• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 9th on 19:07

    These are my links for May 9th from 19:07 to 19:16:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 9th on 19:00

    These are my links for May 9th from 19:00 to 19:04:

    • Waiting For Superman? GOP Searching For 2012’s ‘Plan B’ Candidate – What makes Christie unique is the fact that he is the only candidate who can claim both the serious executive ability of a Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney and Mitch Daniels, and the gregarious, straight-talking personality of a Donald Trump or Sarah Palin.Will he get in? First there’s the issue of answering that question countless times the same way: no chance. “I don’t feel ready in my heart to be president. And unless I do, I don’t have any right offering myself to the people of this country,” Christie told ABC’s Diane Sawyer last month. http://abcn.ws/fSKMrY

      Then there’s the question of why he’d be more convinced to do it now. Killing Osama bin Laden does not make Obama invincible, but combine that with improving economic numbers and the path to beating the current occupant of the White House looks steeper every day.

      If not Christie, then who? Don’t count out former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been thrust back into the spotlight post-bin Laden and who’s headed later this week to New Hampshire where the latest WMUR-University of New Hampshire poll showed him in third place behind Romney and Trump.

      ======

      Read it all.

      Mitch Daniels, Rudy Giuliani,Chris Christie = any of those three would make a good GOP nominee.

    • President 2012: If Mitch Daniels Runs – With only 23% hard name recognition (16-7 favorable), why would Mitch Daniels be a significant candidate with so many better known men and women in the potential field? There is, of course, his splendid record as governor of Indiana. He has done everything a governor could do. He took a deficit and produced a surplus with no tax increase (although he flirted with one early in his term but dropped the idea). His education choice legislation is the most advanced in the nation and will offer all Indiana children the ability to use state funds to go to the school of their choice after it phases in over three years. He has restricted collective bargaining with public workers a la Wisconsin and sharply limited teacher tenure. His landmark legislation replaces teacher pay based on seniority and advanced degrees with compensation determined by merit and student test scores. It allows school boards, in the event of layoffs, to waive the “last hired first fired” rule in favor of merit as criterion for dismissal. He allows state workers to enroll in Health Savings Accounts with an annual state grant of $2700 for all health care costs and lets the worker keep any unspent portion of the funds. Any medical spending over the flat fee gets a sliding scale of state assistance. Almost two-thirds of state workers have gotten money back at the end of the year. He blocked state funding of Planned Parenthood. With a record like that, he is probably the most successful conservative governor in America today.=====

      Read it all.

      I say he runs….

  • Charles Koch,  David Koch,  Oil Severance Tax,  San Francisco Chronicle

    Koch Derangement Syndrome Watch: San Francisco Chronicle Facilitates Hysteria For Oil Severance Tax Supporters

    Greenpeace is flying a blimp over Rancho Mirage, California to protest the Koch Brothers

    I mean, where do they get this stuff that David and Charles Koch are involved in an any type of ballot measure regarding a California oil severance tax? After all, this is a major California newspaper and where’s the beef?

    To Peter Mathews, the political timing seems perfect. A gallon of gas costs more than $4, the five largest oil companies have made $30 billion in profits this year, and California’s higher education system is losing at least $1.4 billion to help balance the state’s gargantuan budget deficit.

    The political science professor at Cypress College, a community college in Orange County, drove to UC Berkeley on Friday to begin gathering support for a ballot measure to tax oil companies on the petroleum they extract in California and send the money – about $2 billion a year – to public schools.

    But should his measure qualify for the November ballot, Mathews and liberal groups worry that a pair of deep-pocketed brothers could emerge to fight the initiative: Charles and David Koch (pronounced “coke”) of Kansas, who have used the billions they’ve made in the oil industry to try to reshape national politics in their conservative, free-market image.

    “They’d probably weigh in because (the tax) would represent another burden on business,” said Peter Foy, a Republican Ventura County supervisor and chair of the California chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which David Koch co-founded.

    Sorry, but neither Supervisor Foy nor does the San Francisco Chronicle know what Koch Industries or David or Charles Koch will do. They really don’t. Moreover, Supervisor Foy’s organization is NOT funded by Koch Industries. Supervisor Foy is NOT a spokesman for Koch Industries or either of the Koch brothers.

    Why?

    Well, the Kochs have NO oil refining operations in California and their companies are NOT involved in oil extraction (spelled oil drilling in California or anywhere else for that matter). They are involved with oil refining (after the oil comes out of the ground) and NOT in California. Can THIS be any more clear?

