Santorum’s Choice

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Rick Santorum (and his supporters) have a decision to make.

Does Santorum still believe that Mitt Romney is “the candidate that will stand up for the conservative principles that we hold dear” as he said when he endorsed him four years ago instead of Mike Huckabee (he said Romney and not Huckabee was “the only place to go” for conservatives)?

Or is Santorum now firmly convinced that Romney is the man he confronted in the final debate before the Iowa Caucuses for destroying marriage in his own state, and represents a total repudiation of the values and principles Santorum has fought for his entire political career?

If Santorum can live with Obamney as the alternative to Obama this fall, then by all means he should continue doing exactly what he’s doing. Who knows, maybe he’ll do it well enough to earn a spot on Romney’s ticket or at least in a Romney administration. It shouldn’t be all that far-fetched that Santorum would join up with Romney, because he did it just four years ago.

But if Santorum believes that replacing Obama with Obamney represents a major setback in the battle to win the future for our children and grandchildren, then he needs to realize he may never have as much leverage on a national stage then he does right now to give the country a true alternative in the general election—and also stop the Republicrat establishment he fought as a senator from having its way yet again.

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Read more at SteveDeace.com

Pro-life congressmen hopeful despite 39th Roe v. Wade anniversary

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Members of the U.S. Congress reflected on the negative effects of almost forty years of legal abortion in America, but said they are encouraged that the pro-life movement continues to gain momentum.

The estimated thousands of people who will “descend upon Washington” for the Jan. 23 March for Life, remind the country of its obligation “to protect life and be stewards” of God’s creation, said Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.).

Jan. 22 marks the 39-year anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States.

Rep. Ellmers told CNA/EWTN News on Jan. 20 that the protection of life is “a mission that is very near and dear to my heart.” The Congresswoman explained that she worked as a nurse for more than 21 years which taught her “that every life is a precious gift from God.”

“I’ve held the hands of newborn infants, and I’ve held the hands of elderly patients in the last moments of their lives,” she said. “I have witnessed firsthand how fragile and delicate our lives are and the miracles that take place every day.”

Rep. Ellmers said that the March for Life is important because it “serves as a powerful reminder of the injustice taking place in our country and the millions of lives lost but not forgotten.”

Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) said he believes that America’s “love for liberty” can be measured by how “the most innocent” members of society are treated.

“And the pro-life movement has played an extremely important role in fighting to make sure innocent life is protected,” he told CNA/EWTN News.

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Read more at CNA/EWTN NEWS HERE.

Behind the numbers: Debates, late deciders propel Gingrich to win

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Newt Gingrich posted a double-digit victory in Saturday’s South Carolina primary, with late deciders delivering a clear rebuke to Mitt Romney, the one-time-front-runner.

In the exit poll of voters as they left polling places in South Carolina Tuesday, nearly two-thirds said recent debates were an important factor in their vote, and Gingrich won them by a resounding 50 to 22 percent margin over Romney. You can see the full exit poll results using the Post’s Primary Tracker, where you can sort each candidate by their best and worst groups.

Late deciders – Gingrich’s debate performances in the past week may have won over late-deciding voters. In the exit poll, more than half of voters said they decided in the closing days of the campaign, and Gingrich won by 20 points in this group. Romney tied Gingrich among those who decided earlier.

Beating Obama – Unlike in Iowa and New Hampshire, Gingrich beat Romney among those who prioritized an ability to win in November over other candidate qualities. Some 45 percent said this was the most important trait in a candidate, a bigger hunk of the electorate than in Iowa or New Hampshire. Romney won “electability” voters in the two previous contests by overwhelming margins (63 to Gingrich’s 11 percent in New Hampshire, and 48 to 20 percent in Iowa). In South Carolina, Gingrich won a slim majority of these voters.

Dissatisfaction with Romney – Exit polls show fewer than four in 10 primary voters saying they would enthusiastically support Romney if he were the party’s nominee. Nearly half would back him, but with reservations. About one in 10 said they wouldn’t back him at all. Gingrich cleaned up among voters with reservations about Romney, winning 50 percent of their votes. A large proportion of Paul’s supporters said they wouldn’t back Romney in November if he ended up as the GOP standard-bearer.

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Read more at the WashingtonPost.com HERE.

Newt Gingrich Wins. What it Means

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No candidate has won the GOP nomination for President without winning South Carolina since Ronald Reagan in 1980. But every one of those candidates who won had also won either Iowa or New Hampshire.

We’re now confronted with a designated front runner, Mitt Romney, who got less votes in Iowa in 2012 than he got in 2008 and who lost South Carolina. His reason for being somehow remains that he is “electable.”

If you read a lot of the Republican commentary coming out of Washington even before the polls closed, suddenly South Carolina is irrelevant and the hick rubes of the Palmetto state are just petulant children.

Actually, like with Iowa, it is a rather desperate scream to get another player on the field. It is a red flag. It is the giant “Danger” sign ahead for the general election.

Newt Gingrich’s rise has a lot to do with Newt Gingrich’s debate performance. But it has just as much to do with a party base in revolt against its thought and party leaders in Washington, DC. The base is revolting because they swept the GOP back into relevance in Washington just under two years ago and they have been thanked with contempt ever since.

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Read more at RedState.com HERE.

Fed gambling on another trillion of QE to calm recession fears, slow loss of personal wealth

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Consensus is building fast that the Federal Reserve will roll out a third round of quantitative easing, possibly as high as $1 trillion and likely by the end of January, economists say.

