RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, RNC Co-Chairman Sharon Day, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Convention CEO William Harris, Chairman of Tampa Bay Host Committee Al Austin, Barbara Comstock, Rep. Tim Griffin, Mike Duncan, Zoraida Fonalledas, Convention Permanent Chairman Speaker John Boehner, John Sununu, Governor Bob McDonnell, Senator John Hoeven, Rep. Marsha Blackburn - and NFRW President Rae Lynne Chornenky
“Due to the severe weather reports for the Tampa Bay area, the Republican National Convention will convene on Monday August 27th, and immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, August 28th,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. That means a three-day convention running Tuesday through Thursday, with Monday’s events pushed back and the schedule rearranged.
Janine Turner, Mayor Mia Love, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, Governor John Kasich, Governor Mary Fallin, Governor Bob McDonnell, Governor Scott Walker, Governor Bobby Jindal, Sher Valenzuela, Governor Susana Martinez, Governor Chris Christie
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a rising national figure in the party, gave up his Tuesday night speaking slot for Mrs. Romney, who was scheduled to speak on Monday, the convention's opening night. Broadcast television networks were not planning to cover Monday's proceedings in Tampa, Fla.
Mitch McConnell, Performance by Beau Davidson, Senator John McCain, AG Pam Bondi, AG Sam Olens, Senator John Thune, Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Rob Portman, Steve Cohen, Governor Luis Fortuño, Governor Tim Pawlenty, Condoleezza Rice, Remarks by vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan
U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, Bob White, chairman of Romney for President campaign, former Massachusetts Lt. Governor Kerry Healey, Jane Edmonds, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, Remarks by presidential nominee Mitt Romney
A hurricane warning had been issued for the Keys, though it was still a sunny day in Tampa. Forecast models show Isaac won't hit Tampa head-on, but the storm will still likely lash the city with rain and strong winds just as the convention ramps up. Protests were to start in full force on Sunday afternoon, and demonstrators have vowed that they will make their presence known rain or shine.
Founded in 1938, the NFRW has thousands of active members in local clubs across the nation and in several U.S. territories, making it one of the largest women’s political organizations in the country. The grassroots organization works to promote the principles and objectives of the Republican Party, elect Republican candidates, inform the public through political education and activity, and increase the effectiveness of women in the cause of good government.
It's 8:21 on a Saturday morning and according to this photo snapped by Sharon Broadie, this is the size of the crowd that showed up in Powell, Ohio, (just outside of Columbus) to see Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan:
...Something is happening in this country -- something both the Obama campaign and its media cronies know is happening but won't acknowledge.
What's happening is on the ground and not yet quantifiable in polling that doesn’t yet have its sea legs. But it's out there and it's real and before the media and President Obama are forced to acknowledge it, they're spending every bit of their dignity and credibility and integrity to kill it. - Today's Must Read, at the link.
A new poll from Mason-Dixon in Missouri of 625 likely voters shows what everyone already suspected — that Todd Akin had blown a nine-point lead in Missouri’s US Senate race and now trails by five, 49/44, to Claire McCaskill. But what many didn’t expect was that the crash-and-burn of Akin would not damage Mitt Romney at all. In the 9th paragraph out of ten, we find out that Romney leads Barack Obama in the critical swing state, and it’s not all that close:
McCaskill’s lead is a testament to the damage caused by Akin’s remarks. She remains less-than-popular, as slightly more voters view her unfavorably (41 percent) than favorably (39 percent). And, despite worries that Akin’s remarks could also harm the candidacy of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor leads President Obama, 50 percent to 43 percent. Obama’s favorable-unfavorable split of 38 percent-48 percent is worse than McCaskill’s.
It’s not even close. Obama carries the metropolitan areas of St. Louis and Kansas City, but only by 50/39 and 50/43, respectively. Romney gets over 60% in every other area of the state, while Obama can only get to 36%. Obama has leads among women and 18-34YOs, but only by 2 and 10 points, respectively. Romney wins a majority in every other age demo, and has a +14 among men at 54/40. Oddly, the newspaper’s table doesn’t break out independents in the presidential race.
Currently, the enthusiasm is firmly with Republicans and the Romney-Ryan ticket, not Obama’s base, much of which has been left disillusioned with his record. If Obama lowers the bar any further, he runs the risk of alienating swing voters and independents who are so disgusted with the entire process they simply choose to stay home.
Romney may have taken heat for playing too nice — but it could pay off in the end. By sticking to solutions and staying above board, he can be the positive, inclusive alternative to the negative and nasty Obama of 2012. In other words, the kind of candidate Obama claimed to be in 2008.
Maria Ciano who is featured in the web video has been a registered Democrat since October 2006 according to voter registration records.
"People like me and my family have realized that the Republican Party once was inline with our views, but are no longer," the Colorado resident says in the video.
The Obama campaign is trying to perpetrate the same deception. It has just released a video called Republican Women For Obama, which features four or five women who claim to be Republicans, or to have been Republicans until recently. But, of course, they are appalled by Mitt Romney–it is hard to say why, apart from a couple of discreet references to abortion, but did they really just now figure out that the Republican Party is pro-life? The ad is surprisingly ineffective, but it is also dishonest. At least one of the women who pose as “Republican women for Obama” is a long-time Democrat.