    The last time the oil severance tax was on the California ballot, I believe was in 2006, Proposition 87. It was an expensive, initiative ballot proposition which I voted against. How much do you think the Koch’s contributed to its defeat?

    NOTHING. What makes anyone think they would contribute to a campaign for a new oil severance tax measure? One, in which they have NO interest. Does this make any sense?

    The Chronicle points out that California is the ONLY oil producing state that does not have this oil severance tax in place already. California lags behind the other states, so why would the Koch’s involve themselves because of a fear that this oil tax may spread to other states?

    No, this whole exercise is an attempt by the LEFT to DEMONIZE the Koch Brothers so they can raise money from their Moonbat/Far Left donors. If I were them and the San Francisco Chronicle, I would be looking at Chevron who gave $30 Million and Aera Energy $27 Million to help defeat Proposition 87 in 2006. But, then again, those companies actually employ voters in this state and perhaps they are just too hard to make into a BOOGEY MAN.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 9th on 15:37

    These are my links for May 9th from 15:37 to 15:41:

    • The Christie campaign — to get him to change his mind – It’s no secret that Republican voters, donors and operatives are less than thrilled with th current lineup of Republican contenders. It’s also well known that because of that dissatisfaction, many donors are holding back, wishfully awaiting the arrival of a candidate whom they can enthusiastically support. Now comes word that some of the donors are taking matters into their own hands:Some of Iowa’s top Republican campaign contributors, unhappy with their choices in the developing presidential field, are venturing to New Jersey in hopes they can persuade first-term Gov. Chris Christie to run. The entreaty is the latest sign of dissatisfaction within the GOP over the crop of candidates competing for the chance to run against President Barack Obama in 2012.

      Bruce Rastetter, an Iowa energy company executive, and a half-dozen other prominent Iowa GOP donors sought the meeting with Christie, the governor’s chief political adviser, Mike DuHaime, told the Associated Press. The get-together is set for the governor’s mansion in Princeton, N.J., on May 31.

      =======

      Read it all.

      Please note that Michael DuHaime ran Rudy giuliani’s Presidential campaign in 2008 and some of Christie’s staff are Giuliani’s.

      So, there is some national experience there.

    • Mitch Daniels ‘Would Like To’ Run For President, Top Adviser Says – But Daniels is not moving forward unless and until he is able to do so with the full support of his family. The Daniels adviser who spoke to HuffPost was frank in describing the current state of Daniel’s nascent campaign effort.“There’s no campaign. There’s no candidate,” the adviser said. “There is no structure. There is no anything.”

      Nonetheless, Eric Holcomb, the Indiana State GOP chairman and a longtime Daniels aide, is in talks with potential campaign staffers and has them on standby. And fundraising would be much less of a challenge for Daniels –- plugged in as he is to the donor network that propelled George W. Bush to the White House, given that he was Bush’s first budget director –- than for someone like former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty or some of the other candidates.

      If Daniels does decide to run, he would be a formidable opponent. And he would present a challenge to top-tier candidates such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, given his potential to be competitive in or even win Iowa, which begins the primary process with its caucus early next year.

      The conventional wisdom is that Iowa is so dominated by evangelical Christians that only a candidate like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee –- who won it in 2008 -– or Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) can win it. However, there are so many candidates currently competing for that vote – Bachmann, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, and maybe Huckabee – that they might fragment that vote. That would allow someone who is conservative but with a bit broader appeal outside the evangelical enclave to emerge victorious.

      The evangelical vote is only about 30 percent of the vote anyway, said a senior Iowa Republican official who asked not to be identified so that he could asses the field more honestly.

      ======

      Read it all.

      Fish or cut bait sometime within the next 7-10 days.

      Cheri Daniels delivers a speech to the Indiana GOP on Thursday night. So, anytime after this.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 9th on 14:43

    These are my links for May 9th from 14:43 to 14:50:

    • U.S. Senate 2012: Is Olympia Snowe feeling the heat? – Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe has often been the Democrats’ favorite Republican — the first moderate on board when Democrats needed someone in the GOP to jump ship.But those days may be over as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Snowe have had an increasingly nasty falling out that could threaten future deals in the Senate.

      It started in 2009, when Snowe lamented being shut out of Democratic negotiations over the health care bill, continued as Reid bashed her in a 2010 magazine interview and culminated in recent weeks when the two engaged in a rare public spat on the Senate floor.

