• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 29th on 18:38

    March 29, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 29th from 18:38 to 19:01:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 29th on 18:25

    March 29, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 29th from 18:25 to 18:34:

    • California’s Red Lining – The San Diego GOP – The Sacramento Bee reports that only 31 percent of residents are registered Republicans and 44 percent Democrats.  
      No Republican holds a statewide office.
      In 2010, Gov. Jerry Brown won 53.1 percent of the vote, while Sen. Barbara Boxer was reelected with 52.1 percent.
      California has 34 Democrats in the House, compared with only 19 Republicans. Both of its senators are Democrats.
      The California State Assembly roster has 52 Democrats out of 80 representatives, and the Senate roster lists 25 Democrats out of 40 State senators. 
      Conservative victories in San Diego also include passing, by nearly 75 percent, Proposition A, which is a countywide ban of project labor agreements. Nearby Oceanside and Chula Vista passed similar bans. The old rules allowed unions were to control municipal construction projects and avoid competition.

      Republicans lead in voter registration, too. According to a February 10 report, Republicans have 3,053 more registered voters in San Diego.

      So what can the California Republican party learn from these victories?

      =====

      Read it all

    • Shocker: Organized labor mulling its own California ballot measure on taxes – The California Labor Federation is considering a ballot initiative on taxes after budget talks between Gov. Jerry Brown and Republican lawmakers broke down this afternoon.

      Art Pulaski, the federation's executive secretary-treasurer, said his organization has made no decision on an initiative but that, "We're certainly not going to sit back and watch the state fall apart."

      He said, "We are going to move forward."

      A voter initiative is one alternative Brown is considering to put tax extensions on a ballot without Republican support in the Legislature. The Democratic governor has not said how he might proceed.

      =====

      But, the unions and Democrats, particularly Jerry Brown wanted political cover from the GOP.

      They could have done this from the beginning.

    • Maher, Palin and Arianna – Hey, Arianna! Andrew Breitbart called Van Jones a “punk.” Bill Maher called Sarah Palin a “cunt.” Which one did you ban again?

      ======

      Yeah Arianna….is Maher off the front page?

  • Claire McCaskill,  Michael J. Fox

    Mo-Sen GAFFE: Sen. Claire McCaskill Now Joking About the Recession

    March 29, 2011 /
    Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) discusses the recession’s “silver lining” with Georgetown University College Democrats on March 28, 2011.

    As if the Senators private airplane problems weren’t enough.

    Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has been in the news lately for her failure to pay taxes on an airplane. McCaskill is not known as the most congenial member of the Senate. And every now and then her lack of tact comes out in public. A GOP operative passes on this clip of her speaking to a Georgetown Law School audience:

    Well, it’s not “really good news” but just a “silver lining” that the recession has brought down emissions.

    Aside from that gaffe (which she realizes along the way), there is something significant here. What she is saying that the recession did an even “better” job of bringing down emissions than cap-and-trade would have. Um, isn’t that the problem with cap-and-trade? Critics complain its’s going to increase costs and thereby suppress economic activity, and those emissions in the process. Now, McCaskill seems to agree.

    I guess Senator McCaskill should call Michael J. Fox for some help.

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

    President 2012 Michigan GOP Poll Watch: Romney 26% Huckabee 20% Gingrich 15% Palin 12%

    March 29, 2011 /

    According to the latest PPP Poll:

    • 26% Romney
    • 20% Huckabee
    • 15% Gingrich
    • 12% Palin
    • 7% Paul
    • 5% Daniels
    • 3% Pawlenty
    • 3% Walker

    But, Romney is not polling as well as iin 2008 – in a state where his father, George Romney was once Governor and where Mitt was raised.

    On the surface Romney’s lead is good news for him. But in 2008 he took 39% in the primary in the state while Huckabee got only 16%. So compared to then Romney is down by 13 points while Huckabee’s improved by four. That sort of trend in Romney’s numbers compared to the support he got in his first bid is becoming common place in our polls.

    Romney’s weakness continues to be with voters who describe themsevlves as ‘very conservative.’ With moderates he gets a strong 39% and with ‘somewhat conservative’ voters he’s at a respectable 28%. But with ‘very conservative’ folks he just ties Huckabee at 20%. More over his favorability with them is only 63% compared to 83% for Palin, 71% for Huckabee, and even 65% for Gingrich. Romney’s weak standing with the far right is his greatest hurdle to potentially winning the nomination.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 29th on 14:19

    March 29, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 29th from 14:19 to 14:25:

    • Eric Cantor raises stakes, nixes another budget stopgap: ‘Time is up’ – House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) raised the stakes in the budget showdown on Capitol Hill Tuesday by ruling out another stopgap funding measure.

      “I want to see a long-term CR here,” he said. “We've got bigger things to deal with. Time is up here."

