• Polling,  President 2012

    President 2012 Poll Watch: Obama Now Beating All GOP Contenders in Swing States

    U.S. President Barack Obama holds up a padlock alongside Master Lock’s Senior Vice President Bob Rice as Obama tours the factory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin February 15, 2012

    According to the latest Fox News Poll.

    A new Fox News poll of key battleground states — Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin — shows the same.  

    • Obama leads Romney 47% to 39% – +8
    • Obama tops Santorum 48% to 38% – +10
    • Obama beats Paul 48% to 37% – +11
    • Obama crushes Gingrich 52% to 32% – +20

    Wow have things changed!

    But……

    America feels the economy is a little better and the GOP Presidential candidates are bashing the hell out of themselves – exposing all of their flaws.

    So, really what do you expect?

    I will add one more – the GOP Presidential field is very weak.

  • Dentistry

    New Jersey Dentist Patrick Bamgboye Investigated After Second Child Dies in His Care

    I had a link over at Flap’s Dentistry Blog this morning and this is a truely tragic event.

    Here is an update:

    An Irvington dentist who was disciplined by the state after a 6-year-old girl died during a routine procedure eight years ago is again under investigation following the death of a second child in his care last week.

    Patrick Bamgboye, 64, was still on probation for the earlier incident when 3-year-old Juan Quiej and his mother arrived at Dental Health Associates last Wednesday.

    Juan, who was there to have cavities fixed, was restrained in a cocoon-like papoose to limit his movement and administered a local anesthetic, his mother said.

    Shortly afterward, the boy went limp, his lips turning blue. He had stopped breathing. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

    The death has sparked an investigation by the state Division of Consumer Affairs, the agency that oversees the Board of Dentistry, officials confirmed Tuesday.

    “We need to know what happened and why,” said Thomas Calcagni, the division’s director.

    In addition, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said in a statement her office was working with the Attorney General’s Office to determine if a criminal probe should be launched.

    Then, there was this from a release from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

    We want to share with you the tragic news of the death of a three-year-old boy in New Jersey.  New Jersey officials are investigating dentist and AAPD & ADA member, Dr. Patrick Bamgboye, after the child died in his care while restrained and under local anesthetic for a routine cavity-filling procedure. Dr. Bamgboye was still on probation following a suspension by the Board of Dentistry for the death of a six-year-old girl in 2004.  

    Similar to the three-year old boy, the six-year old girl had been placed in a papoose and given a local anesthetic, and stopped breathing during the procedure. But a medical examiner determined that she had died of natural causes because she suffered from several serious medical conditions, including cerebral palsy.  The Board of Dentistry investigated her death and filed a complaint against Bamgboye in 2008.  An administrative law judge in 2010 found no gross negligence, but the board suspended Bamgboye for three months in January last year and placed him on probation for an additional 21 months. The Division of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the Board of Dentistry, is investigating. The Essex County prosecutor’s office is reviewing the case with the attorney general’s office to determine whether a criminal investigation is warranted.

    Stay tuned as the investigation proceeds.

  • Barbara Boxer,  Catholic Church,  Obamacare

    Sen Barbara Boxer Video: Insurance Rights TRUMP Religious Rights

    All, I can say is wow!

    It is all about the government and ObamaCare mandates for Boxer and Al Sharpton. Do as WE say, because we (the government) know what is best for you.

    Maybe Senator Boxer would like to tell me where the right to buy health insurance is located in the Constitution?

    Oh yeah, the religious one is in the first amendment, remember Senator?

    Yet, Democrat U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid will provide cover for pro-life, Catholic Senators who want to vote NO on the Blunt amendment.

  • Polling,  President 2012

    President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Santorum 39% Vs. Romney 27% Vs. Gingrich 15% Vs. Paul 10%

    Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum

    According to the latest Rasmussen Poll.

    Follow the bouncing ball. Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum has now bounced to a 12-point lead over Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

    The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary Voters finds Santorum with 39% support to the former Massachusetts governor’s 27%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich follows from a distance with 15% of the vote, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul runs last with 10%. Three percent (3%) like some other candidate in the race, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

    This race is almost becoming interesting.

    But, will Romney go “NUCLEAR” against Santorum and allow Gingrich to regain the anti-Romney mantle?

  • Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: February 15, 2012

    These are my links for February 14th through February 15th:

    • How Likely Is a Brokered Convention? – Last week, I wrote that a path to a brokered convention was beginning to emerge in the Republican electorate. I was purposely vague as to how likely such an occurrence is. I called the path “very narrow” and said it is “beginning to emerge,” outlining the various contingencies required. But the truth is, at this point, the entire endeavor is pretty speculative; we won’t really know how viable the path is until after Super Tuesday.