Her name is Maria Ciano, and BuzzFeed finds that she has been a registered Democrat in Colorado at least since 2006. Here she is in the Obama ad. She is easy to spot in the ad because she wears braces.:
In addition to the fact that she is a registered Democrat, check out her Facebook “likes.” They make it obvious that Ms. Ciano is a devoted Democrat and a left-wing activist. Here are some of her “likes:"
* Democracy For America * Tar Sands Action * Amy Goodman * Barack Obama * Costoftaxcuts.com * Being Liberal * MoveOn.org * Bernie Sanders Tells You A Secret the GOP Would Rather You Didn’t Know * Miss Piggy Delivers the Best Takedown of Fox News We’ve Seen All Month * Think Progress * The Best Quote From Barack Obama We’ve Seen This Week... * Obama For America–Colorado * UniteWomen.org * Denver Young Democrats * Obamacare * Latinos For Obama * Michelle Obama * Veterans For Obama * I Love It When I Wake Up In the Morning and Obama Is President * Obama Truth Team * Democratic Party
But the Obama campaign describes Ms. Ciano as a “Republican Woman!”
The campaign said it wants to ensure that all emergency resources are focused on Tropical Storm Isaac, which could impact Florida during the convention.
Good news for Senator Harry Reid: If he’s a little bored while waiting for Mitt Romney to release his tax returns, there are plenty of other elected officials — in his own party, to boot! — who merit the same eyebrow-raising he’s directed at the presumptive GOP presidential nominee....
Some of the “preposterously wealthy” Americans who do use such “schemes” include Senators Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), and John Kerry (D., Mass.). That should be music to Reid’s ears, since his transparency crusade might be a little easier to pull off within his own party.
He could start with Feinstein. OpenSecrets.org lists her as the seventh-wealthiest senator, with a net worth between $44 million and $94 million, according to her latest disclosure forms. And, just like Romney, she keeps a portion of it in offshore accounts. Her most recent reports say she has an unspecified amount (at least $1 million) “held independently by the spouse or independent child” in Coral Growth Investments, Ltd., in St. Peter Port, Guernsey. Guernsey, a tax haven, is a small island in the English Channel that early this year drew the ire of a British Labour-party leader for helping wealthy Brits dodge taxes. The California senator also has between $500,000 and $1 million in a fund called Cevian Capital II L.L.C. in Jersey, another of the Channel Islands. According to her latest forms, that holding generated between $15,000 and $50,000 in capital gains, interest, and dividends. Feinstein has another $1,000 to $15,000 in Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar that is an up-and-coming tax haven....
Then there’s John Kerry, the richest person in the Senate....
Rework your talking points, Governor. You risk losing the message war over Proposition 30.
That’s one implication of the latest poll on Jerry Brown’s tax initiative for the November ballot. Most Californians continue to back it, but not by a comfortable majority. Pollsters are predicting a tight race to the finish.
There are no birther discussions. There are no speculations about Obama’s ‘real’ father, his Social Security card or Selective Service Registration number.
Depending on your attention to politics today, or lack of them, it doesn’t matter what you know or don’t know about Obama. It’s not a boring rehash, it’s a well-designed documentary with smart commentary. You’ll see the bottom line reduced to one hyphenated word that might help you explain a few revelations to your Progressive friends (if you have any), and we all have our Liberal Uncle Louie around. Get to them before they get to the ballot box. Visit the film website here.
As Republicans take the stage in Tampa, we have a message for Americans: Elect Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, and we can get this country working again. America can do better than the last four years, and with the proven leadership of Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan, we can secure a better future for the country and the next generation.
Our convention is an opportunity to share our vision with the country. “A Better Future” is the theme of the four-day event. It’s also more than that. It is a promise to voters. While President Obama has no plan to fix the economy or rein in government spending, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a plan and will be prepared to lead on Day One. More at the link.
Today is the final day that bills can be amended on the floor of either the Senate or the Assembly before passing them along for a final vote. Next Friday, August 31st, is the final bill deadline. That means that all bills must be voted on in order to survive and be sent to the Governor’s desk, or to die on the floor lacking the votes to be enrolled. Earlier this week an Action Alert was sent out to our CFRW members asking you to call your Senators or Assembly members regarding several bills. Here are the bills that are still alive and need our attention!
SB 623 (Kehoe, D)- This bill would extend a program that allows mid-level healthcare professionals (midwives, nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants) to perform first trimester abortions. CALL YOUR SENATOR AND URGE THEM TO VOTE NO!
AB 2109 (Pan, D)- This bill takes away parental rights by making it very difficult for parents to opt out of getting vaccines for their children, regardless of personal or religious beliefs. CALL YOUR ASSEMBLY MEMBER AND URGER THEM TO VOTE NO!
AB 2179 (Allen, D)- This bill is still in the Senate, but will likely pass there and move back to the Assembly. AB 2179 would create harsher penalties (and higher fees) for trivial Department of Fish and Game violations. The enforcement of these violations would potentially put ranchers and farmers out of business. CALL BOTH YOUR SENATOR AND YOUR ASSEMBLY MEMBER AND URGE THEM TO VOTE NO!
Call your representatives NOW and tell them to VOTE NO!