      =====

      Ten days and counting for the GOP and Dems to come up with a compromise budget or the government closes.

    • Sen. Charles Schumer coordinates Democrat Budget Attack on GOP – Caught on Open Mic – Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Democratic Senate leadership, got on a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning without realizing the reporters were already listening in. Schumer thought he was on a private line with four Democratic senators who were to talk with reporters about the current budget stalemate.

      Schumer instructed the group, made up of Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Tom Carper of Delaware, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, to tell reporters that the GOP is refusing to negotiate.

      He told the group to make sure they label the GOP spending cuts as "extreme."

      "I always use extreme, Schumer said. "That is what the caucus instructed me to use."

      Someone must have finally told Schumer that the media were listening and he stopped talking midsentence.

      ======

      Well, how about that – the Democrats are political gaming the budget talks.

      Who would have known?

  • Herman Cain,  Mike Huckabee,  Mitch Daniels,  Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  Polling,  President 2012,  Sarah Palin,  Tim Pawlenty

    President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Mike Huckabee Continues to Lead in Positive Intensity Tracking

    March 29, 2011 /


    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    Mike Huckabee continues to generate the strongest favorable reactions from Republicans who recognize him, with a Positive Intensity Score of 26. Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann follow, with Positive Intensity Scores of 20. Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain are at 19, and Sarah Palin is at 18.

    Isn’t it interesting the two relative new candidates in Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain are polling so well? Also, Mitch Daniels scores rose. Seems Republicans like the prospect of a new group of candidates.

    Although Tim Pawlenty announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee last week, there was no change in his positioning in Gallup’s March 14-27 polling compared with the previous two-week rolling average.

    Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ and Romney’s Positive Intensity Scores each rose by five points from two weeks ago — Daniels’ from 10 to 15, and Romney’s from 15 to 20. This week’s update puts Romney in a tie for second place behind Huckabee for the first time.

    This marks the first report on Republicans’ views of Herman Cain, a former restaurant association executive from Georgia, who has formed a presidential exploratory committee. Cain is not well known among Republicans — 21% recognize his name — but generates enthusiasm among those who do know him, giving him an overall Positive Intensity Score of 19.

  • Bill Maher,  Sarah Palin

    Bill Maher’s Misogyny Strikes Sarah Palin Again – Calls Her the C-Word

    March 29, 2011 /
    Bill Maher calls Sarah Palin a “Dumb Twat”

    I guess calling Sarah Palin a “dumb twat” wasn’t enough for misogynist and sometimes political comedian Bill Maher.

    It’s that fearlessness — he acknowledged that some people would probably be uncomfortable with some of his remarks about religion, not to mention calling Sarah Palin a “cunt” (“there’s just no other word for her”) — that makes Maher the most dangerous person in comedy.

    Well, I have had enough of Maher and his “comedy” is just foul mouthed name calling from the LEFT – why I am so shocked?

    Previous:

    Video: Why Sarah Palin Calls a Truce With LAMESTREAM Media?

  • Polling,  President 2012,  Sarah Palin

    President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Sarah Palin Has Highest Negatives Among Republicans

    March 29, 2011 /

    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    Gallup’s Positive Intensity Score is based on the percentage of Republicans with a strongly favorable opinion of a potential candidate minus the percentage strongly unfavorable, among only those who have heard of that person. The accompanying table displays those two ratings for each potential candidate.

    While Palin’s strongly favorable rating of 26% is second only to that of Huckabee, she receives an 8% strongly unfavorable rating among those who know her, the highest of any potential candidate tested. Bachmann’s 4% strongly unfavorable rating is the next highest behind Palin’s.

    Not really a shocking revelation as other polling organizations have been seeing similar results. Plus, the fact is Sarah Palin does the worst of any of the top three GOP candidates, Romney, Huckabee and Gingrich against President Obama.

    Sarah Palin, if she does run for the Presidency, won’t do very well.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 29th on 10:02

    March 29, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 29th from 10:02 to 10:28:

    • EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: RomneyCare author Jonathan Gruber – Right Turn – The Washington Post – Jennifer Rubin: RomneyCare author Jonathan Gruber
    • Jennifer Rubin: RomneyCare author Jonathan Gruber – In short, Gruber is the most powerful voice (and the most dangerous one for the Romney campaign) for three fundamental points: 1) Romney championed the individual mandate, overriding concerns about personal freedom; 2) the plan today is pretty much the same as what Romney signed into law; and 3) without it in all likelihood we wouldn’t have ObamaCare today. That might sound like a reason for Democrats to vote for him, but in a Republican presidential primary all of that may be the death knell of the Romney candidacy.

      =====

      A good interview by Jennifer Rubin that pretty much spells the end of Romney's distancing from his Massachusett's Health Care Plan – RomneyCare.

      He owns it and as a ObamaCare precursor he has lots of explaining to do – as I wrote about at the time it passed.