      The two sparred over a noncontroversial small-business reauthorization bill, with Reid accusing Snowe of “killing” the bill and Snowe saying Reid reneged on a promise to bring up her amendment.

      Reid’s frustration with Snowe might be about more than just a small-business bill.

      Snowe has been voting far more along Republican party lines as she faces the possibility of a tea party challenger in her 2012 Republican primary, making her a much less willing partner for Democrats in search of a Republican deal maker. Democrats also are targeting her seat in 2012, so Reid has less incentive to give her bipartisan cover.

      =======

      Well, Senator Snowe does feel the Tea Party heat but also knows Harry Reid is a snake and will likely not be majority leader come 2013.

      Sooooo, like any POL, she votes her conscious….

    • President 2012 and the Republican rescue fantasy – Talk to enough people around this key primary state and you’ll learn two lessons, over and over again. One is that there is absolutely, positively no unity among Republicans about any presidential candidate or potential candidate; there’s no such thing as a frontrunner. The other is that in the back of their minds, many Republicans are hoping that somewhere, somehow, a superhero candidate will swoop down out of the sky and rescue them from their current lackluster presidential field. They know it’s a fantasy, but they still hope.It’s not just dissatisfaction with the field — Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, and Gary Johnson — that took part in the first GOP debate on Thursday night. Even if the other would-be candidates — Mike Huckabee , Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Mitch Daniels, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, and Donald Trump — had all been onstage with the others Thursday, there still would have been plenty of unhappiness among South Carolina’s political professionals, activists, and ordinary people who just follow politics. Seeing each candidate as flawed, they focus on the unattainables — Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio — who they believe might bring a fresh face and new hope to the GOP.

      =====

      Read it all.

      If Mike Huckabee runs, he will win Iowa and South Carolina. Mitt Romney will have to rely upon New Hampshire, Nevada and then Florida.

      The race between the two may go on for some time unless Mitch Daniels runs. Then, the race will be anyone’s guess, especially since the Bush faction of the GOP will back Daniels.

      I figure there will be a deal with 2 of those three making up the ticket in some form or the other.

      Jon Huntsman is running for 2016.

      The rest are just noise.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 9th on 05:59

    These are my links for May 9th from 05:59 to 13:10:

  • Donald Trump,  Mike Huckabee,  Mitt Romney,  Polling,  President 2012,  Sarah Palin,  Tim Pawlenty

    President 2012 Virginia Poll Watch: Obama 51% vs. Romney 44%, Obama 53% Vs. Huckabee 44%

    According to the latest Washington Post poll.

    Presidential Job Approval Vs. Disapproval:

    • Barack Obama – 57% Vs. 40% (49% vs. 46%)

    General Election Head to Head:

    • Obama – 51% vs. Romney – 44% (48% Vs. 46%)
    • Obama – 53% Vs. Huckabee – 44% (50% Vs. 46%)
    • Obama – 55% Vs. Pawlenty – 35% (51% Vs. 38%)
    • Obama – 61% Vs. Trump – 30% (54% Vs. 35%)
    • Obama – 61% Vs. Palin – 30% (55% Vs. 36%)

    Virginia is a key battleground state that the Republican nominee will need to deny President Barack Obama a second term. Undoubtedly, President Obama has received a bounce from the Osama bin Ladin operation and this is somewhat reflected in this poll.

    However, the GOP will either have to nominate someone else or hope that Romney and/or Huckabee will be able to persuade Virginia voters.

    Survey of 1,180 adults in Virginia was conducted April 28 – May 4, 2011; including 677 interviews before the killing of Osama bin Laden, with 503 afterward. The margin of error is +/- 3.5 percentage points.  Results from interviews conducted before the announcement of bin Laden’s death are in parentheses.

  • Newt Gingrich,  President 2012

    President 2012: Newt Gingrich to Announce for the Presidency on Wednesday

    Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich arrives for a 2012 presidential exploratory committee fundraising event in Atlanta on april 13, 2011. A spokesman for Gingrich says the former House speaker will announce Wednesday he is running for president.

    Newt Gingrich will announce for the Presidency on Wednesday.

    Newt Gingrich is running for president. The former House speaker disclosed his bid on Twitter and Facebook on Monday and urged followers to tune into Fox News on Wednesday.