State Senator (Del Norte) Doug LaMalfa
Phone: (916) 651-4004 Fax: (916) 445-7750
Website: http://cssrc.us/web/4/default.aspx Email contact via website
The California Federation of Republican Women is recommending a NO vote on Prop 30.
Proposition 30 is Governor Brown’s bully budgeting tactics. Governor Brown wants to raise our state’s sales tax to 7.5%, a 3.45% increase. Governor Brown also wants to raise income taxes on the highest earners, creating three new tax brackets for those making over $250,000, $300,000 and $500,000.
The Governor claims that the revenues from Prop 30 will exceed $9 billion while the non-partisan Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) believes that only $6.8 billion will be collected. What Governor Brown asserts is that the revenue collected from these tax increases will be used to balance the budget for education funding. Again, the LAO thinks otherwise. The revenue will go to the budget, but not necessarily to education or even to other programs that received cuts. The Legislature will be able to allocate this revenue however they see fit. And as we’ve seen with the passage of High Speed Rail funding, the Parks Department hiding reserve cash and the mismanagement of funds, the Legislature does not have the best track record for responsible budgeting.
Governor Brown has threatened to make more cuts to education if Prop 30 does not pass, yet does not clearly explain how the revenue from Prop 30 will benefit students or schools in any way.
Instead, the Governor signs over $5 billion for High Speed Rail!
The California School Boards Association said in May that Prop 30 does nothing for schools, yet Prop 30 is strongly supported by the California Teacher’s Union, California Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Teachers among others. That the Teacher’s Unions are supporting this proposition is very telling.
Of the two “taxes for education” measures on the ballot, Prop 38 is a much more beneficial measure for California schools. Prop 30 does nothing to secure funding for education while Prop 38 ensures it.
Governor Brown and the unions are in bed together, and their illegitimate relationship is costing California! Remember to VOTE NO on Prop 30!
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Special Interests Over Children’s Interests
Please take the time to watch this CNN video highlighting the disgusting control that the teacher’s unions have over our politicians. Californians need to be made aware of the repulsive actions taken by our legislators and how beholden they are to the unions. Even Anderson Cooper and the producers for CNN’s “Keeping Them Honest” segment get it. The rest of California needs to wake up! Please click HERE to watch the clip and share the video!
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RNC CONVENTION IS HERE!
This weekend and throughout next week the Republican National Convention will take place in Tampa, Florida! Hurricane Isaac better watch out! There is another storm brewing in Tampa- and it’ll make its way to the White House! California Republicans are going to be well represented in Tampa, as well as Republican Women! Our very own NFRW President Rae Lynne Chornenky will be addressing the convention on Monday, August 27th. There are 650 Republican Women attending the convention as either delegates or alternates. If you are attending as a delegate or alternate and did not receive your California Delegation packet, please click HERE. Many local Republican Women’s clubs are hosting Convention Viewing Parties, find one and join or host your own! This is a very exciting time to be a Republican Woman!
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Romney/Ryan Project: Operation Swing State!
Help Romney-Ryan Win by Calling Swing State Voters! Our choice for 2012: either make Romney-Ryan phone calls for 2 months or have Obama for 4 more years!! The presidential election will be won in the swing states, which means we need to call swing state voters NOW. Make swing state voter calls at home or at fun Romney-Ryan Calling Parties using the Romney Phone From Home online phone bank (which only calls swing-state voters). We need to work now in the summer and fall because the presidential election is very tight and 8 of the 12 swing states have early voting! Early voting starts next month on September 27!
3 WAYS YOU CAN HELP ROMNEY-RYAN WIN NOW:
1. Call today from home or wherever you are using a computer and phone. To make calls for Romney on the Phone From Home online phone bank, go to www.MittRomney.com and move your cursor on the Get Involved Tab and click on Call From Home (or for more detailed instructions, go to www.OperationSwingState.org and then click the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan tab) 2. Come to a Romney-Ryan Calling Party! To find a Calling Party visit www.OperationSwingState.org or email Susan@OperationSwingState.org 3. Organize Your Own Easy, Fun, Weekly Romney-Ryan Calling Party as soon as possible! For free tips and materials contact Susan Silver: Susan@OperationSwingState.org or 310.282.8440. (Susan is the National Co-Chair of Operation Swing State, the Swing State Co-Chair of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, and an active Santa Monica RWF member whose club is having many Romney-Ryan Calling Parties.)
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CFRW President’s Message
Dear CFRW Members, Today happens to be my birthday, and I can think of no better present than to be a member of the California Federation of Republican Women. The second best present is our work together to gain more Republican victories in November. We can do this IF we keep our goal in site of electing Mitt Romney as the President of these United States and Paul Ryan as Vice President, gaining more seats in the California Legislature and Republicans victorious in filling positions up and down the state. All this can be accomplished if we are not sidelined and do not lose sight of our main purpose. There will be many who would like to distract us from our goal, but we are the Federation and will not be swayed in accomplishing success in November. We have approximately 80 Federated Women traveling to Tampa Bay, Florida to attend the Republican National Convention. We have the honor of representing all of you. As far as we know we have the largest representation, of all the Republican Volunteer Organizations, in California. Ladies we do have a seat at the table. We have 35 Delegates, 30 Alternate Delegates and many official guests. While in Tampa we hope any woman from California not currently a member of the Federation will be a Federated Woman when we return home. Someone recently told me, "If I was a room full of horse manure, I would dig through it all, knowing there had to be a pony somewhere in that room." WE WILL WIN IN NOVEMBER. Why? Because we are California Federation of Republican Women, the best women in the world.
