• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 28th on 18:07

    March 28, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 28th from 18:07 to 20:39:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 28th on 18:00

    March 28, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 28th from 18:00 to 18:03:

    • California Republicans: State GOP trying to craft its own mail-in primary before open primary law takes effect – When the California Republican Party adopted a plan to survey the state's 5.3 million GOP voters to decide who should be their party's standard-bearer in future elections, the move provided a compromise ending to a contentious battle over how to blunt the voter-approved "top two" primary system.

      But there are deep questions and some skepticism over whether the party will be able to afford and administer such an ambitious undertaking.

      "I don't think it will ever be implemented," said Allan Hoffenblum, a former GOP strategist and publisher of the nonpartisan California Target Book, which handicaps legislative races. "They punted.… I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see the state party change its mind between now and June 2014."

      The move, made at the California Republican Party convention last weekend, was prompted by Proposition 14, which changed the state's electoral system. Under it, candidates from all parties compete in a primary, after which the top two vote-getters compete in a general election — even if they are members of the same party. The ballot measure, approved last year, was intended to create competition and loosen the grip that the state's most partisan voters have on primary elections.

      Democrats are expected to take up the matter when they hold their convention next month.

      Under the GOP measure approved last week, the candidate who wins a mail-in nomination contest will be listed as the official Republican candidate on party mailers and will have access to party resources. The plan beat out two competing proposals — one by party leaders in which a small number of insiders would anoint nominees, and one by elected officials where in most cases incumbents would be automatically endorsed.

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      Read it all.

      This mail-in proposal will never be implemented.

    • California GOP hits sharp skid – Demographics and Decline of So Cal Defense Industry – There's more to the Republican decline than demography. The near-demise of the Southern California defense industry after the end of the Cold War sparked an exodus of defense workers out of the state and that, coupled with an inflow of immigrants, shifted the politics of Los Angeles County from party-neutral to strongly Democratic, thus tilting the whole state.

      Simultaneously, the state GOP changed itself. What was once a middle-of-the-road party that dominated California as Democrats paddled on the left reconfigured itself into a right-wing party.

      The party's stridency on taxes, illegal immigration, abortion and other hot-button issues alienated both white moderates – most noticeably in the suburbs – and the surging numbers of Latino and Asian voters.

      The GOP's incoming state chairman, Tom Del Beccaro, acknowledged the party's deterioration during its recent convention in Sacramento.

      "We do not pay enough attention to our next generation," Del Beccaro told delegates. "We are not talking to enough minority voters, we are not talking to enough independents and we are not even talking to enough Democrats. Quite frankly, we have trapped ourselves into talking to the converted instead of inspiring a new generation of voters."

      ======

      Southern California is rapidly changing from the California of my youth.

      I am in the aging white population which will soon die off and not be replaced by migration from other areas of the USA.

      I wonder if my children, will have a future in California as one is already relocating to the Mid-West.

  • Mike Huckabee,  Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  Polling,  President 2012,  Sarah Palin

    President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Mike Huckabee Maintains Strength Across Issue-Based Voter Segments

    March 28, 2011 /

    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    As was the case in February, Republicans’ choice of most important political issue is related to their support for potential Republican presidential candidates.

    Mike Huckabee, who is the overall leader among Republicans for the 2012 nomination at this point, leads or ties for the lead among three of the four issue-based GOP groups. He slightly lags Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin among national security- and foreign policy-focused Republicans.

    Romney, second overall in GOP 2012 preferences, ties for or is in first place among two out of the four groups, and is in second place among another group.

    And, what are the issues for Republicans?

    It’s government spending/debt and the economy – not a shocker.

    Republicans continue to say government spending and power is the issue of greatest political importance to them (38%), followed closely by business and the economy (32%). Social and moral issues and foreign policy each have constituencies, but are far less important within the party. Republicans’ ratings of these priorities are not substantially changed from a month ago. The lack of change in the perceived importance of foreign affairs is notable given the recent high-profile U.S. military involvement in Libya.

    Maybe Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has a point about a “truce” on the social issues, since it does not appear to be a mighty concern for Republican voters? Of course, neither does national security and Libya.

    Americans are concerned about their livelihood, their taxes and the fact they know many who are unemployed or under employed.

    So, what does this poll mean – the bottom line?

