Saturday, May 21, 2011

Note: Regarding candidates

Be sure to visit our CANDIDATES page. We'll be adding candidates as they announce their candidacy, and will include clickable links to their website, donate, news pages along with contact information. In addition, you will find their names in our left-hand sidebar, under 'COVERED HERE' - clicking on their name will show you all related articles that have been featured on this site. It's going to be an exciting year. We have many up-and-coming, principled and dedicated candidates, no Clinton retreads here. Stay on top of the latest events with us.

Herman Cain officially announces presidential bid



Herman Cain launches run for the White House - LA Times
Herman Cain, a conservative radio host and former business executive, became the latest Republican to officially enter the 2012 presidential campaign on Saturday.
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Friday, May 20, 2011

Say anything: Obama in 2008



'Today I Speak From My Heart' Obama's Guarantee To Never Divide Jerusalem - trevorloudon

“Unfortunately, President Obama's important and constructive speech embracing and supporting the peaceful, democratic revolutions in the Arab world was also undermined by an unhelpful and surprising set of remarks about Israel and the Palestinians that will not advance the peace process and in fact is likely to set it back."

Lieberman Responds to Obama on Middle East - Weekly Standard

Wisconsin Supreme Court recount finished — and Prosser wins again!

With all 3,602 reporting units recounted, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting Justice David Prosser has beaten challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg by 7,006 votes, 310 votes less than the pre-recount 7,316-vote margin. - HotAir
The Wisconsin Supreme Court recount is finally over, Prosser has won by over 7,000 votes, but Kloppenburg may move the battle for judicial power into court....

It would seem that the only reason for taking this into the courts would be to delay in order to produce this vacancy. The vacancy has special value because of the hot controversy over the budget-repair bill:
- Althouse

Recent college grads sour on Obama, surveys say

A very large proportion of recent university graduates have soured on President Barack Obama, and many will vote GOP or stay at home in the 2012 election, according to two new surveys of younger voters. - news.yahoo
The GOP is making some progress towards earning their votes, Maddalone said. For example, 38 percent of his respondents said the GOP is “doing a good job addressing and engaging with young professionals,” and 58 percent said they would consider voting for the GOP “if you felt that Republicans were doing a good job addressing and engaging with young professionals.”

Putting paid to Bin Laden-CIA myth

Spurious claims about Osama bin Laden's rise to the forefront of global terror are creeping into the mainstream and must be debunked - Raheem Kassam, Executive Editor/The Commentator

...Long perpetuated by the ‘anti-war’ left and libertarian groups using such aspersions to incriminate the US government for 9/11 – the fable of the CIA-Bin Laden link is often accepted as an inconvenient truth. I personally cannot count on both hands the number of times, within political and non-political circles, I’ve heard, “Yeah but we made him, right?” Wrong.

The real inconvenience is foisted upon us rationalists in seemingly having to spend half our time listening to crack-pot conspiracy theorists and the other half debunking them. I wouldn’t usually waste my breath but since such spurious allegations have penetrated even the mainstream media – it’s essential that we put paid to these unsubstantiated claims.

The most overt proponent of this view is Michael Moore, the man behind ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ and ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’. He proclaimed on September 12th 2001, “WE created the monster known as Osama bin Laden!” Moore also stated that Bin Laden ‘went to school at the CIA’. In no uncertain terms, this statement is a preposterous, intentional lie....

Herman Cain: You Mess With Israel, You Mess With the U.S.

Netahyahu: 1967 Lines Are Indefensible, Can't Negotiate With a Government Backed by Hamas



TRANSCRIPT: Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at The White House
PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Mr. President, first I want to thank you and the First Lady for the gracious hospitality that you’ve shown me, my wife, and our entire delegation. We have an enduring bond of friendship between our two countries, and I appreciate the opportunity to have this meeting with you after your important speech yesterday.

We share your hope and your vision for the spread of democracy in the Middle East. I appreciate the fact that you reaffirmed once again now, and in our conversation, and in actual deed the commitment to Israel’s security. We value your efforts to advance the peace process.

