LAMBRO: Obama numbers that add up to one term

/1 Comment/in /by

 

The Obama economy is looking bleaker than ever. All recessions end, but this one’s going to last a lot longer than most because America remains overtaxed, overregulated and drowning in unfathomable debt.

We had the capacity to grow our way out of the 2008 recession within two years with the right growth policies, but President Obama and the Democrat-run Congress pursued impotent, anti-growth fiscal policies that drove spending to unprecedented levels at a time when the recession had sandbagged tax revenues. That forced the feds to sharply increase borrowing, which is devouring the lion’s share of our economy’s income.

When cooler heads, some within his own administration, were urging him to concentrate on the economy, he focused on a massive new government health care entitlement program. That’s in the process of running up a mountain of future bills – plus crushing anti-job-creating regulations – on an economy struggling to climb out of one of the severest recessions since the Great Depression.

When a recession hits and incomes fall, Americans instinctively tighten their belts, reduce spending, pay off credit cards and sock money away in savings in case things get worse. But Mr. Obama and his party did just the opposite. They expanded government, raised spending and burdened the economy with $3 trillion in higher debt.

The Obama crew lived in a separate reality of its own making, believing its exaggerated rhetoric that the economy was moving “in the right direction.” But as the economy grew weaker, revenues fell, budget deficits rose, and the unemployment rate climbed into the 9 percent range.

Read More at the Washington Times By Donald Lambro, The Washington Times

Perry to Pose Major Threat to Romney

/0 Comments/in /by

The biggest development of the Republican presidential campaign on Thursday happened in Austin, Texas – 1,000 miles from the leadoff caucus state where GOP front-runner Mitt Romney and seven of his opponents squared off ahead of an important test vote this weekend.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry sent word that he was running for the GOP nomination, casting a shadow over the debate and threatening to upend the race.

Back in Iowa, Romney emerged unscathed with his leader-of-the-pack status intact after two feisty hours; his two Minnesota rivals – Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty – sparred repeatedly as each sought advantage ahead of Saturday’s Iowa straw poll.

Overall, the dynamics of the campaign did not change with a single debate. And they may not change when Saturday’s straw poll results are announced.

But the race could well change in the coming days as Perry dives into it.

Read More at Real Clear Politics By Thomas  Beaumont, Real Clear Politics

Democrats in Denial About the Downgrade

/2 Comments/in /by

It has been said bad news does not get better over time.

I once knew a lady who discovered a lump in her breast, but ignored it until it had metastasized. She finally sought medical help when she reached the point that she could no longer ignore the pain. Initially, denial gave her a brief sense of security, but all the while, the cancer was spreading.

I could not help but notice an odd similarity this week while listening to Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-FL, tell MSNBC that Obama and the Democrats have “really begun to turn the economy around.” With the exception of inside the Beltway, Americans are hurting. Cities and towns across this great country bear the scars of recession in one form or another, from abandoned homes to emptied offices and pot-holed roads.

Last week’s stock market nose dive, coupled with anemic unemployment numbers, were symptomatic of a sick economy screaming for a huge dose of old-fashioned American capitalism. Obviously in denial (or worse), the Obama administration did everything in its power to convince Americans that “there is nothing to see here, just move along.” It’s like watching my friend exhibit all the symptoms of cancer and all she wants to talk about is how good she feels.

And now with Standard and Poor’s downgrade of the country’s AAA credit rating, for the first time in United States history, it will be intriguing to see how the administration tries to spin this latest revelation.

Read More at Floyd Reports  By Susan Stamper Brown, Floyd Reports

For Wisconsin’s Democrats, recall defeats were their Gettysburg

/1 Comment/in /by

When Robert E. Lee was forced to turn back and retreat from Pennsylvania ending his dream of winning the Civil War by invading the North it quickly became clear that he had thrown his best punch and failed. Lee almost won but didn’t. While the Confederates won some major battles after Gettysburg their will to fight and the appetite for loaning them money was gone.

Yesterday the Wisconsin Democrats brought their invasion to Republican held State Senate districts. To turn back the tide of conservatism in Wisconsin the Democrats instigated recall elections of six Republican Senators. They almost won enough seats to make a difference but didn’t.

They needed to take three seats to wrest control of the State’s upper chamber from the Republicans,but they failed. Gettysburg has come for Wisconsin’s Democrats which is fitting since most Confederates were Democrats as well.

Why the Democrats lost

The Democrats’ lost because they represent a failed system of never ending tax increases to support special interest groups such as public employee unions and illegal aliens. They lost because they support endless extensions to food stamp and unemployment benefits,and do so with an extremely smug sense of entitlement to our money.

They lost because the unions who were behind the recalls willing unmasked themselves as criminals who would use physical violence to maintain their racketeering enterprises.