    As was the case in mid-February, the two biggest issues for Republican voters nationwide are government power and spending, and the economy — in that order. The rank-order of these issue segments appears to be generally stable, with only minor shifts since last month’s update.

    Republican front-runner Huckabee maintains his relative position of strength across all four issue groups. He dominates among social issues voters and leads or ties other potential candidates in the two biggest Republican issue groups — those focused on government spending and power, and those focused on the economy.

    Romney maintains a first- or second-place position among all segments except social issues voters. Palin appears to have a relative weakness among the largest segment of Republicans — those who are focused on the government.

    Bachmann, who has the second-highest Positive Intensity Score of any potential Republican candidate at this point, does slightly better among that small group of Republicans most focused on foreign affairs. Tim Pawlenty, in the news last week after he established a presidential exploratory committee, does not do exceptionally well among any of the four issue groups. Haley Barbour, who is also reportedly giving serious consideration to a run for the GOP nomination, does best among Republicans focused on business and the economy.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 28th on 14:08

    March 28, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 28th from 14:08 to 16:10:

    • Harry Reid urges GOP to ditch Tea Party – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday urged Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to ditch members of the Tea Party and cut a deal with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.

      Reid insisted it is those GOP internal divisions that are threatening to shut down the government after April 8, in less than two weeks.

      “For the sake of our economy, it’s time for mainstream Republicans to stand up to the Tea Party and rejoin Democrats at the table to negotiate a responsible solution that cuts spending while protecting jobs," he said.

      Last week Reid put $7.5 billion in discretionary cuts and $3.5 billion in mandatory savings on the table as a counteroffer to the $51 billion in additional cuts the GOP is seeking.

      This week Democrats are mulling raising the offer to $20 billion. But Democratic aides insist it is the divided GOP that must make the next move and come back to the negotiating table, not Democrats who must continue to negotiate with themselves and up their offer.

      ======

      Harry Reid is going senile.

      Cut the damn budet, Dingy Harry – end of story

    • Is Media Matters breaking the law in its ‘war’ on Fox News? – Media Matters, the George Soros-backed legion of liberal agit-prop shock troops based in the nation's capital, has declared war on Fox News, and in the process quite possibly stepped across the line of legality.

      David Brock, MM's founder, was quoted Saturday by Politico promising that his organization is mounting "guerrila warfare and sabotage" against Fox News, which he said "is not a news organization. It is the de facto leader of the GOP, and it is long past time that it is treated as such by the media, elected officials and the public.”

      To that end, Brock told Politico that MM will “focus on [News Corp. CEO Rupert] Murdoch and trying to disrupt his commercial interests …" Murdoch is the founder of Fox News and a media titan with newspaper, broadcast, Internet and other media countries around the world.

      There is nothing in the Politico article to suggest that Brock, who was paid just under $300,000 in 2009, according to the group's most recently available tax return, plans to ask the IRS to change his organization's tax status as a 501(C)(3) tax-exempt educational foundation.

      Being a C3 puts MM in the non-profit, non-commercial sector, and it also bars the organzation from participating in partisan political activity. This new, more aggressive stance, however, appears to run directly counter to the government's requirements for maintaining a C3 tax status.

      Since Brock classifies Fox News as the "leader" of the Republican Party, by his own description he is involving his organization in a partisan battle. High-priced K Street lawyers can probably find a federal judge or a sympathetic IRS bureaucrat willing to either look the other way or accept some sort of MM rationale such as that it is merely providing educational information about a partisan group.

      But in the IRS application for 501(C)(3) tax-exempt educational foundation status, Section VIII, Question I asks the applicant: "Do you support or oppose candidates in political campaigns in any way?" (Emphasis added).

      Under Brock's definition of Fox News, it appears he is setting MM on a course of actively opposing all Republican candidates. Brandon Kiser at The Right Sphere blog argues that this new statement of MM's mission means it must change its tax status.

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      Read it all.

      I don't think Media Matters is to impressed with the media exposure of their "WAR on Fox News." Probably neither are Rupert Murdoch's numerous law firms that are more than likely preparing lawsuits.

    • The battle to define Charles and David Koch – The LEFT Exposed – When it comes to the suddenly infamous Koch brothers, there’s one thing the conservative Weekly Standard and liberal filmmaker Robert Greenwald can agree on: The Kochs, Charles and David, have been a boon to the American political left.

