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Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels with his expressed intent today to sign legislation cutting Indiana Planned Parenthood funding has risen to the top of Presidential candidate discussion.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) would be the “perfect pick” for the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, said Tea Party figurehead and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas).

Armey, in a video posted Friday to the website of the conservative magazine Newsmax, effused praise for Daniels and expressed a preference for one of the other former governors expected to join the race as a possible alternative.

“I think Mitch Daniels would be the perfect pick for us; he’s exactly the man with the proven record that we’re looking for,” Armey said. “He has no need for sensation, but he knows how to get focused on the work and get it done.”

If not Daniels, Armey said, one of the other governors should get the nod.

The GOP establishment likes Mitch Daniels as the anti-Romney as does the Bush organization. Daniels should decide in the next day or so and then Mike Huckabee will make his intentions known.

The race for 2012 will be heating up this next week or so.

These are my links for April 29th from 10:20 to 15:37:

• Astrofail: Rep. Paul Ryan Exposes Astro-Turf Anti-Ryan Activist as Fraud | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Astrofail: Rep. Paul Ryan Exposes Astro-Turf Anti-Ryan Activist as Fraud #tcot #catcot
• President 2012: Mitch Daniels Will Sign Indiana Legislation Cutting Planned Parenthood Funding | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Sorry for spelling error:President 2012: Mitch Daniels Will Sign Indiana Legislation Cutting Planned Parenthood Funding
• Mitch Daniels will sign bill blocking federal funding of Planned Parenthood in Indiana – The Fix – The Washington Post – RT @FixRachel: My post on Daniels' decision; says family planning care will still be readily available
• Untitled (http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/apr/29/daniels-will-sigh-bill-cuting-palnned-parenthood-f/) – RT @ericbradner: Here is my story on Gov. Mitch Daniels' decision to defund Planned Parenthood in Indiana: #INLegis
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Trial Date for First Fixodent Denture Cream Lawsuit is Set for June 20, 2011 – Trial Date for First Fixodent Denture Cream Lawsuit is Set for June 20, 2011
• Dilbert April 25, 2011 – Inner Glow | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Dilbert April 25, 2011 – Inner Glow #tcot #catcot
• Poll Watch: Americans Blame Wasteful Government Spending for Deficit – Favor Spending Cuts | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Poll Watch: Americans Blame Wasteful Government Spending for Deficit – Favor Spending Cuts #tcot #catcot
• Untitled (http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/29/3587788/dan-walters-jerry-brown-kills.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter) – Jerry Brown kills death-row boondoggle
• Jerry Brown kills death-row boondoggle – California pretends to have a death penalty for murder and other heinous crimes. That is, judges and juries sentence violent felons to die in San Quentin State Prison's execution chamber.

  But that is just a pretense because, in fact, almost no one is ever executed.

  Instead, supposedly about 700 condemned inmates reside for years, even decades, on what's called "death row." They're in greater danger of dying of old age – or boredom – than in taking the long walk.

  The state can't even obtain an adequate supply of the legal chemicals it would need to administer lethal injections.

  Given that reality, it made absolutely no sense for the state to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new death row complex at San Quentin. The proposed project was not only too large – with space for more than 1,100 inmates – but its chief effect would have been to make condemned felons' lives less stressful.

  The death row boondoggle is just one of the many ways in which California has spent far more money on prisoners than it should.

  ======

  Jerry Brown is grandstanding as usual since the courts will order the renovations anyway.

  The Death Penalty should be enforced but won't be as long as Brown is governor.

  So, get over it.

Astrfail is right.

USA Today exposes the fraud that is activist-organized protest at Republican town halls this recess. Their story opens with Paul Ryan calling on a man in the front row before recognizing him, “You changed clothes!” USA Today reports that the man had been at a separate event six hours earlier. Politico reports that “Citizens Action of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Labor Council have enlisted a traveling band of seniors to follow Paul Ryan’s every move.” But the leftist activists have been unable to match genuine support for Ryan. The Weekly Standard‘s John McCormack posts video of constituents giving Ryan a standing ovation after a town hall near Milwaukee.

Not really a surprise.

Gov. Mitch Daniels says he will sign into law a tough anti-abortion measure that would block government dollars from going to Planned Parenthood.

The move means Medicaid recipients who use the agency’s clinics – including the 400 per year who use the one in Evansville – will be separated from their doctors.

But Daniels said in a statement that reproductive health care will still be readily available in the areas those clinics serve.

“I have ordered the Family and Social Services Administration to see that Medicaid recipients receive prompt notice of nearby care options. We will take any actions necessary to ensure that vital medical care is, if anything, more widely available than before,” he said.

The governor’s office said the bill will block government dollars from going to all 28 of Planned Parenthood’s clinics in Indiana, as well as six clinics operated by other agencies.

Those dollars – about $3 million per year for Planned Parenthood of Indiana – do not directly cover abortions. But proponents of the measure said no taxpayer dollars should go to agencies that offer the procedure.

“Any organization affected by this provision can resume receiving taxpayer dollars immediately by ceasing or separating its operations that perform abortions,” Daniels said.

The governor’s decision comes on the last day of this year’s legislative session. He has said that after the session, he will decide whether to enter the Republican presidential primary.

Next, Planned Parenthood will go to federal court and fight the defunding and Mitch Daniels may or may not announce he will be a candidate for the Presidency.

Stay tuned…..

Dilbert by Scott Adams

The sunsine of your life?

According to the latest Gallup Poll.

The large majority of Americans say spending too much money on unneeded or wasteful federal programs is to blame for the federal budget deficit, while 22% say the deficit is a consequence of not raising enough in taxes to pay for needed programs.

These results are based on an April 20-23 USA Today/Gallup poll. Given a forced choice, Republicans almost uniformly place blame for the deficit on too much federal spending, rather than a shortage of tax revenue. Majorities of independents and Democrats agree, albeit by somewhat smaller margins.

And, Americans generally favor government spending cuts versus increasing taxes as a way to reduce budget deficits.

Here is the poll chart.

This is not surprising and why the Tea Party has been so successful in framing the economic issues, particularly during the 2010 elections. Americans WANT government spending cuts and prefer that to taxes.

End of story.

This question asks Americans to choose among five ways of reducing the federal deficit, ranging from a total reliance on spending cuts to a total reliance on tax increases. The responses cluster at the “spending cuts” end of the spectrum. About half (48%) of Americans say reducing the deficit should be done mostly or only with spending cuts. Another 37% say it should be done equally with spending cuts and tax increases. Eleven percent say mostly or only with tax increases.

Thus, overall, 85% of Americans explicitly favor spending cuts as at least part of the solution to reducing the federal deficit, with more than half of these favoring only or mostly using cuts. This compares with 48% who explicitly favor tax increases as at least part of a deficit reduction strategy — a number consisting mostly of those who want an equal emphasis on spending cuts and tax increases.

The major partisan distinctions in response to this question reflect the choice between mostly/only spending cuts versus the equal use of spending cuts and tax increases. Republicans are most likely to favor the former; Democrats, the latter. Independents’ views are between these two extremes. Relatively few Americans of any partisan identification favor mostly or only using tax increases to reduce the deficit.

What does this all mean?

Americans are likely to tell their elected representatives to cut spending rather than rely on increasing taxes. And, it seems the Democrats in Congress can read the polls and are veering away from the tax increase mentality of the Obama Administration.