Carol Hadley CFRW President
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Join the Federation Day!
Planning for our first-ever Join the Federation Day is underway! Please contact your Division Presidents for more information on the nearest Join the Federation to you.
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CFRW October Conference!
Our CFRW Conference is quickly approaching and we have an exciting Ambassador's event that you wont want to miss! Click HERE for the flyer. Join us for an evening of dinner theater with the classic, "Singing In The Rain!" ◼ link
In 2008 Barack Obama carried 54% of the Catholic vote. Today only 27% of Catholics support Obama. There are over 77 million Catholics in the United States....
The pic is based on conservative author and commentator Dinesh D’Souza’s New York Times bestselling 2010 book The Roots Of Obama’s Rage and co-directed by D’Souza and John Sullivan and produced by Academy Award winner Gerald R. Molen (co-producer of Schindler’s List). It opened on July 13th in a preview on a single screen in Texas grossing almost $32,000 during its opening weekend, then expanded into 61 theaters including New York and Los Angeles. In August, the film widened to 169 theaters nationwide and expanded again this weekend. “Yes, I also didn’t believe it when I first saw the film taking off in pre-sales on Tuesday,” an exhibition insider tells me. “Because there’s not a lot of new product that’s taking off.”
Last weekend, 2016: Obama’s America grossed a strong $1.2M last weekend in 169 venues for a cumulative gross as of Thursday of $2.8M. It’s the #2 biggest indie documenatry of the year behind only The Weinstein Company’s Bully ($3.2 million) and already the #12 political documentary of all time. It will rise a lot higher in the rankings after this weekend.
In the black and white 1950s style video produced by Parks for his blog ◼ Black and Right, “Bob” (who is actually played by Joseph) is taught “How Not to Be a Racist” by the video’s off-screen narrator (who is also played by Joseph).
“If you’re a conservative woman, and you believe in small government, then Barack Obama is your candidate because he’s keeping the government out of the decisions that should remain between you and God, and you and your own conscience,“ says one of the many ”conservative” women featured in the video.
“If you truly believe in a small government. That government shouldn’t be deciding what I can and cannot do with my own body,” says another.
“There is no way on God’s green earth that I would consider voting Republican,” yet another adds. (WATCH the ad at the link)
Approval of the newly finalized draft language, however, would make the party the first of the two dominant political parties to fully and officially embrace Internet freedom. It also signals what Republicans view as important and necessary to keep the Internet open and free.
“Internet Freedom”, according to the finalized draft language, would entail the removal of “regulatory barriers” for technology businesses, resistance to international governance of the Internet and the “constitutional protection” of personal data.
“We will remove regulatory barriers that protect outdated technologies and business plans from innovation and competition, while preventing legacy regulation from interfering with new technologies such as mobile delivery of voice and video data as they become crucial components of the Internet ecosystem,” said the finalized draft.
“We will resist any effort to shift control away from the successful multi-stakeholder approach of Internet governance and toward governance by international or other intergovernmental organizations,” it said.
“We will ensure that personal data receives full constitutional protection from government overreach and that individuals retain the right to control the use of their data by third parties,” it said.
Progressive and Democratic proponents of a regulation-laden approach to the Internet have long dominated the direction of the tech policy discussion in Washington
Tampa, Fla. – Asserting that “Republicans reject the notion that America’s ‘new normal’ consists of 42 months of deep unemployment and greater debt,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus today announced that the theme of the Republican National Committee’s first night will be “We Can Do Better.”
“Americans know we can do better than joblessness, poverty and debt,” said Priebus. “This convention will present our vision for a brighter, better future and it will lay out an optimistic, achievable plan to make it happen.”
“Probably no four words could better sum up the conclusion that is shared by millions of Americans as they look back on the past four years,” said Convention CEO William Harris. “We can do better than this, and the country knows it.”
Schedule Announced on Convention Mobile App
As part of its “convention without walls” program to make the convention open and accessible, Republican officials also released today the convention schedule for Monday, August 27 through the convention’s mobile app – Tampa 2012 (http://connect.gopconvention2012.com). Featured speakers for Monday include Ann Romney.
Republican Convention officials announced today that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has been added Tuesday, August 28 schedule of convention speakers. Walker will join other Republican governors who will be addressing the Tuesday convention theme – “We Built It.”
◼ Wednesday 8/29:
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus today announced the theme and speakers for Wednesday, August 29, the third night of next week’s 2012 Republican National Convention. The theme, said Priebus, will be “We Can Change It.”
“We want to remind Americans that we don’t have to settle for four more years of high unemployment, low pay and deep debt,” Priebus said. “We will devote Wednesday night to showing the country that Mitt Romney’s ‘Plan for a Stronger Middle Class’ will restore our country as the best place in the world to find a job, start a business or hire a worker.”
Priebus said the Wednesday night program “will show that the Romney approach is both optimistic and achievable.” The Romney plan will work toward energy independence, ensure that middle-class Americans have the skills to succeed, pursue trade that works for America, cut the deficit and champion small business.