      “For progressives confused at the heated opposition to their do-gooder agenda, the Kochs became convenient scapegoats,” asserts the Weekly Standard’s Matthew Continetti this week in a long cover story defending the Kochs. Liberals in the media have “ascribed every bad thing under the sun to the brothers and their checkbooks. Pollution, the Tea Party, global warming denial—the Kochs were responsible,” Continetti writes, asserting that in recent months “whenever you turned on MSNBC or clicked on the Huffington Post you’d see the Kochs described in terms more applicable to Lex Luthor and General Zod.”

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      Read it all.

      Fancy that: A George Soros funded "War" against the Koch Brothers = some grassroots outrage…. RIGHT

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 28th on 09:30

    March 28, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 28th from 09:30 to 13:45:

  • Environment,  Polling

    Poll Watch: Water Environmental Issues Worry Americans Most, Global Warming the Least

    March 28, 2011 /


    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    With Earth Day about a month away, Americans tell Gallup they worry the most about several water-related risks and issues among nine major environmental issues. They worry least about global warming and loss of open spaces.

    But, this poll was conducted prior to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami-generated nuclear crisis.

    The current levels of concerns about environmental issues are essentially unchanged from 2010.

    But, there is a sign that Americans are less concerned today than they were 10 years ago.

    So, what does this mean?

    Americans ARE concerned about fresh water to drink and fresh air to breathe. As far as global warming is concerned  = NOT SO MUCH as barely half of Americans really care about this.

    Although the United States has experienced nothing like the mass drinking-water scare that is gripping Japan during its current nuclear crisis, Americans largely recognize the importance of clean water to their lives. All four environmental issues referring to “water” in this year’s Gallup Environment poll rank in the upper tier of environmental concerns, with air pollution a close fifth. Perhaps not surprisingly, there is a slightly steeper drop-off in concern about several issues that aren’t directly related to daily survival, such as the loss of tropical rain forests and urban sprawl. What may surprise some, given the broad exposure the issue has received in recent years, is that global warming ranks lowest — consistent with other Gallup polling — with barely half of Americans concerned and 48% only a little or not at all concerned.

  • Polling,  President 2012,  Rudy Giuliani

    President 2012 Poll Watch: Rudy Giuliani the Best GOP Chance to Beat Obama?

    March 28, 2011 /

    New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, second from left, and Rudy Giuliani, center, joins Nick Swisher, lower right, in congratulating Eric Chavez (12) on his second-inning solo home run off Houston Astros starting pitcher Nelson Figueroa in their spring training baseball game at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., Friday, March 25, 2011

    According to the latest Harris Poll:

    Taking the same list of 11 potential Republican nominees and pitting them against President Obama shows some interesting results. While he only garners 8% of overall adults and just 7% of Republicans in the primary field, Rudy Giuliani is the only candidate on the list who edges out President Obama in a head to head match-up, 51% to 49%. The next two Republicans make it a close race but President Obama edges out Mitt Romney (51% to 49%) and Mike Huckabee (52% to 48%).

    Among the next tier of candidates, it’s anywhere from a 10 point margin (Trump 45%/Obama 55%) to 12 point margin (Gingrich, Daniels and Pawlenty 44% versus Obama 56%) to a 14 point margin (Santorum 43%/Obama 57%). The third tier of candidates would be a relief for the current White House as President Obama is ahead by 16 points on Sarah Palin (58% vs. 42%) and 18 points ahead of Haley Barbour and Michele Bachmann (59% vs. 41%).

    One problem – look at the photo above and tell me where America’s Mayor would rather be?

    No, Rudy Giuliani will NOT be a candidate for President in 2012 although he would be a great general election candidate. He would give President Obama a run for his money.

    Interesting too is the fact that Mitt Romney is so thin-skinned that he has one of his minions writing how horribly Rudy ran his campaign in 2008.

    Candidates who do best in New Hampshire are those who campaign in the traditional way, making themselves available to primary voters at party events, town hall meetings and house parties. That’s what Romney did, and how he earned a second chance. Newcomers Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum have already spent more time campaigning among the grassroots than Giuliani did.

    Most of us know the experience of having had a bad first date. Usually both participants recognize it didn’t work out, but sometimes the guy doesn’t get the message, calls again, and needs to be told bluntly: Sorry, Rudy. You had your chance, and much as we respect your resume, we’re just not interested in going out again.

    I guess, Rudy travels to New Hampshire, threatens Romney, polls well and then the knives come out.