Obama and Netanyahu, Distrustful Allies, meet amid rising tensions


Obama and Netanyahu, Distrustful Allies, to Meet... as they head into what one Israeli official described as a “train wreck” coming their way: a United Nations General Assembly vote on Palestinian statehood in September. - NYT
...the easing of tensions ended this spring when, Israeli and American officials said, Mr. Netanyahu got wind of Mr. Obama’s plans to make a major address on the Middle East, and alerted Republican leaders that he would like to address a joint meeting of Congress. That move was widely interpreted as an attempt to get out in front of Mr. Obama, by presenting an Israeli peace proposal that, while short of what the Palestinians want, would box in the president. House Speaker John A. Boehner issued the invitation, for late May.

So White House officials timed Mr. Obama’s speech on Thursday to make sure he went first....
Obama, Netanyahu meet amid rising tensions - CNN
Netanyahu meets with Obama, rejects return to '67 borders... - Yahoo News/AP

Paralyzed man stands, steps after spine treatment

The study's authors cautioned that more work needs to be done before the technique becomes standard practice. But the results did herald optimism for paraplegics who otherwise have little hope for recovery. More than 5 million Americans live with some form of paralysis. - News/Yahoo
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A man left paralyzed after a car accident was able to stand and take steps after electrical stimulation of his spinal cord in what researchers described as a breakthrough in treating such devastating injuries.

Why Are Spending Cuts So Hard?

At the bottom line, the reason it's so hard to achieve real spending cuts is that the way Congress approves spending is fundamentally flawed. And while this year's prolonged budget battle managed to keep down spending increases across the federal government and make only slight reductions in a handful of programs, the real victory is that House Republicans have changed the conversation. - Darrell Issa for The American Spectator
When you have the president who signed multiple pieces of trillion dollar legislation start announcing a goal to cut spending, you know that a victory for fiscal responsibility is within reach.

Has Subsidy-Scrapping Time Arrived?

Has Subsidy-Scrapping Time Arrived? - Peter Hannaford for The American Spectator 5.18.11

One day last week Senate Democrats engaged in one of their favorite indoor sports: beating up on oil companies. They convened a kangaroo court (aka a hearing) to give tongue-lashings to the CEOs of major oil companies, just to make sure American motorists know it is this greedy bunch that is responsible for soaring gasoline prices.

"Take away their subsidies," they cried. The media missed the irony in the sharp inquisition by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), heir to a large Standard Oil fortune (of which Exxon is a modern descendant).

Sway Away has Humboldt connection: 1st time locals will have horse in Triple Crown event


...on Saturday Sway Away... will be one of 14 horses running in the Preakness Stakes. The Preakness, the second leg in the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, takes place at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, with a $1 million purse.... - Times Standard

An historic effort: Redistricting effort continues; Humboldt largely on sidelines

History is being made in California, but on the North Coast, most people don't seem to care. - Times-Standard
...Known as the Voters First Act, Proposition 11 was narrowly passed by California voters in 2008 and for the first time took the power of redrawing congressional and legislative districts out of the hands of politicians and placed it in the hands of a 14-member citizen commission. Today, the commission -- the first of its kind in the nation -- is in the process of holding a series of 22 public-input meetings throughout the state in advance of releasing a draft version of its new district maps on June 10.

The problem, according to some with a keen interest in the process, is that none of those 22 meetings has occurred north of Redding in the inland part of the state or north of today's meeting in Santa Rosa along the U.S. Highway 101 corridor on the coastal side of the state. What some say is more troubling is an apparent lack of interest from many in the entire process....

When the commission was meeting in Redding, former state Assembly candidate Karen Brooks said she tried to recruit anyone and everyone to hop in her minivan to make the three-hour drive east for the meeting. She went alone.

”The sentiment was just, 'Why waste my time?'” Brooks said of those she unsuccessfully lobbied to make the trip....

Brooks said when she drove the three-plus hours to attend the Redding meeting, she was surprised to hear commissioners refer to it as a rural area.

”They said, 'This is our rural meeting coming to Redding,'” she recalled. “I said, 'No, this is like a big city for us.' I said, 'You need to go to a place like Eureka, or Quincy, or Big Bear, those rural areas that are resource based and agriculture based -- some of these places where generations of families have lived.'”


