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These are my links for November 29th through November 30th:

• When Newt Was for the Individual Mandate – So now there’s video of Newt explicitly recommending an individual mandate. Hard to see this enhancing Newt’s appeal as the not-Romney.
• Re: Newt and Individual Mandate – Thanks to Joe for posting this latest example of Gingrich’s utter disdain for real individual liberty. The way I have described it, Republicans/conservatives considering voting for Gingrich are showing a massive case of collective amnesia or, worse, a massive procilivity to (political) suicide that is so strong that they may as well OD on pills, stand at the top edge of a 1,000-foot building, and fire a gun at themselves, just to make sure that if one method of suicide doesn’t work another one will. As an observer of politics, from a purely neutral standpoint, Gingrich’s rise in the polls is astonishing, especially in a year when Republicans are supposedly absolutely desperate for a winner above all else — for somebody who can beat Obama, regardless of philosophical purity. How can a guy who absolutely imploded the only time he was in power, a guy around whom Bill Clinton ran rings, a guy who can’t keep himself from absurdly grandiose statements and from major verbal gaffes at least every six months (MAJOR, not just minor), possibly be expected to defeat Obama?
• Herman Cain’s campaign a study in ineptitude – Herman Cain is in the midst of “reassessing” whether to continue his 2012 bid, but its legacy is already settled: His campaign will go down as one of the most hapless and bumbling operations in modern presidential politics, setting a new standard for how to turn damaging press coverage into something far worse.

  The botched responses to allegations of marital infidelity, sexual impropriety and his own gaffes — not to mention the puzzling strategic decisions — have, in the eyes of many veteran strategists, reached record levels of ineptitude.

• Rove: GOP Faces Most ‘Vicious’ Election Battle Ever – Highly respected political analyst Karl Rove tells Newsmax that Republicans stand a 55 percent chance of regaining the White House in 2012 but warns that President Barack Obama’s “hard-nosed Chicago pols” will run a vicious campaign to smear the GOP nominee.

  In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with Newsmax.TV, Rove says the president has “walked out on his daytime job” to focus exclusively on re-election, predicts Obama won’t jettison Vice President Joe Biden in 2012, and doubts that a third-party candidate will emerge in the presidential race.

  The 2012 race will be the toughest the GOP has seen, Rove warned, adding that Obama’s Chicago-run operation “is going to take the Republican nominee and subject him or her to the worst beating of their life, every day for roughly 11 months.”

• Karl Rove: I agree with Newt on illegal immigration – Karl Rove dishes to Newsmax.

  “It’s going to cause him problems in Iowa, which is an immigration-sensitive state, and I, frankly, personally agree with him that there needs to be a practical way to resolve the situation of people who are in the United States.”

  And interestingly, Rove then says that Newt told him that he was — in Roves’s description — “persuaded by the arguments of John McCain and Mike Huckabee that we need to find a humane and practical way to do this.”

• Conservatives should think twice about Newt – Newt Gingrich’s surge to the top of the Republican presidential field has some conservatives imagining the former House Speaker as the anti-Romney. Gingrich is encouraging such a view with his claim that he is “certainly more conservative” than the former Massachusetts governor. The Manchester (N.H.) Union-Leader’s endorsement added to the perception of a growing “newt-mentum” to anoint Gingrich as the preferred conservative in the Republican presidential field. But there are substantial reasons why thoughtful conservatives should think very carefully before jumping on this bandwagon.
  There are, for example, gaping holes in Gingrich’s conservative credentials. As the American Spectator’s David Catron pointed out Monday, Gingrich has long been a fan of Dr. Donald Berwick. Berwick just resigned as President Obama’s director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees Obamacare. Obama put Berwick there because of his professed love for Britain’s socialized medicine.

   

  Berwick’s views are so radical that not even a Democratic Senate would confirm him, yet Gingrich wrote this in a Washington Post op-ed published in 2000: “Don Berwick at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement has worked for years to spread the word that the same systematic approach to quality control that has worked so well in manufacturing could create a dramatically safer, less expensive and more effective system of health and health care.”

  Gingrich’s wonkish delight in industrially rationed health care may come as a sho

• The Indianapolis Star | Indianapolis news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Indianapolis, Ind. | indystar.com – Derailed | Gary Varvel | The Indianapolis Star |
• Derailed | Gary Varvel | The Indianapolis Star | IndyStar.com – The Herman Cain train wreck of a Presidential campaign… #tcot
• Audio: Mark Steyn Pans Newt Gingrich | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Audio: Mark Steyn Pans Newt Gingrich #tcot #catcot
• President 2012: Rick Perry Flubs the Voting Age | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012: Rick Perry Flubs the Voting Age #tcot #catcot
• President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Newt Gingrich Leading in Iowa and South Carolina – Closing the Gap in New Hampshire | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – RE: The answer is YES. But, Romney and Perry are also “soft” on illegal immigration.
• President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Newt Gingrich Surges to the Lead as Romney Sinks | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Newt Gingrich Surges to the Lead as Romney Sinks #tcot #catcot
• foursquare :: Gregory Flap @ Rancho Conejo Playfield – On a cross-training walk (@ Rancho Conejo Playfield)
• Flap’s California Morning Collection: November 29, 2011 » Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Morning Collection: November 29, 2011
• The Morning Flap: November 29, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: November 29, 2011 #tcot #catcot