The Fed has already carried out two rounds of quantitative easing, in which it buys assets from banks with freshly printed money with the aim of steering the economy away from deflation and contraction.

The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets monetary policy, meets next Tuesday and Wednesday and a decision could come then.

While improving economic indicators had many believing a third round, known as QE3 wouldn’t be necessary, a slumping housing sector and the onset of recession in Europe may prove otherwise.

Home values may be falling and even bottoming out, but personal wealth remains battered from the recession, which keeps home prices from recovering and the economy remains stuck in the doldrums before contracting anew.

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Read more at Newsmax.com HERE.

Romney Fading Nationally?

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Mitt Romney is a considerably weaker front-runner among Republican registered voters nationally than he was at the beginning of the week. Romney now leads Newt Gingrich by 30% to 20%, with Rick Santorum and Ron Paul tied at 13%. At the beginning of the week, Romney had a 23-percentage-point lead over Gingrich and Santorum.

The latest results, based on Gallup Daily tracking interviews conducted Jan. 15-19, only partially reflect the potential impact of the dramatic events that have roiled the GOP presidential race this week. These include the withdrawal of two candidates (Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry) from the race, a televised interview given by Gingrich’s second wife in which she discussed her former husband’s extramarital affair, the continued focus on Romney’s tax returns, the announcement that Santorum rather than Romney apparently won the Iowa caucuses, and a lively debate in South Carolina Thursday night in which Gingrich lashed out at the news media, and the CNN moderator in particular.

Polls in South Carolina suggest that Gingrich has a good chance of winning that state, and if so, the race could tighten further in the coming days.

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Read more at Gallup.com HERE.

Romney demands Gingrich house ethics files

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Newt Gingrich slammed a request Friday by Mitt Romney that he release all files from a congressional ethics investigation in the late 1990s, reminding reporters that Romney has refused to release his tax returns.

“Give me a break,” Gingrich said after a rally in Orangeburg, S.C. “I refuse to take seriously any request from the Romney campaign to disclose anything because they clearly don’t want to disclose anything at any level that involves them.”

Gingrich noted that a 900-page report on the investigation — which led to his reprimand by Congress — is already public.

In the wake of polls showing him now ahead of Romney in the South Carolina primary, Gingrich expressed cautious optimism about Saturday’s vote.

“I hope to win South Carolina, you know, God willing we’ll win,” Gingrich said. “And tomorrow night will be very interesting.”

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Read more at USA Today HERE.

Socialism behind Obama’s Rejection of Keystone?

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The president’s decision to reject a proposal concerning the Keystone pipeline project is exceptionally disappointing.  In short, the pipeline would have served as a major distribution corridor for crude oil from the oil sands of Canada to various refineries located throughout the United States.  At a number of junctures in the lower-48, it was also expected to be a conduit for significant quantities of American crude.

No one can reasonably contest that the construction of the pipeline would have led to the creation of thousands of good jobs here in America, not to mention its role in increasing the worldwide supply of energy.  I briefly touched on this world supply issue in an earlier post concerning the sensitive situation with Iran in the Straits of Hormuz.

The not-so-cynical view of Obama’s decision is that he was playing to his radical environmentalist base.  That’s consistent with one of his major stated reasons — the threat of environmental damage from the pipeline — for rejecting Keystone.  However, pipeline environmental disasters are rare and minor compared to oil tanker mishaps at sea.  And now that Obama has rejected the pipeline, Canada will inevitably look to transpacific buyers, such as China, for their western crude supplies.   And how will the crude get to Canada’s new partners? By seafaring supertankers, of course.

The cynical view of Obama’s decision is clear:  he rejected the pipeline because it’s largely a private enterprise, created by market demands not government dictated economic policies.  In other words, he doesn’t like it because it is not a project run by the federal government.  But while Obama single-handedly destroys this guaranteed US economic opportunity from private investment, he has no problems sinking billions of US tax dollars to support failing energy businesses like Solyndra.

So what gives?  Unlike Obama’s socialistic projects, private investment like the Keystone pipeline doesn’t allow for much corruption, campaign contribution kickbacks, cronyism, and other graft.  Had the Keystone pipeline been constructed by government contractors using a government-run slush fund and Obama’s cronies, there’s little doubt that it would have been approved.

Such cynicism should be no surprise after nearly four years of Obama.

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Federal official in Arizona to plead the fifth and not answer questions on ‘furious’

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The chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona is refusing to testify before Congress regarding Operation Fast and Furious, the federal gun-running scandal that sent U.S. weapons to Mexico.

Patrick J. Cunningham informed the House Oversight Committee late Thursday through his attorney that he will use the Fifth Amendment protection.

Cunningham was ordered Wednesday to appear before Chairman Darrell Issa and the House Oversight Committee regarding his role in the operation that sent more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa Cartel. Guns from the failed operation were found at the murder scene of Border Agent Brian Terry.

The letter from Cunningham’s Washington DC attorney stunned congressional staff. Last week, Cunningham, the second highest ranking U.S. Attorney in Arizona, was scheduled to appear before Issa‘s committee voluntarily. Then, he declined and Issa issued a subpoena.

Cunningham is represented by Tobin Romero of Williams and Connolly who is a specialist in white collar crime. In the letter, he suggests witnesses from the Department of Justice in Washington, who have spoken in support of Attorney General Eric Holder, are wrong or lying.

Read More at Fox News By William Le Jeunesse, Fox News