Romney working toward a landslide?

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Photo Credit: davelawrence8 Creative Commons

At time of writing, polls show the race for the presidency to be tight. General consensus seems to be that whoever wins, the 2012 election will be won by a bat squeak.

Yet to many, especially those of us on the right, it seems peculiar that Obama is still remotely in the race. With high unemployment, minimal GDP growth, a 100% increase in food stamp costs, and out-of-control spending, many conservatives are asking how just under half of the American population can possibly want more of the same.

While it is not possible now to get into the many reasons certain people will vote Democrat in November, I propose that all polls, not just left-leaning polls, may be being strongly misled by their data, and Romney/Ryan may actually have a huge lead not seen in polls.

It is my contention that this is due to a mix of the infamous Bradley effect and what is known in Britain as “the Shy Tory Factor,” with both coming together to exaggerate just how popular Obama is in America.

The Bradley effect is a much-debated polling distortion that is easy to demonstrate but difficult to prove. The idea that when a black or minority candidate is on the ticket against a white candidate, certain voters may lie under pressure from a pollster, worried about being seen as a racist for choosing the white candidate over the minority, sounds highly plausible. The consequence, should the Bradley effect be in play, would be a skewed poll indicating that the minority candidate is in better political shape than his or her opponent.

Read more from this story HERE.

Political Correctness Running Amok: State Department Says “Holding Down the Fort” is Racist

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John M. Robinson, the Chief Diversity Officer at the U.S. Department of State, wants America’s diplomats to know that common phrases and idioms like “holding down the fort” are, in fact, deeply racist.

Robinson, who also serves as director of the Department’s Office of Civil Rights, used his “Diversity Notes” feature in the July/August issue of the official “State Magazine” to examine the hateful roots of everyday sayings. In one recent public relations kerfuffle at Nike, Inc., he wrote, the company torpedoed a sneaker called the “Black and Tan.”

“What a wonderful celebratory gesture and appreciation for Irish culture. Not!” wrote Robinson, an adult.

Robinson notes that “Black and Tan,” in addition to being an enjoyably robust alcoholic concoction, can refer to the brutal Protestant militiamen who ravaged the Irish countryside in the early 20th century — which is why Irish bartenders always get so upset when you order one.

In an effort to avoid offending those notoriously fragile Irish sensibilities, Nike pulled the shoe from stores.

Read more from this story HERE.

Clint Eastwood makes Mitt’s Day (+video)

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Transcript of Clint Eastwood’s speech to GOP Convention in Tampa:

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, what’s a movie tradesman doing out here? You know they are all left wingers out there, left of Lenin. At least that is what people think. 

That is not really the case. There are a lot of conservative people, a lot of moderate people, Republicans, Democrats, in Hollywood. It is just that the conservative people by the nature of the word itself play closer to the vest. They do not go around hot dogging it.

But they are there, believe me, they are there. I just think, in fact, some of them around town, I saw Jon Voight, a lot of people around.

Jon’s here, an academy award winner. A terrific guy. These people are all like-minded, like all of us.

So I’ve got Mr. Obama sitting here. I was going to ask him a couple of questions.  I remember three and a half years ago, when Mr. Obama won the election. And though I was not a big supporter, I was watching that night when he was having that thing and they were talking about hope and change and they were talking about, yes we can, and it was dark outdoors, and it was nice, and people were lighting candles.

They were saying, I just thought, this was great. Everybody is trying, Oprah was crying.

I was even crying. And then finally — and I haven’t cried that hard since I found out that there is 23 million unemployed people in this country.

Now that is something to cry for because that is a disgrace, a national disgrace, and we haven’t done enough, obviously. This administration hasn’t done enough to cure that. Whenever interest they have is not strong enough, and I think possibly now it may be time for somebody else to come along and solve the problem.

So, Mr. President, how do you handle promises that you have made when you were running for election, and how do you handle them?

I mean, what do you say to people? Do you just – you know – I know, people were wondering, you don’t handle that OK. Well, I know even people in your own party were very disappointed when you didn’t close Gitmo. And I thought, well closing Gitmo, why close that, we spent so much money on it? But, I thought maybe as an excuse.

What do you mean shut up?

Read more and see the video HERE.

