• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for September 12th on 20:22

    September 12, 2011 /

    These are my links for September 12th from 20:22 to 20:26:

    • Perry doubles down on in-state tuition for illegals in Texas – Another clip via Breitbart TV, which did a bang-up job tonight of posting highlights almost as fast as they happened. Were these the only actual boos (or maybe they’re grumbles of dissent) that Perry got? My thinking on this subject has been that if we’re willing to vote for Bush and McCain, we’re willing to forgive any potential nominee their heresies on immigration — especially since Perry’s position here likely improves his electability by attracting Latino voters in the general. But maybe I’m wrong. None of tonight’s “problem” issues — Social Security, Gardasil, the Texas DREAM Act — is necessarily fatal on its own, but together I think they’ve raised enough doubts to erode some of the white-knight stature he enjoyed when he first declared. Ace’s co-blogger Drew said it well: “I want to like Perry but if you watched these things & didn’t know who was who, no one would ID Perry as the double digit frontrunner.” Indeed. And I think his biggest problem tonight may be less the substance of the attacks than the fact that they came from Bachmann, who’s probably back in the race (at least in Iowa) and may be able to keep Perry from breaking away. A good night for Romney.

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      Read it all

      Michele Bachmann is back into the race and maybe even Sarah Palin.

    • Palin slams Perry on ‘crony capitalism’ – Sarah Palin took a hard swipe against her friend Rick Perry in a post-debate TV appearance, calling him out by name for “crony capitalism” for his effort to mandate an HPV vaccine for girls in Texas.
      Asked by Greta Van Susteren about someone in Perry's office going to work for a drug company that made the vaccine, Palin sought to put a finer point on it: “That someone, as Michele Bachmann pointed out, was Governor Perry’s former chief of staff.”
      She went on: “That’s crony capitalism. That’s part of the problem that we have in this country is that people are afraid, even in our own party, to call one another out on that. True reform and fighting the corruption and fighting the crony capitalism is a tough thing to do within your own party. You have to go up against the big guns and they will try to destroy you when you call them out on the mistakes that they have made. Believe me, I know that, I have the bumps and bruises to prove it because that’s what I have been doing for the last 20 years … calling out the corruption in government. Michele Bachmann tried to make that point tonight and she’s going to get potentially crucified.”
      Van Susteren asked another question, but Palin wasn’t done: “Let me go back to that issue with Governor Perry,” she said. She pointed out that at the time Perry was boosting the vaccine in Texas, she was opposing it in Alaska, and she thought Perry’s order was strange “because it just didn’t sound like Governor Perry,” who she thought was against big government.
      “I knew even at that time something was up with that issue. And now we’re finding out, yeah, something was up with that issue,” she said.

      ======

      As she should. It is a weakness for Perry as is illegal immigration.

  • President 2012

    President 2012: CNN/Tea Party Express GOP Presidential Debate at 5 PM Tonight

    September 12, 2011 /

    The debate will be televised on CNN at 5 PM PDT.

    I will be covering the debate on Twitter. So, watch in the right sidebar —–> or follow me @Flap.

    Here are the remaining debates:

    • September 22, 2011: Orlando, FL Debate Sponsored By FOX News, Google And The Republican Party Of Florida
    • October 11, 2011: Hanover, NH Debate Sponsored By The Washington Post And Bloomberg
    • October 18, 2011: Las Vegas, NV Debate Sponsored By CNN And The Western Republican Leadership Conference
    • November 9, 2011: Rochester, MI Debate Sponsored by CNBC and Michigan Republican Party
    • December 10, 2011: Des Moines, IA Debate Sponsored by ABC and Iowa Republican Party
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for September 12th on 15:03

    September 12, 2011 /

    These are my links for September 12th from 15:03 to 15:21:

    • Obama Seeks to End Tax Breaks to Pay for Jobs Plan – President Barack Obama would pay for his $447 billion jobs plan by ending a series of tax breaks for oil and gas companies, hedge-fund managers and people making more than $200,000, the White House said Monday.

      In total, Mr. Obama's plan would end about $467 billion of tax breaks over 10 years, said White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew. The president has previously proposed ending the tax breaks, but has faced stiff resistance from Republicans.

      By choosing to end the tax breaks, the White House is likely setting itself up for a fight with Republicans. Over the summer, Republicans said they wouldn't end tax breaks amid concerns doing so as the U.S. is coming out of a recession would hamper the recovery.

