Today marked the five year anniversary of the Tea Party, with conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin giving the keynote address. In his speech he noted the importance of maintaining the integrity of the U.S. Constitution, and that “the firewall of the Constitution has been breached.”
politics
Obama at New Low; 40% Approval Rating
President Obama’s approval rating of 40% represents a new low. Mounting issues are plaguing him and his administration. Jobless claims continue to be high. The reported unemployment rating is still in the 9%+ range. Obamacare is still leaving a nasty taste in the mouths of many. And now the debt talks. [Read more…] about Obama at New Low; 40% Approval Rating
Wall Street Favoring Romney
A year after President Barack Obama signed into law the most extensive financial regulations since the Great Depression, Wall Street so far is putting its political money elsewhere.
Employees of Goldman Sachs Group gave Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney $238,250 in the last three months, more than workers at any other company, according to a computer-assisted analysis of Federal Election Commission data. Obama took in $10,113.
Four years ago, employees of New York-based Goldman gave $994,795 to Obama and $234,275 to Romney, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group. For both candidates, it was more than any other company’s employees.
In addition, Romney took in $2.1 million from donors reporting a New York state address, where the financial industry is headquartered, FEC data shows. Obama raised $1.3 million during the same period. For the 2008 election, Obama raised $50.5 million in the state; Romney raised $2.8 million, according to the center.
Romney and Obama were among the candidates offering the first looks at their presidential fundraising. Their FEC reports cover donations through June 30.
President’s Weekly Address: Meeting Fiscal Challenges
Oliver North on the Afghanistan Pullout
First the good news. The war in Afghanistan is being won. As our FOX News team saw on our most recent trip through the length and breadth of the country, the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies are being defeated at nearly every turn. Though military operations and police actions are being conducted at their highest pace since the war began a decade ago, coalition, Afghan and civilian casualties continue to decline – even in the midst of “fighting season.” According to U.S. and allied military officers with whom we spoke, Taliban fighters are defecting in greater numbers than ever before. Though our political leaders in Washington won’t use the word, “victory” is within reach.
Now the bad news. The speed and scale of the pullout, withdrawal, redeployment, drawdown – or whatever the Obama administration wants to call it – places all the hard-won gains at risk. Instead of a time frame based on the situation on the ground, the president wants all 33,000 American “surge” troops home by next summer. Everyone – friend and enemy – knows the timing and the number in the pullout are being driven by next year’s U.S. presidential election. [Read more…] about Oliver North on the Afghanistan Pullout
Former First Lady Betty Ford Passed Away
Former First Lady Betty Ford has passed away at age 93. She was married to former President Gerald Ford and was an outspoken advocate for women’s rights.
Betty Ford, may you rest in peace.
Donald Trump the Chump or Real Contender
So many people are getting worked up into tizzies about the possibility of Donald Trump running for president. But there are also an equal amount calling him Trump the Chump.
Aside from the fact that he is pressing all the issues that get people worked up over, like Obama’s birth certificate, what is really behind Trump? After all, he was for Obama before he was against him. A typical Washington flip-flopper!
Stephanopoulos: I’ll get to my next question. Today, the head of the Club for Growth a major group inside the Republican Party has said you’re just another liberal. Focusing–
Trump: A liberal?
Stephanopoulos: Liberal.
Trump: Me? A liberal? What is the Club for Growth and who are they supporting? Because I understood– I had heard about this just a little while ago. I had heard that they have a favored candidate, whoever that may be.
Stephanopoulos: Who do you think that is?
Trump: I don’t know. I have no idea. But when somebody calls me a liberal, that is something I don’t think I’ve ever been called before.
Stephanopoulos: But in your book, The America We Deserve, you wrote, “I’m a conservative on most issues, but a liberal on this one.” You were talking about health care.
Trump: I want people to be taken care of. But not with Obamacare. Obamacare is a total disaster. Also, we’re in a much different time. We used to think, 12-14 years ago, we used to think we had a wealthy nation, we could take care of people. The fact is, we’re in a much different time now. The world has changed a lot.
Stephanopoulos: So, you no longer support universal health care?
Trump: I support health care for people. I want people well taken care of. But I also want health care that we can afford as a country. I have people and friends closing down their businesses because of Obamacare. I mean, they’re literally closing down their businesses. They cannot afford to stay in business. And that can’t happen. Because that’s more jobs, more unemployment, and more people going over to China.
Stephanopoulos: In– in your book, at that time, you said, you– we needed to find an equivalent of the single payer plan that is affordable, well-administered, and provides freedom of choice. Still for single payer?
(OVERTALK)
Trump: How many years ago was that, George? Tell me.
Stephanopoulos: It was in 2000.