Fed’s Driving Youth Unemployment to Record Levels while GDP Stagnates

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Photo credit: clementine gallot

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor released its Employment and Unemployment Among Youth—Summer 2012 report. While many youths (ages 16-24) found a summer job this year, many did not even try. Fully 39.5 percent of the youth population neither worked nor looked for work this summer. This number has trended upward over time—it is almost double the rate (22.5 percent) from July 1989.

Of those who looked for work, many could not find it. The youth unemployment rate in July 2012 was 17.1 percent. By comparison, it was only 12.4 percent in July 2000 and 10.8 percent in July 2007. For men, blacks, and Hispanics, the youth unemployment rates in July 2012 were worse—at 17.9 percent, 28.6 percent, and 18.5 percent respectively.

Why are fewer youth participating in the labor force, and even fewer working? In part, because a bad economy always hits younger workers harder. The central problem with the labor market right now is a dramatic slowdown in job creation. While job losses rose at the start of the recession, they have since returned to pre-recession levels.

Hiring, meanwhile, has not recovered. Unemployment remains high because employers are creating fewer new jobs. This makes it much harder for those without jobs—like the youth—to find them. It also allows employers to become more selective in the people they do hire. That often means hiring older and more experienced workers.

Government policies have made this difficult labor market even worse for younger Americans. In 2007, Congress voted to raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. Half of minimum wage earners are between the ages of 16 and 24. Raising the minimum wage, in addition to employer paid Social Security, workers compensation, and unemployment insurance prices many young workers out of the job market. An inexperienced high school student may not produce enough to be paid $7.25 per hour plus Social Security, workers comp, and unemployment insurance. As a result, since an employer is not allowed to pay her less by law, she is not hired and misses out on the job experience she needs to get a higher paying job: two-thirds of minimum wage workers earn a raise within a year.

Read more from this story HERE.

Click HERE for article regarding GDP’s 1.7% growth.

It’s Not Getting Better: GDP Slows to Sluggish 1.7 Percent Rate

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This morning’s update from the Department of Commerce on economic activity in the second quarter shows that the economy grew at an anemic 1.7 percent annual rate. This follows a nearly equally weak first quarter growth rate of 2.0 percent.

How weak is this? In terms of economic output, the current recovery is the weakest of any since 1945: Total output is only 6.8 percent higher than when the recession ended in 2009, which was about 12 quarters ago. Compare that to the other really big post-war recession: 1981. After 12 quarters, economic output stood 18.5 percent higher than the end of that recession. Even the really slow recovery from the 2001 recession outdoes the current one: By 12 quarters following the end of the 2001 recession, economic output was 8.9 percent higher.

The weak spots in the current recovery stand out in today’s economic growth report. The Bureau of Economic Analysis traces the sluggish growth rate to slowdowns in the spending of households and businesses and shrinking inventories.

While the media will highlight the weak household spending numbers, the real focus of concern should be on business investment. When businesses hold back on improving and growing their productive capacity, that inaction directly affects hiring decisions and, thus, household incomes. And that’s what businesses appear to be doing this year: They are sitting this economy out.

Very few economic actions testify more strongly to the failure of current economic policy—especially the threats of tax increases next year—than what businesses are doing. Well before voters head to the polling booth in November, American business has apparently voted against the near-term prospects of the economy. Imagine the economy today if better economic policy had been the norm over the past several years.

Read more from this story HERE.

Soros-Funded “Trackers” are Digging Up Dirt on GOP Candidates

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A George Soros-funded super PAC is vowing to send operatives to stake out Republican campaigns to hunt for and to record any gaffes or controversial statements the candidates may make.

On Tuesday, American Bridge sent a fundraising plea to supporters asking for money to pay for “trackers,” a term for political operatives who sometimes tail opponents.

The organization, which includes both a super PAC that discloses its donors and a nonprofit group that does not, bragged in its fundraising letter about its flagging the clip of Rep. W. Todd Akin, Missouri Republican, making comments about “legitimate rape” that led top Republicans to call for his exit from that state’s U.S. Senate race.

“When our trackers caught Rep. Todd Akin in an interview talking about ‘legitimate rape,’ his invitation to the Republican Convention in Tampa was revoked,” Rodell Mollineau, president of American Bridge, says in the letter.

He also cited a news report saying that Republicans were hiding from its footage-seekers at the Tampa convention now under way.