      Mr. Obama said he expects an uphill battle. "There's going to be enormous resistance," the president said during a surprise visit to a briefing White House officials were hosting with people from minority news websites.

      The president said he needed everyone's help to get the jobs package passed. "I want you guys to pump this up," Mr. Obama said. "Either Congress gets it done, or if Congress doesn't get it done, people know exactly what's holding it up," he said later. The president's remarks at the event weren't on his public schedule to reporters.

      "It would be fair to say this tax increase on job creators is the kind of proposal both parties have opposed in the past," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio). He continued, "We remain eager to work together on ways to support job growth, but this proposal doesn't appear to have been offered in that bipartisan spirit."
      The White House disputed the notion that raising taxes on the wealthy would hurt growth. The measures to pay for spending "are spread out so that there aren't negative impacts," said White House press secretary Jay Carney.he

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      Read it all

    • Obama Plans to End Tax Breaks to Pay for Jobs Program – White House budget director Jack Lew outlined Obama's proposals for paying for the plan, targeting the rich and corporations as the president has in the past to no avail. A limit on itemized deductions and certain exemptions on individuals who earn over $200,000 and families who earn over $250,000, which would raise roughly $400 billion over 10 years.

      Lew said the "tax provisions" that Obama was proposing included:

      A limit on itemized deductions and certain exemptions on individuals who earn over $200,000 and families who earn over $250,000, which would raise roughly $400 billion over 10 years.
      A proposal to treat carried interest earned by investment fund managers as ordinary income rather than taxing it at capital gains rates, which would raise $18 billion.
      Eliminating certain oil and gas industry tax breaks that would raise $40 billion.
      A change in corporate jet depreciation rules that would raise $3 billion.

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      Read it all.

      Note:Being rich to Obama just went down to $200K a year from $250K a year income.

      Will it be $150K next?

    • EPA Regulation forces closure of Texas energy Facilities, eliminates 500 Jobs – Texas energy company Luminant announced on Monday new burdensome Environmental Protection Agency regulations are forcing it to close several facilities, which will result in about 500 job losses.

      The company will be idling — stopping the usage of — two energy generating units. It will also cease extracting lignite from three different Texas mines.

      The EPA regulation Luminant cites as too burdensome is the new Cross-State Air Pollution rule, which requires Texas power generators to make “dramatic reductions” in emissions beginning on January 1, 2012.

      “We have hundreds of employees who have spent their entire professional careers at Luminant and its predecessor companies,” Luminant CEO David Campbell said in a statement. “At every step of this process, we have tried to minimize these impacts, and it truly saddens me that we are being compelled to take the actions we’ve announced today. We have filed suit to try to avoid these consequences.”

      The company said it has been trying to meet the new standards, but won’t be able to do so without closing down several facilities and eliminating 500 jobs.

      “As always, Luminant is committed to complying fully with EPA regulations,” Campbell said. “We have spent the last two months identifying all possible options to meet the requirements of this new rule, and we are launching a significant investment program to reduce emissions across our facilities.”

      =======

      More jobs bite the dust because of the Obama Administration

  • Congress,  Election 2012,  Polling

    Poll Watch: Congressional Approval at 15%

    September 12, 2011 /

    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    Congressional job approval is now 15%, up slightly from the record-tying low of 13% recorded in August, while disapproval is 82%, compared with 84% last month.

    These results are based on interviews conducted in a Sept. 8-11 Gallup poll, as President Barack Obama urged Congress to pass his newly announced major jobs plan legislation and amid news coverage of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

    Gallup has recorded only three measures lower than this month’s rating of 15%, although Americans have never responded very positively when asked to rate Congress. The average approval rating since Gallup first began asking Americans to rate Congress in 1974 is 34%. Congressional job approval has generally drifted downward since it reached 39% in March 2009, shortly after President Obama took office. The average congressional job approval rating for 2010 was 19%.

    Last month’s 13% approval tied the record low from December 2010. The highest congressional job approval rating measured by Gallup came in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, with a single reading of 84% in October 2001.

