Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Candidates should certainly reach out to a broad electorate. But the question is whether they reach out by promoting their own principles to others or by trying to be all things to all people.
◼ Lessons of History? - Thomas Sowell/Real Clear Politics
Talk show host Michael Medved, for example, apparently thinks the Republicans need a centrist presidential candidate in 2012. He said, "Most political battles are won by seizing the center." Moreover, he added: "Anyone who believes otherwise ignores the electoral experience of the last 50 years."
...Medved uses the 2008 defeat of tea party candidates for the Senate, in three states where Democrats were vulnerable, as another argument against those who do not court the center. But these were candidates whose political ineptness was the problem, not conservatism.
Talk show host Michael Medved, for example, apparently thinks the Republicans need a centrist presidential candidate in 2012. He said, "Most political battles are won by seizing the center." Moreover, he added: "Anyone who believes otherwise ignores the electoral experience of the last 50 years."
...Medved uses the 2008 defeat of tea party candidates for the Senate, in three states where Democrats were vulnerable, as another argument against those who do not court the center. But these were candidates whose political ineptness was the problem, not conservatism.
Labels:
GOP,
History,
Ronald Reagan,
Thomas Sowell
Monday, November 28, 2011
Georgia Woman Claims 13-Year Affair with Herman Cain
Georgia Woman Claims 13-Year Affair with Herman Cain: MyFoxATLANTA.com
◼ Cain denies accusation - CNN
◼ Woman's biz partner sought 'stalking' protective order... - NYT
◼ Cain ‘Reassessing’ Candidacy - National Review
In a conference call this morning, Herman Cain told his senior staff that he is “reassessing” whether to remain in the race. He will make his final decision “over the next several days.”
“Obviously, you’re all aware of this recent firestorm that hit the news yesterday,” Cain began, his voice somber. “First thing I want to do is say to you what I have said publicly: I deny those charges, unequivocally. Secondly, I have known this lady for a number of years. And thirdly, I have been attempting to help her financially because she was out of work and destitute, desperate. So, thinking that she was a friend — and I have helped many friends — I now know that she wasn’t the friend that I thought she was. But it was a just a friendship relationship.”
“That being said, obviously, this is cause for reassessment,” he continued....
Labels:
2012 Presidential Contenders,
Herman Cain
Barney Frank Cashes Out - America loses its poster boy for term limits.
◼ Barney Frank Cashes Out - America loses its poster boy for term limits. - John Hayward/Human Events
Frank is also 71 years old, and his congressional career has allowed him to, shall we say, “amass” a sizable fortune. This was a good time to call it quits, especially as Democrat hopes of retaking the House in 2012 have grown dimmer.
It’s a predictable, if unfortunate, end to a career that included setting up the subprime bomb that nearly destroyed the U.S. economy. If you’re upset about the big bonuses paid to executives of the bailout-sucking Fannie Mae, remember that Frank was literally sleeping with a top Fannie Mae executive while he sat on the House Banking Committee. Frank lied repeatedly to protect the Fannie Mae racket from oversight, and the resulting cost to the American people was nearly incalculable.
And yet, it remains the official Democrat Party storyline that absolutely no one in government had anything to do with the subprime crisis. They don’t just finger the evil banks as 70% or 80% responsible. It’s essential to preserving their mythology that the corruption of characters like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd be completely obscured.
Frank is also 71 years old, and his congressional career has allowed him to, shall we say, “amass” a sizable fortune. This was a good time to call it quits, especially as Democrat hopes of retaking the House in 2012 have grown dimmer.
It’s a predictable, if unfortunate, end to a career that included setting up the subprime bomb that nearly destroyed the U.S. economy. If you’re upset about the big bonuses paid to executives of the bailout-sucking Fannie Mae, remember that Frank was literally sleeping with a top Fannie Mae executive while he sat on the House Banking Committee. Frank lied repeatedly to protect the Fannie Mae racket from oversight, and the resulting cost to the American people was nearly incalculable.
And yet, it remains the official Democrat Party storyline that absolutely no one in government had anything to do with the subprime crisis. They don’t just finger the evil banks as 70% or 80% responsible. It’s essential to preserving their mythology that the corruption of characters like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd be completely obscured.
Why the GOP is dying in California
◼ When your political enemies give you a gift, you ought to take it. - Steven Greenhut/OC Register
We all know that California's Democratic Party is running the state into the ground fiscally, given how beholden its legislators and elected officials are to public sector unions and how devoted they are to expanding government and raising taxes. The state needs some political competition, but a major court case reminds us why the state Republican Party is a useless vessel that's incapable of broadening its base and changing the state's political trajectory.
