We are so fed up and disappointed in our congress, in Washington,
with all the rhetoric and stupidity, how much do we hate them you may ask,
well, just keep reading.
President Obama – Reelected
Speaker John Boehner – Reelected
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi - Reelected
393 members of the house sought reelection, 358, or 91%, won
their election.
23 Members of the Senate sought reelection, 21, also 91%,
won their election.
Americans are fed up with Congress like almost never before.
Congressional approval rating sit in the
teens. What the heck is going on that we as an electorate keep voting in the same
idiots time and time again?
Richard Lugar in Indiana was actually primary’ed out of his
place on the ballot, which ultimately resulted in a seat being gained by the
Democratic party. These guys have no idea what they are doing, they have no
idea how to get us back to some sense of stability and normalcy, but man, can
they get elected. And we are the chumps that keep voting for them!
Of course, all this frustration is coming in the wake of one
of the worst pieces of legislation ever to come out of Washington in my
lifetime, the Fiscal Cliff deal. Today, the 113th congress is being
sworn in. We are currently running the government on accounting tricks and
gimmicks as we pass, yet again, the
debt limit. The CBO says the last piece of legislation passed by the 112th
congress will add about $4
trillion in new debt to our country. Everyone’s taxes are going up despite
warnings that this will be one of the worst taxes to raise in terms of the
economy, which I could accept if it was on the premise of reducing the deficit but, as I already stated, this bill ADDS to the deficit.
Why would we pass a bill that does nothing but add to the
problem that it is supposed to be trying to address? Why is this being touted
as a solution in the first place? If making hurried decisions in the middle of
the night when everyone was trying to make it to the bars for last call was
considered a good idea, I would be CEO of Earth. Nothing is fixed, but congress
did do one thing that it excels at, loading this legislation with pork.
Tax breaks to Scooter Drivers
Tax breaks for shooting movies in low income neighborhoods
Tax breaks for people who own/operate race tracks
Tax Credits for Algae and Asparagus owners
That’s it, I can’t take any more. I’m out of here. Someone
please bring me back to sanity!
Time to bust out the Hagen-Daiz and other all American foods that people gorge on to drown their sorrows.
STAGE 4: DEPRESSION
"If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates." -Jay Leno
The most recognizable of all the grief stricken. You mock those in denial, you avoid those in anger, you judge those who try and bargain there way out of a situation, but most people have a spot in their hearts for their fellow men and woman who are truly depressed.
It's best to just let them be. If you confront them, the reaction will go something like, "What are you people doing here? Shouldn't you be out celebrating, because... evidently... you don't listen to anything I say!". If you must confront one, perhaps to ask for a cup a sugar from your neighbor who has a fading Romney/Ryan sign in their yard, don't back them into a corner. Offer them a way out. Perhaps a low lying window out the side of the house. Unless you want to see some waterfalls, it's best to just let them be.
Should you come across one of these voters that bleed 'red state' red and they are already sobbing, try offering them one of the flyers you got in the mail to help them wipe their tears, or one of the millions of fake ballots cast for Obama to blow their nose. Lend a sympathetic ear as they dribble on about how Obama-Care will destroy us all, or how the Deficit will crush our economy, simply nod and smile, because, deep down you all know it's true! Sorry, sorry, I need a minute...
While I wallow back and forth within the early stages of my personal grief, feel free to wallow with me. If you are one of the lucky ones that have finished shaking your head in disbelief, shaking your fist in anger, writing your petitions to get out of the whole deal, and shedding your tears, feel free to move on to the final stage; Acceptance.
Who is out there willing to play 'let's make a deal' with the Republican party? Perhaps those stinking Mexicans or the blasphemous homosexual community, or god forbid, the Atheists. But, how to make the vision of an anti-immigrant, traditional marriage, judeo-christian founded America appeal to them?
STAGE 3: BARGAINING
"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what... [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives." -Mitt Romney
<My apologies to Mrs. Kubler-Ross for taking some liberties on what is meant by bargaining when it comes to grief.>
Once the anger subsides and the plotting begins in how to win the 2014 midterms and the next presidential election, the need to woo a new demographic to the right side in order to balance out the overall votes. We can not continue to wait for imaginary ninjas to help the right win.
There have been several thoughts presented as to who the Republican Party needs to tailor their message to in the hopes that it may make a dent in the growing gap with voting blocks that have been traditionally democratic. Some people believe this means compromising a long held position on a key issue. Perhaps immigration, perhaps gay marriage. Which of course could, in turn, prevent a key voting block from turning out on election day, of course I am talking about the closely held @$$-hole vote. I'm talking about those that believe that what hot lesbians do in there bedroom are not only topics for guys sitting in front of their computers late at night, but also matters to people who spend Sunday mornings gathering and talking about how everyone else is going to hell, and that believe the first amendment was put in place to prevent poorly placed mosques in Manhattan. There is some doubt cast when people point out the tailored messages that the RNC spent $5,000,000,000 on this past election trying to broadcast messages on Tela-mundo about the need for border protection, and the $100,000,000 spent by the Westboro Baptist Church of sponsoring a tour by the biggest celebrity they could find, George Micheal, to spread their message of sin and sodomy.