    I would not want to be an incumbent Representative running next year, period.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for September 12th on 08:30

    September 12, 2011 /

    These are my links for September 12th from 08:30 to 12:03:

    • Is Perry going to walk back his Social Security rhetoric? – Perry’s central issue — and it’s a problem for Romney too — is that he’s really not exerting any leadership or showing courage. He writes, “We must have a frank, honest national conversation about fixing Social Security to protect benefits for those at or near retirement while keeping faith with younger generations, who are being asked to pay.” Oh, puh-leez. Haven’t we been discussing entitlements for a good long time.? What is his idea?

      It’s not very daring to throw red meat to the base. It’s not real brave to then hedge your bets. What would be courageous and impressive would be to lay out a reform agenda with specifics — on Social Security, Medicare, Medicare, the debt and immigration, among other issues. That would certainly set up a contrast with the president and demonstrate some moxie. Let’s see if he can do it. Let’s see if any of the candidates can do it. Or should they just give up, announce Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will be the VP pick and he’ll figure it all out? The GOP and the country could do a lot worse.

      =======

      Bachmann and Romney will be all over Perry tonight at the debate, if Perry does not walk back the rhetoric a bit.

      The Paul Ryan as VP idea is a good one.

    • Rick Perry Walks the Third Rail – Is Social Security a Ponzi scheme? It was sold politically as a form of social insurance where the "premiums" paid each year of a working person's life were saved up and entitled him to retirement benefits. To underscore this point, FDR started collecting Social Security taxes in 1937 but did not distribute benefits until 1941.

      But, under the weight of the automatic cost of living adjustments started under Nixon, the benefits have long outstripped the amounts that have been paid in by each retiree. Social Security functions like any other cash transfer program, taking from younger generations and paying the money to the older ones. The collected payroll tax deductions of the average retiree account for only a small part of his total pension. In that sense it is a Ponzi scheme – it sells itself as a savings and investment plan but it uses each new generations' revenues to fund the older one's benefits.

      But it's a Ponzi scheme with the power to tax. If Bernie Madoff had that capability, he wouldn't be in jail today. A Ponzi scheme is only bad when the new money dries up. With the power to tax, it need never do so.

      Is Social Security a failure? Hell no! It is the most successful anti-poverty program of all time. From FDR's second inaugural where he said that one-third of the nation was "ill clothed, ill housed, and ill fed" until the early 60s when Michael Harrington alerted the nation to its high poverty level, the elderly constituted about half of America's poor. Now there is no such thing as an impoverished senior citizen and our poverty rate has dropped from one-third to one-eighth, largely due to Social Security (and partly due to welfare reform).

      Now Perry is flying in the face of the deeply held opinions of the entire American electorate. Rasmussen Reports shows that only 17% of Americans agree that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. Rick Perry would do well to side with the 83%, not the 17% if he wants to get elected.

      ======

      Perry needs to walk back the rhetoric at tonight's debate.

    • President 2012: Mitt Romney Delivers Labor Policy Speech – Backs Boeing | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012: Mitt Romney Delivers Labor Policy Speech – Backs Boeing #tcot #catcot
    • Virtual Colonoscopy to Become the Standard to Detect Colon Cancer? | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – Virtual Colonoscopy to Become the Standard to Detect Colon Cancer?
    • Flap’s Links and Comments for September 11th through September 12th | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for September 11th through September 12th #tcot #catcot
  • Boeing,  Mitt Romney,  President 2012

    President 2012: Mitt Romney Delivers Labor Policy Speech – Backs Boeing

    September 12, 2011 /

    Paul Munsch is the owner of St. Louis Paving in St. Louis, Missouri. He and his employees have faced years of bullying by the union bosses with whom President Obama continues to side.

    GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivered a labor policy speech this morning in South Carolina before heading to Tampa, Florida for tonight’s GOP Presidential debate.

    Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) invoked aerospace giant Boeing in his labor policy speech Monday as an example of the type of American innovation he would encourage as president.

    Romney used the opportunity to hit President Obama on his labor policies, highlighting what he called the “egregious example” of the president’s failed policies in South Carolina.

    Romney toured Boeing’s new South Carolina plant prior to the speech, a strong indication of his commitment to stand with South Carolina in the dispute between that state and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an independent federal agency. The board is suing Boeing for allegedly moving the plant from Washington state in retaliation for labor strikes there.

    “It’s an assault on business, it’s an assault on jobs, it’s an assault on states that have right-to-work policies,” Romney said of the NLRB suit.

    On Monday, Romney also named William Kilberg, the lead counsel for Boeing in the ongoing dispute, as a co-chairman of his Labor Policy Advisory Group. Kilberg will help “shape the policies I am proposing to return power from the labor bosses to the workers and businesses that can get our economy going again,” Romney said in a statement.

