• Dan Lungren

    Video: California Democrats Go Saul Alinsky Over Rep. Dan Lungren and Styrofoam

    March 30, 2011 /

    Christopher Guerrero and the CDP crew wanted to meet Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) halfway after he ended the use of compostable utensils and take out trays in the U.S. Capitol

    Come on, how stupid is this? Saul Alinsky must be proud of all of the RIDICULE. But what are the facts?

    First the Republicans took over the House. Now it’s the cafeterias.

    Republicans say the use of “compostable” cups and utensils, a key part of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Green the Capitol initiative, was “neither cost-effective nor energy-efficient.” So they brought back plastic utensils and foam cups, ditching the eco-friendly dining wares of the Democratic era.(…)

    But Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River), whose committee oversees the cafeterias, ended the $475,000-a-year composting program initiated by Pelosi after a study found it had increased energy use and barely reduced carbon emissions.

    “I never thought I’d be known as ‘Styrofoam Dan,’ ” said Lungren, who is surprised by all of the fuss.

    In defense of the decision, Salley Wood, a spokeswoman for Republicans on the Committee on House Administration, said, “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find taxpayers who consider blowing a half-million dollars on a failing program a ‘small thing’ in this economic environment.”

    But, with the Saul Alinsky disciple Democrats, Rep. Dan Lungren is now “Styrofoam Dan” and a environmental boogie man – just like the billionaire Koch Brothers. As you see, it is all symbolism over substance with the LEFT.

    Far Left Speaker of the House was wasting half a million dollars a year to be environmentally correct, when, as it turns out, the program was a FAILURE. In fact, the program, had crappy utensils, used MORE energy and barely reduced carbon emissions.

    We all want a sound environment AND a sound government. But, wasteful government spending, like this program, we can do without.

    So, go ahead, Democrats and ridicule Rep. Dan Lungren as “Styrofoam” Dan – because he just saved American taxpayers a mere $ half a million.

  • Bill Nelson,  Polling,  U.S. Senate 2012

    FL-Sen Poll Watch: Sen. Bill Nelson in Decent Shape?

    March 30, 2011 /

    Maybe, according to the latest PPP Poll.

    Job Approval Vs. Disapproval:

    Senator Bill Nelson: 38% Vs. 34%

    38% of voters approve of the job Nelson’s doing to 34% who disapprove. Those numbers sound uninspiring but the main reason for them is that only 55% of Democrats approve of the job he’s doing, where you’d usually expect someone to be in the 70-80% range within their own party. Nelson gets 74-80% of the Democratic vote against each of the Republicans we tested him against so this is a classic case where his base might not love him, but they’re still going to vote for him.

    While Nelson doesn’t generate much enthusiasm from within his own party, he’s also not much of a turn off to Republicans. An unusually high 21% of them approve of the job he’s doing and he gets as much as 19% of the GOP vote in the head to heads against named Republicans.

    Most of the time people focus on politicians’ approval number when analyzing their reelection chances and if you do that in Nelson’s case 38% doesn’t look so hot. I think it might be more instructive here though to look at Nelson’s disapproval number- is someone who only 34% of voters are unhappy with really going to get tossed out of office? Seems doubtful- certainly didn’t happen to any Senators or Governors last year.

    Yes, but Nelson is still not viewed very favorably for an incumbent and that is a good sign for the GOP.

    A bad sign for the Republicans though is that the candidates that poll the best against Nelson are not going to run.

    Connie Mack IV, who announced he wouldn’t seek the office after we’d already started the poll, trailed Nelson by 13 points at 47-34. Another incredibly long shot candidate, MSNBC host and former Congressman Joe Scarborough, trails by 13 points as well at 45-32. Among the more plausible candidates former Senator George LeMieux does best but still trails by 15 points at 48-33. Mike Haridopolos and Adam Hasner trail by 16 points at 50-34 and 48-32 respectively, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales does the worst with a 19 point deficit at 47-28.