Trump: Okay. It’s a long time ago. It’s 11 or 12 years ago. And frankly, a lot of people agreed with it. A lot of conservative Republicans agreed with it, at that time. We have a different country today. We can’t afford things that we could have afforded or that we thought we could afford many years ago.
Stephanopoulos: But what is your plan now?
Trump: My plan now is to number one get rid of Obamacare.
But what about his money?
But the truth is, no one is sure what Trump is worth. Forbes magazine puts his current net worth at somewhere around $2.7 billion; a 2005 report from Deutsche Bank put the number at $788 million.
Nor does there seem to be much consistency to his assertion that he’s “very conservative” politically. In his pseudo-run for the presidency in 2000, he endorsed universal health care and a 14.25% one-time tax on estates over $10 million to bolster Social Security and Medicare — two positions that any progressive liberal would support.
But if Obama would release a ‘true’ birth certificate, we would know just what Donald is worth.
USAToday article:
Donald Trump says he’ll disclose his finances if he runs for president, but won’t release his income tax returns unless President Obama releases his birth certificate.
Trump made his comments in a wide-ranging interview with ABC’s Good Morning America. He has vowed to say by June whether he’ll seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
The real estate executive told host George Stephanopoulos that he’s “done a great job” with his company and vowed to “do a full disclosure of finances.”
But when asked if he’d release his tax returns — as Obama did yesterday and as presidential candidates have done in the past — Trump balked and brought up the issue of Obama’s birth certificate.”We’ll look at that,” Trump said. “… I’d love to give my tax returns. I may tie my tax returns into Obama’s birth certificate.”
And if you are still unsure about whether the Donald is Trump the Chump or the savior to the GOP, know this:
Official: Wisconsin Gov. Signs Bill Stripping Unions of Collective Bargaining
Today, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill stripping unions of collective bargaining.
The state Assembly passed the bill Thursday after the Senate approved it Wednesday without 14 AWOL Democrats. The vote in the Senate followed more than three weeks of dramatic protests that clogged the streets, hallways and meeting rooms of the Capitol.
Walker has notified public employee unions that he’s rescinding notices he sent last week that could have resulted in 1,500 layoffs. Walker said the layoffs would not be necessary since the bill, which includes $30 million in concessions from state employees, had passed.
Trouble Ahead for Romney 2012 Run
It is still early for possible Republican 2012 nominees, but they are not shaping up well for a Mitt Romney run.
One of the main issues that will plague him is his inability to connect with voters. It seems that every time Romney pops up, he is re-inventing himself. Seen as the business man during his 2008 run, he was viewed as the one who could really turn things around. A far cry from the jeans and tie-less image he is sporting now.
However, image tweaks are but only the beginning of some of the problems. As controversial as Obamacare is, Romneycare – Massachusetts health care plan – is not sitting well with conservatives and those members of the tea-party. As it continues to be a hot-button issue with both sides of the aisle, the heath care debate will stay and will be one of the things that will help decide the 2012 front-runners. And, his defense for Romneycare will certainly hinder his chances.
The other thing that will hurt Romney’s chances, the Southern state voters. While Romney doesn’t do all that bad polling wise, his ‘genuine’ factor comes into play when compared to other possible Republican options. With the likes of Huckabee and Christie, Romney will have his hands full fighting the image factor in the south. But, as he goes through his image reinvention, it will not sit well potential voters as they continue to view him as less genuine than other opponents.
Money, money, money. One thing his opponents would struggle with in comparison. Romney is personally very wealthy, and is already amounting a great deal of money to formulate another run to the White House. But, his money can also be seen as a problem. With all that money, he could be seen as buying his way in – a problem that Obama could also face as he is heavily funded by the likes of Global funding giant George Soros. And, with another round of recent donations by Romney to sitting members of Congress, it adds fuel to this question.
In the end, Romney feels that people want one thing: “People in America want to know who can get 15 million people back to work.”
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Westboro
Wednesday the Supreme Court overwhelmingly ruled in favor of the controversial Topeka, KS Westboro Church. With the 8-1 ruling, it has echoed across the United States in such a fashion that people are almost as outraged at the Court as they are with the picketing and hateful speech.
This ruling however, probably should have never made it to the Supreme Court. It should have been a cut and dry ruling in favor of Westboro. And, while a super-majority of the American people disagree with that, they do certainly have the right to free speech so long as it is on public property. If it was on private property, this ruling could have swayed the other way.
Justice Samuel Alito, the lone dissenter, said Snyder wanted only to “bury his son in peace.” Instead, Alito said, the protesters “brutally attacked” Matthew Snyder to attract public attention. “Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case,” he said.
However, this ruling does fall in line with previous court decisions.
“The bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment,” Roberts said, quoting the flag-burning ruling by liberal icon William J. Brennan Jr., is that the government cannot punish words or ideas “simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”
If you wish to read the entire Supreme Court ruling on the case, click HERE. (PDF)