• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 2nd through August 4th

    These are my links for August 2nd through August 4th:

  • Federal Aviation Administration,  Harry Reid

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Announces Temporary End to Federal Aviation Administration Furloughs

    Work on this air traffic control tower under construction has been
    stopped Tuesday, July 26, 2011, at the Oakland International Airport in
    Oakland, Calif. Since a partial shutdown of the FAA took effect Friday,
    the agency has furloughed nearly 4,000 workers, stopped the processing
    of about $2.5 billion in airport construction grants, and issued stop
    work orders to construction and other contractors on more than 150
    projects, from airport towers to runway safety lights

    This could have been done weeks ago and people could have been working.

    The Senate will pass the House’s bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration through September to end the week-and-a-half-long partial shutdown of the agency, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Thursday.

    Under a deal Reid made with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Senate will pass the House bill that includes cuts to rural flight service to airports in Nevada, West Virginia and Montana. But Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will use his authority to waive the airports from the cuts, ending a 13-day impasse that left 4,000 FAA employees and about 70,000 construction employees out of work.

    Reid said the deal did not solve the issues that led to the partial shutdown of the FAA, but he said those can be dealt with another day.

    “I am pleased to announce that we have been able to broker a bipartisan compromise between the House and the Senate to put 74,000 transportation and construction workers back to work,” Reid said in a statement released by his office. “This agreement does not resolve the important differences that still remain. But I believe we should keep Americans working while Congress settles its differences, and this agreement will do exactly that.”

    But, the White House was obstinate, President Obama was playing around giving birthday fundraising speeches in Chicago and folks realized they were not working because of what the White House wanted. Hence, the Obama Administration got caught with their pro-labor ideology exposed again.

    The House and Senate passed a 20th short-term extension of FAA funding in May when the chambers both passed versions of the longer-term bills that were drastically different. The House version included provisions that would undo changes to labor rules that were adopted by the National Mediation Board to make it easier for railroad and airline workers to unionize.

    The chambers passed an extension through July 22 when President Obama issued a veto threat of the larger bill.

    But as July 22 approached, House leaders added a provision to what would have been a 21st extension that cut subsidies for rural flight service to airports in Nevada, West Virginia and Montana. Noting the airports were in the districts of the Senate Majority Leader Reid, Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Democrats accused Republicans of retaliating politically for the Senate’s objection to the labor provision.

    The partial shutdown of the FAA, which last thirteen days, was estimated to have cost the federal government $30 million per day because the agency was not authorized to collect taxes that would normally be paid on airline ticket sales.

    Transportation observers estimate the shutdown has also placed about 70,000 construction workers out of work because about 200 airport construction projects have been placed on hold.

  • Barack Obama,  President 2012

    President 2012 Video: Obama: I Didn’t Say Change We Can Believe in Tomorrow

    U.S. President Barack Obama celebrates his 50th birthday with a star-studded fundraiser in Chicago, featuring Jennifer Hudson.

    How about ever?

    “It’s been a long, tough journey. But we have made some incredible strides together. Yes, we have. But the thing that we all ought to remember is that as much as good as we have done, precisely because the challenges were so daunting, precisely because we we were inheriting so many challenges, that we’re not even halfway there yet. When I said ‘change we can believe in’ I didn’t say ‘change we can believe in tomorrow.’ Not change we can believe in next week. We knew this was going to take time because we’ve got this big, messy, tough democracy,”

    Unbelievable and Obama continues to blame President Bush.

    Good luck with that re-election effort and is there any wonder why he is way down in the polls?

  • Barack Obama,  Mitt Romney,  Polling,  President 2012

    President 2012 Poll Watch: Democratic Insiders Say Mitt Romney is Obama’s Main Threat



    According to the latest National Journal Democratic Insiders Poll.

    With the economy sputtering, Democratic political operatives view former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as the main Republican threat to President Obama’s reelection, according to this week’s National Journal Political Insiders Poll.

    Democratic Insiders see Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has not yet declared whether or not he will run for president, as the second strongest against Obama. A separate poll of Republican insiders, released Thursday, also showed Perry as Romney’s main GOP challenger.

    Just two months ago, Democratic Insiders also saw Romney as the lead GOP challenger for Obama to overcome, but today, they sound like that hurdle is considerably higher. “He is the best counter to Obama,” said one Democratic Insider of the former Massachusetts governor. “He is an executive while Obama was a legislator. Romney ran a company–Obama never made a payroll. Romney created jobs–unemployment is 9 percent-plus under Obama.” Echoed another, “Strong business background in a bad economy is a plus for him, as is the Massachusetts health care plan in a general election.” Added a third: “He forces Obama to defend the Democratic base states, and will be able to talk about the economy better than any other Republican.”

