Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

The Morning Flap: October 1, 2012

Obama and Romney campaigningThese are my links for September 27th through October 1st:

  • Battleground Poll: Race still tight – James Hohmann – POLITICO.com– The presidential race is tight enough nationally that a strong performance in Wednesday’s debate by Mitt Romney could put him in the lead.A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll of likely voters shows President Barack Obama ahead 49 percent to 47 percent, a point closer than a week ago and still within the margin of error.Romney now leads by 4 points among independents, up slightly from a week ago. The Republican must overperform with that group to make up for the near monolithic support of African-Americans for Obama, as well as the huge Democratic advantage among Latinos and women.
    The head-to-head numbers mostly held steady through the past two weeks.

    “The basic underpinnings of this race are just not changing, and that’s what’s going to keep this a very close race,” said Republican pollster Ed Goeas of the Tarrance Group, who helped conduct the bipartisan poll.
    A solid 46 percent say they will vote to reelect Obama and 42 percent say firmly they’ll vote to replace him. Just 9 percent say they’ll consider someone else.
    “We’ve never had a debate where the electorate was this polarized,” said Celinda Lake, the Democratic pollster who helped conduct the poll. “There’s a real question about how many voters are left to move in the debate.”
    Obama’s overall job approval stands at 49 percent, with an identical number of respondents disapproving. The president’s personal favorability slipped to 50 percent, with 47 percent viewing him unfavorably.

  • California Prison reforms’ results mixed after year– One year after Gov. Jerry Brown’s prison realignment program took effect, there is one thing everyone can agree on: California has a smaller prison population.But there is a broad difference of opinion about whether the plan, which handed California’s 58 counties responsibility for the incarceration and oversight of thousands of criminals, has made communities safer or reduced the number of criminals who re-offend, and there is no statewide data on those outcomes.California implemented realignment on Oct. 1, 2011, largely to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court order demanding that the state reduce the population of inmates in its overcrowded prisons. Today, the state has about 133,000 prison inmates, 27,000 fewer than it did a year ago.

    “It’s on schedule, and it’s in practice in all 58 counties, which are quite diverse,” Brown said in a phone interview last week. “I think all in all, we made a solid transition, and thank God for the fact we had the realignment plan – or we would have been forced by judges to let felons out of prison or to build new cells, which we can ill afford.”

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger discusses affair in interview– Arnold Schwarzenegger said he realized he was the father of his housekeeper’s child when the boy reached age 7 or 8 and the resemblance became apparent.Although he never discussed the matter with the boy’s mother, who kept the child’s paternity secret while continuing to work in the home of Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, he began secretly sending the woman extra money to help care for his son.Those details, revealed during an interview with CBS News’ Lesley Stahl on “60 Minutes” on Sunday, were the former governor’s first public comments on the affair that grabbed headlines and destroyed his marriage last year. They came a day before the release of Schwarzenegger’s new memoir, which is expected to delve into details of his relationship with Mildred Baena and their son, Joseph.
  • Obama Leads on Expectations – But the Race Itself Stays Close– Registered voters by 2-1 think Barack Obama will win the upcoming presidential debates and go on to prevail in the November election. But expectations aside, the race remains close, with strengths and vulnerabilities for both candidates in the campaign ahead.After a challenging period for Romney, registered voters by 63-31 percent expect Obama to win re-election, his widest advantage in expectations in ABC News/Washington Post polls to date. A year ago, in sharp contrast, Americans by an 18-point margin thought he’d lose.Potential voters by a similar 56-29 percent also expect Obama to win the debates beginning Wednesday night in Denver – a result that ratchets up the pressure on the president to perform, leaving Romney, whatever his difficulties, greater opportunity to exceed expectations.

    The contest between them, regardless, is far closer than those prognostications would suggest. Registered voters in this survey, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, divide by 49-44 percent between Obama and Romney, with the race a virtual tie, 49-47 percent, among those most likely to vote.