      But with polls now showing Rick Santorum running well in Michigan — a key state if he really is going to dominate in the Midwest — the topic is worth revisiting. Because if Santorum can win Michigan and Mitt Romney can take Arizona without knocking Newt Gingrich into irrelevance, then a brokered convention becomes much more likely.

    • Department of Home-Lunch Security – By Mark Steyn – The home-made lunch having been ruled illegal by officials*, the preschooler was given a federally-approved lunch, for which her mother has been sent a bill. The girl didn’t care for the substitute lunch, ate only the three chicken nuggets, and left everything else on her tray untouched. It may not have worked out all that nutritious for her, but at least it’s compliant with DCDEE/DHHS/USDA paperwork, and that’s what matters.
    • The GOP’s emerging Bob Dole problem – A flood of new data points to one clear conclusion: At least for now, President Obama and his Republican opponents are heading in opposite directions.

      A CBS News/New York Times poll released last night puts Obama’s approval rating at 50 percent — his best performance in that survey since the spring of 2010 (not counting last May’s brief bin Laden bounce). The poll also shows Obama enjoying his best score since the summer of ’10 on his handling of the economy and his best score since at least late 2009 (when the question was first asked) on job creation, and finds voters voters more optimistic than they’ve been in nearly two years on the overall direction of the economy.

    • Why Republicans Don’t Trust Romney – Why can’t Mitt Romney make the sale to conservatives? And why is Rick Santorum, the ultimate long shot at the start of this race, now in a position to be a viable alternative?

      Mitt Romney used the word conservative and conservatism more than two dozen times, according to the Washington Post’s Dan Balz , in his speech last week at the CPAC convention. That rhetoric is quite different from ten years ago when he was running for Governor of Massachusetts. 

      He stated during that campaign that he was “not a partisan Republican” but rather a “moderate” with “progressive” views.” 

    • Michael Boskin: Washington’s Knack for Picking Losers – WSJ.com
    • Rivkin and Whelan: Birth-Control Mandate—Unconstitutional and Illegal – WSJ.com
    • Romney Surrogate Attacks Santorum for Voting the Same Way He Did – Mitt Romney’s campaign is now targeting GOP rival Rick Santorum as a big-spending Washington insider. On a conference call Tuesday afternoon, former Missouri senator and Romney surrogate Jim Talent criticized Santorum’s support for expanding government spending, including his vote for the Medicare Part D in 2003—a program for which Talent himself voted.

      “Senator Santorum is running in Missouri as a trusted and comprehensive conservative,” Talent said. “He certainly has been outspoken on social issues, and we honor his record in that regard, but when you get outside those issues into fiscal, spending, regulatory issues, his record shows that he’s been in the liberal wing of the Republican party.”

      Talent continued, pointing to a few votes that show Santorum’s “liberal” spending record. “I want to note that Senator Santorum voted for No Child Left Behind, which was a big expansion of federal power over local education,” he said. “He voted for Medicare Part D, a big expansion of a federal entitlement.”

    • President 2012 Video: Romney Super PAC Hits Rick Santorum in Michigan, Arizona and Ohio | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 Video: Romney Super PAC Hits Rick Santorum in Michigan, Arizona and Ohio
    • Energy Conversion Devices files for bankruptcy as solar energy lags – In the latest setback for the solar energy industry, Auburn Hills-based Energy Conversion Devices said today that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and intends to sell its assets, including its main subsidiary United Solar Ovonic.

      “We firmly believe there is a strong and sustainable commercial market for Uni-Solar products,” Julian Hawkins, ECD’s CEO and president, said in a statement. “However our current capital structure and legacy costs are preventing USO from making the investments necessary for the future of the business without restructuring through the bankruptcy process.”

      The maker of solar roofing materials, which will continue to operate, employs 750 workers, 60% of them in Michigan. They will remain active employees during the sales process though some have been furloughed, said company spokesman Michael Schostak.

      ECD also said it has sold its Ovonic Battery Co. to BASF Corp. for $58 million in cash before transaction fees and other factors. The battery subsidiary’s 35 employees have been hired by BASF.

    • Cold Hands During Runs | Ask the Sports Doc – RT @runnersworld: What to do about cold hands during a run: #runningtips
    • Nuking our Nukes – Obama and Cutting America’s Nuclear Forces – President Obama has ordered the Pentagon to consider cutting U.S. strategic nuclear forces to as low as 300 deployed warheads—below the number believed to be in China’s arsenal and far fewer than current Russian strategic warhead stocks.

      Pentagon and military planners were asked to develop three force levels for the U.S. arsenal of deployed strategic nuclear warheads: a force of 1,100 to 1,000 warheads; a second scenario of between 700 and 800 warheads; and the lowest level of between 300 and 400 warheads.

      A congressional official said no president in the past ever told the Pentagon to conduct a review based on specific numbers of warheads.