“Having suffered through the longest sustained period of high unemployment since the Great Depression, Americans already know we can do better,” said Republican Convention CEO William Harris. “Next Wednesday, Republicans will lay out Mitt Romney’s plan to do just that.”
The GOP needs to get into fighting shape. Be bold. Take a chance. Fight fire with fire. Expose the abortion policies of liberals by making abortion doctor Ron Virmani the face of the Democrat party. At the GOP convention, play the video of him describing how abortion gets rid of “ugly black babies.” That will take the focus off Todd Akin and make the media pundits go apoplectic.
And now it's election season, and the stakes are quite higher, so it appears Obama's DOJ has a found a new entity to rattle: namely, Las Vegas Sands Corp., which happens to belong to Sheldon Adelson, one of the biggest donors to Gov. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
Crowd size is not everything – as Obama himself could attest after losing in the 2008 New Hampshire primary to Hillary Clinton even though he had attracted unprecedented numbers to his events, eclipsing the former First Lady by two or three to one.
But the difference between the numbers Obama is attracting now compared to four years ago should be a cause of deep concern to his campaign.
More significantly, the mood of the crowds is different. There is a sullenness, even resentment, that was not present in 2008. Ask an Obama supporter about their man and as often as not you will get a few words about him and then a demeaning attack on Romney or Ryan.
Representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission are due to arrive in Athens next month to assess Greece's reform efforts.
...American officials are understood to be worried that if they decide Greece has not done enough to meet its deficit targets and withhold the money, it would automatically trigger Greece's exit from the eurozone weeks before the Presidential election on 6 November.
They are urging eurozone Governments to hold off from taking any drastic action before then – fearing that the resulting market destabilisation could damage President Obama's re-election prospects.
...President Obama has piled on excessive regulations, proposed massive tax increases, added more than $5 trillion in federal debt, and failed to address the coming fiscal cliff—all of which is miring our nation in sluggish growth and high unemployment.
I know what it takes to turn around difficult situations. And I will put that experience to work, to get our economy back on track, create jobs, strengthen the middle class and lay the groundwork for America's increased competitiveness in the world.
Patt: You worked to get health insurance coverage for autism into the healthcare reform law. Why do you now oppose a reform you were a part of three years ago?
e: It started out as a legitimate attempt at healthcare reform but it became an attempt at health insurance reform, two very different things.
Patt: If you don't have health insurance you probably don't get healthcare.
e: True, but both systems need to be reformed. I do consider myself an expert on this. [Covering] preexisting conditions — we absolutely need that. I'm no fan of what I've seen health insurance companies do. I believe in "repeal and replace." Here's the problem. You cannot get true healthcare reform unless you rectify the underlying principles, and that goes back to the federal tax code, [which gives] preferential treatment to large companies. Small businesses and individuals simply cannot compete for coverage. You can either take away the special tax treatment and let the market jump in, or you can do a more equitable tax treatment for everyone.
Patt: Why do you have faith Congress would "replace" if it did "repeal"? What can one senator do?
e: As a single senator, not only can I ensure there is a replacement, we [will] create better coverage for individuals. Not only will I get it done, I believe I will be a leader in the conversation. I give you Sen. Tom Coburn [R-Okla.], who by the way I believe is wrong on a lot — that guy has held up more things. I'm very successful at what I've done. I didn't get there by folding my arms and saying no. I know how to maneuver around these obstacles. Give me a shot.
Political science professors Kenneth Bickers and Michael Berry’s study predicts 218 electoral votes for President Obama and 320 for Romney with the Republican candidate winning every seat currently considered to be on the fence....
The prediction model uses economic data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including income per capita and both state and national unemployment figures.
The research concluded that U.S. voters blame Democrats for high unemployment rates but hold Republicans more responsible for low per capita income.
The professors’ analysis concluded that Romney would take home all swing states including Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Colorado....
The controversy surrounding conservative veterans groups criticizing President Obama over the killing of Osma Bin Laden is heading to Tampa next week, with three organizations planning to hold an event at Liberty Plaza on Tuesday.
The event, called "Defending the Defenders," is being hosted by three political action committees whose goal has been to raise questions about the White House's handling of the Bin Laden raid, as well as the alleged leaking of national security information....
"The thinking is very simple, we want to eductate delegates to the RNC convention on two different issues," says Arends, who is also head of Veterans for a Strong America. The first issue, he says, are the "national security leaks have come out this White House are damaging the troops on the battlefield." The second issue is sequestration and planned cuts in the defense budget.
Tampa’s mayor warns that the Republican National Convention could be canceled if Tropical Storm Isaac heads for the city.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn told CNN that he is more concerned about the safety of his people than holding the convention.
“Absolutely we’re prepared to call it off,” Buckhorn explained to CNN. “I mean, human safety and human life trumps politics. I think the RNC recognizes that.”
Buckhorn also added that the city has contingency plans ready in case of an emergency.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a factor in this particular convention,” Buckhorn told CNN. “But we are prepared in the event that it is.”
"Traditionally, there was a kind of courtesy extended to the party having the convention — the [other] party would basically stay out of the public eye," said Ross Baker, political scientist at Rutgers University.