    “Boeing, when they decided where they were going to build their new expansion facility, chose South Carolina, chose America,” Romney said in the speech. “The folks that are their No. 1 competitor, Airbus, chose China for their expansion. … Boeing did the right thing. Boeing should not be punished for doing the right thing. Boeing should be celebrated and encouraged.”

    The issue has become important in key state South Carolina, where Gov. Nikki Haley (R) has repeatedly called on Obama, along with the Republican presidential candidates, to state his position on the lawsuit.

    This Boeing flap in South Carolina WILL be an issue in the general election. I can see the political ads already flying in the key battleground states.

    President Obama is likely to allow the NLRB vacancies go unfilled and thus any further NLRB action to avoid any further political embarrassment from his friends in Big Labor.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for September 11th through September 12th

    September 12, 2011 /

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

    • Romney to give labor speech Monday after touring Boeing in North Charleston – White House hopeful Mitt Romney will wade into the union fight over the Boeing Company’s decision to locate in right-to-work South Carolina when he delivers a policy speech on labor after he tours the North Charleston plant Monday.

      Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, will tour the facility in advance of the presidential debate in Tampa, Fla., later that day. Romney said at a GOP presidential forum in Columbia on Labor Day that union is not a bad word in itself, but the powerful labor organizations need to be kept in check.

      The lawsuit that the National Labor Relations Board brought against Boeing for locating in South Carolina, considered an anti-union state by some, is the best example of why Romney wants to reverse the labor policies put forward by President Barack Obama, according to Romney’s campaign.

      Gov. Nikki Haley said she welcomes Romney’s visit and his ideas. Haley, also a Republican, has been adamant in her fight against the labor board for its complaint against Boeing.

      “We appreciate not just the talk but the action Governor Romney has taken to understand and highlight the challenges NLRB has brought upon Boeing,” Haley said in a statement Friday. “It is a strong sign to the people of our state that he is focused on our jobs.”

      Romney’s campaign provided The Post and Courier with details about the plan the presidential candidate will unveil next week:

      Romney’s labor policy will focus on free enterprise, free choice and free speech.
      Labor laws must be carried out even-handedly to provide businesses with the certainty they need to grow and thrive.
      The law must be clear: Any company is free to invest anywhere it wants.
      Workers have a right to vote on whether to unionize by secret ballot. That is a position that South Carolinians overwhelmingly support. In November, 86 percent of state voters approved a constitutional amendment that requires union elections to be conducted by secret ballot.
      Romney opposes so-called snap elections, or ambush elections, for votes on whether a company should unionize. He wants to build in protections that will ensure employers have time to protect their legal rights and talk to workers about the downsides of unions.
      Unions should raise cash for political contributions the same way any other business or supporter would, by asking for donations, not using paycheck dues to fund donations.

    • National poll on government regulations – The Tarrance Group is pleased to present Public Notice with the key findings from a survey of N=801 registered “likely” voters across the country.  Interviews were conducted September 6-8, 2011, and, in 95 out of 100 cases, the margin of error on a sample of this type is +/- 3.5%.

      KEY FINDINGS

      – There is little appetite among American voters for additional regulations coming out of Washington.  Three quarters (74%) of voters throughout the country believe that businesses and consumers are over-regulated.  Further, another two thirds (67%) believe that regulations have increased over the past few years.   These percentages include majorities of all partisan affiliations, with 91% of Republicans, 75% of Independents and 58% of Democrats saying businesses/consumers are over-regulated.

      – A key fear among voters is that regulations will hinder job creation, as most believe the result of new regulation will be either job losses (47%) or increased prices for American made goods and services (22%).

      – More than two thirds (70%) believe increasing the number of regulations on American businesses will result in more jobs moving overseas.  Also, majorities agree that the increasing number of regulations have created uncertainty for large and small businesses (66%), and that agencies who enforce regulations fail to consider how their decisions lead to increased prices for consumers and job losses (69%).

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      Read it all

    • Glenn Beck Online Network Set to Make $20 Million This Year – Glenn Beck’s second act, as an online entrepreneur, seems to be shaping up as a success.

      The former Fox News personality, who left his TV job in June, has signed up 230,000 subscribers, even though his online show hasn’t launched yet, according to The Wall Street Journal.