These are my links for September 7th from 10:49 to 11:37:

• Rep. Dan Lungren won’t challenge Tom McClintock for Congress – Rep. Dan Lungren has decided against challenging fellow Republican Congressman Tom McClintock and instead will run in what is a swing district that extends from Elk Grove to Folsom, his campaign manager said today.

  "Unless something changes, he will run in the 7th Congressional District and is confident in doing so," Lungren adviser Rob Stutzman told The Bee.

  Lungren had toyed with running against McClintock, the more conservative of the two, in the 2012 GOP primary for the 4th Congressional District.

  The district where McClintock will be running is among the most conservative in the state. It includes part of Roseville, and stretches from Lake Tahoe south past Yosemite National Park.
  By deciding to stay put, Lungren will seek the congressional seat that includes his home in Gold River. If he wins reelection — not a sure thing — he would represent McClintock, whose residence is in Elk Grove.

  "Republicans need to focus on holding the House, not necessarily running against each other, which unfortunately is happening elsewhere," Stutzman said.

  Lungren won reelection last year against Democratic physician Ami Bera. Bera, a proven fund-raiser, is planning to run again.

• Does Rick Perry have a Social Security problem? – Perry has a couple of options here. He can disclaim his prior suggestion to send Social Security to the states, but stick by his statement that Social Security is not sustainable. That would require presenting something more detailed than his campaign line that we should all have a ”conversation” about Social Security. Another approach would be to stick with his call for a radical reworking or end to federal retirement benefits. That too would require a full plan and plenty of assurance that he’s not going to relegate grandma to eating cat food in her old age. Perry’s campaign has not yet responded to my request for comment.

  There is plenty of room for smart talk on Social Security. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) sets forth some solid suggestions in his Roadmap for America. Perry will need to show he has a serious plan as well — or maybe even to adopt Ryan’s ideas in total.

  Rove is right about one thing: Even for Republicans, the idea of ending Social Security is going to be a tough sell.

  UPDATED AT 1:34 P.M.

  A Perry spokesman e-mails me: “We realize entitlement reform is a politically touchy subject, but it must be discussed if America is serious about fiscal responsibility and economic growth. At the rate they are going, many federal entitlement programs will be unsustainable, unaffordable and unavailable for future generations. Governor Perry would protect Social Security benefits for those at or near retirement and also recognizes we must discuss changes to make Social Security and other retirement benefits financially sound and viable going forward.”

  That doesn’t sound like he’s ready to propose anything specific. We’ll have to see if that will be sufficient to allay concerns he is out to wreck Social Security.

  =======

  Perry needs a specific proposal like Paul Ryan

These are my links for April 25th from 15:13 to 15:45:

• President 2012: Karl Rove warns candidates about late start – For a long time, it's been the cool-candidate thing to take your time coming to a 2012 decision.

  Casualness may soon be a casualty, Karl Rove said today on Fox.

  "There gets to be a point at which you don't have enough time to raise the money you need, and you don't have enough time to get organized as deeply as you need to be organized for these contests.

  That period is probably sometime in June or July."

  =====

  No later than Memorial Day.

  BTW Ron Paul is announcing tomorrow in Iowa.

• Online Sales Tax a Bad Deal for California – In California there are 25,000 thriving small businesses known as “affiliate marketers” and right now the very existence of this industry is being threatened by misguided legislation; in these economic times can California afford to lose 25,000 more businesses?

  The supposition of AB 153 (Skinner) and SB 234 (Hancock) is that by implementing an “affiliate nexus” tax, California will collect additional sales tax revenue.  That is simply not true.

  What is true is that if these bills pass, California affiliate marketers will have their incomes devastated, and the state will collect no new sales tax dollars.

  Affiliate marketers are California companies that earn income from ads placed on their websites. In 2009, California affiliate marketers earned $1.6 billion and paid $124 million in state income taxes (plus business taxes, employment taxes, etc).  Legislation such as AB 153 and SB 234 guarantees elimination of these fiscal contributions.

  Proponents allege that because out-of-state retailers place ads on California-owned websites they should collect sales tax. But placing an ad on a website does not constitute a “nexus,” nor does it obligate out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax in California.

  This holds true for California retailers that advertise in other states – they are not obligated to collect sales tax in states simply because they advertise there.

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  Read it all.

  And, it is a very bad idea.