Many say that there is no need for change within the party, and that the problem is that large swaths of Americans that don't seem to want to change their morals and values no matter how many times theirs are proven to be inferior to their own. The solution to this conundrum is simple, succession. A petition to the White House has already garnered over 68,000 signatures to allow Texas to succeed from the United States.
To those readers who wish to pursue this path, I would recommend looking at history for the list of do's and do not's when it comes to succeeding from the United States. A brief look at history shows that seceding states don't have the greatest track record. 0 for 11 to be exact. The other number to toss around is 600,000, the sobering number of deaths as a result from the attempt.
Assuming that you are not an Italian plumber stereotype and have but one life to live for your country, my recommendation is to stop trying to wheel and deal your way out of the election results, grab a box of tissues and wait for the forth stage of grief; depression.
Continuing with my efforts to help move past the election results, today we will be addressing the uglier side of politics, no, I'm not talking about sex scandals, I'm talking about Anger, something that any liberal attempting to protest an NRA gathering is all too familiar with.
STAGE 2: ANGER
"This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy!..." Donald Trump on his Twitter Feed
Anger, the ugly cousin of grief that always gets an obligatory invite to the party, but we all hope that they never show up. Once the results of the election started to solidify and the shock fades, who else but anger's grotesque form rears into the human psyche.
%#@%&*$ Ninjas
It's Romney's fault, he abandoned Ohio and Virginia in the eleventh hour for a hail-mary pass in Pennsylvania Minnesota, and Michigan. It's Obama's fault for painting such a horrid picture of such a decent and respectable man. It's the media's fault for slanting their vetting process in the President's favor, and ultimately, it's the Secret Society of Republican Ninja's fault, numbering in the millions and amassing in the Ohio valley and Florida's pan handle, for not only omitting their 10,000,000 solid republican votes, but for not existing in the first place!
Anger is natural enough, but it's how we decide to vent this anger that will judge the parties character moving forward. Reports of people committing suicide and running over their spouse with a car are not helping to transcend the situation, the best thing that comes from these incidents is late night monologue jokes, and considering that republicans are naturally opposed to humor in most forms, I would have to determine that these approaches will ultimately fail in swaying any votes to the right.
Anger, hate, and blame can be pointed in many directions, but for every finger you point at another faction or person who you accuse of costing Romney the election, the more soft money will slip through your fingers, and you will want that money as you move on to the next stage of grief; Bargaining.
Grief is a funny thing. People can respond to it in funny ways. Confusion, sadness, and outbursts of emotion that make people want to check you for tourettes syndrome After listening to the rounds of talk radio in the wake of the election, I've decided to put together a help guide over the coming days to assist with the grief that many are still feeling from the results of the presidential election.
STAGE 1: DENIAL
"... No, I don't..." - Karl Rove when asked if he thinks Ohio has been settled shortly after declared won by Obama on Fox News.
As the results came rolling in, and the writing appeared obvious on the wall. There where some that insisted that it was not over, Karl Rove on Fox News questioned the declaration that Ohio would go Blue when 25% of the vote was still outstanding. Of course, Ohio would go Blue by a little over 100,000 votes. relatively close by most measures, but not close enough to justify holding on to some hope that a mistake had occurred. Especially when results in Virginia, Florida, and one other state would have to swing to make up for it. Last reports from Fox News have Karl Rove going from house to house in all 11 swings states doing a door to door recount to verify the results, currently he reports that Obama has actually grown his lead by 6,000,000 votes, but only because citizens learned that he insisted on receiving a high five from anyone claiming that they voted for Romney.
I'll admit it, I even made a G+ post about how quickly Michigan had been declared for Obama, knowing that it was tagged as a potential upset state, it was called after about 10% by most networks, and at one point, I think with roughly 25% reporting, Romney actually had a slight lead in Michigan. I took out my anger and frustration banging my head against the wall once for each of the 2,561,911 votes he got in Michigan. The new entry way this created from the living room to the bathroom in our house was not well received by the misses. Especially since she was showering at the time that vote number 1,894,923 was counted, and I blasted through the last bit of drywall and tile that created a 'how do you do' moment with my lovely wife that had previously only been hinted at in the pages of Dear Penthouse. My ending did not match the erotic ending of the forum.
But here is the truth, not only is it true that Obama won the election, it turns out that all the statisticians at all the major news networks got it right on the first try. Sure, many of us still remember the 2000 election and the constant changing of Florida with trepidation, but that was a learning experience for the news machine in general. We on the short end of this election need to accept this reality and start plotting the demise of our enemies as we move on to the next phase of grief; ANGER.
By using national exit poll data, I've formulated the most prominent aspects of voters for Obama and Romney,then smashed them into a single profile. Makes for an interesting contrast, enjoy!
It's the morning after, the sun still rose, the schools are still open, the zombie apocalypse did not occur. Though this latter point truly disappointing me, I do want to take a moment and reflect on what yesterdays election result mean, specifically for my state of Iowa.
The booths looked simular in 2010, coincidence?