      “In the past, the way it worked was, ‘tell me what the world is like and then tell me what the force should be,’” the official said. “That is not happening in this review.”

      The plan for a radical cut in warheads is contained in a review of nuclear weapons ordered by the president in an August directive. The review called the Nuclear Posture Review Implementation Study is nearing completion and could be presented to the president as early as next month.

    • US weighing steep nuclear arms cuts – The Obama administration is weighing options for sharp new cuts to the U.S. nuclear force, including a reduction of up to 80 percent in the number of deployed weapons, The Associated Press has learned.

      Even the most modest option now under consideration would be an historic and politically bold disarmament step in a presidential election year, although the plan is in line with President Barack Obama’s 2009 pledge to pursue the elimination of nuclear weapons.

    • Politico reporter Ben Smith withheld information about liberal Media Matters For America – About a year ago, the organization Media Matters For America gave Politico reporter Ben Smith a 2010 planning memo for a profile he was writing on the liberal advocacy group.

      But Smith curiously withheld key parts of the 89-page document when he published his story, “Media Matters’ war against Fox,” in March 2011.

      The Daily Caller became aware of this after obtaining the same document while reporting the series “Inside Media Matters,” which debuted here late Sunday night.

      Smith made no mention of Media Matters targeting organizations other than Fox News, such as the libertarian Cato Institute and the conservative Heritage Foundation. Nor does he reveal that, according to the memo, Media Matters was intent on researching Republican political figures like Republican former U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina and Republican Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, and the prominent libertarian political donor Peter Thiel.

      “An opposition research team will serve to hold Thiel and others like him accountable,” the memo states. Smith made no mention of such efforts in his story.

      He also failed to disclose Media Matters’ interest in marginalizing political news websites including Newsmax and Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government, saying only that the organization had narrowed its focus to “Fox and a handful of conservative websites.”

    • Peggy Noonan Schools Mika Brzezinski on Obama Contraception Mandate During ‘Morning Joe’ Panel Discussion | Video | TheBlaze.com – Peggy Noonan Schools Mika Brzezinski on Obama ‘Mischievously’ Misinforming Public About Contraceptives
    • Fox News ‘course correction’ rankles some – Keach Hagey – POLITICO.com – Fox News ‘course correction’ rankles some
    • President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Is Mitt Romney Electable? | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Is Mitt Romney Electable?
    • Poll Watch: 46 Per Cent of Catholics Approve of President Obama | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Poll Watch: 46 Per Cent of Catholics Approve of President Obama
    • Poll Watch: 59 Per Cent of Catholics Disapprove of President Obama | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Poll Watch: 59 Per Cent of Catholics Disapprove of President Obama
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: California Legislature Pushes Dentistry For All Socialism – California Legislature Pushes Dentistry For All Socialism
    • (404) http://t.co/x9C – RT @ppppolls: Gingrich would be the biggest GOP general election disaster trailing Obama 52-40, incl. 19 pts with indys: …
    • AD-38: Rep Buck McKeon’s Staff Says Memo Leak Was a Computer HACK » Flap’s California Blog – AD-38: Rep Buck McKeon’s Staff Says Memo Leak Was a Computer HACK
    • Flap’s California Morning Collection: February 14, 2012 » Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Morning Collection: February 14, 2012
    • The Morning Flap: February 14, 2012 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: February 14, 2012
  • Polling,  President 2012

    President 2012 Poll Watch: Obama Handling All GOP Contenders



    According to the latest CBS News Poll.

    President Obama holds a significant lead over each of his potential Republican opponents in the general election, according to a poll released Tuesday by CBS News and the New York Times. That includes Mitt Romney, who was even with Mr. Obama last month.

    The new survey shows the president leading Romney by six points, 48 percent to 42 percent, among registered voters. Last month, the two men were tied at 45 percent each.

    Mr. Obama’s lead over former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who has surged to a lead in national polls, is eight points: 49 percent to 41 percent.

    Romney’s drop in support against the president is attributable to a shift among independents. Last month, independents favored the former Massachusetts governor by eight points over Mr. Obama. In the new survey, Mr. Obama holds the edge, leading Romney among independents by nine points.

    The president holds double-digit leads over the other two GOP candidates in the race, Rep. Ron Paul and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Mr. Obama leads Paul 50 percent to 39 percent – an 11 point margin – and he leads Gingrich 54 percent to 36 percent, a difference of 18 points.

    This is not surprising.

    The economy and unemployment numbers are getting a little better, it is almost Spring and Americans are feeling more optimistic about the future. So, why not give Obama the benefit of the doubt?

    Look at the alternatives on the GOP side = pretty slim pickin’s.

    Unless some other GOP candidates emerge, perhaps from a “brokered” convention, it will be a long summer and fall for the Republican Party.

  • Twitter

    @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-02-15

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