    “I will be on to talk about my run for president of the United States,” Gingrich wrote after spending a year or more publicly laying the groundwork for a GOP presidential candidacy. “I have been humbled by all the encouragement you have given me to run.”

    Gingrich, 67, enters a Republican field that’s far from fully formed; no less than a dozen Republicans are weighing bids and only a few have taken steps toward candidacies. It’s a crop of candidates that has many in the Republican Party yearning for more options as they seek the strongest candidate to take on President Barack Obama in 2012.

    Besides high name recognition, Gingrich brings to the race a slew of policy ideas, a network of grass-roots support and a political machine years in the making. But his personal baggage – he’s on his third marriage – could hinder his chances as he seeks to woo conservatives who make up the core of the GOP primary electorate.

    The personal baggage will sink Gingrich and I doubt he makes it past the Florida primary election.

  • President 2012,  Sarah Palin

    President 2012: Is Sarah Palin Over?


    Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin (2nd R) takes pictures with partygoers as she arrives at the embassy of Italy for an MSNBC after-party following the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington May 1, 2011

    For the 2012 Presidential race, the answer is yes.

    As her poll numbers sink, Republican Party insiders assume she’s unlikely to mount a presidential campaign, the possibility of which used to stoke endless interest in her every Facebook pronouncement. “Her real constituency is the media,” says former John McCain adviser Mike Murphy, who views Palin as a “niche candidate” incapable of winning the nomination. “The media have always overestimated her appeal. They’re drunk with interest in covering her. It’s a partnership—they’re in business together.”

    But the partnership, often fed by her fiery tweets (see chart), is suffering. Between February and April, according to an analysis for NEWSWEEK by General Sentiment, a company that tracks and measures online content, posts involving Palin fell 38.3 percent, to 235,032, over the past 30 days. Social-media mentions dropped in lockstep, down 32 percent over the same period, to 135,421. And the value of all that “free” media dropped roughly by half during this period, from $63 million to $33 million. While it would be foolish to count her out, it is hard to escape the conclusion that her influence has peaked. People close to Palin acknowledge that she has done virtually nothing to lay the groundwork for a campaign. But they don’t see her as toning things down, saying she is busy giving speeches (for as much as $100,000 a pop) and tending to her five kids and her grandchild.

    Pundits will look back and try to explain her 2012 demise but it is really very simple. Palin never grew as a politician, but grew as a media personality.

    And, this is where she will stay unless she either runs and wins a U.S. Senate seat in Alaska or Arizona, where she is rumored to be moving. My best guess is that she will host a talk radio show after her Fox News gig runs its course.

  • Barack Obama,  Day By Day,  Eric Holder

    Day by Day May 8, 2011 – Good, Bad and Ugly



    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    The Obama Administration has mishandled the Mexican drug cartels and securing the Mexico-American border. Yet, the President has White House conferences trying to pander to Hispanics for their support in the upcoming elections.

    As the sun is rising this morning, it appears more and more that the Obama Administration committed an actual, factual act of war against Mexico through sheer incompetence that has left at least one American border patrol agent murdered.

    What if I told you that the Obama Administration’s Justice Department authorized the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (the “ATF”) to rig gun background checks so gun runners could “walk” guns into Mexico after clearing an instant background check at various gun stores in the U.S.?

    What if I told you that the Department of Justice and ATF did this to try to build a picture of Mexican Drug Cartels so the cartels could be taken out?

    What if I told you that the ATF’s authorization of this operation, called by them “Fast and Furious”, corresponded to an increase in gun violence by drug cartels in Mexico?

    What if I told you the Obama Administration never told the Mexican Government — making this a clear act of war under any host of international precedents?

    What if I told you that at least one, and maybe more, American border patrol agents were murdered by guns passed over the border with the permission of the ATF?

    And what if I told you that the Department of Justice and ATF decided to use the gun running they authorized, enabled, and oversaw as evidence in the Obama Administration’s fight to crack down on gun sales in the United States?

    You’d think I was crazy, wouldn’t you? You’d think I had Obama Derangement Syndrome, wouldn’t you?

    I’ll be honest. Had this come from any one of a million different right wing websites, I would be deeply suspicious that there were key details missing in order to paint a picture of an out of control Obama Administration and Eric Holder.

    What if I told you the source of this fantastical story is the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric?

    And, then there is the methamphetamine smuggling from Mexico. Can’t you really say that the Obama administration has been grossly negligent in their handling of border relations and security with Mexico?

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