But that "gentlemen's agreement," Baker said, has been largely abandoned as "a consequence of the polarization of American politics." He characterized the old tradition as a "quaint code of etiquette" destined to become a "remnant of the 20th century."
But this analysis downplays the unbelievable gains women have lately made, and, more important, it forgets how much those gains depend on sexual liberation. Single young women in their sexual prime—that is, their 20s and early 30s, the same age as the women at the business-school party—are for the first time in history more successful, on average, than the single young men around them. They are more likely to have a college degree and, in aggregate, they make more money. What makes this remarkable development possible is not just the pill or legal abortion but the whole new landscape of sexual freedom—the ability to delay marriage and have temporary relationships that don’t derail education or career. To put it crudely, feminist progress right now largely depends on the existence of the hookup culture. And to a surprising degree, it is women—not men—who are perpetuating the culture, especially in school, cannily manipulating it to make space for their success, always keeping their own ends in mind. For college girls these days, an overly serious suitor fills the same role an accidental pregnancy did in the 19th century: a danger to be avoided at all costs, lest it get in the way of a promising future.
How utterly depressing. The sexual revolution and its illusory notion of “having it all” has folded in upon itself to forge a chain-link of perfect irony: 21st Century women have become precisely the shallow, insincere, career-fixated, corporate people-users that early feminists decried.
Women were going to teach men how to be human, remember? Instead, they’ve become everything they claimed to hate.
...89 percent said the economy is impacting their lives: 51 percent said their entertainment budget has been hit, 40 percent skipped a vacation and 26 percent have had to change their living situation like take in roommates or move back home.
Some 84 percent said they are planning a major life change because of the economy, including delaying marriage and buying a home. And 76 percent said that the lack of job opportunities is shrinking the middle class....
The Labor Department paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal stimulus funds to a public relations firm to run more than 100 commercials touting the Obama administration’s “green training” job efforts on two MSNBC cable shows, records show.
The commercials ran on MSNBC on shows hosted by Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann in 2009, but the contract didn’t report any jobs created, according to records reviewed recently by The Washington Times....
David Williams, president of the nonprofit watchdog Taxpayers Protection Alliance, called the contract “questionable” because it created no jobs and because of the placement of the ads on shows viewed as friendly to the administration’s policies.
“Hiring a PR firm does not create jobs, and this was obviously meant for selling a particular political agenda,” Mr. Williams said. “The placement really reeks of a political ad rather than a job ad, and taxpayers see through this.
“Taxpayers would be a lot happier at the end of the day to see a completed road rather than a bunch of ads on cable television,” he said.
Last week, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the names of 2012's chosen referees: CNN's Candy Crowley, PBS's Jim Lehrer and CBS's Bob Schieffer will preside over the three presidential debates; ABC's Martha Raddatz will host the sole vice presidential debate. While the debate panel trumpeted the gender diversity of its picks, the chromosomal diversity is far outweighed by the political uniformity, class conformity and geographical homogeneity of the group...
Why does the Republican Party agree to play along with this ideologically stacked deck masquerading as an objective pantheon of disinterested journalism? The Romney campaign's capitulation to the liberal debate racket and its narrative-warpers comes at a time when more and more members of the Fourth Estate itself are admitting that they have served or been treated as tools for the Obama administration...
These willing lapdogs and stenographers follow in the footsteps of the hallowed Fishwrap of Record, which 'fessed up last month to allowing Obama campaign officials to have "veto power" over statements. "We don't like the practice," said Dean Baquet, managing editor for news at The New York Times. "We encourage our reporters to push back. Unfortunately this practice is becoming increasingly common, and maybe we have to push back harder."
Florida's Election Laws Draw Lawsuits Across the State
Lawsuits are being filed across the state of Florida regarding who will be eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election--and when, how, and where. The August 20th edition of the Washington Post referred to a law passed in Florida in 2011 that "imposes more than 75 changes," in election practices including restrictions on who can register voters and limits on the time allowed for early voting. Supporters of the measure believe it creates a more reliable system that combats voter fraud. Opponents, including every Democratic lawmaker, claim the law is a bipartisan ploy to suppress voters who traditionally favor Democrats.
One portion of the new law reduced the number of days that Florida's 67 counties may offer early voting from 14 days to eight days. It also continued to allow that Sundays be offered for early voting with the exception that the Sunday before the election could not be available for early voting. Many African Americans in Florida object strenuously to cancelling voting on the Sunday two days before the election because traditionally, that's their big day to get out the vote after church services. The Washington Post observed that "on the Sunday before the election, church vans and church members" ferried those without transportation to early voting stations. In the 2008 presidential election, on the Sunday prior to that election, 43 percent of the early votes cast that day came from African Americans even though they make up only 28 percent of the country's electorate.
Obama Attacks Ryan on Pell Grants Despite Creating a "Funding Cliff" With the Program
After spending last week attacking Representative Ryan for the Medicare revisions in his House-passed budget, President Obama traveled to Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada, today to attack Ryan on his education policy in the budget. A radio ad the Obama campaign is currently running in New Hampshire claims that 21,000 collegiates in that state alone would have their Pell Grants cut by $800 in the Ryan budget. As the Associated Press reports, "those estimates assume the cuts in Ryan's budget are applied evenly across all programs starting in 2014--something Ryan aides say would not happen. His budget does not directly address Pell Grant funding, and his aides say the cuts would not take a one-size-fits all approach."
