Here’s another short clip from Jon Stewart’s show where he highlights the idiocy of an Obama PAC ad that blames Romney for a woman’s death followed by a short clip on the “Redneck Olympics.”
And here’s the offensive ad itself (watch at your own risk):
Finally, click here for a hilarious clip where Jon Stewart rips both Obama and Romney.
Photo credit: Karen Horton
Is political self-interest truly nobler than economic self-interest? That’s the question famous Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman put to liberal television talk show host Phil Donahue in 1980 at another economically perilous time for the United States. If we, as a nation, have learned nothing else these last four years, hopefully we have learned the answer is an unequivocal “no.” A trip to George Orwell’s Animal Farm will make the point.
As you may recall (Is Animal Farm still required high school reading?), the story begins on Manor Farm, which is owned and operated by a man named Mr. Jones. Like all businessmen, Jones’ goal is to maximize profits. Life goes along fairly well until Jones loses a lot of money in a lawsuit. He becomes disheartened, taking to drink, and fails to care for his farm as he once did. The animals grow increasingly discontent with Jones’ management of the farm.
The prize boar Old Major (a Frank Marshall Davis-like thinker) seizes upon the opportunity to call all the animals together and voice his long-standing dream of the animals taking over the farm from Jones. Major expounds that they would run it as one for the benefit of all, not to make profit for Jones or any other man. His eloquence sets his audience on fire with the possibility of fundamentally transforming farm life.
Major dies before his vision can be realized. However, younger boars take up the mantle and begin to teach and to organize others on the farm so when the opportunity comes, they will be ready. Finally, after a particularly bad day when Jones becomes so drunk he fails to feed the animals, they rebel and force the farmer from his land.
At first, there is exhilaration in the air. The animals adopt commandments based on Major’s vision, which first and foremost guarantees that all animals should receive equal amounts of resources. However, slowly, almost imperceptibly, things begin to change. One boar, Napoleon, consolidates power on to himself. He institutes rules based on his political self-interest. He ends up living high on the hog, so to speak, with a much more privileged life than Jones ever had.
One of Napoleon’s ill-conceived, pork-spending initiatives, supported by increased taxes and deficit spending, is building a windmill (green energy). The windmill is supposedly intended to help better the lives of everyone. But when it’s finally completed, it’s used to line the pockets of those who support the regime (i.e., Solyndra-style crony capitalism).
A ruling class, which lives off the fruits of others’ labor, arises to support Napoleon’s reign. The overall wealth of the farm declines as taxes rise and worker productivity decreases. However, whenever anyone questions the wisdom of the decisions being made, Squealer, Napoleon’s spin-doctor, is always ready to cite some statistic “proving” how things are much better than they were under the greedy Jones. “You don’t want to go back to those days, do you?” he asks.
Milton Friedman could have easily predicted this outcome: He had witnessed it first-hand when he worked as an economist for President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Friedman watched the federal government expand greatly in order to use political power to control the economy and spread the wealth around. FDR increased taxes on the “rich” to a top marginal rate of 79% and on corporations (even their supposed “undistributed profits”) to try to pay for all the new agencies. He also instituted our largest entitlement program, Social Security. His actions were guided by the belief that political self-interest is nobler than economic self-interest.
The results were disappointing.
Read more from this story HERE.
With the retired military battleship Wisconsin as a backdrop, Mitt Romney will announce Saturday that House Budget Chairman Paul D. Ryan will be his running mate, multiple news sources reported Friday night.
Speculation had swirled around Ryan, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty for many weeks, but aides kept the decision under wraps, insisting that the former Massachusetts governor’s supporters would be the first to know through a special smartphone app.
Instead it was NBC News that broke the choice late Friday night on the eve of a bus tour that will cross some of the most important battleground states: Virginia, Florida and Ohio.
Ryan, of Wisconsin, is a bold choice for the ever-cautious Romney campaign. The wonkish House budget chairman, 42, won the admiration of conservatives after championing major tax budget cuts while advocating deep changes to Medicare, the popular healthcare program for seniors — long viewed as a third rail of politics.
The choice promises a fierce debate over the size and role of government in America over the next few months, and Democrats are relishing the chance to take on that fight.
Read more from this story HERE.