  • Georgia College student faces deportation to England on 21st birthday, leaving family behind– Lauren Bell calls America home.She’s lived a decade in Georgia, yet hasn’t picked up a Southern drawl. But the British accent she brought over as an 11-year-old is gone — except for when she drops the occasional foreign-sounding word on friends.Bell, a junior at Georgia College & State University, and her family came from Great Britain in 2003 when her father accepted a job in Sparta. They settled in the quiet antebellum town of Madison, bought a house and started paying taxes.

    Now, Bell faces deportation in January, when she turns 21 and will no longer be considered a dependent. She has a few relatives overseas, but her parents and younger sister, 17-year-old Emily, are here.

    The family applied for a green card, which grants permanent residence, for Lauren in 2004, but her father says immigration officials rejected it in its final stages. Apparently they did not care for the wording in his employer’s original “help wanted” ad

  • California allows driver’s licenses for young undocumented immigrants– oung undocumented immigrants will be able to receive California driver’s licenses under legislation Gov. Jerry Brown signed on Sunday.As many as 350,000 undocumented immigrants in California may be eligible for the Obama administration program, which waives the threat of deportation for two years for those who have no criminal record.According to The Times’ Patrick McGreevy:

    Young people would qualify if they are accepted by a federal program giving work permits to those who came to this country before they were 16 and are now 30 or younger.

    Brown spokesman Gil Duran said that by issuing the driver’s licenses, the state will merely be adhering to the new federal rules imposed by the White House.