Read More at Coach is Right  By Kevin “Coach” Collins, Coach Is Right

Ann Coulter joins board for homosexual group

/23 Comments/in /by

Columnist Ann Coulter, whose work appears weekly on WND, is joining the advisory board of GOProud, the Republican homosexual activist organization whose leaders say they are “conservative.”

The move comes after her controversial decision last fall to speak to the group prompted another conservative conference to withdraw its speaking invitation.

Coulter said in a statement, according to Chris Moody of the Yahoo.com blog The Ticket, “I am honored to serve in this capacity on GOProud’s Advisory Council, and look forward to being the queen of fabulous.”

The report said GOProud “has caused a stir within the conservative movement, which is grappling with whether to accept organizations that identify as gay.”

Officials with the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, announced just a few weeks ago that they would no longer allow GOProud to participate as a sponsor of their conference.

Read More at WND WorldNetDaily

Tea Party Express Celebrates Resounding WI Senate Victories!

/2 Comments/in /by

The Tea Party Express is celebrating state senate victories in Wisconsin today, with election wins for State Senators Harsdorf, Cowles, Darling, and Olsen after conducting a statewide tour rallying support for Republican state senators last weekend.

Despite an outrageous onslaught of fear mongering, distortion and intimidation tactics from the far left and national union groups, the majority of Wisconsin voters were not fooled and voted to support senators who did their job and stood by Governor Walker’s budget reform. Although two Republican state senators were not able to fend off the baseless attacks against them, the people of Wisconsin have defeated the enemies of prosperity and kept the state on a successful path.

Tea Party Express Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “The facts clearly demonstrate that Governor Walker’s plan is working. The state has added some 40,000 private sector jobs this year and closed a three billion budget gap. The importance of those achievements cannot be overstated – Wisconsin has set an example that the Nation as a whole should follow.

“The union lobby groups have been defaming principled Republicans because they fear the balance of power shifting back to the people of Wisconsin where it belongs. The fact is, these liberal special interest groups are protesting a plan that has already brought greater prosperity to the people. By pouring money into Wisconsin and catching the Republicans off-guard from such an assault, three decent Senators appear to have been defeated.”

But this fight is not yet over. Next week the people of Wisconsin will vote in the recall of Democrat state senators who obstructed democracy by fleeing the state and refusing to engage in much needed debate. Wisconsinites deserve representatives who are willing to make tough decision for the good of the state, which is why Senators Holperin and Wirch need to go.

Read More at Canada Free Press  Canada Free Press

Big Media’s Big Palin Problem

/1 Comment/in /by

Are some things inevitable? Do certain circumstances lend themselves to the unavoidable hand of destiny? Are Washington politicos usually correct when making predictions based upon “conventional wisdom”? Per the media’s prodding, shall we just go ahead and start calling him President Rick Perry? Not if former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has anything to say about it. Last week, in what is best described as trademark Palin unpredictablity, the self-described hockey mom drove a stake into the heart of three distinct narratives that, for months, have been reverberating throughout the echo-chambers of Big Media.

First, in an interview with FOX News’ Sean Hannity, the former Alaska governor began gently tarring former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney with the same sort of criticism she has more often reserved for President Obama — that of ditherer-in-chief. Mrs. Palin pointedly mocked Romney’s political wind-testing approach to the debt debate, and in her genuine “bless his heart” way, she began the uneasy task — oft-loathed by competitors within the same political party — of pointing out the many differences between herself and Mr. Romney. This crucial contrast-drawing can most likely be interpreted as a move toward announcing her candidacy.

Next, ever since Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann announced her decision to run for the GOP nomination, the media has been salivating over a potential “mud-wrestling” match between Mrs. Bachmann and Gov. Palin. But on the same night, and in nearly the same breath used to chastise Romney, Palin silenced the media-driven girl-fight meme by praising Bachmann’s principled “no” vote on the debt-ceiling debacle. (The elites are confounded by Palin’s willingness to both criticize and praise, as a matter of principle rather than politics, even her presumed competitors.)

Lastly, in their usual cynical tone, the political spinsters have been pushing a run for the GOP nod by current Texas governor Rick Perry. Trumpeting Perry’s alleged popularity within the Tea Party movement, the jammer-jawing intelligentsia spin a tale aimed at convincing voters of his viability, as a worthy opponent for Pres. Obama, while attempting to shut the door on the idea of nominating Gov. Palin. Of course, the flurry of pro-Perry news items is also intended to demoralize any pro-Palin forces by persuading them that Gov. Palin herself will ultimately decide against running. They want Americans to believe that Palin acknowledges her own cerebral shortcomings and will instead endorse the much more sophisticated Gov. Perry. (It’s intriguing that, when it’s convenient for Big Media, Governor Palin is painted as severely lacking in intelligence, yet as soon as they need a villain to decry, she becomes an evil genius who plans the destruction of polar bears from high atop her Alaskan ice castle.)

