• Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: January 12, 2012

     

    These are my links for January 11th through January 12th:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for July 3rd on 12:31

    These are my links for July 3rd from 12:31 to 13:29:

    • Republicans May Take ‘Mini’ Debt-Ceiling Deal – Republicans would accept a “mini” deal with the Obama administration on raising the debt limit, Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a Republican leader, said.

      Cornyn said today on “Fox News Sunday” that while Republicans would prefer a long-term settlement, they would accept a shorter-term agreement if that’s all they could get done. The U.S. Treasury Department has projected that on Aug. 2 the U.S. will no longer be able to meet obligations if the legal debt ceiling isn’t raised.

      “The problem with a mini-deal is we have a maxi problem,” said Cornyn, who is in charge of the 2012 Republican Senate campaign strategy. “We’ll take the savings we can get now, and we will re-litigate this as we get closer to the election.”

      The Senate shortened its July 4 recess and will remain in Washington to discuss a deal this week to raise the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit. The Obama administration is negotiating with Congress on reducing the long-term budget deficit as part of a plan to raise the limit before borrowing authority expires.

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      Accepting the mini-deal makes the GOP look reasonable and takes away a tool Obama can use to demagogue the issue early while the GOP are fighting Presidential primary wars.

    • President 2012: Bill Clinton at Aspen – BILL CLINTON agreed to a last-minute appearance at the Aspen Ideas Festival (he was in town to meet with Clinton Foundation donors), and held forth for just over an hour last evening in an onstage interview with Ron Brownstein, then hung around for 30 minutes to sign programs and kibitz. He didn’t even wait for people to greet him, but lunged for Playbook, who was hanging back to give others a chance. The trim, ruddy former president wore crisp white slacks, a tan jacket and a white golf shirt. The front two rows included Justice Stephen Breyer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Chris and Kathleen Matthews, Andrea Mitchell and Alan Greenspan, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Hank and Wendy Paulson, and Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Also in the house: Doug Band. Clinton spoke to a tent jammed with 800 people, and an overflow room held another 200 (including Walter Isaacson, who sportingly went over to keep them company). Choice excerpts:

      –Handicapping the current GOP 2012 field: “I’m always reluctant to say the strongest candidates, because I’m afraid I’ll kill ’em, and I don’t have the right to do that. [audience chuckles] But, y’know, I like the governors: I like Huntsman and Romney. Romney’s a MUCH better candidate than he was last time, because he’s not apologizing for signing the health-care bill. He’s got another creative way of saying we oughta repeal Obamacare, but that’s prob’ly the price of gettin’ the nomination. Huntsman hasn’t said what he’s for yet, but I just kinda like him. [laughter] He LOOKS authentic – he looks like a real guy. [laughter] I mean, a real human being. I like his family, I like his kind of iconoclastic way. And he was a pretty good governor. And he wasn’t a right-wing ideologue.

      “Bachmann’s been a better candidate than I THOUGHT she’d be, and I don’t agree with her on nearly anything. But she’s got a very compelling personal story, and she gotta lot of juice, and she turns [on] a lot of those anti-government crowd.”

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 23rd on 15:58

    These are my links for May 23rd from 15:58 to 16:38:

    • Two patients died after waiting in ambulance outside ‘full’ Oldham hospital unit – Two patients died after being left waiting in ambulances outside an over-stretched hospital.

      The patients, believed to have been in their 80s, couldn’t get into the Royal Oldham Hospital for seven and 20 minutes respectively.

      They were assessed by ambulance crews as ‘very sick’ and were both suspected of having suffered heart attacks.

      The A&E department was so busy that all but the most urgent cases were being sent to other hospitals at the time. All five resuscitation beds at Oldham were full.

      The two patients were assessed and treated by a casualty doctor and senior nurse in the ambulances.

      It is understood neither actually had suffered a heart attack by the time they were admitted – although both later died at the hospital. One died in the resuscitation unit the following day and the other three days after being admitted to a ward.

      A probe has been launched after ambulance chiefs reported the incident to regional health authority NHS North West.

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      Read it all.

      Get ready for ObamaCare

    • CA-36: What Went Wrong in the L.A. Special Election? – Hahn is expected to win the July run-off, but we expect turnout to be even lower. Huey can easily self-fund with another $500,000, and labor will have to expend its scarce resources to crank its turnout effort and put Hahn over the top. As blogger Marta Evry pointed out, Hahn will win the special election in July – but re-districting could change the demographics and make the district more Republican in 2012. Her complete analysis is well worth reading in full, but I’ll just quote one line from it: “Janice Hahn’s strategic choices, coupled with Marcy Winograd’s ego, may have created a perfect storm in which a to bring a previously unknown Tea Party candidate to national prominence.”