  • Obama 49% vs. Romney 47% in tight race nationally as first debate looms– On the eve of their first presidential debate, President Obama leads or is at parity with Mitt Romney on virtually every major issue and attribute in what remains a competitive general election, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.The new survey also highlights an emerging dynamic: the disparity between the state of the race nationally and in battleground states, where campaigning and advertising by the two candidates have been most intense and where the election will be decided.
  • Ross Perot: No 2012 endorsement – warns of fiscal calamity– Ross Perot, the billionaire who shook up the 1992 presidential campaign, has largely remained silent since his emergence on the nation’s political stage nearly two decades ago and as he emerges from the shadows (in part to drum up interest in his forthcoming autobiography) he’s remaining silent about one more thing: The current top candidates running for office.Pressed by USA Today’s Richard Wolf to endorse a candidate, Perot declined, despite the fact that “members of his family have donated almost exclusively to Republicans in recent years.”
  • Poll: Obama 49 vs. Romney 47 Race Remains Tight, But Debates Loom Large– President Obama remains in a virtual tie with Mitt Romney in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll released early Monday, but the incumbent has ticked up on many measures, including earning his highest approval rating for handling the economy in more than two years.Wednesday’s debate, however, provides opportunities and potential pitfalls for both candidates, the poll shows, with voters saying by a nearly 2-to-1 margin that Obama will win the series of three debates.Obama leads Romney among likely voters, 49 percent to 47 percent, the poll shows. Two percent prefer neither candidate, and just 1 percent are undecided. The result is virtually unchanged from the previous ABC News/Washington Post poll, conducted immediately after the two party conventions, which showed Obama leading, 49 percent to 48 percent.
  • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-10-01 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-10-01 #tcot
  • Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-30 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-30
  • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-30 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-30 #tcot
  • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-29 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-29 #tcot
  • Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner – foursquare – 8 miles done in Venice even with Carmaggedon. Now, some food and off to San Diego. (@ Ronnie’s Diner)
  • Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-29 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-29
  • Biden promotes free colonoscopies to seniors in Florida | WashingtonExaminer.com – Biden promotes free colonoscopies to seniors in Florida | #tcot
  • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Kaleida Health Agrees to $1.6 Million Settlement in Fraudulent Dental Medicaid Claims – Kaleida Health Agrees to $1.6 Million Settlement in Fraudulent Dental Medicaid Claims
  • Biden promotes free colonoscopies to seniors in Florida | WashingtonExaminer.com – Biden promotes free colonoscopies to seniors in Florida | #tcot
  • Biden promotes free colonoscopies to seniors in Florida | WashingtonExaminer.com – Hey Joe! I don’t want a “FREE” colonoscopy, thank you. I will pay for my own. #tcot
  • Schwarzenegger calls affair with housekeeper ‘stupidest thing I’ve done’ – latimes.com – Stupid on steroids —> RT @LATPoliticsCA: Schwarzenegger calls affair with housekeeper ‘stupidest thing I’ve done’
  • Memo to Mitt Romney: Go Large or Go Home – Flap’s Blog – Memo to Mitt Romney: Go Large or Go Home #tcot
  • Charles Krauthammer: Go large, Mitt– In mid-September 2008, Lehman Brothers collapsed and the bottom fell out of the financial system. Barack Obama handled it coolly. John McCain did not. Obama won the presidency. (Given the country’s condition, he would have won anyway. But this sealed it.)Four years later, mid-September 2012, the U.S. mission in Benghazi went up in flames, as did Obama’s entire Middle East policy of apology and accommodation. Obama once again played it cool, effectively ignoring the attack and the region-wide American humiliation. “Bumps in the road,” he said. Nodding tamely were the mainstream media, who would have rained a week of vitriol on Mitt Romney had he so casually dismissed the murder of a U.S. ambassador, the raising of the black Salafist flag over four U.S. embassies and the epidemic of virulent anti-American demonstrations from Tunisia to Sri Lanka (!) to Indonesia.
  • Day By Day September 28, 2012 – Defaults are on DeLeft – Flap’s Blog – Day By Day September 28, 2012 – Defaults are on DeLeft #tcot
  • USC – LA Times Poll: California Proposition 30 Not Winning Hearts – USC – LA Times Poll: California Proposition 30 Not Winning Hearts and Minds
  • California: AFSCME Hits Dan Lungren, Chamber Slams Ami Bera | At the Races – RT @rollcall: California: AFSCME Hits Lungren, Chamber Slams Bera: via @KyleTrygstad #CA7 #tcot
  • Florida: New Allen West Ad Blasts Patrick Murphy for Arrest | At the Races – Brutal is too kind RT @HotlineReid Wow, that Allen West ad is just brutal. Mug shot and all — #tcot
  • California business leakage is a bummer – Katy Grimes: The word ‘leakage’ is the new politically correct term used by legislators, the Governor, bureaucrats and the California Air Resources Board to describe what happens when California businesses leave the state because of tax increases and stupendous regulations… as if any of them know what it means for a business to make the difficult decision to close a location, terminate hundreds of employees, and move a business.
  • Romney Needs a Game Changer – Sarah Palin to replace Mitt in debates? RT @politicalwire Romney needs a game changer, soon… #tcot
  • Quote of the Day – RT @politicalwire McCaskill on Akin: “I mean, this is somebody who kind of makes Michele Bachmann look like a hippie.”
  • Kansas State’s Obamacare vision, dental mandate in flux – Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger says pediatric dental and vision care coverage may be most affected by Gov. Sam Brownback’s decision not to adopt her agency’s recommendations for state health care exchange standards. The coverage standards, or benchmarks, for the exchanges are part of the federal health care reform law spearheaded by President Barack Obama and commonly called “Obamacare.” As expected, Brownback declined to sign off on Praeger’s recommendations this week, saying he won’t move to implement the federal law that has been the subject of withering criticism from him and other conservatives. “The people of Kansas have spoken clearly on this issue in two elections,” Sherriene Jones-Sontag, Brownback’s spokeswoman, said this week. “They know the Affordable Care Act would mean higher costs and fewer jobs. As the governor has said, his administration will not make any decisions regarding the implementation of Obamacare until after the November elections.”
  • USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll: Support for Governor’s Tax Initiative Continues to Erode > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences – 54 percent of #CAvoters support Prop. 30 in latest USC Dornsife/LA Times Poll:
  • Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-28 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-28
  • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-28 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-09-28 #tcot
  • What About California’s Business Climate? – Flap’s California Blog – What About California’s Business Climate?
  • Vote Obama and Get Your Free Phone – Flap’s Blog – Vote Obama and Get Your Free Phone #tcot
  • California Proposition 37 Up in Polls, But… – Flap’s Blog – California Proposition 37 Up in Polls, But… #tcot
  • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Virigina Dentist Tran Vu Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Insurance Fraud – Virigina Dentist Tran Vu Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Insurance Fraud
  • Atwater, Calif. rushing for budget fixes to avoid bankruptcy
    | Reuters
    – Another California City = Atwater facing the possibility of bankruptcy #tcot #catcot
  • CA-26: Tony Strickland and Julia Brownley to Debate Next Tuesday – CA-26: Tony Strickland and Julia Brownley to Debate Next Tuesday #tcot
  • Is There Any Doubt that Hillary Clinton Will Run for President? – Is There Any Doubt that Hillary Clinton Will Run for President? #tcot
  • Obama ducks meeting with ‘Bibi’; Clinton to meet with Israel’s Netanyahu – Washington Times – Obama ducks meeting with ‘Bibi’; Clinton to meet with Israel’s Netanyahu #tcot
  • Obama ducks meeting with ‘Bibi’; Clinton to meet with Israel’s Netanyahu– The State Department confirmed late Wednesday that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet in New York on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he delivers a speech to the U.N. General Assembly likely to focus heavily on the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.The meeting, which arrives amid heightened concern in Washington about the possibility that Israel is preparing a pre-emptive military strike against Iran, rounds out a week in which Mrs. Clinton has taken the lead for the Obama administration in connecting face to face with Middle Eastern leaders after the widespread anti-U.S. demonstrations that swept the region.While past U.S. presidential election years have seen incumbents from both sides of the isle avoid the hectic schedule — and sensitive politics — associated with such high-level U.N. meetings, Mr. Obama has faced harsh criticism for opting to personally avoid them this week.