    Head to Head:

    • 50% Nelson (D), 34% Haridopolis (R)
    • 48% Nelson (D), 32% Hasner (R)
    • 48% Nelson (D), 33% LeMieux (R)
    • 47% Nelson (D), 34% Mack (R)
    • 45% Nelson (D), 32% Scarborough (R)
    • 47% Nelson (D), 28% Wales (R)

    Favorable Vs UnFavorable:

    • Mike Haridopolis: 9 / 23
    • Adam Hasner: 6 / 17
    • George LeMieux: 8 / 22
    • Connie Mack IV: 21 / 23
    • Joe Scarborough: 15 / 20
    • Jimmy Wales: 3 / 14

    The GOP wants a pick-up in Florida. They just have to decide on a candidate and run him hard. Certainly, Nelson’s lack of favorability at this point smells like vulnerability but the NRSC and the Florida GOP have to understand that they will have to work hard to throw Nelson and hence Harry Reid out of office/majority.

  • GOP,  President 2012

    President 2012: Reagan Library GOP Debate Rescheduled from May to September

    March 30, 2011 /

    Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is the only declared Republican candidate for President

    Bowing to the reality that it is too EARLY for GOP candidates to be exposed to the pro-Obama media.

    The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation has postponed its debate for Republican candidates from May 2 to September 14.

    The move, announced Wednesday in conjunction with cosponsors NBC and POLITICO, follows an unexpectedly slow start to the Republican presidential nominating contest.

    Organizers worried that the May 2 debate, which was announced shortly after the midterm elections last November, would not attract candidates who will eventually get into the race but are delaying announcements for legal and political reasons. Only one top-tier candidate, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, has officially created an exploratory committee.

    John Heubusch, the Reagan foundation’s executive director, said that pushing the debate back four-and-a-half months will allow “enough time for the full slate of candidates to participate.”

    “The Reagan Foundation prides itself on sponsoring world class debates in which all of the major candidates in contention can make their point of view known to the widest possible audience,” he said in a statement. “Although there will be a long and impressive list of Republican candidates who eventually take the field, too few have made the commitment thus far for a debate to be worthwhile in early May.”

    The September 14 debate at the Reagan library in Simi Valley, Calif., will still be moderated by “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams and POLITICO Editor-in-Chief John F. Harris. A reporter from Telemundo will also participate.

    I believe Fox News is also sponsoring a debate in early May in South Carolina but I would not be surprised that it is rescheduled. There is NO reason/advantage for the Republican candidates to debate prior to the end of summer and so — they won’t.

  • GOP,  Harry Reid

    GOP House Freshmen Tell Harry Reid: “It’s Time to Pass a Bill”

    March 30, 2011 /

    Laying down the gauntlet, they are – says Yoda.

    Just as GOP leaders prepare a “Government Shutdown Prevention Act” as a way to pressure Senate Democrats into passing long-term spending bill, a group of freshman members have sent a strongly worded letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) announcing that they will “rally on the Senate steps every day until you pass a long-term Continuing Resolution.” The letter was authored by Rep. Rick Crawford (R., Ark.) and has so far been signed by 30 members of the freshman class.

    “Make no mistake,” the letter admonishes Reid. “Any government shutdown is the result of your lack of leadership.”

    “Mr. Reid, it’s time to pass a bill,” they conclude, before signing off in telling fashion: “Bound together and determined.”

    The full text of the letter is here.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 30th on 06:32

    March 30, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 30th from 06:32 to 07:37:

    • Did Obama Administration Play Favorites With Energy Loans? Green Firms Financed By Obama Fundraiser Steve Westly Score Millions in Federal Loans – When the White House announced the federal government would loan $465 million to Tesla, a California start-up company with plans to develop an all-electric sedan, President Obama called it an "historic opportunity to ensure that the next generation of fuel-efficient cars and trucks are made in America."

      The loan also represented a lucrative opportunity for Steve Westly, a major investor in the car company who had raised more than $500,000 for the president's campaign.

      In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy lent more than half a billion dollars to companies backed by Westly's California venture capital firm. In 2010, the White House tapped Westly for a seat on a special energy advisory panel that gives him regular access to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Westly boasts on his website that his firm is "uniquely positioned" to take advantage of the Obama administration's interest in green energy.

      =====

      Read it all

      More CRONY capitalism from the Obama Administration

    • Black And Blue 2: Blacks Flee Blue States in Droves – Americans ultimately have to accept the reality that you can’t eliminate poverty by hiring professionals with postgraduate degrees and six figure incomes to sit in downtown offices and engineer policy solutions to urban ills. Poverty in a society like ours is a human problem and it is solved one human being at a time, usually through person to person contact: above all the parent but also the teacher, the preacher, the mentor, the entrepreneur who helps the lost and the overcome find solid ground on which to stand and build a life.