Debra Krause-McDonell appeared on Fox News this week to complain that the Obama campaign had tricked her manager into allowing her Deli to be shown in a campaign ad.
I am President Obama’s classmate at Columbia University, Class of ’83. I am also one of the most accurate Las Vegas oddsmakers and prognosticators. Accurate enough that I was awarded my own star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. And I smell something rotten in Denmark. Obama has a big skeleton in his closet. It’s his college records. Call it “gut instinct” but my gut is almost always right. Obama has a secret hidden at Columbia- and it’s a bad one that threatens to bring down his presidency. Gut instinct is how I’ve made my living for 29 years since graduating Columbia.
Obama and his infamous strategist David Axelrod understand how to play political hardball, the best it’s ever been played. Team Obama has decided to distract America’s voters by condemning Mitt Romney for not releasing enough years of his tax returns. It’s the perfect cover. Obama knows the best defense is a bold offense. Just keep attacking Mitt and blaming him for secrecy and evasion, while accusing him of having a scandal that doesn’t exist. Then ask followers like Senator Harry Reid to chase the lead. The U.S. Senate Majority Leader appears to now be making up stories out of thin air, about tax returns he knows nothing about. It’s a cynical, brilliant, and vicious strategy. Make Romney defend, so he can’t attack the real Obama scandal.
This is classic Axelrod. Obama has won several elections in his career by slandering his opponents and leaking sealed documents. Not only do these insinuations and leaks ruin the credibility and reputation of Obama’s opponents, they keep them on the defensive and off Obama’s trail of sealed documents.
By attacking Romney’s tax records, Obama’s socialist cabal creates a problem that doesn’t exist. Is the U.S. Senate Majority Leader making up stories out of thin air? You decide. But the reason for this baseless attack is clear- make Romney defend, so not only is he “off message” but it helps the media ignore the real Obama scandal.
My answer for Romney? Call Obama’s bluff. Romney should call a press conference and issue a challenge in front of the nation. He should agree to release more of his tax returns, only if Obama unseals his college records. Simple and straight-forward. Mitt should ask “What could possibly be so embarrassing in your college records from 29 years ago that you are afraid to let America’s voters see? If it’s THAT bad, maybe it’s something the voters ought to see.” Suddenly the tables are turned. Now Obama is on the defensive.
Read more from this story HERE.
Photo credit: isafmedia
One view: Mitt Romney courting Gen. David Petraeus
By Michael Zinnie. Mitt Romney is courting General David Petraeus, the hero of the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, to be his vice presidential pick, it was claimed today.
In spite of speculation on The Drudge Report which cited an unnamed source who overheard President Barack Obama talking about the Republican candidate’s desire to name Petraeus as his running mate, Petraeus released a statement denying the rumor.
‘Director Petraeus feels very privileged to be able to continue to serve our country in his current position, and, as he has stated clearly numerous times before, he will not seek elected office,’ CIA spokesman Todd Ebitz told Reuters.
It remains to be seen whether the four-star general, who is currently the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, would even agree to such a proposition. In previous interviews he has said he has no interest in jumping into the political arena.
If Petreaus were tapped to be the Republican vice presidential nominee, it could shift the entire balance and momentum of the election — electrifying Romney’s campaign by picking a man regarded by most of the nation to be a war hero. Read more from this story HERE.
Another view: Wikipedia proves Kelly Ayotte will be Romney’s running mate, page updated 153 times in one day
By Meghan Kenealley. Political junkies are chomping at the bit for the latest insights into Mitt Romney’s vice presidential pick, and there was a glimmer of hope Tuesday morning when it was suggested that the public could turn to Wikipedia for answers.
A site called Tech President made a compelling case by arguing that interested parties could look at the number of recent edits made to the pages of potential nominees and use the volume of those edits as a gauge for how likely it is that said candidate will be Romney’s choice.
The article examined the trend that started in the days leading up to the announcement of vice presidential candidates in the last presidential election: shortly before Sarah Palin and Joe Biden were revealed as their respective parties’ vice presidential nominees, there was a major spike in the edits to their pages.
The jump in that traffic presumably came from members of their campaigns who added more information to their profiles in the hours before their names were going to be searched thoroughly by Americans hoping to learn more about the candidates.