As Ryan himself has pointed out, financial aid is driving up the cost of going to college when it is supposed to have the opposite effect: "college costs have risen at twice the rate of inflation for about thirty years and economists have pointed out that these rapid increases would have been constrained if the federal government had not stepped in so often to subsidize rising tuitions." On Pell Grants, Ryan states that spending on the program has doubled since 2008, with Obama increasing the maximum Pell Grant by more than $900 while advocating for another increase next year.
However, these increases will apply only through the 2014-2015 school year, "creating a 'funding cliff' that puts the program at risk of breaking its promises to students" which "could force sudden, deep cuts in Pell Grant support to eligible students or necessitate cuts to other education programs to prop up this out of control spending." Because Ryan's House-passed budget actually cuts spending, it can ensure that the maximum Pell Grant award is kept for the next 10 years--unlike Obama's promise.
Obama's Regulations Choke Manufacturers
The Washington Post, referring to a report by an industry group released yesterday, has pointed out that "the average number of major federal regulations--those expected to have an economic impact in excess of $100,000--that have been finalized each year has risen with each recent administration. Under President Clinton it was 27 per year. It now stands at 44 per year between 2009 and 2011 under President Obama.
The Post goes on to say that the report makes clear the increasing number of regulations has harmed the manufacturing sector's production. All aspects of the manufacturing sector's production are impacted negatively by the myriad of regulations. For example, the report shows that the regulatory burden on manufacturers has more than doubled over ten years, growing from about $80 billion in 2001 to more than $164 billion in 2011.
Mitt Romney, according to the Post, has called such regulation a 'hidden tax' and says that "the economy has been harmed by the whims of the unaccountable bureaucrats pursuing their own agenda."
What Needs to Be Taken from Last Week's Fight over Medicare
The President and the Republican presidential candidates traveled the country last week propelling the debate about Medicare. Two facts should stand out from the fray:
President Obama's health care law raided $716 billion from the Medicare trust fund; and
Obama's health care law puts in place a board of 15 unelected bureaucrats and gives them the power to make additional cuts to Medicare without even having to get approval from Congress.
So you think Todd Akin’s refusal to step down is delusional? Ha! He doesn’t hold a candle to Minnesota’s Kerry Gauthier. Gauthier, a DFL representative, was apprehended at a highway rest stop having oral sex with a seventeen-year-old boy. Gauthier described the incident as a “private matter.”
Gauthier’s fellow Democrats are trying to show him the door; one of them referred to him publicly as a “child molester,” while Governor Mark Dayton said, “I believe he is unfit to serve beyond this term.” The Minneapolis Star Tribune, however, reports that Gauthier says he will run for re-election in November...
Is there any possibility he could win in November? One wouldn’t think so, but his Duluth district is heavily Democratic. His campaign will reveal, perhaps, whether Democrats have any standards whatsoever.
UPDATE: My post apparently pushed Gauthier over the edge. A half hour ago, WCCO TV reported that Gauthier will not run for re-election and may resign his seat.
Ladies, we are working on several bills that need your attention! Please call your representative NOW and let them know we OPPOSE THESE BILLS!
Call your SENATORS:
◼ AB 2109 (Pan, D): This bills makes it more difficult for parents to "opt out" of certain vaccines for their children, regardless of personal or religious beliefs.
◼ AB 2179 (Allen, D): This bill is harmful to ranchers and farmers, hunters and fishermen. It creates harsher penalties for trivial Department of Fish and Game regulation violations.
Call your ASSEMBLY MEMBERS:
◼ SB 623 (Kehoe, D): This bill creates an extension of the "Health Workforce Pilot Project", which allows mid-level healthcare professionals (i.e. nurse practitioners, physician's assistants and midwives) to perform abortions.
Call your representatives NOW and tell them to VOTE NO!
State Senator (Del Norte) Doug LaMalfa
Phone: (916) 651-4004 Fax: (916) 445-7750
Website: http://cssrc.us/web/4/default.aspx Email contact via website
Check out one of those maps of the county-by-county results for a recent presidential election. The Democrat counties are in blue, and (perversely) the Republican counties are in red. What you will see, no matter the year, are islands of blue engulfed by a sea of red.
The typical interpretation is that the islands of blue are the urban areas where all the people live, and the seas of red are the rural areas where all the rubes live. But that is not the real story these maps tell....
◼ Click here for an online registration form. You can complete the voter registration form provided on the Secretary of State’s website, print the form, sign it, and mail it to Humboldt County Election, 3033 H Street, Room 20, Eureka, California 95501.
“According to the whistleblower’s complaint, Gallup violated the False Claims Act by giving the government inflated estimates of the number of hours that it would take to perform its services, even though it had separate and lower internal estimates of the number of hours that would be required,” the Justice Department explained. “The complaint further alleges that the government paid Gallup based on the inflated estimates, rather than Gallup’s lower internal estimates.”
..."GM is going from bad to worse," reads the headline on Automotive News Editor-in-Chief Keith Crain's analysis. That's certainly true of its stock price....