Forbes said the commission would like to visit the far reaches and small nooks of the state, but it just hasn't been feasible given budgets and timelines....

That's why, while the commission hasn't made it to the North Coast, it's held clusters of meetings in the San Francisco Bay Area -- in Santa Rosa, Oakland, Salinas and San Jose -- and in the Los Angeles area -- in LA proper, Long Beach, San Gabriel, San Fernando, Lancaster and Santa Ana.

Forbes also added that the commission has meetings scheduled for July with locations yet-to-be-determined. It's possible, he said, one of those could be held on the North Coast.

That would certainly make Brooks happy, and save some miles on her minivan. She's heading down to Santa Rosa today to make her voice heard. Having again attempted to recruit folks to join her, she'll be making the trip with only her mom, she said.

”This is really a historic event,” she said, adding that the commission has the power to break the “stranglehold” the Democratic and Republican parties have on state politics.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Join us for lunch - TODAY - 11:30

General Meeting:
11:30 AM Lunch 12:00 - 1:00 PM
445 Herrick, Eureka
Lunch & Speaker ~ $14.50 Beverage & Speaker ~ $4.00

Follow us on TWITTER @hrwf (http://twitter.com/hrwf)
Find us on FACEBOOK - Humboldt Republican Women

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

If she gets the post, Ms. Lagarde would be the first woman to run the I.M.F. — or any large international financial institution, for that matter.


French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde: A Favorite Emerges for Helm of I.M.F. - NYT
“She is enormously impressive, politically astute and a strong personality,” he said. “At finance meetings all over the world, she is treated practically like a rock star.”
Women Approach Business Differently than Men – Insight from Christine Lagarde - ffbsccn
Strauss-Kahn To Resign IMF Post, May Get $1 Million Bail - NY CBSlocal
Lagarde funding scandal threatens ruling party’s ‘golden girl’ - france24

Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin jump to top in new Gallup poll


With Mike Huckabee's exit from the race, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are now on top of the Republican field, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

Twenty percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters say they'd support the former Massachusetts governor, while 18 percent say they'd support the former Alaska governor.
- Politico

The White House may be able to manipulate pool coverage, but they can’t manipulate the fact that millions of Americans are out of work because of President Obama’s failure to create jobs and get our economy moving,”

White House shuts out Boston Herald scribe - for "bias" - Boston Herald
The White House Press Office has refused to give the Boston Herald full access to President Obama’s Boston fund-raiser today, in e-mails objecting to the newspaper’s front page placement of a Mitt Romney op-ed, saying pool reporters are chosen based on whether they cover the news “fairly.”

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom defended Romney’s March 8 opinion piece:

“That op-ed was about jobs, which apparently is a sensitive subject for the thin-skinned people around the president. The White House may be able to manipulate pool coverage, but they can’t manipulate the fact that millions of Americans are out of work because of President Obama’s failure to create jobs and get our economy moving,” Fehrnstrom said in a statement yesterday.
Vote in the Boston Herald Poll: Herald Pulse
Is it legitimate for the White House to consider a paper’s coverage in granting access?
Current results:
3% - Yes. Why should the president reward negative coverage?
96% - No. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
1% - Not sure. Each case is different.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Downgrading Expectations: Obama Expects Modest Fundraising Quarter

Democratic officials insist that Obama’s fundraisers have been sold out, suggesting that the issue is one of priorities and capacity and not enthusiasm. - National Journal
Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, has said publicly that the president will not raise $1 billion, contrary to press reports. Privately, members of Obama’s national finance committee expect to raise about the same amount of money as they did in 2008.

Republican Women Make Great Leaders - You're following one right now!


9 inch x 3 inch removable vinyl bumpersticker. at the GOP store.