We begin by looking at the national elections, The incumbent President takes the state by a healthy margin and we had 5 incumbents running of our now 4 congressional districts, of which incumbents won all four. With neither of our senators that have served a combined 60 years of service up for reelection this go around. We move on to the state senate elections where 26 elections were held with 13 incumbents running. Thanks, once again, to redistricting, 2 of the incumbents got to go head to head, the race for state senate district 26 resulted in 50% of the loses that were handed to the incumbents, so even counting that as a win and a loss, incumbents won about 85% of their elections. 91% if you just remove the incumbent v. incumbent race.
The state house wasn't much better, and by better, of course, I mean worse, just a sliver shy of 93% of incumbents that ran got re elected. This includes counting Erik Helland as a loss since he got primar'ied out by Jake Highfill who ended up winning the seat for district 39. And I'm counting Art Stead's win over Renee Schulte as a loss, even though he held a seat in the legislator from '06 to '08, ironically loosing to the same person who he just defeated then.
What is to be extrapolated from this information? The optimist in me says that Iowa was generally dissatisfied with the alternatives offered and simply will sit and wait for a better listing of candidates. The true optimist in me says that Iowa has it figured out, that we have conquered all adversity, or at least 90 some percent of it, and we are down to tweeks rather then reforms in our republic. The realist in me has another possibility, we are just lazy.
The kicker to this story is that over $15 million was spent just on the local house elections, and over $5 million on the senate, not even going into the federal elections, this means that Iowa spent roughly $17 per vote in order to keep everything just the way it is.
Is this a case of "The devil you know..." or "May the best man win..."? We may never be certain.... I'm sure I had a broader point to make there but I can't think of what it was or what it should be at this moment. I'll leave it to you, good people of the blogosphere, to draw your own conclusions. I will continue to yell at the universe from the safety and security of my couch, Cherios and underwear well in hand. Wait, that came out wrong.
Some of these results probably will come as little surprise, others may come as a bit of a shock, but I thought I would continue my opining about this election cycle by announcing my voting decisions with a small amount of justification and insight. For those who live in Linn County Iowa, you can obtain a sample ballot here. The specific ballot I will be discussing can be found here. I'm big on getting everyone out to vote, just try and do a little bit of your own research before you do so, thank you.
President of the United Stated of America - Mitt Romney
If anyone is surprised by this then they haven't read this.
U.S. House of Representatives, Iowa District 1 - Gregory Hughes
When it comes to an election, you like to have a clear and concise choice, and if in however many years that choice has not worked out the way you want, you want to be offered a new alternative. This is not what is happening in this re-runoff between Ben Lange and Bruce Braley. Who already faced each other in 2010. Now with new districts they are recasting the same messages out hoping to either have the exact same outcome, or the outcome that was rejected two years ago. This seems a bit idiotic in my mind, so I gave a good solid look at Greg Hughes, or at least as good of one as I could find. He appears to be very proactive as far as holding members of the Judicial Branch accountable, and has spent a good amount of his time helping people and families in less fortunate times battle against the system. Nothing that effects me personally, but he offers some interesting stories and obviously very passionate about defending individuals.
State Senator District 34 - Liz Mathis
Perhaps a surprise to some, it's a bit of a de-facto pick, her original opponent Randi Shannon, dropped out, leaving Ryan Flood to try and put a campaign together with less then 3 months before the election.
It's not going so good...
The one flyer I received to even let me know of the change didn't have a website, I extrapolated it from the email address domain to find this, (and believe me, a Google search will not find it easily) his entire platform fits on a single sheet of paper. No real surprise as far as outcome here. But I did take some time to review Liz's voting record, and nothing stood out to my as absurd I am curious to see how the commercial zone property tax argument will progress now that the state budget is looking much better. I also feel that a split legislator (house being Republican, Senate being Democrat) will result in a more agreeable reform that will limit impact on local school districts budgets while still getting some relief pointed toward locally owed businesses. Final thought, she also knocked on our door in person and spent several minutes discussing tax reform with me.
Call it an agreeable vote for the eventual winner, but I'm satisfied with my state senator.
State Representative, District 68 - Nick Wagner As in depth as any election for a state house member can get, I actually feel like we have a pair of good candidates, I watched a replay of a debate and must say I was impressed by both of theirs knowledge and passion. Though I can not find a transcript of video upload online (very disappointing, but expected). I recall one point that was made about shifting power of the state universities budgeting more towards the legislature. Though not thrilled by the idea of it becoming a a battle between politicians and bureaucrats. I am not a fan of our board of regents, something about how a school with lower enrollment and a higher endowment gets about 25% more per student then my alma mater, but I digress. Lundby believes that an appointed board is a better decision maker then an elected panel. What I've seen tells me otherwise. I don't feel like there is a 'wrong' decision in this race, but my vote is going to Nick Wagner. Linn County Board of Supervisors, District 4 - Brett Olsen
I've had the opportunity to meet Brett on a couple occasions, once during a public session for rebuilding the City after our epic flood of '08. He's generally considered a practical guy with libertarian tendencies. I am a little disappointed that he's running unopposed as it prevents a candidate from holding as many open houses or going on the record for their plan and vision as much as I would like.