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      Read it all…..

      From the LEFT perspective…..

    • Janice Hahn Won The Battle In 2011. Could She Lose The War In 2012? – From what I've heard and read, CA-36 is probably going to lose everything north of LAX, and potentially gain back Palos Verdes. Palos Verdes, connected to an Orange County district by a block-wide strip in Long Beach and a narrow strip of San Pedro, is profoundly gerrymandered. Those Republicans have to go somewhere.

      If this happens, it would significantly cut into Democrat's voter registration advantage, and create a district that more closely resembles the one in which Janice Hahn previously ran for congress in 1998.

      Hahn lost that race, to Republican Steve Kuykendall, 47% to 49%.

      Janice Hahn got the opponent she wanted. But by helping to advance Huey into the runoff, Hahn has elevated him from an unknown evangelical advertising consultant to a national figure in the Tea Party movement. The media isn't ignoring Craig Huey anymore. He has two months to build up his name recognition and base of support. And when he loses in July, he can turn right around and start stumping for the June 2012 primary race in a district likely to be far more receptive to his message.

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      Read it all.

      Craig Huey indeed could lose in July and still come out the winner.

    • Jon Huntsman Jr., potential GOP candidate hits California for fundraising swing : – Former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman Jr.is heading to California this week — just in time to pump up his fundraising base as the 2012 GOP presidential race shapes up.

      The former Utah Governor, who's been described as the possible GOP candidate "Democrats fear most," hits San Francisco Tuesday, Los Angeles Wednesday and Orange County on Thursday of this week. The Palo Alto native will be having private meetings with California donors and supporters, sources say.

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      Money will never be Huntsman's problem but his moderate position on the issues will be.

    • President 2012: Not the whole truth in Pawlenty claims – Truth" was Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's buzzword Monday when he announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. He said he will tell the truth about hard choices facing the nation while others — President Barack Obama notably among them — do not.
      A parsing of Pawlenty's opening-day statements shows they were not the whole truth.
      Here is a sampling of his claims Monday and how they compare with the facts.
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      PAWLENTY: "The truth is, people getting paid by the taxpayers shouldn't get a better deal than the taxpayers themselves. That means freezing federal salaries, transitioning federal employee benefits, and downsizing the federal work force as it retires." — Campaign announcement.
      THE FACTS: A federal pay freeze is already in effect. Obama proposed and Congress approved a two-year freeze on the pay of federal employees, exempting the armed forces, Congress and federal courts.
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      PAWLENTY: "ObamaCare is unconstitutional." — USA Today column.
      THE FACTS: Obama's health care overhaul might be unconstitutional in Pawlenty's opinion, but it is not in fact unless the Supreme Court says so. Lower court rulings have been split.
      ___
      PAWLENTY: "Barack Obama has consistently stood for higher taxes." — Campaign announcement.
      THE FACTS: Obama's record shows more tax cutting than tax raising. The stimulus plan early in his presidency cut taxes broadly for the middle class and business, and more recently he won a substantial cut in Social Security taxes for a year. He also campaigned in support of extending the Bush-era tax cuts for all except the wealthy, whose taxes he wanted to raise. In office, he accepted a deal from Republicans extending the tax cuts for all. As for tax increases, Obama won congressional approval to raise them on tobacco and tanning salons. The penalty for those who don't buy health insurance, once coverage is mandatory, is a form of taxation.
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      PAWLENTY: "For decades before I was elected, governors tried and failed to get Minnesota out of the top 10 highest-taxed states in the country. I actually did it." — Campaign announcement.
      THE FACTS: Minnesota remains among the 10 worst states in its overall tax climate, according to the Tax Foundation. In its 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index, the anti-tax organization ranks Minnesota 43rd, making it the eighth worst state. The ranking slipped from 41st two years earlier. The index considers corporate, individual, sales, unemployment insurance and property taxes.

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      Read them all.

      Tim Pawlenty will NOT be the GOP nominee.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 19th on 07:16

    These are my links for May 19th from 07:16 to 08:31:

    • Iowa Straw Poll Could Offer Another Glimpse of Daniels’ Presidential Leanings – The Republican Party of Iowa holds its first meeting to discuss ground rules for the closely-watched Ames Straw Poll in August. Even potential campaigns have been invited to send representatives, but the Iowa party hasn't said whether Daniels is doing so.

      A Daniels delegation might be the clearest sign yet the Indiana governor plans to run. But Southern Illinois University's David Yepsen. who covered seven presidential campaigns for the Des Moines Register, says it's not critical that members of his team attend.

