The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 08/29/2010 - 09/05/2010

Friday, September 03, 2010

Caddell on the Midterm Elections - Article - National Review Online

In Jimmy Carter’s White House, Patrick Caddell was, in the words of Teddy White, the “house Cassandra” — an all-too-candid pollster whose prophecies spooked the president’s other advisors. Three decades later, Caddell again is warning his fellow Democrats about electoral doom. As he sips an iced tea over lunch in midtown Manhattan, Caddell sighs and tells me that the lessons of the Carter years appear to be all but forgotten by the current crop of Democrats in Washington.

“President Obama’s undoing may be his disingenuousness,” Caddell says. After campaigning for post-partisanship, Obama, he observes, has lurched without pause to the left. “You can’t get this far from what you promised,” Caddell says, “especially when people invest in hope — you must understand that obligation. The killer in American politics is disappointment. When you are elected on expectations, and you fail to meet them, your decline steepens.”


Caddell on the Midterm Elections - Article - National Review Online


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Birthright Citizenship in the United States: A Global Comparison

The overwhelming majority of the world’s countries do not offer automatic citizenship to everyone born within their borders. Over the past few decades, many countries that once did so — including Australia, Ireland, India, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Malta, and the Dominican Republic — have repealed those policies. Other countries are considering changes.

In the United States, both Democrats and Republicans have introduced legislation aimed at narrowing the application of the Citizenship Clause. In 1993, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced legislation what would limit birthright citizenship to the children of U.S. citizens and legally resident aliens, and similar bills have been introduced by other legislators in every Congress since. The current Congress saw the introduction by Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) of the “Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009,” which so far has gathered nearly 100 sponsors.

Birthright Citizenship in the United States: A Global Comparison


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Report: Insurance costs for U.S. workers have surged this year - The Hill's Healthwatch

Report: Insurance costs for U.S. workers have surged this year - The Hill's Healthwatch

Health insurance costs for the nation's workers skyrocketed this year, even as the quality of many plans deteriorated, according to an independent report released Thursday.

The average worker is now paying roughly $4,000 toward employer-sponsored family healthcare coverage — a jump of $482 (14 percent) above last year's figure, according to the report. By contrast, overall premium costs rose just 3 percent above 2009 levels, researchers found, and employer contributions toward family coverage did not rise at all.


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Time to take action against portions of healthcare law (Sen. Orrin Hatch) - The Hill's Congress Blog

Time to take action against portions of healthcare law (Sen. Orrin Hatch) - The Hill's Congress Blog

With every passing day, another one of President Obama’s health care promises bites the dust. The more this $2.6 trillion health law is exposed for what it is – a massive big government expansion into people’s lives – the more clear it is that we need to repeal two of the central pillars holding up ObamaCare: the job-killing employer mandate and the unconstitutional, federal individual mandate.


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Thursday, September 02, 2010

Most Voters Believe that Democrats in Congress Want to Raise Taxes, Increase Government Spending

Most Voters Believe that Democrats in Congress Want to Raise Taxes, Increase Government Spending

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 62% of Likely Voters believe Congressional Democrats want to increase government spending. Only 16% believe the party wants to cut spending.

On the tax front, 59% believe that most Democrats in Congress want to increase taxes. Only 17% hold the opposite view.

As for Republicans, 51% say that most Republicans want to cut government spending and 50% say they want to cut taxes. Twenty-seven percent (27%) believe GOP legislators want to increase spending and 25% believe they want to increase taxes.

Sixty percent (60%) believe that tax cuts are good for the economy while 56% say tax hikes will hurt the economy.

Fifty-six percent (56%) believe that additional government spending will hurt the economy and 50% believe that spending cuts will help.


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Tax Dollars for Muslims - HUMAN EVENTS

Tax Dollars for Muslims - HUMAN EVENTS

The Obama Administration reportedly held a special workshop this week to help leaders of controversial Muslim groups acquire “direct access” to taxpayer funding for their activities.

The event’s main organizer, the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations (CCMO) has long-established ties to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which fostered many Islamist terror groups. Some of CCMO’s member groups were unindicted co-conspirators in the successfully prosecuted terrorist funding trial against the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). Event organizers said they would dedicate themselves to “cutting through red tape” to provide “direct access” to U.S. taxpayer funding for these terrorist funding-related groups.

An email announcement was sent out August 27 by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a group long associated with Muslim Brotherhood and an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF trial. (The ISNA email is available here from the Big Peace website.)