Linn County Auditor - Garth Fagerbakke
I'm envoking my knowledge of public Information Technology that tells me that Joel Miller is hiding something, you don't take a laptop from your employer and have some expectation of privacy on it. Regardless of the exact wording of the law. Add this to hiring an old buddy through a temp agency at $40/hr for a term of several months just rises my ire and makes me feel that we can try someone know in this posisiton. Linn County Sheriff - Brian Gardner
Another unopposed election, I had heard rumblings of a write in effort for a Tim Pugh, but have not heard much other then that. Again, always feel a little disappointed when someone runs unopposed, but what can you do at this point.
Soil and Water Conservation and Agricultural Extension Council - Whoever wants it.
I'll admit it, I have almost no idea what these people do or why we are voting for them, but three people are running for three spots on one and four people are running for four spots on another, if you want the title, that's good enough for me at this point.
---TURN THE BALLOT OVER!---
Judge Retention - Yes, to all
Using a highly scientific process of typing in "Should <judge name> be retained?" into Google and reading the first non-generic link that comes up, if the story warrants further investigation, investigate further. Suffice to say this process bored the crap out of me, with the exception of Wiggins. For those of you not in the know of Iowa, we are one of very few states that allow same sex marriage, due to a ruling a few years back by out state supreme court that decided that any ban on same sex marriage was unconstitutional, ipso facto, they are legal. I understand a lot of people don't believe in life time appointments and will vote no regardless, my fear is the wrong message is being sent if Wiggins joins the 3 not retained judges from 2010 and our court will be horribly slanted towards the disposition against same sex. Read the opinion here, and remember that this decision was unanimous between all 7 justices at the time. The only thing that I have considered is voting no on the other three republican appointed judges, and yes on Wiggins, but I feel that would be a bit petty considering they just got appointed last year.
E911 Public Measure - ??
A measure to fund our 911 services with an additional $.25 surcharge to land lines monthly fee. I'm actually very opinionated, but for reasons that I won't get into here. Suffice to say my current job has offered me some insight into this measure, I strongly suggest my fellow Linn County residents to learn what you can and decide accordingly.
There you have it folks, the 2012 General Election ballot as filled out by yours truly, and once again, get informed and make your own decision. For those who are interested, here is my party scorecard.
I want to share a video that I saw thanks to my following of the Cedar Rapids Activist Blog. First, allow me to give you a little back story for those of you that may not be from the immediate Eastern Iowa area. We are now in Iowa's 1st congressional district where two years ago, Ben Lange lost to incumbent Bruce Braley by a margin of less then 2%. This time the newly rezoned 1st district is a tightly contested race between, you guessed it, Bruce Braley and Ben Lange.
Hughes best publicity comes directly from Hughes
Some people have already observed the absurdity of being left with the same choice that they had two years ago. That somehow you are unhappy with the decision that you made and instead want to go back to the decision that you decided against last time. It makes my head hurt a bit.
To the point, a pair of third party candidates have stepped up to offer a true alternative, including Greg Hughes. The issue is that it has been frustratingly difficult for this candidate to get any attention from the prominent local newspaper, the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Who also owns one of the networked local stations KCRG (ABC). So Mr. Hughes grabbed his amateur camera crew and went to go get some answers as to why. The response they got was that the Hughes ticket has not picked up the support of a strong polling data, which a quick check og Gallop, RCP, and even The Gazette itself did a very winded article last week on the race where they failed to give any instance on how close or far ahead any one candidate is.
Without any Further ado, I present to you Greg Hughes attempt to confront an Editor at the Cedar Rapids Gazette for their lack of interest in what amounts to allowing for a new choice from the same election two years ago;
You can argue the distraction of having a third party candidate at the presidential debates or the amount of time that someone should be alotted when they don't have a realistic chance to win, but this appears to be that arguement at it's worst. The media is not seeking an alternative to the choices made two years ago, they are not supporting there decision to not consider him viable with any polling data, then they give him the runaround, avoiding invites to cover his rallies and promising to call but failing to come through. It seems a simple and basic function of the press to at least present the basic arguments of an alternative being available before you simply dismiss them.
I have already printed off a copy of the ballot for this election and intend to vet all the candidates before making my decisions (which will be revealing in an upcoming post), and I challenge all of you to do the same. At the very least, third party canidates are wonderful for exposing topics that may not otherwise be given the attention they deserve, such as Hughes' attention on Judges who have disgraced their position.
My blood boils a little bit when I hear Obama talk about all the great things that he has done for the Green Energy Industry, especially for wind, here in Iowa. His words took my blood pressure to new heights when he invoked my home state in one of his debate answers tonight;
"So, I’m all for pipelines. I’m all for oil production. What I’m not for is us ignoring the other half of the equation. So, for example, on wind energy, when Governor Romney says “these are imaginary jobs.” When you’ve got thousands of people right now in Iowa, right now in Colorado, who are working, creating wind power with good-paying manufacturing jobs, and the Republican senator in that — in Iowa is all for it, providing tax breaks (ph) to help this work and Governor Romney says I’m opposed. I’d get rid of it."
What is the reality on the ground? Well, first of all, a couple quick jabs. The obvious question is that how can Obama be all for pipelines when he has stonewalled the XL pipeline around every corner. Simply saying that you are in favor of something is a long way from being in favor of something. And I'm sure the discussion of what Obama has done for Oil production on our continent will be vetted out in the wake of tonight's debate.