For instance, Sarah Palin’s page had 68 edits the day before her nomination was announced, while other prospects- which, at the time, included Romney himself- had far fewer changes on that fateful day. Read more from this story HERE.
An outrageous ad from an Obama Super PAC states that Romney was the cause of a woman’s death from cancer. Surprisingly, CNN cries foul, labeling the ad “not true.” See it all here.
Photo credit: Cain & Todd Benson
Photo credit: pamhule
Immigrants lag behind native-born Americans on most measures of economic well-being — even those who have been in the U.S. the longest, according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies, which argues that full assimilation is a more complex task than overcoming language or cultural differences.
The study, which covers all immigrants, legal and illegal, and their U.S.-born children younger than 18, found that immigrants tend to make economic progress by most measures the longer they live in the U.S. but lag well behind native-born Americans on factors such as poverty, health insurance coverage and homeownership.
The study, based on 2010 and 2011 census data, found that 43 percent of immigrants who have been in the U.S. at least 20 years were using welfare benefits, a rate that is nearly twice as high as native-born Americans and nearly 50 percent higher than recent immigrants.
The report was released at a time when both major presidential candidates have backed policies that would make it easier to immigrate legally and would boost the numbers of people coming to the U.S.
Steven A. Camarota, the center’s research director and author of the 96-page study, said it shows that questions about the pros and cons of immigration extend well beyond the sheer numbers and touch on the broader consequences of assimilating a population defined by tougher socioeconomic challenges.
Read more from this story HERE.
Photo credit: RDECOM
By Heather Clark. A spokesperson for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has advised that the former Massachusetts governor disagrees with the Boy Scout’s current policy prohibiting open homosexuals from serving as members and leaders.
According to The Associated Press, Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul told the news outlet in an email that Romney still stands by his beliefs that homosexual men should be able to serve in the organization. She specifically noted that Romney had outlined his views in 1994 during a political debate, and that his stance has not changed.
“I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue,” Romney stated during the debate. “I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.”
As previously reported, last month, the Boy Scouts of America issued a statement reaffirming its policy prohibiting open homosexuals from joining the organization.
“The committee’s work and conclusion is that this policy reflects the beliefs and perspectives of the BSA’s members, thereby allowing Scouting to remain focused on its mission and the work it is doing to serve more youth,” the statement said. “The review included forthright and candid conversation and extensive research and evaluations — both from within Scouting and from outside of the organization.” Read more from this story HERE.
Advocates: Romney backs gay scouts, Obama is silent
By Stephen Dinan. There is one social issue on which Mitt Romney is more liberal than President Obama — that of urging the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to accept gay scouts.
Mr. Romney said in 1994 that while it was up to BSA to set its own policy, he thought the scouts should allow gay boys in, and this week his campaign reaffirmed that stance to the Associated Press. The 1994 comments came as he was running to unseat then-Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in Massachusetts.
“I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation,” Mr. Romney said during a debate at the time.
Now Scouts for Equality, a group pushing for the national scouting group to allow gay boys to join, said it’s time for Mr. Obama — who as president is the honorary president of the scouts — to take the same stand.
“I’m happy to hear that Mitt Romney’s campaign confirmed his support for the participation of my family, and families like mine, in the Boy Scouts of America,” said Jennifer Tyrrell, a former cub scout den leader who is lesbian, said in a statement. “I think President Obama should also let the public know what he thinks about a cultural institution like the Boy Scouts banning gay Americans.” Read more from this story HERE.
Photo credit: Kevin Coles
President Obama’s new immigration plan will provide safe harbor to criminal illegal immigrants and will lead to a “capitulation to lawlessness” that could threaten public safety, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said.
Fox News has obtained an internal document detailing how the Department of Homeland Security plans to implement what critics say amounts to an amnesty policy for what could be more than one million illegal immigrants.
According to the documents, illegal immigrants convicted of felonies or misdemeanors under “state immigration laws” may be granted deferred action. Those who have repeatedly entered the United States illegally will also be eligible. And traffic violations would not be considered a misdemeanor.
“It is a direct threat to the rule of law and to the demonstrated desire of the American people for a lawful system of immigration,” Sessions said. “I believe this administration has utilized this policy to basically undermine and negate the ability of the law officers to do what they have been hired and paid to do.”
Read more from this story HERE.