    Democrats also thought Romney had gained experience from his unsuccessful run for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination and that he could win over swing voters, unlike some of his Republican rivals. “Has run before, looks presidential and unlike others not a total turn off to Dems and independents,” observed a Democratic Insider. “He’s got economic credibility, he seems smart, he has a bit of polish and he doesn’t seem like a complete loon,” said another Democrat. “None of the others have that whole package.

    I have to agree that Mitt Romney at present looks like the most formidable to President Obama’s re-election. If he can get by the narrative he outsourced jobs to foreign countries and that RomneyCare is the same as ObamaCare he will win on the poor economy alone.

    Also, if he chooses wisely a Vice Presidential running mate, like Rick Perry, Marco Rubio or Michele Bachmann who will reassure the Tea Party, he will have a tremendous advantage over Vice President Joe Biden.

    Still, most Democrats are not taking much for granted. “With Obama’s approval rating at 40 percent and seemingly insensitive to jobs, Romney and either Bachmann or [Sen. Marco] Rubio [of Florida] would be [a] formidable [ticket].” Another said of Romney, “It looks like he’s got the strongest campaign, he’s raised the most money, and he’s not part of the current morass in Washington.”

  • John McCain,  John Weaver,  Jon Huntsman

    President 2012: Does Jon Huntsman Have No Choice But to Dump John Weaver?

    +++++Update+++++

    John McCain and John Weaver

    This is an updated post from this morning and I ask the question, especially after this piece from Matt Lewis.

    Jonathan Martin’s terrific piece on the unraveling of Jon Huntsman’s presidential campaign has garnered deserved attention. But one quote — from Huntsman’s long-time confidant David Fischer regarding chief strategist John Weaver — struck me as especially noteworthy.

    Fischer said that one of the reasons he was going public with his story was because, “Weaver’s history in past campaigns is when they don’t work out, for whatever reason, he attacks the candidate.”

    Put in historical context, Fischer’s worries may not be absurd.

    Read it all and then answer the question: Does Jon Huntsman Have No Choice But to Dump John Weaver?

  • Barack Obama,  Mitt Romney,  Polling,  President 2012,  Rick Perry

    President 2012 Florida Poll Watch: Obama 44% Vs. Romney 44%

    According to the latest Quinnipiac Poll.

     President Barack Obama is losing support among Florida voters, especially among independents, a poll released Thursday shows.

    Fifty percent of voters surveyed randomly by landline telephone between July 27-Aug. 2 by Quinnipiac (Conn.) University said Obama would not deserve a second term in the election were held today. However, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the only announced Republican candidate with enough support in the poll to give the president a strong challenge. Both men were favored by 44 percent of those questioned.

    In a matchup against Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to get into the race for the GOP presidential nomination, Obama was favored 44 percent to 39 percent.

    Florida with 29 Electoral College votes is one of the key battleground states that the GOP must win in order to deny President Obama re-election. So far, so good for Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. The President against both men is below the magic 50 per cent mark.

    Remember Obama beat John McCain in Florida by three points in the 2008 Presidential race and without Florida’s EC votes, Obama has a reduced path to re-election. 270 votes are needed to win.

    The president’s popularity dipped slightly in Quinnipiac’s survey of 743 voters after the long, acrimonious battle on the debt ceiling. His negative rating increased from 50 percent to 51 percent despite most respondents, 36 percent, saying he acted in their best interests during the lengthy debate compared to 32 percent for Republican House Speaker John Boehner and 12 percent for Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

    Overall, 42 percent said the president deserves re-election.

    Obama’s job approval rating in Florida was 44 percent compared to 51 percent who disapproved, a drop from a 51-43 favorable rating he enjoyed in a May survey by Quinnipiac shortly after U.S. Navy SEALs killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

  • Gay Marriage,  Mitt Romney,  President 2012

    President 2012: Mitt Romney Signs National Organization of Marriage Pledge

    Not really a surprise since the LDS Church (Mormon) of which Mitt is a member was very much involved in California marriage issues with California’s Proposition 8.

    But, it does set up a contrast with President Obama (if Romney receives the GOP nomination) who has reversed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military and who has said to be “evolving” on the Gay Marriage issue – whatever that means.