Now, the meat of the statement. Of course a Senator Grassely is in favor of tax cuts for Wind Energy. He's a republican, he is in favor of almost all tax cuts. He made this public statement in the early parts of August of this year, because he know that a major wind power manufacturer was on the ropes. Ironically is a company that also had a large presence in Colorado, I'm referring to Clipper Wind. A company that just laid off 32% of it's workforce here in Cedar Rapids.
Demand for wind turbines, blades, towers and other equipment has fallen steeply in recent months due to the low price of natural gas and the impending expiration of the Federal Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit at the end of this year.
The American Wind Energy Association said earlier this month that wind power installations have declined between 73 percent and 93 percent in the years after previous expiration of the production tax credit. Congress has restored the tax credit on previous occasions, but not before widespread industry layoffs.
It begs the question why these extensions are held hostage during an election cycle, or did I just answer my own question?
China under Obama in total wind power production. I do make a point that this tax credit is constantly kicked down the road with no talk of extending it much beyond the next election cycle at the same time it is held out infront of the American people as a standard for what these policies can do to restore American industry. While the white house tries to champion how it is dulling out green energy dollars and credits and talking about the great manufacturers that swing states like Iowa and Colorado have, those companies are laying off hundreds and the industry is dying right before our eyes.
Romney's plan is to stop these stupid games with picking industry winners and losers. They are not working. Rather, implement a lower rate for all industry and give each of them a fair chance to make it on their own. Give less of what they earn to the government rather then dull out billions of taxpayer dollar and cross your fingers that lightning will strike Why should a companies ability to petition for federal aide be the new determinant in who has the best business model? That's like saying a promotion should go to the employee who asks for the most raises at work. Does that sound like a recipe for a healthy, solid industry? A quick look at how successful US green energy companies are doing against international competition should give you a quick answer.
IT could be a pretty lady, a train wreck, or a squirrel, something will distract all of us at some point during tonight's debate. Save yourself some embarrassment by using my cheat sheet guide to tonight's debate.
President Obama
Governor Romney
Question
What he will say
What he won’t say
What he will say
What he won’t say
What will you do for the working classes tax burden?
“I Believe in a ‘middle out’ approach that strengthens the middle
class by reducing their tax burden.”
“My temporary tax cuts for the middle class weren’t paid for, as a
result, I’m shaving years off the solvency of Social Security and Medicare. “
“My tax plan to reduce the rate by 20% will not add to the deficit.
And I have 6 reports that support this.”
“The only way this plan won’t result in a deficit is if it stimulates
a 4+% growth in the economy, a rate we haven’t seen since the 90’s”
What is your plan to strengthen the Economy?
“We must invest in infrastructure, and make sure our schools and police
departments are adequately funded.”
I've been saying this for 4 years, my budgets have assumed record growth as a result, I've never been right."
"Removing needless obstructions to small business that are the life blood of our economy."
Specifics... Specifics... Specifics...
How will you keep America Safe?
“Let me be perfectly clear, the US will not tolerate any attempts of
violence on us or our allies.”
“We will continue with drone strikes that are causing hundreds of
deaths in collateral damage.”
“I will not cut the Military by $2 Trillion Dollars over the next 10
years.”
“These cuts were part of a deal to begin to rein in spending, and I
have no plan to make up the difference, other then to grow out of it.”
What could have gone better in Benghazi?
“We could have improved relations with the Muslim people.”
"I will never say where Ambassador Rice and I got our initial story from that this attack was a result of a YouTube video."
"I will stop the culture of America apologizing for everything that America has done."
"...which does nothing to address the current problem which has no easy solution, but whatever Obama is doing ain't working."
How will you address Healthcare?
"I will continue to close the doughnut holes in Medicare, and help ensure our seniors get the care that's been promised to them."
"The Medicare surplus will be dried up by 2016, The CBO has added trillions to the cost of ObamaCare, and I have no plan other then to keep borrowing money to continue this program."
"My plan will keep the parts of ObamaCare that are popular while infusing the private sector to hlp control costs."
"You'll be dealing with insurance companies until the day you die and then some. Why don't you like me plan?"
Why should American’s Vote for you?
"Because we can not return to the policies that got us into this mess in the first place. We must continue to move Forward."
Any answer that actually makes you want to vote FOR me.
"The President said in his own words that if he didn't have this figured out in 3 years, it would be a one term proposition."
Any answer that actually makes you want to vote FOR me.
"Well, we weren't told they wanted more security there. We did not know they wanted more security again. And by the way, at the time we were told exactly — we said exactly what the intelligence community told us that they knew. That was the assessment. And as the intelligence community changed their view, we made it clear they changed their view." -Joe Biden 10/11/2012
One can make statements that are analyzed by experts and nit picked apart. I have 6 reports that say this, well, I have 3 reports that say differently. You promised this, No! I just proposed a plan that said it would happen. This is in many regards the core of what politics is about, proposing your side of an argument and make it sound like fact. However, what Joe Biden said last night on prime time television make me throw up my arms are scream "LIAR!"