However, in yet another apparent step toward a 2012 run, Gov. Palin slyly re-tweeted a piece written by Whitney Pitcher, and featured on www.conservatives4palin.com, that puts Perry in a fairly negative light. In the post, Pitcher analyzes the dismal fiscal numbers in Texas garnered by the anemic leadership of Rick Perry, compared with Alaska’s example of financial discipline under the leadership of the former mayor of Wasilla. If Governor Palin intended on endorsing Gov. Perry — should he choose to run — why would she trumpet his poor financial record to her legions of followers? It should also be noted that, according to conservatives4palin, Pitcher’s post “pretty much calls for her (Palin) to run for the presidency.”

Read More at American Thinker By James P. York, American Thinker

Bernanke, the Wizard Behind Obama’s Sham Economy

/1 Comment/in /by

On July 11, The Center for Vision & Values posted my article decrying the insulting name-calling directed toward Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke. The very next day, Bernanke made me question my forbearance by telling Congress that a third round of “quantitative easing,” or “QE3,” could be a near-term option.

Now it’s my turn to call Bernanke a name, but I’ll use a clinical label, not a crude one. He is an inflationist, although he may prefer the label “anti-deflationist.” He so fears a deflationary spiral that he will create however many dollars he believes necessary to avert deflation.

Bernanke’s repeated attempts to patch over the nation’s economic weakness, rottenness, and dead wood with newly created dollars remind me of the “Potemkin village” ruse. The Soviet communists duped foreign visitors into thinking that communism was a viable and prosperous system by steering them to sham factories, stores, villages, etc., which appeared to be productive, bustling, and attractive. In reality, Potemkin villages were like movie sets, built to disguise the widespread poverty and backwardness that characterized life in the “workers’ paradise.”

Official statistics insist that the Great Recession ended two years ago. Yet unemployment is creeping up, record numbers of workers are remaining unemployed for record lengths of time, income is down for small proprietors, and millions of people feel as though the recession never ended.

It is proverbial that statistics lie. One such statistic is the gross domestic product. GDP has risen modestly the last two years, supposedly indicating growth rather than recession. Here is the flaw in GDP: By definition, GDP=C+I+G. In other words, GDP equals the sum of consumer spending, private investment, and government spending. (There is also a problematical addendum of net exports, reflecting the mystical mercantilist notion that a country is richer if foreigners obtain more goods and services than domestic residents do, but let’s omit that here.)

Read More at Floyd Reports By Mark W. Hendrickson, Floyd Reports

Rick Perry to speak in Iowa on Sunday

/1 Comment/in /by

Texas Governor Rick Perry will speak at a Republican fundraiser in Iowa Sunday for the Black Hawk County Republicans, his campaign confirmed to the CBS News on Tuesday.

Perry appears poised to soon announce his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, and his decision to travel to the crucial first-in-the-nation voting state signals that he plans to compete aggressively there. Perry also plans to make stops in South Carolina and New Hampshire on Saturday, and is expected to make his plans to seek the nomination clear in his remarks in South Carolina.

“It’s an important area of the state for Republicans,” Mark Miner, a spokesman for Perry, told the Des Moines Register of Perry’s decision to travel to Waterloo, Iowa. “There’s nothing new to announce, but stay tuned.”

Perry’s campaign said the event will take place in Waterloo’s Electric Park Ballroom, and Perry will be joined by Sen. Chuck Grassley, Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Iowa, Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn and Secretary of State Matt Schultz.

Notably, the trip will come just a day after Saturday’s closely-watched Iowa straw poll in Ames. Perry, who is not on the straw poll ballot, will undoubtedly divert attention from the outcome of the poll, which traditionally has a significant impact on the Republican presidential race.

Read More at CBS News By Lucy Madison, CBS News

Did Newsweek choose Michele Bachmann cover photo to make her ‘look crazy’?

/5 Comments/in /by

 

Another Newsweek cover controversy is brewing–and once again, it involves women.

A month after editor-in-chief Tina Brown Photoshopped the late Princess Diana walking alongside Kate Middleton onto the cover of Newsweek, sparking outrage among fans, Brown is drawing the ire of the tea party for selecting a photo of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.)
for Newsweek’s cover that makes the 2012 Republican hopeful look, well, crazy.

The photo of Bachmann, shot in Washington on Aug. 1 by photographer Chris Buck, accompanies a cover story by Lois Romano entitled “The Queen of Rage.” (Newsweek tweeted the cover image late Sunday with the #QueenOfRage hashtag.)

Reached via e-mail, Alice Stewart, Bachmann’s press secretary, declined to comment. “We are focused on meeting with the people of Iowa in advance of the Straw Poll,” she wrote in an email to The Cutline. And Bachmann brushed off a question about the cover from a voter in Iowa.

Conservative media pundits, though, were more than happy to respond.

Read More at Yahoo! By Dylan Stableford, Newsweek