Newt Gingrich apologizes to Paul Ryan


Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich apologized in a telephone call to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday afternoon for his remarks on “Meet the Press,” where the presidential candidate referred to Ryan’s Medicare proposal as “radical change.” - Politico

Rick Perry Presidential Push Quietly Gains Steam


...a man from deep in the heart of Texas who was tea party before the tea party was cool appears to be giving the presidential race some thought... - Real Clear Politics
A Texas pol who is close to Perry has been telling a few key strategists that the nation's longest-serving governor sees a vacuum and is waiting to be summoned into the race. This source believes that could happen by late summer. Without fellow Southerners Haley Barbour or Mike Huckabee in the race -- and with Newt Gingrich's early troubles raising further doubts about the current lineup -- there could be a glaring niche for Perry to fill.

According to another well-connected Republican, at least one Perry confidant has been very quietly making inquiries about the political terrain in the nation's first voting state of Iowa. A third Perry associate, RCP has learned, has been heralding a small contingent of Iowans with the time-tested line that is often used by would-be candidates who are leaving their options open: "Keep your powder dry."

Gov. Brown sticks with "tax extension" plan

Releasing revisions to his budget proposal Monday, Brown continued to argue -- in the face of Republican opposition and increasing state revenues -- that extending tax increases is the best way to bring the state's beleaguered budget into balance. - Times-Standard
Brown's plan now goes to legislators, who have until June 15 to pass a spending plan and send it back to the governor for his signature.

North Coast representatives Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, and Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata, both offered lukewarm responses to Brown's proposal Monday, with Evans even going so far as to question whether she could support the Democratic governor's plan as it includes the closing of a host of state parks within her district.

Gov. Sarah Palin on Pelosi district’s Obamacare waivers: ‘Seriously, this is corrupt’

President Barack Obama’s administration approved 204 new Obamacare waivers in April. Thirty-eight of them went to upscale businesses including four-star hotels, gourmet restaurants, day spas and hip nightclubs in Pelosi’s district. That’s in addition to 27 new waivers for health care or drug companies and the 31 new union waivers Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) approved. - The Daily Caller
“Unflippingbelievable! No, wait, it is believable,” Palin said in an email to TheDC. “Seriously, this is corrupt. And anyone who still supports the Pelosi-Reid-Obama agenda of centralized government takeovers of the free market and the corresponding crony capitalism is, in my book, complicit.”

"The fact that over 1,000 waivers have been granted is a tacit admission that the healthcare law is fundamentally flawed"

HHS approves 200 more new healthcare reform waivers - the Hill
The Obama administration approved 204 new waivers to Democrats' healthcare reform law over the past month, bringing the total to 1,372.

The waivers are temporary and only apply to one provision of the law, which requires health plans to offer at least $750,000 worth of annual medical benefits before leaving patients to fend for themselves. Still, Republicans have assailed the waivers as a sign of both favoritism and of major problems with the law.

"The fact that over 1,000 waivers have been granted is a tacit admission that the healthcare law is fundamentally flawed," Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said in March. Upton is one of three House committee chairmen who has used new oversight powers to investigate the annual limit waivers....
Nearly 20 percent of new Obamacare waivers are gourmet restaurants, nightclubs, fancy hotels in Nancy Pelosi’s district - The Daily Caller
Of the 204 new Obamacare waivers President Barack Obama’s administration approved in April, 38 are for fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and decadent hotels in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Northern California district....

Before hanging up on TheDC, Tru Spa’s owner said new government health care regulations, both the federal-level Obamacare and new local laws in Northern California, have “devastated” the business. “It’s been bad for us,” he said, without divulging his name, referring to the new health care restrictions.
House puts health care measure on Florida ballot - Miami Herald
In Idaho, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter Signs Order Banning Health Care Reform - Miami Herald
Oklahoma rejects $54.6 million in Obamacare funds - News OK
Democrat in Missouri to Oppose Health Care Law - NYT
6 Pages of Obamacare Equals 429 Pages of Regulations - US News
Giving proof to Main Street's worries that President Obama's healthcare reform will lead to thousands of new and costly regulations, the Department of Health and Human Services has taken one small section of the law and written enough new rules to (equal) every page of Obama's campaign book, The Audacity of Hope—plus another 45 pages....
Washington Post and CBS receiving money from Obamacare ’slush fund’ - The Daily Caller
Two mainstream news organizations are receiving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from Obamacare’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) — a $5 billion grant program that’s doling out cash to companies, states and labor unions in what the Obama administration considers an effort to pay for health insurance for early retirees. The Washington Post Company raked in $573,217 in taxpayer subsidies and CBS Corporation secured $722,388 worth of Americans’ money....
MORE: Harry Reid's entire state, Nevada secures partial waiver from federal health care law - Las Vegas Sun
The Health and Human Services Department announced late Friday that Nevada had secured a statewide waiver from certain implementation requirements of the Obama administration’s health care law, because forcing them through, the department found, “may lead to the destabilization of the individual market."