I know, I know, Paul Ryan lies and misrepresents too. He says "The President said unemployment won't go over 8%..." which he never actually said he just put a report on the table that said it and said "Here is my plan". Joe Biden says "Your tax plan will cost $5 Trillion..." again, Mitt never said anything of the sort, but the Tax Policy Center had a report that said Here is Mitt Romney's Plan. We can chase our tails on these half truths and reports and who is calling what a Fact and who is calling what a Liar, odds are the other side has something to point to that contradicts the other and makes their side cheer and scream "Atta Boy!"
Even the moderator Mrs. Radditz said right before Joe's comment "And they wanted more security there.". I have found transcripts here, here, here, here, and none of them have a '?' after that statement. Watch the video, it was a statement by the moderator, NOT A QUESTION.
Why was this not a question, because just two days prior, under oath, before congress;
“We felt great frustration that those requests were ignored or just never met,” Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, a Utah National Guardsman who was leading a security team in Libya until August.
AND
“In those conversations, I was specifically told [by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Charlene Lamb] ‘You cannot request an SST extension.’ I determined I was told that because there would be too much political cost. We went ahead and requested it anyway.” The top regional security officer in Libya over the summer, Eric Nordstrom, testified.
Common sense, there are dozens of events that took place in Benghazi this summer that you think would make most people go "Hmmm... maybe we shouldn't pull our military forces out a month before 9/11."
Deep Breaths...
Ok, Fine, so Joe doesn't work at the State Department, these e-mails and requests don't need his signature to be enacted. Obama must have been so engrossed in those PDB's that Joe could never snag them away from him. They probably don;t bother putting things like online threats, Car jackings, IED's being left at our embassies front door, and our allies getting rocketed and them leaving the area in those things anyway, it's probably loaded up with Fantasy Football numbers and Golf Course weather reports instead. I guess that means that our new foreign policy reads a little something like this;
In the event of an attack on US citizens or our interests abroad, someone should probably tell somebody. If in the event that somebody doesn't get back to them, someone else should really be held accountable, should that person be at that time indisposed, then let it be determined that, in the best interest of the United States, the Commander in Chief shall take it upon himself to fly out to Vegas, and let it ride on lucky 17.
“The entire reason that this has become the political topic it is, is because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan” — Obama Deputy Campaign Director Stephanie Cutter 10/11/12.
"I have seen that report, and the story is absolutely wrong. We were not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent. That report is false." Press Secretary Jay Carney 9/14/12.
"I have a sense that the liberal community is going to be very satisfied with what Joe Biden delivered tonight. He was detailed, he was passionate, he made people believe that he cares about the country and had confidence in which way this administration wants to take the country." MSNBC News Commentator Ed Shultz 10/11/12.
"The men and women who risk their lives in the service of our country are heroes. I know and served with many of our security professionals in Libya and around the world. They are my friends and colleagues. And I trust them with my life." Under Secretary of State for Management Pat Kennedy 10/10/2012.
Last week an aggressive Mitt Romney, on a stage at the University of Denver, became the source of an outpouring of good news for the challenger, and upsetting news for the incumbent. As it turns out, this is not the first time this election that some bad news has come out of the Centennial State for the President.
Back in August, A presidential election prediction model developed by two University of Colorado professors points to a big win for GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney in November.This model, the only of its kind to use more than one state-level economic indicator, has correctly predicted the winner of every presidential election since 1980.
Bicker/Berry Model
It not only predicts Romney winning the electoral college, but by a 320-218 margin and winning 52.9 percent of the popular vote when only the two major parties’ candidates are considered. This s accomplished by having Romney win every state currently considered by pollsters to be a swing state, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, New Hampshire and North Carolina. Leaving Nevada and Iowa as the only swing states still going to Obama.
“What is striking about our state-level economic indicator forecast is the expectation that Obama will lose almost all of the states currently considered as swing states, including North Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida,” said Kenneth Bickers of CU-Boulder.
Bickers and Berry, the professors that built this model, cautioned that their model used economic data from June, 2012. They intend to update their calculations when new data become available in September.
Well, October is here and the September data is available. Now, an updated version of their study has come to the same conclusion — but it intensifies the numbers behind a predicted Romney win.
Since the debate last week, polls have shown a statistically dead-heat race (Obama is currently at 48.2 percent, with Romney capturing 47.3 percent of likely voters in the most recent Real Clear Politics average), an updated election model shows an even larger gap between the Electoral College votes that Romney and Obama are projected to win. According to Bickers and Berry, Mitt Romney is now projected to take 330 of the 558 votes, according to their model, while Obama is expected to capture only 208 of them.
Is it time to announce a winner this election? Absolutely not! Obviously the polling is still unfavorable, though much closer. And with three debates remaining and a lower, though questionable, unemployment rate, the case is being made that this election could go any which direction. And to make a nod to the elephant in the room, this election will not follow so many of the rules created by previous rules, and I think the reason is pretty obvious. I'll take a lot of flack for saying this, but I must. Romney may not be able to defeat Obama because of the fact that Romney is a Mormon. </sarcasm>
I had a good night sleep, I woke up, took a quick shower, and noticed an odd growth on my leg, but I digress. It's time to take a few minutes and reflect on how the debate went last night.