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GOP Tampa Convention: Huckabee hits it out of the park (+video)

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Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

I was so very honored to be asked to address one of this week’s themes, “We Can Do Better.” Then I was backstage and I heard some folks say that after hearing me speak, the delegates are going to say, “We sure can do better than Huckabee.” And that’s when they will unanimously nominate Mitt Romney to be the next president of the United States of America.

I want to say that Tampa has been a wonderful and hospitable city. And I’m grateful for all that they’ve done for us. But the only hitch in an otherwise perfect week, was the awful noise coming from the hotel room next door to mine. Turns out it was just Debbie Wasserman Schultz, practicing her speech for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte next week. Bless her heart.

Four years ago, Mitt Romney and I were opponents. We still are, but we’re not opposing each other. No, we are mutual opponents of the miserably failed experiments that have put this country in a downward spiral. The United States of America was originally an experiment. But it was an experiment in recognizing God-given individual liberty and creating a government in which we no one is deemed better than another. And in which all of us are equal. Not equal in abilities, but equal in intrinsic worth and value. It is the essence, not just of who we are, but what we are. Now let me just say to those who question how once rivals can be now united, it’s quite simple, we have Barack Obama to thank.

It was Barack Obama who said, “You didn’t build it.” Translation, “It doesn’t belong to you.” Well no small differences among us in our party approximate the vast differences between the liberty limiting, radical left wing, anti-business, reckless spending, tax hiking party of Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, versus an energized America who knows we can do better.

For four years, we’ve given a chance to a man with very limited experience in governing, no experience in business whatsoever and since taking office, mostly interested in campaigning, blaming and aiming excuses at his predecessor, the Republicans and people in business. Or as Republicans like to call them, “employers.” We’ve stagnated into an economy that has taken all that hope right down the slope and has left millions without jobs.

Forced out of their homes by foreclosure. Herded into dependency upon a government that promises us candy, but gives us cavities. Barack Obama seems intent on enrolling more people on food-stamps. Mitt Romney’s focus is going to be on generating more jobs that will make food-stamps unnecessary for them. We know full well, we can do better.

Read more from this story and see the video HERE.

Actor R. Lee Ermey, the drill-sergeant-therapist, claims Geico fired him for criticizing Obama (+video)

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By FoxNews.com. “Full Metal Jacket” star and Geico’s “Therapist Sarge” R. Lee Ermey said the insurance giant fired him from his commercial spot for speaking out against President Barack Obama, according to a report from TMZ.

Ermey played a former drill sergeant in the commercial, where he called a weeping man a “jackwagon” before throwing a box of tissues at the man in a hilarious and popular commercial for Geico.

But in 2010, Ermey slammed the president’s policies, saying his administration was attempting to “impose socialism” on the American people and, in the process, was “destroying the country,” TMZ reports. Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s the original GEICO video with R. Lee Ermey:

Mystery Speaker Slated for GOP Convention Tonight: Is it Palin, Eastwood, or someone else?

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The Republican National Convention is abuzz with speculation over the identity of a mystery speaker who’s supposed to appear Thursday night.

Convention officials have refused to reveal who will fill the “To Be Announced” slot on the closing-night schedule, but the list of possibilities being generated by convention delegates and observers stretches from Hollywood (Clint Eastwood) to hologram (Ronald Reagan) to a handful of conservative favorites who fall somewhere in between.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus refused to give even the smallest hint Wednesday.

“Everyone’s going to have to tune in on Thursday night and check it out,” he told Fox News.

Rumors were flying on the convention floor Wednesday afternoon that Hollywood icon Eastwood is the surprise guest, the speculation fueled by reports of the actor and director’s travel plans.

Read more from this story HERE.

Pathetic: Obama “consoles” families of dead Navy SEAL’s with form letter & electric pen signature

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On August 6, 2011, 30 US service members were killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter they were being transported in crashed in Wardak province, Afghanistan. It was the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in the decade-long war in Afghanistan. 17 members of the elite Navy SEALs were killed in the crash.

Yesterday, Karen and Billy Vaughn, parents of Aaron Carson Vaughn, spoke at the Defending the Defenders forum sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots outside the RNC Convention in Tampa. Karen brought a copy of the form letter they were sent following their son’s death.

It’s a form letter. It was signed by an electric pen.

That’s not all.

Karen Vaughn reached out to the parents of the other SEALs killed in that crash. Their letters were all the same.

Read more from this story HERE.