It's hard to avoid the conclusion that GM is bleeding money because of decisions made by a management eager to please its political masters -- and by the terms of the bankruptcy arranged by Obama car czars Ron Bloom and Steven Rattner.
Rattner himself admitted late last year, in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, that "We should have asked the [United Auto Workers] to do a bit more. We did not ask any UAW member to take a cut in their pay." Nonunion employees of GM spin-off Delphi lost their pensions. UAW members didn't.
The UAW got its political payoff. And GM, according to Forbes writer Louis Woodhill, is headed to bankruptcy again.
An anti-Obama documentary based on conservative author Dinesh D’Souza’s book The Roots of Obama’s Rage will expand nationwide this weekend after doing notable business in select markets across the country -- including in liberally minded New York City.
Overall, 2016: Obama's America grossed an impressive $1.2 million last weekend as it upped its theater count from 61 to 169 for a total gross of $2 million, the second-best showing of the year for a documentary after Bully ($3.2 million).
Every seat in the theater was filled, even though there had been an earlier showing that day, and more showings were scheduled for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I had to sit on a staircase in the balcony, but it was worth it.
The audience was riveted. You could barely hear a sound from them, or detect a movement, and certainly not smell popcorn. Yet the movie had no bombast, no violence, no sex and no spectacular visual effects.
Rep. Todd Akin defied the nation's top Republicans Tuesday to forge ahead with his besieged Senate campaign, declaring that GOP leaders were overreacting by abandoning him because of comments that women's bodies can prevent pregnancies in cases of "legitimate rape."
Akin pledged to carry on with his quest to unseat Democrat Claire McCaskill. But his bid faced tall obstacles: a lack of money, a lack of party support and no assurance that his apologies would be enough to heal a self-inflicted political wound.
...He provoked a political uproar when he was asked in the KTVI interview whether his general opposition to abortion extends to women who have been raped.
"It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," Akin said.
In the apology video posted Tuesday on YouTube, Akin acknowledged that rape can lead to pregnancy, adding: "The mistake I made was in the words I said, not in the heart I hold. I ask for your forgiveness."
“With the Republican National Convention beginning in Tampa within the next few days, it is time now for all Republicans to come together in common purpose to defeat President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden,” Gingrich wrote in a letter to delegates reproduced on his website. “Everyone must do their part and Callista and I are committed to doing everything that we can.
“Toward that end, I hereby release all delegates bound or pledged to me under any and all state laws or party rules. At the same time, I call upon them and all Americans committed to a safer and more prosperous American future to join Callista and me in strongly supporting the Romney-Ryan ticket. Together, we can and will defeat Barack Obama in November.”
Ryan Zinke, a member of the Montana state Senate and a U.S. Navy SEAL from 1985 to 2008, told Breitbart News: “It's a sad time for America when a President has to resort to bully tactics, intimidation, and misleading personal attacks against anyone who dares to speak out and be heard. The good thing is Americans have a long history of defeating tyrants.”
Joel Arends, recipient of the Bronze Star and chair of Veterans for a Strong America, said:
The president's team is more serious about labeling a group of veterans as “swift boaters” than they are about going after the leakers in his administration. The reality is as simple as it is disturbing - American lives are now in danger because this White House under the leadership of President Obama have leaked vital national security secrets. And instead of appointing a special prosecutor - this President dispatches his campaign team to smear a group of vets looking out for their buddies in uniform. It just shows the lack of seriousness on the part of this administration.
If they want to call us swift boaters because we are looking out for our buddies on the battlefield that's fine with me - we'll take the political body blows for our comrades in order to ensure that the American people fully understand our position on the issue and see the administration's intransigence on this issue.
The poll by Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling shows Mr. Romney leading President Obama 48 percent to 47 percent in the Badger State. The results are identical to those from a Rasmussen Reports poll released last week.
Mr. Obama, who won Wisconsin by 14 percentage points in 2008, consistently has led in state polls but has seen his lead evaporate in the two weeks since Mr. Romney announced Wisconsin GOP Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate.
The poll showed that Republican voters have rallied behind the Romney-Ryan ticket, with 93 percent saying they will vote Republican, and that Wisconsin independents have shifted away from the president, who holds just a 4-point lead with them after enjoying a 14-point lead last month.
That’s a 7 percentage point gain for Romney, who trailed Obama 50 to 44 in the previous PPP poll, taken in July, before Rep. Ryan (R-Wis.) was added to the GOP ticket.
...Jarrett currently owns an 11-percent equity interest in Kingsbury Plaza, a 46-story luxury apartment complex developed by Habitat between 2005 and 2007 at a cost of more than $100 million.
She valued the investment at between $1 million and $5 million on her 2011 financial disclosure form, up from $250,001 in 2010. A Jarrett spokesman told the Washington Times that the investment was “a direct result of her 13 years working for Habitat.”
Cook County records show the Kingsbury property is worth around $27.2 million, but thanks to a series of legal appeals beginning in 2003, the land and building are assessed at a much lower value for tax purposes. Since 2008, the property has been designated a “special commercial structure” and is taxed at a value of just $6.8 million, or 25 percent of the actual value.
Asked how such a property could enjoy such a low taxable value, an official with the Cook County Assessor’s Office told the Free Beacon that the property’s owners “must have good attorneys.”... More, at the link...