Overall, I think it is pretty obvious that Mitt Romney carried the night, in the first 15 minutes Obama I believe used his infamous "Uhh..." thinking sound about 300 times, but there was a reason, at least in part, for this. Mitt Romney never gave Obama the ammunition he needed to attack his plans. He still hasn't, not really. When Obama started a line of attack about Romney's plan to cut taxes by $5 Trillion taxes, Romney was able to counter by saying that wasn't his plan at all, and then go into a fairly simple argument about cutting loopholes and broadening the base that would result in roughly the same revenue. This was a narrative of Romney's plan that hasn't really been put out there and it made it difficult for Obama to really pick it apart.
"...I'm not looking for a $5 trillion tax cut. What I've said is I won't put in place a tax cut that adds to the deficit. That's part one. So there's no economist that can say Mitt Romney's tax plan adds $5 trillion if I say I will not add to the deficit with my tax plan..." - Romney
As a more than likely Romney voter, it did disappoint me that we got little more then a taste as to what ta loopholes Romney would cut to make his across the board cuts feasable. He hinted at lowering the standard deduction, at reducing exemptions for higher wage earners, and putting the focus on making things easier on small businesses, but it's a long way from specifics. I would venture to say he doesn't want to be hindered by campaign promises while tackling this issue, but the same could be said for campaign assurances that he is trying to pass of as his plan currently.
This sums it up, Obama still ahead, but Romney won the Debate
Make no mistake though, the dance the Romney did around details of his plan paled in comparison to Obama's plan which has been heard before, in many cases been tried before, and worst of all sounds near impatient when he tries to make the case that his current policies are actually working. At one point he tried to make the case he was emulating the plans of the late 90's where we had massive expansion, jobs were plentiful, and the deficit disappeared The obvious flaw with this narrative is that we are NOT having massive economic expansion, jobs are very scarce, and we have spent record amounts of money in the process. In my eyes, it makes the President come across as arrogant and pompous.
"...Bill Clinton tried the approach that I'm talking about. We created 23 million new jobs. We went from deficit to surplus. And businesses did very well. So, in some ways, we've got some data on which approach is more likely to create jobs and opportunity for Americans..." - Obama
The simple fact of this debate is, that Obama looked tired and week compared to a Romney that looked energized, ready, and eager to tackle these problems. I was a bit frightened toward the end that Romeny started to have a bit of that 'foaming at the mouth' aspect too him by interrupting and talking over Jim, but then this happened;
OBAMA: Now, the last point I'd make before ...
LEHRER: Two minutes -- two minutes is up, sir.
OBAMA: No, I think -- I had five seconds before you interrupted me, was ...
Then he proceeded to speak for another minute or so. Suddenly, my mind went from a tired and un-engaged Obama to a frustrated Obama, the body language shifted back to Romney's favor, and no amount of Big Bird tweets would correct it.
To address the elephant in the room, let's call him Snuffleupagus, the Big Bird joke was brought up back in January. My personal thought is most people that are acting like this is a slip are just a little behind on the times. I'd also note that many people are talking about the tragedy of loosing Big Bird, not if the government should be financing a broadcast channel that gets next to no ratings.
In other news, Jobless Claims are back up from the prior week, Unemployment is still over 8%, Labor participation is at 30 year lows, and we are still spending $8 Billion dollars a day we don't have.
Fast Facts;
Obvious Looser of the Debate
Mentions of the word(s):
Tax - 109
Jobs - 41
President - 97
Governor - 76
Please - 5
Sorry - 5
I wouldn't be a perfect President - 1
Number of tweets under #Debates/#Debates2012: 10.3 Million
This past winter, during the President's state of the union speech, I tried something new and exciting; The State of the Union Drinking Game.
The premise was simple, pour yourself two drinks, my preference was a classic margarita in one glass, and a strawberry margarita in another. Whenever President Obama says the word "Hope", I took a swig of the classic margarita, and whenever he said "Change", a swig of the strawberry. I had to check the official transcript since I didn't keep an accurate count, I just know that I was still recognizing things afterwards and didn't have to call in sick to work. Hope = 2, Change =8 (and I counted hopeful as 1).
This Wednesday I plan on continuing my own little tradition of making politicking a little less painful by continuing my tradition. Current plan is to use a couple left over Mike's from this weekend of tailgating in Ames, IA. Peach Margarita Mike's will be when one of the candidates says something close to the statement "My opponent want's you to believe..." or "My opponent says that..." basically the idea of putting words in their opponents mount starting with the statement "My opponent...". A Raspberry Mike's will be used when the line "Under my Plan..." or some close rendition there-abouts.
The objective here is simple, to feel better about myself and the path of the country by the time the debate is over using God's greatest gift to mankind to bypass the need to actually believe what the candidates say and having a good feeling about what is going to happen to the nation under the guidance of either of these men. If this means having to hover a toilet for the successive several hours and missing a day of work, so be it. You never know, maybe one of these fine gents will inspire me and completely change my perspective about this election, but depending on how active they are with my preceding set of rules, I may or may not even remember if they did.