      "I don't think they need to have an operative there, because there'll be so many people who do have people there," Yepsen says." There is a past tradition and practices; even if Mitch Daniels doesn't have someone in the room, anything that protects the integrity of the process would be something that would benefit him."

      A more significant deadline is July 23. That's when the Iowa G-O-P will finalize the ballot for the August 13 straw poll.

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      Read it all.

      Yeah, but I wouldn't expect anyone from the Daniels camp to be there.

    • Moderate Jon Huntsman, possible 2012 candidate, tests the waters in today’s GOP – At issue is Huntsman’s support for Obama’s economic stimulus package, which he said wasn’t large enough; for the Wall Street bailout; and for cap-and-trade climate legislation, which he has since backed away from, saying recently that it is a flawed approach.

      “He’s going to have to answer policy questions, and that’s a bigger challenge, but there is plenty of room in New Hampshire for another candidate,” said Fergus Cullen, former chairman of the Republican Party in the Granite State. “All of the candidates are putting their energy and focus into the so-called tea party activists, and nobody is campaigning for the broad mainstream of primary voters.”

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      Puff piece profile of Jon Huntsman who really is running for the future and not 2012.

    • Who will be the John McCain of 2012? – Jon Huntsman: There is only one candidate in today’s prospective Republican field with the record, rhetoric, and staff to be the 2012 John McCain. That is former-Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.

      Not only has Huntsman served as President Obama’s ambassador to China, he also has also supported cap and trade, Obama’s economic stimulus, amnesty for illegal immigrants, and same-sex marriage civil unions.

      He’s been endorsed by no less a far-left liberal than former-President Jimmy Carter, and he has called Obama “a remarkable leader” who provides a “brilliant analysis of world events.”

      Like clockwork, the media elite are doing their part. Time Magazine has an article this week titled: “Jon Huntsman: The Potential Republican Presidential Candidate Democrats Most Fear.”

      No they don’t. Democrats would love a Huntsman run. But the story line is an old favorite of former-McCain strategist and current-Huntsman aid John Weaver. It is the same story he planted numerous time during the 2000 primary campaign.

      Weaver is not the only McCain veteran on Huntsman’s staff. Longtime Weaver ally and television ad consultant Fred Davis, communications adviser Matt David, spokesman Tim Miller, and media buyer Kyle Roberts are also McCain alums now working for Huntsman.

      President Ronald Reagan said “personnel is policy.” That makes Huntsman the 2012 McCain winner hands down.

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      Yeah not Mitch Daniels but Huntsman.

    • Flap’s Links and Comments for May 19th on 07:13 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for May 19th on 07:13 #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for April 19th on 18:24

    These are my links for April 19th from 18:24 to 18:34:

    • Global warming lawsuit: Supreme Court signals it will throw out lawsuit By California and other states – The Supreme Court justices indicated Tuesday they would throw out a huge global-warming lawsuit brought by six states against coal-fired power plants in the South and Midwest. And they will do so with the support of the Obama administration.

      Acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal urged the justices to end the lawsuit, insisting the problem of global warming and greenhouse gases is too big and unwieldy for a single judge to handle. It is a regulatory problem for the Environmental Protection Agency, he said.

      Four years ago, the justices cleared the way for the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases under the Clean Air Act. Since then, the government has adopted stricter standards for motor vehicles. The agency is debating regulations for power plants, but has taken no firm action.

      But all the while, several states, led by Connecticut, New York and California, have pressed ahead with a lawsuit that calls carbon pollution a "public nuisance" and asks a federal judge to restrict emissions from power plants.
      During Tuesday's argument, most of the justices — liberal and conservative — said they were skeptical about turning over such a complicated and politically charged issue to a single federal judge.

    • Jon Huntsman’s ‘remarkable’ letters to Obama, Clinton reveal adulation for chief executives – Jon Huntsman, President Obama’s outgoing ambassador to China, is considering running against his boss in 2012 as a Republican.

      But two handwritten letters from Huntsman obtained by The Daily Caller raise the question of why he’s not campaigning for Obama instead.

      “You are a remarkable leader,” Huntsman wrote to Obama in an Aug. 16, 2009 note, underlining the word “remarkable,” “and it has been a great honor getting to know you.”

      The letter thanks Obama for “the graciousness and kindness you have shown me and my family – particularly your confidence in my ability to represent you in China.” Huntsman said he was “leaving behind a state we love – but anticipating an extraordinary experience in Beijing.”

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      Read it all

      But, is Huntsman planning for 2012 or really 2016?

      My bet is the latter.