    In his place, Mrs. Clinton has met with, among others, Presidents Mohammed Morsi of Egypt, Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and Mohamed Magariaf of Libya — three nations in which the anti-U.S. demonstrations tied to the recent YouTube clip denigrating Islam’s Prophet Mohammad were the most fierce this month.

    While Mr. Obama gave a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Republican critics and several media outlets have pounced on Mr. Obama’s decision to avoid the face-to-face meetings with other leaders since then.

  • Untitled (http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/world/africa/clinton-cites-clear-link-between-al-qaeda-and-attack-in-libya.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=cfea520aQ2FPrTQ2BPx-Q2BP222P9Q2BejPQ2ArSvQ20rrQ2BQ24PQ24IQ60Q24PIQ2FPQ24Q23P2rQ20jQ2 – Clinton Suggests Qaeda Link in Libya Attack #tcot
  • Day By Day September 27, 2012 – Playing Halo – Flap’s Blog – Day By Day September 27, 2012 – Playing Halo #tcot
  • Clinton Suggests Qaeda Link in Libya Attack – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday suggested there was a link between the Qaeda franchise in North Africa and the attack at the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the American ambassador and three others. She was the highest-ranking Obama administration official to publicly make the connection, and her comments intensified what is becoming a fiercely partisan fight over whether the attack could have been prevented.
  • US ECONOMY GREW 1.3 PERCENT IN SECOND QUARTER– The U.S. economy grew at an even more sluggish pace in the April-June quarter than previously believed as farm production in the Midwest was reduced by a severe drought.The overall economy grew at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the spring, down from its previous estimate of 1.7 percent growth, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The big revision reflected that the government slashed its estimate of crop production by $12 billion.About half of the downward revision to growth came from the decline in farm inventories. But other areas were weaker as well including slower consumer spending and less growth in exports.
  • US economy grew 1.3 percent in second quarter – Yahoo! News – RT @StewSays: AP: The US economy grew at an even more sluggish pace in the April-June quarter than previously believed
  • Obama: Industrial Age Solutions to Information Age Challenges– Obama’s policies, from Obamacare to high-speed rail, treat people as identical cogs in a very large machine, part of a mindless mass that would not be able to get along without government guidance.In the information age, these industrial age policies have prevented the vibrant economic growth which gives young people the opportunity to find work and community service that maximizes their own special talents and interests — to shape their own world and choose their own future.