The Los Angeles Times did a piece about how President Obama is employing roughly twice as many paid staffers for his campaign then Gov. Mitt Romney, for about the same amount of money. Here is a litany of legitimate reasons for this;
Half of Obama's Staff is paid with unemployment checks.
The other half of Romney's staff is on strike, Obama has no comment.
Why don't the poor just buy some more money?
Hopefully that clears up some confusions. As with most things this election cycle, just doing a little bit of investigative journalism will bring all these things to light. What's that? You don't believe that I spent tedious painstaking hours putting these 'facts' together. Well, what good are facts, when you have THE TRUTH on your side!
I figured that since President Obama's time taken to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman took presidence over meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu and addressing the riots that appear to be directed at us in a dozen different Middle Eastern countries that he must of had something pretty important to say. After a crack about seeing David naked (that made me think of a hilarious pun involving the President missing his security briefs) they began to talk about the Republican National Convention. The key part came when David asked President Obama what this who Debt Deal was about. He was responding to the National Debt Clock that was a prominent feature of the Republican National Convention last month in Tampa.
Obama, "We had a surplus when Bill Clinton was President"
Letterman, "That means extra money."
Obama - "Extra money, that was projected to continue to be a surplus. We decided to launch two wars on a credit card. We cut taxes twice without finding offsetting costs for it, or ways to pay for it. A Perscription drug plan, and then we had a massive recession. So when I walked into office we had a trillion dollar deficit. Debt had mounted, and we had to take Emergency Measures, saved the Auto Industry, making sure that the financial system got back on track. So now, what we have to do it pair down that deficit, get that debt under control. The only way we've been able to do that, effectively, is when you do it a balanced way, so, you cut out spending you don;t need, programs that doesn't work, and like I tell my Democratic friends all the time, if you're going to be in favor of helping the American people you can;t just assume that every government program is working the way it should, it can work better. But, what is also true, is that we are going to need to ask folks like you and me to do a little bit more and if you and I are paying the same tax rates we did under Bill Clinton then that helps to close the deficit. If we do those two things then we can manage very effectively and get our books in order."
Letterman - "Now do you remember what that number was? Was is.. $10 Trillion?"
Obama - "I don't remember what the number was preciously."
Letterman, "Now if this is me and I got the credit card guy calling me everyday, I start to get scared. AS Americans, should we be scared that we owe that kind of money, who do we owe that money to?"
Obama - "Well, a lot of it we owe to ourselves, because if you invest in a treasury bill or something like that then you are essentially loaning the government money. In fact, the majority is owed by folks who live here. But, we don;t have to worry about it short term, right now interest rates are low because people still consider the united states the safest, greatest country on earth, rightfully so. But, it is a problem long term."
The National Debt is an astounding $16 trillion, a number that I have trouble grappling. It also exceeds the size of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, the total value of goods and services. Even if the government doubled it's revenue with higher taxes and fees, and even if it didn't bring the economy to a grinding halt as a result, it would take over two decades to pay this thing off.
Obama’s answer was a masterpiece of prevarication. He described how the debt originated, and claimed, falsely, that he inherited a $1 trillion deficit. In fact, this country had never run a deficit anywhere near $1 trillion until FY 2009, the first year of the Obama administration.
Even in his stump speeches he proves a lack of having a handle of the deficit. The speech I attended in Cedar Rapids included the line, "We fought two wars on a credit card..." and five minutes later "So I want to take about half the money we’re no longer spending on a war and let’s use it to put people back to work.". Huh? so we still don't have any money, but since we aren't spending this money we don't have on war, lets spend it on job creation, what about the half a trillion plus we spent in 09' and '10 that was supposed to spur our economy? There is no plan to reduce spending, just to funnel it into his own picks and agenda.
In a development directly related to the federal debt and the deficit, the Washington Examiner is reporting that the number of able-bodied Americans on food stamps has doubled after the Obama administration suspended certain work requirements for welfare programs.
Although the president apparently is thus far too busy to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu about the Iranian nuclear threat, his trip to New York also included a campaign fundraiser with Jay-Z and Beyonce. Barely giving the slaying of our ambassador a second thought before flying off to Las Vegas.
Watch President Barack Obama below say he doesn’t remember what the National Debt is precisely (about the six-and-a-half-minute mark):
How frustrated do I become when I see the President so obviously duck a question? Even though millions of people see him do it, nobody seems to care. He's just too cool, he's too charismatic, he has done NOTHING to improve this countries situation on one hand, and in the other, he can do no wrong.Meanwhile, a businessman with one of the greatest track records for turning companies and even the Olympics around gets nothing but blame for only paying $2 million in taxes when he should have been paying $4 million. Well, now it seems that he only had to pay $1.5 million, because of all the money he was donating to charity... yet some people will never know, and will continue to think of him as nothing but an a-hole.
Why would we pass a bill that does nothing but add to the
problem that it is supposed to be trying to address? Why is this being touted
as a solution in the first place? If making hurried decisions in the middle of
the night when everyone was trying to make it to the bars for last call was
considered a good idea, I would be CEO of Earth. Nothing is fixed, but congress
did do one thing that it excels at, loading this legislation with pork.