Oil rig explodes in Gulf of Mexico - WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |

Oil rig explodes in Gulf of Mexico - WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |

The Coast Guard is responding to another oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the Coast Guard, 13 people were onboard when it exploded and caught fire Thursday morning.

Everyone is accounted for. Officials are reporting one injury.

The injured worker is being taken to Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma.

The other workers are in the water in immersion suits.

The rig is located about 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay.

Dems do not want to talk about ObamaCare

Dems do not want to talk about ObamaCare

Health Care for America Now, is encouraging supporters of ObamaCare to avoid discussing ObamaCare entirely with voters.

The progressive coalition Health Care for America Now fought hard to pass health care reform. Now it’s fighting hard to help reelect lawmakers who voted for the bill — even if it means not talking about it.

While polls show that health reform has become slightly more popular since passage, it’s still a polarizing issue, particularly in districts where Republicans and conservative groups have bombarded voters with negative ads.

Now, HCAN's field crews are finding that the best way to support reform-friendly lawmakers is to talk about something else: jobs, the economy or other issues likely to resonate more with voters.

HCAN activists say they are not dodging their key issue; rather, they want to keep pace with voter concerns, which have markedly shifted over the past year.

But what HCAN describes as a tactical shift, reform opponents see as proof that the law is unpopular, a loser for Democrats in a tough election cycle. "Voters don’t like health reform and they know that,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former CBO director who now works with the American Action Forum on their Operation Healthcare Choice project. "Independents are key to control; health reform is unpopular but jobs and economy could move votes. When it comes to substance, on health reform, they’re in bad shape.”

Whether you like it or not, ObamaCare is a losing issue, as evidenced by polling, including a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation that shows the favorability of the “health care reform” law falling to 43%, with 45% disapproving of it. That’s not where you want to be nine weeks from an election.


It's going to be hard for a field worker from Health Care for America Now not to talk about ObamaCare when they are approaching an independent voter, an issue that 83% of Americans say is an important factor in how they will vote in November.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

President Bush and U.S. Troops Persevered While Others Sniped

PENCE: Give credit where credit is due

As we mark this milestone, let us remember the real history of Operation Iraqi Freedom and give credit where credit is due - to the American service members, their families and a commander in chief who would not accept defeat in the face of withering criticism at home and abroad.

Seeing U.S. combat forces leaving with success is chiefly the result of the professionalism and sacrifices of our military in executing the surge and the Status of Forces Agreement implemented before Mr. Obama set foot in the Oval Office.

The First Victims of Health Care Reform

The First Victims of Health Care Reform

Insurance agents, brokers and small insurance companies are among those who may have to scramble to stay afloat over the next few years. This is partly by design and partly an unintended consequence of a new law that is so sweeping, it will affect nearly every corner of an industry that accounts for one-sixth of the U.S. economy, says Time:

Under the Affordable Care Act, beginning in January, plans sold to individuals and small groups must spend 80 percent of premiums on actual medical care (as opposed to administrative costs); the figure is 85 percent for large group plans.

Plans that spend less will be required to send rebates to customers.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) counted agent and broker commissions, which can make up 5 percent to 20 percent of premiums, in the administrative category.

Most experts, therefore, predict these commissions will be on the chopping block as insurers scale back administrative expenses to comply with the new rules.

Agents and brokers are also worried about the future for another reason: a vital part of their current role, sales and marketing, could be made redundant thanks to the new state insurance exchanges that will go online by 2014:

These Web-accessible marketplaces will be where individuals and small groups go to purchase insurance.

In addition to listing plans available by location, the exchanges will post quality and price information and administer federal subsidies for those who qualify, making it easier for individuals and small-business owners to compare plans and choose the options that best suit their needs.


Brokers and agents have to hope there will still be demand for their help in navigating the maze of health insurance, says Time.

Pawlenty restricts Minnesota's participation in healthcare reform law - The Hill's Healthwatch

Pawlenty restricts Minnesota's participation in healthcare reform law - The Hill's Healthwatch

On Tuesday, the possible 2012 presidential candidate signed an executive order directing state agencies to decline all discretionary participation in the new law.

As a result, none of Minnesota's executive branch departments and agencies can submit applications for grants or demonstration projects unless required by the new law or approved by the governor's office. The order also reaffirms that the state will not participate in an early expansion of the Medicaid program before 2014.

The Kaiser Family Foundation has calculated that about 250,000 Minnesotans would join the Medicaid rolls under the expansion. Pawlenty has said it would cost the state $430 million in the first three years.