Nancy Pelosi denies having anything to do with the Waivers - Huffington Post

Monday, May 16, 2011

GALLUP: OBAMA DROPS TO 46% AND RASMUSSEN: DAILY APPROVAL RATING -10

Obama Job Approval - Gallup via Drudge


The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-five percent (35%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -10 Rasmussen

Israel under attack: Obama regrets "loss of life"

Israel-Palestinian violence erupts on three borders - Reuters via Yahoo
US urges restraint after Israel border clashes - Reuters
Palestinian 'nakba' protests turn deadly. Israel sees Iran's 'fingerprints.' - Christian Science Monitor

After a roller-coaster flirtation with a presidential bid, Donald Trump bowed out of the 2012 contest in true Trump fashion



Trump Not Running for President: 'Decision Does Not Come Easily Or Without Regret' - ABC News via Drudge
Donald Trump to skip 2012 presidential race - USA Today

Trump's Statement:
After considerable deliberation and reflection, I have decided not to pursue the office of the Presidency. This decision does not come easily or without regret; especially when my potential candidacy continues to be validated by ranking at the top of the Republican contenders in polls across the country. I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election. I have spent the past several months unofficially campaigning and recognize that running for public office cannot be done half heartedly. Ultimately, however, business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector.

The U.S. government is expected to hit the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling Monday, setting in motion an uncertain, 11-week political scramble to avoid a default.

As Debt Limit Reached, Agreement Still Far Off - Wall St. Journal via Drudge
The Treasury Department plans to announce Monday it will stop issuing and reinvesting government securities in certain government pension plans, part of a series of steps designed to delay a default until Aug. 2.

The Treasury's moves buy time for the White House and congressional leaders to reach a deficit-reduction agreement that could clear the way for enough lawmakers to vote to raise the amount of money Congress allows the nation to borrow.

Geithner’s plan to tap federal retiree programs as a temporary means to avoid a government default comes as the Obama administration has shown growing interest in altering those programs to curb the debt in the long run.

Treasury to tap pensions to help fund government - Washington Post
The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government loses its ability Monday to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to efforts in Washington to fashion a compromise over the debt.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has warned for months that the government would soon hit the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling — a legal limit on how much it can borrow. With the government poised to reach that limit Monday, Geithner is undertaking special measures in an effort to postpone the day when he will no longer have enough funds to pay all of the government’s bills.

Geithner, who has already suspended a program that helps state and local government manage their finances, will begin to borrow from retirement funds for federal workers....

Administration officials have expressed interest in raising the amount that federal employees contribute to their pensions, sources told The Washington Post.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

To put it in Obama terms, America is a moat, and it's filled with government spendaholics. You could toss a poor alligator in there, but they'd pick him clean in seconds, and leave what was left for Nancy Pelosi's shoes.

Who will restore reality to politics? - Mark Steyn in the OC register

It is time to come back to reality and focus our attention on how Obama is hurting America, not on how he was supposedly born outside of it.

Letter to a birther - David Freddoso/Washington Examiner
Gangster Government: Barack Obama and the New Washington Thugocracy
The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate

Herman Cain: Being Number 2 is not in our DNA

The Atlanta businessman and former talk radio host delivered a rousing speech to party activists at the Georgia GOP's convention - Politico
Cain, who supports replacing the federal income tax with a national sales tax, called for cutting taxes to stimulate the economy.

"It's time to tell the people the truth, lower taxes are good for the economy, and we don't have any intention of hurting old people, children or puppy dogs," Cain said.

Cain will formally announce his White House bid next Saturday at an Atlanta rally.