true over time and you don’t respond, then it has an impact, so I’m responding."
Mr. Frank's GOP opponent recently released an internal poll showing support for the Congressman is below 50 percent and Mr. Frank ahead by only ten points.
"That’s his poll...ten points. Our polls show me further ahead than that, and I’m very skeptical of that poll of his--also there are two independents in the race," said Rep. Frank. "To the extent that people are unhappy, people are unhappy with both Democrats and Republicans."
Non-profit advocacy groups that support private sector interests are operating by way of subterfuge and stealth to advance public policy measures that favor a select few, according to a front page piece that ran Sunday, September 26th.
Pejorative words like “cloak” and “hidden” are used in the headline to set the tone for a highly critical piece that probes into an organization called “Americans for Job Security” (AJS) based in the Washington, D.C. area. But the real targets are the tea party movement, the Republican Party and First Amendment freedoms.
AJS is supporting a referendum that would restrict the operations of a gold and copper mine located in Bristol Bay, Alaska. After the mine’s supporters filed a complaint, investigators concluded that the organization was set up to protect the indentity of wealthy activists, the report argues.
“With every election cycle comes a shadow army of benignly titled nonprofit groups like Americans for Job Security, devoted to politically charged `issue advocacy,’ much of it negative,” the report says. “But they are now being heard as never before — in this year of midterm discontent, Tea Party ferment and the first test of the Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited, and often anonymous, corporate political spending. Already they have spent more than $100 million — mostly for Republicans and more than twice as much as at this point four years ago. None have been more active than Americans for Job Security, which spent $6 million on ads during the primary season. This week, emboldened by the court ruling, the group paid close to $4 million more for ads directly attacking nine Democratic candidates for Congress. That made it among the first to abandon the old approach of running ads that stopped just short of explicitly urging voters to elect or reject individual candidates.”
This is nothing more than veiled, indirect attempt to complicate Republican campaign efforts and to besmirch average Americans who are part of the tea party movement.
During a recent press conference, President Obama blamed George W. Bush for the nation's fiscal condition. "When I walked in," he declared, "wrapped in a nice bow was a $1.3 trillion deficit sitting right there on my doorstep." Earlier this year he asserted that "we came in with $8 trillion worth of debt over the next decade."
Neither statement is correct, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). True enough, the outgoing Bush administration bequeathed big deficits to Mr. Obama. The expected 2009 deficit was $1.19 trillion, not $1.3 trillion, however—and the actual deficit for 2009 came in at $1.41 trillion, meaning that the new president added some $220 billion to the total.
Far more significant, however, was the president's misstatement that Mr. Bush and the Republicans left the country with $8 trillion of debt over the next 10 years. The CBO's projected 10-year deficit when Mr. Obama took office was actually $4.09 trillion. Now, after 20 months of his presidency, the expected deficit has almost doubled, to $7.68 trillion.
A strong case can be made that the people most responsible for the gigantic deficits we face today are neither George W. Bush nor Barack Obama. The real culprits are Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Congress controls the purse strings. When Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Reid rose to their present jobs in January 2007, the deficit was $161 billion. It had been on a downward trajectory from $413 billion in 2004. Three years later, the Pelosi-Reid Congress had added $1.2 trillion to the deficit.
Of course, Mr. Bush sponsored or signed into law many of these deficit-raising bills, such as the bank bailouts and effective tax rebates of 2008. But the Democratic Congress passed them.
Long forgotten is the promise Mrs. Pelosi made on the day she became speaker: "Our new America will provide unlimited opportunity for future generations, not burden them with mountains of debt." I think future generations would like a do-over.
Today, Mr. Obama and Democrats in Congress love to talk about how Mr. Bush turned a $200 billion Clinton surplus into a $1 trillion deficit. Indeed he did, though they ignore the 9/11 terrorist attacks that happened less than a year after Mr. Bush became president. Those attacks were fiscal game-changers, jolting the economy to a temporary standstill and requiring unplanned spending for homeland security and antiterrorism efforts.
For the sake of comparison, let's look at the Pelosi-Reid fiscal record over 10 years. In January 2007, the CBO projected a $379 billion surplus over the next decade. Now, after four years under Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Reid, and two years of Mr. Obama in the White House, the 2007-2016 projection is a deficit of $7.16 trillion.