    Gee, maybe Rudy should reconsider running – just to piss off Mitt Romney. He certainly would make a better President.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 28th on 09:23

    March 28, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 28th from 09:23 to 09:27:

    • Bioenergy Crop Company Plants Its Flag in India – Super Green Biofuels Inc., which aims to make fuel from the inedible seed of the Jatropha plant, says it is expanding its operation into India.

      Better known as SG Biofuels, the company has amassed a huge library of DNA and genome information about Jatropha, so it can design hybrid seeds to best fit the land, sun and growing patterns of different areas.

      “Our expansion into India marks a significant milestone for the company as we continue to expand our commercialization efforts,” SG Biofuels Chief Executive Officer Kirk Haney said. “Our ability to quickly develop and scale productive Jatropha plantations using elite, high performing material will play a significant role in providing energy security and economic development while reducing greenhouse emissions.”

      SG recruited Subhas Pattnaik as director of operations for the market. Pattnaik formerly led operations for Mission NewEnergy Limited in India, where he managed the rollout and operations of the largest Jatropha plantation acreage in the world, spanning more than 200,000 acres, 124,000 farmers and five provinces, said a March 7 SG news release announcing the company’s expansion into India.

      According to a report by the Office of Scientific & Technical Information of the U.S. Department of Energy, the shortage of reliable, inexpensive and sustainable energy is a key factor in keeping India and Brazil at poverty levels higher than necessary. Both areas are also potentially prime Jatropha growing areas.

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      Read it all

      Another example of American companies expanding into other countries bringing technology to produce clean energy.

    • Koch Membrane Systems: Filtering the world’s water is a growth business – When the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo needed to cleanse large volumes of waste water, it turned to Koch Membrane Systems Inc. in Wilmington — a company that is finding a growing market for its filtration technologies in places where development is running up against water supplies.

      Last year, for the first time, water and waste-water systems accounted for more than half of Koch Membrane’s sales.

      In Brazil, Koch’s polymer membranes are at the heart of a $150 million water reuse project that is one of the largest such projects in the Southern Hemisphere.

      Koch was selected by Aquapolo Ambiental SA, a joint venture of Foz do Brasil, the environmental engineering company of Odebrecht SA, a construction and engineering group in Brazil, and Sao Paulo’s state water and sewer company.

      The facility now under construction will filter up to 265 gallons per second of waste water from a sewage treatment plant.

      The water will be used by local industrial customers, who will be able to draw less from the drinking water system — saving enough drinking water to supply about 600,000 residents.

      Koch Membrane also sells filtration systems in China, Egypt, India, and Singapore; it expects water filtration to be at least 75 percent of its business by 2015.

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      Read it all.

      American business cleaning up the environment – fancy that.

      Yet, the LEFT demonizes the Koch Brothers. How ridiculous is that?

  • Barack Obama,  William Ayers

    Video: Bill Ayer’s Claim He Wrote Obama’s Book: Dreams of My Father

    March 28, 2011 /

    Bill Ayers claims he wrote Barack Obama’s Autobiography Dreams of My Father. He said this in front of over 100 people at a Students for a Democratic Soctiety (SDS) event on March 24, 2011 at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

    A shot across President Obama’s bow?

    Unprompted, Ayers also noted that while Dreams deserves its praise, Obama’s second opus, Audacity of Hope, is “more of a political hack book.”

    Not surprisingly, Ayers retreated into irony as he ended the session. “Yeah, yeah,” he said after confirming again that he wrote Dreams, “And if you help me prove it, I’ll split the royalties with you. Thank you very much.”

    With his final comment, the Ayers-friendly audience laughed in relief.  The media will laugh nervously upon seeing the video as well.  The White House will not.

    Barack Obama knows what I know and what the people who have read my book, “Deconstructing Obama,” know: Bill Ayers is the principal craftsman behind Dreams.  The evidence is overwhelming.

    Ayers also established, as I have contended from the beginning, that he is not the author of Audacity of Hope.  Although Obama claims unique authorship of this book too, it was, as Ayers suggests, a disingenuous feint to the center written by committee.

    Worse for Obama still, Ayers knows that the story he and Obama contrived in Dreams is false in many key details.  The fact that Donald Trump has proved willing to challenge that story has got to make the White House even more apprehensive.

    Yeah, probably – just a reminder to Obama that the Far, Radical LEFT are always watching.