On Thursday, the California Supreme Court began hearing arguments in a lawsuit brought by defenders of the state's redevelopment agencies (RDAs) who are seeking to overturn recent laws that essentially shut down those agencies. Gov. Jerry Brown isn't often right, but he was on target when he proposed shutting down these central planning agencies that primarily dispense corporate welfare to big businesses and drive small property owners off their land so that big-box stores can prosper.
Brown's plan wasn't perfect. It allowed the agencies to buy their way back into existence as many of them have since done. The law wasn't passed entirely for the right reasons. Brown and legislative Democrats had typically supported RDAs, but were looking for quick ways to close the state's gaping budget hole. As Bloomberg reported, "The governor and supporters of the law said the redevelopment agencies have become little more than slush funds for private developers, and they want the tax money generated by new developments to be diverted from the agencies to local schools, law enforcement agencies and other services."
When your political enemies give you a gift, you ought to take it.
Instead of taking it, California Republicans actively opposed the governor's plan and shamelessly sided with the people who run roughshod over everything the GOP is supposed to stand for. Forget all the talk about property rights, limited government, free markets and family values....
Republicans should be standing with the small property owners and business people – often working-class people and minorities – who want to pursue their dreams and not be bullied by these urban-renewal agencies. They should be standing up for fiscal responsibility and against debt and subsidies. Instead, they have stood up for the Armani-suit-wearing developers and bean-counting bureaucrats who treat private property like pieces on a monopoly board. It's shameful and a reminder of why the GOP is dying in California.
We all know that California's Democratic Party is running the state into the ground fiscally, given how beholden its legislators and elected officials are to public sector unions and how devoted they are to expanding government and raising taxes. The state needs some political competition, but a major court case reminds us why the state Republican Party is a useless vessel that's incapable of broadening its base and changing the state's political trajectory.
On Thursday, the California Supreme Court began hearing arguments in a lawsuit brought by defenders of the state's redevelopment agencies (RDAs) who are seeking to overturn recent laws that essentially shut down those agencies. Gov. Jerry Brown isn't often right, but he was on target when he proposed shutting down these central planning agencies that primarily dispense corporate welfare to big businesses and drive small property owners off their land so that big-box stores can prosper.
Brown's plan wasn't perfect. It allowed the agencies to buy their way back into existence as many of them have since done. The law wasn't passed entirely for the right reasons. Brown and legislative Democrats had typically supported RDAs, but were looking for quick ways to close the state's gaping budget hole. As Bloomberg reported, "The governor and supporters of the law said the redevelopment agencies have become little more than slush funds for private developers, and they want the tax money generated by new developments to be diverted from the agencies to local schools, law enforcement agencies and other services."
When your political enemies give you a gift, you ought to take it.
Instead of taking it, California Republicans actively opposed the governor's plan and shamelessly sided with the people who run roughshod over everything the GOP is supposed to stand for. Forget all the talk about property rights, limited government, free markets and family values....
Republicans should be standing with the small property owners and business people – often working-class people and minorities – who want to pursue their dreams and not be bullied by these urban-renewal agencies. They should be standing up for fiscal responsibility and against debt and subsidies. Instead, they have stood up for the Armani-suit-wearing developers and bean-counting bureaucrats who treat private property like pieces on a monopoly board. It's shameful and a reminder of why the GOP is dying in California.
Labels:
California,
CRP,
Opinion,
Property Rights
Poll: Gingrich opens up nine-point lead after Union-Leader's ringing endorsement
◼ Newt Gingrich has opened a sizable lead over Mitt Romney in the first national poll in the GOP presidential race taken since the former Speaker of the House earned the key endorsement of the New Hampshire Union Leader, showing Gingrich with a nine-percentage point lead over the former Massachusetts governor. - The Hill
The poll, conducted by Majority Opinion Research Sunday night, showed Gingrich leading the Republican field with 32 percent of support from those surveyed. Romney earned 23 percent, while Herman Cain rounded out the top three with 14 percent of the vote. Ron Paul led the remainder of the field with 6 percent.
Gingrich's lead has opened up as the former Speaker has rallied both older voters and independents.
__________________
Newt Gingrich
The poll, conducted by Majority Opinion Research Sunday night, showed Gingrich leading the Republican field with 32 percent of support from those surveyed. Romney earned 23 percent, while Herman Cain rounded out the top three with 14 percent of the vote. Ron Paul led the remainder of the field with 6 percent.
Gingrich's lead has opened up as the former Speaker has rallied both older voters and independents.
Newt Gingrich
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