      As Blacks flee the citadels of blue thought, and as the paladins of blue like Bob Herbert move toward retirement, the problems of the inner cities and the underclass are still very much with us. Top down solutions and bureaucratic interventions have at best a limited utility in this new environment; it is time for a national re-think and a national re-engagement on the problems of race, poverty and class.

      ======

      Read it all

  • Barack Obama,  Chris Christie,  Mitch Daniels,  Polling,  President 2012

    President 2012 Poll Watch: President Obama as a Strong Leader = Not So Much

    March 30, 2011 /

    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    Americans have grown increasingly less likely to view President Obama as a strong and decisive leader since he took office. Roughly half now believe this aptly describes, him compared with 60% a year ago and 73% in April 2009.

    And, only 36% say Obama has a clear plan for solving America’s problems.

    So, what does this mean?

    Throughout this year in office, President Obama’s ratings on several dimensions, including job approval and most personal characteristics, trended downward, but have since more or less stabilized. One notable exception to that general pattern is perception of the president as a strong and decisive leader, which has continued to drop, and now only a slim majority of Americans rate him positively in this regard.

    Given the timing of the two most recent ratings on Obama as a strong and decisive leader (March 2010 and 2011), it is not clear how much the recent events in the Middle East have contributed to this perception. Obama’s overall job approval rating in Gallup Daily tracking has fluctuated since mid-March, roughly coinciding with the military campaign in Libya. For the week of March 21-27, though, Obama averaged 45% approval and 47% disapproval, his worst since December.

    Moreover, Obama’s ratings for handling the situations in Libya and Egypt have not been stellar but also not poor. In any case, much of the 2011 news coverage has focused on major international events and President Obama’s response to these events has been a key element of that coverage.

    Politically, it means the President is vulnerable – if the Republicans can get their act together and nominate a strong leader = hello Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

  • David Prosser,  Scott Walker,  Wisconsin

    What Is at Stake in Wisconsin Supreme Court Election on April 5?

    March 30, 2011 /

    Mickey Kaus gives the run down as to what is at stake in the April 5 election.

    In a counter-intuitive way, the RIGHT should hope for a Democratic victory and an overturning of the Wisconsin labor reforms?

    Walker’s (and Kasich’s and Daniels’) anti-union reforms are having an effect nationwide, even in states where unions are strong. In Los Angeles, for example, a coalition of unions just agreed to non-trivial increases in health and pension contributions for existing workers that will save $400 million. One reason they agreed was undoubtedly the fear that anti-union fever might spread even to California. If Walker gets beaten, public employee unions all over the country will stop being so amenable. (Maybe that will be good for Republicans, in a dialectical way,  because government will become more unaffordable and the “blue state model” will move closer to total bankruptcy. The contradictions will be heightened, if you will. But it will be bad for anyone who wants a working government and lower taxes.)

    And, the Democrats politicizing the Wisconsin Supreme Court might actually help Scott Walker as well – giving Walker a political foil.

    We will see.

  • California,  Gavin Newsom,  Jerry Brown

    Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom Prepping to Run for California Governor?

    March 30, 2011 /

    In this Jan. 11, 2011 photo, Edwin Lee, right, shake hands with Gavin Newsom, left, as Lee was named as San Francisco mayor at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted for Lee as mayor to replace Newsom, who became Calif. Lieutenant Governor

    Apparently so.

    Less than three months on the job, and already Gavin Newsom is prepping to run for governor again.

    A city insider who asked not to be named tells us the new lieutenant governor approached him at a charity fundraiser the other day with a request for help to start raising money for a renewed gubernatorial bid.

    Newsom’s inability to compete with the much-better-financed Jerry Brown was one of the reasons he withdrew from last year’s Democratic race and ran instead for lieutenant governor.

    Newsom has opened a re-election campaign committee for 2014 – but there’s nothing to stop him from transferring any money he might raise to an exploratory gubernatorial run.

    No one from Camp Newsom wanted to comment for the record, but we’re told the lieutenant governor will support Brown for as long as he intends to be governor.

    No shocker here.

    I mean, California Governor Jerry Brown is OLD and on overage time, so to speak, and a POL has to be ready – and ready quick. You never know when a special election will pop up and Jerry Brown will be one term anyway.