      Prices to access the network, called GBTV, range from $4.95 a month to access Beck’s two-hour show to $9.95 a month for that show plus documentaries and behind-the-scenes programs. Those two options are also available for $49.95 and $99.95 a year, respectively.

      All told, GBTV, could take in as much as $20 million in its first year, according to a source in the article. Those 230,000 subscribers could also trump the 156,000 people who were watching the Oprah Winfrey Network in June. Beck was said to receive a $2.5 million annual salary from Fox News.

      Reps from GBTV could not be reached for comment.

      Beck’s show on GBTV is set to premiere on Monday, a day after the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 and a date evoked by Beck’s 9/12 Project. Beck launched the network in June featuring behind-the-scenes programming. That launch came after ratings for Glenn Beck on Fox News fell from 3 million viewers in January 2010 to 1.6 million in early 2011. In addition, Beck’s provocative right-wing assertions caused more than 100 marketers to pull their ads from the show.

    • Study: Cigarette Smoking Causes More Aterial Damage in Women | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – For women – not smoking is important too….:
    • Dilbert September 11, 2011 – Terrific » Flap’s California Blog – Dilbert September 11, 2011 – Terrific
    • Day By Day September 11, 2011 – Free Will | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day September 11, 2011 – Free Will #tcot #catcot
    • Flap’s Links and Comments for September 11th on 14:05 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for September 11th on 14:05 #tcot #catcot
  • Social Media

    Nielsen’s Social Media Report: Users Over 55 Driving Growth of Social Networking Through the Mobile Internet

    September 12, 2011 /

    Thanks to Katie Harbath of Facebook for the heads up on this report. Here is a summary of the findings:

    • Social networks and blogs continue to dominate Americans’ time online, now accounting for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet
    • At over 53 billion total minutes during May 2011, Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do on any other website
    • Tumblr is an emerging player in social media, nearly tripling its audience from a year ago
    • Nearly 40 percent of social media users access social media content from their mobile phone
    • Internet users over the age of 55 are driving the growth of social networking through the Mobile Internet
    • 70 percent of active online adult social networkers shop online, 12 percent more likely than the average adult Internet user
    • Across a sample of 10 global markets, social networks and blogs are the top online destination in each country, accounting for the majority of time spent online and reaching at least 60 percent of active Internet users

    More and more people that are my age are embracing social media, especially Facebook. Now, since most employers block social media sites during work hours from their company computers and with the advent of powerful Smart Phones, it makes sense that these more senior internet users are using their phones and the mobile internet.

    The marketing opportunities will be many to these folks with a lot of disposable cash.

    The entire report is here.

  • Mitt Romney,  Polling,  President 2012,  Rick Perry

    President 2012: Perry 31% Vs. Romney 21% Vs. Paul 12%

    September 12, 2011 /

    Rick Perry supporters in California last week

    According to the latest CNN/Opinion Research Poll.

    Hours before the start of the first-ever CNN/Tea Party Republican debate, a new national survey indicates that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is maintaining his lead in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

    And according to a CNN/ORC International Poll, what appears to be Perry’s greatest strength – the perception among Republicans that he is the candidate with the best chance to beat President Barack Obama in 2012 – seems to be exactly what the GOP rank and file are looking for.

    It looks like GOP Primary voters have chosen their candidate.

    With Palin out of the running, the headline stays the same: Perry 32 percent, Romney 21 percent, Paul 13 percent and all other candidates, including Bachmann, in single digits.

    “Perry doesn’t simply have the most support in a hypothetical ballot – he also tops the list of GOP candidates on every personal quality tested,” adds Holland.

    Thirty-six percent, for example, see him as the strongest leader in the field, with Romney second at 21 percent. According to the poll, 35 percent say Perry is the Republican candidate most likely to get the economy moving again, with Romney in second at 26 percent.

    Nearly three in ten say that Perry is the candidate who is most likely to fight for his beliefs, with Palin in second place at 23 percent and, significantly, Romney in a distant tie for fourth at just 11 percent.

    But Perry’s biggest strength may be the electability factor, with 42 percent saying he has the best chance of beating Obama next year. Some 26 percent say Romney has the best chance of defeating the president.

    It looks like this race is over, unless Rick Perry manages a huge GAFFE and blows it.

    The Tampa, Florida GOP debate will be tonight at 5 PM PDT on CNN.