    Watch the gay community pressure Obama to come out in favor of gay marriage, which if he does will ruin him with his African American and Hispanic political bases.

    Mitt Romney gains here with the conservative southern GOP base and with GOP Evangelicals who believe marriage should be between one man and one woman.

  • Mitt Romney,  Polling,  President 2012,  Rick Perry

    President 2012 Poll Watch: GOP Insiders Like Romney and Perry



    According to the National Journal Poll.

    For five consecutive Political Insiders Polls dating back to January, 2010, Romney has held onto his first-place ranking in this survey. And his most recent rating is the highest score he’s achieved in any of the surveys. But as some prospective Republican presidential contenders decided not to make the race–like governors Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Mitch Daniels of Indiana–and GOP White House hopefuls like former governors Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman of Utah have slipped, Perry has rocketed into contention, even though he has yet to declare he’s a candidate.

    Pawlenty is ranked as the third leading contender for the nomination, but his fellow Minnesotan, Rep. Michele Bachmann is breathing down his neck in fourth place in the rankings. Two months ago Pawlenty was ranked second and his Insiders Index ranking was more than five times Bachmann’s score. The intervening CNN New Hampshire Republican presidential debate where Bachmann showed passion and Pawlenty punted an opportunity to challenge Romney on health care, apparently made a big impression on Republican Insiders in this relatively fluid contest. Huntsman rounds out the top-five.

    At the same time, some of the biggest names in the GOP have now become afterthoughts to lead the party in 2012: former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who remains a popular figure among conservative Republicans, has tumbled to eighth spot in the GOP Insiders ranking. And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the architect of the party’s 1994 takeover of the House, has fallen out of the top-ten rankings altogether.

    An interesting poll but meaningless, nonetheless since most of these “insiders” work in the business so to speak and have their own favs.

    Rick Perry has rocketed to second place and is fast becoming the anti-Romney candidate and he has not even formally announced his candidacy. I think you are possibly looking at the ticket in these two, depending on if Romney can beat Perry in Florida and on Super Tuesday.

    I don’t understand how anyone can rate Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman any higher than Ron Paul. None of them are going anywhere and Pawlenty has just pulled his ads from Iowa – just before the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll. Apparently, he is short on campaign cash.

    So, there you have it: Romney Vs. Perry or Romney and Perry.

  • Polling,  Unemployment Rate

    Poll Watch: U.S. Unemployment Rate Unchanged in July – 8.8%



    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    U.S. unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, is at 8.8% at the end of July, showing essentially no change from June 2011 (8.7%) or July a year ago (8.9%).

    Underemployment Shows Modest Improvement

    Underemployment, a measure that combines the percentage of unemployed with the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work, is at 18.0% at the end of July. This improvement from 18.3% at the end of last month and 18.4% at the end of July 2010 is largely the result of the July decline in the number of part-time workers wanting full-time work.

    The chart:

    I find it interesting that Chicago Mayor and former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel this morning is attacking Mitt Romney for his jobs record in Massachusetts while he was governor. With this jobs record, President Obama could not be re-elected to any office. Voters simply don’t care what Romney did or did not do years ago, but want to know what Obama is doing NOW.

    The Gallup Poll unemployment rate is measured differently than the government’s which will be released tomorrow. Stay tuned for that number.

    The lack of improvement in year-over-year U.S. unemployment is consistent with the revised GDP results showing anemic economic growth at best during the first half of 2011. The U.S. economy simply has not been growing fast enough to create the number of new jobs necessary to significantly reduce the unemployment rate.

    However, there are some bright spots in the jobs arena. Gallup finds unemployment improved among those aged 50 to 64 and among college graduates when compared with a year ago. Similarly, the unemployment situation in the East, West, and Midwest shows modest improvement over last year, while that in the South has deteriorated.

    In the more immediate term, the decrease in the number of people working part-time but looking for full-time work suggests employers may be putting more part-time employees in full-time jobs, at least for the back-to-school sales period. This good news is by comparison not only to last month, but also to last year.

    Overall, Gallup’s most recent modeling of the jobs situation, including unemployment and job creation, suggests that the government on Friday is likely to report no change in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in July from June. While this modeling is based on the government’s mid-month reference week, Gallup’s data show that the weak jobs trend continued even during the last half of the month. If the government report picks up some of these late-month results, the official U.S. unemployment rate could actually increase, depending on how the government applies its seasonal adjustments.