Fleeting Thoughts on Politics

Pastor Jeffress - Misery of False Faith Traditions

2011-10-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

Robert Jeffress - Rick Perry's Jeremiah Wright?

A wave of bigotry and hypocrisy has been launched by Pastor Jeffress during the recent Values Voter Summit in Washington. You can get background at Reuters, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, USA Today or at The Christian Science Monitor (who are asking if this is Rick Perry's Jeremiah Wright moment, with evangelical leader Robert Jeffress as Jeremiah Wright).

For me, it is not Pastor Jeffress' definition of "cult", but it's his self righteousness and smug mannerisms during the delivery that makes my skin crawl. In Pastor Jeffress' case, he used the word "cult" pejoratively in the political arena and that is what makes him sound like a petty man. I use his own statement about Mormonism to look at the Southern Baptist Convention and then also the Baptist movement; and then I delve into the definition of "christian" and contrast that definition between Baptists and Mormons. I conclude with an interesting Google search Venn Diagram that includes Baptists, Christians and Mormons.

Jeffress statement about Mormons

Before we begin, let me state that the Southern Baptist Convention, in their world view, label a variety of religions as cults - to put it bluntly, they, by definition, describe the following groups as cults (these are basically religious groups that do not conform to their world view and coincidentally either actively proselytize or have famous people that might draw adherents from the SBC). It should be noted that the SBC calls these groups "strange and dangerous religious movements". The list is small and is taken from an SBC publication titled Cults/Sect Overview - Belief Bulletin (guess who is number one on that list):

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) click here
Jehovah's Witnesses click here
United Pentecostal Church click here
Unitarian Universalist Association click here
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (RLDS)/Community of Christ click here
Christian Science click here
Unity School of Christianity click here

So you can understand that when Pastor Jeffress speaks of cults, he is speaking from his religious world view and its definition of who is in and who is out. With that said, the term is a slur and pejorative and is therefore not appropriate on the political stage.

Pastor Jeffress said the following to Fox News:

"Mormonism was invented 1800 years after Jesus Christ and the founding of Christianity, and it has its own founder, Joseph Smith, its own set of doctrines and its own book, the Book of Mormon. And that, by definition, is a theological cult, that's all I'm saying."

For those of you that do not know, Pastor Jeffress is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC was created in May of 1845 when they left the northern baptists over the issue of slavery. Interestingly enough, this is just 15 years after Joseph Smith started The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormons).

The Baptist movement itself was invented in the 16th Century in England by a man named John Smyth. In 1609, John Smyth began the first English baptist church.

Let me now turn Jeffress' paragraph above toward his own religion, specifically the SBC, and let's see how it turns out:

"[The Southern Baptist Convention] was invented 1800 years after Jesus Christ and the founding of Christianity, and it has its own founder, [Basil Manly, Sr.], its own set of doctrines and its own book, [the Baptist Faith and Message]. And that, by definition, is a theological cult, that's all I'm saying."

Basil Manly, Sr. is the man that argued for slavery in 1844 in the southern baptist tradition. I will note that in 2005 the SBC renounced it's former positions on slavery.

Now, let's try that same paragraph looking at Baptists in general:

"[The Baptist movement] was invented [1600] years after Jesus Christ and the founding of Christianity, and it has its own founder, [John Smyth], its own set of doctrines and its own book, [the Baptist Faith and Message]. And that, by definition, is a theological cult, that's all I'm saying."

Both paragraphs seem to indicate the ridiculous nature of Robert Jeffress' statement about Mormons, as the paragraph can easily be applied to the history of his own religious world view. Interesting, isn't it, that Baptists were started by a John Smyth and Mormons by a Joseph Smith.

Contrasting the definition of Christian between Baptists and Mormons

When it comes down to it, evangelical Christians, like Robert Jeffress, feel they have a copyright on the word Christian. They have worked hard to narrowly define the word. In fact, one blogger likens it to a family and that Baptists have the Christian "DNA-Doctrine" to decide who can and cannot apply the word Christian to themselves.

For this contrast, I begin with the definition of Christian in the Merriam Webster dictionary:

Christian: one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ

Clearly the accepted definition of christian as one who professes to believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ is a wide and expansive definition. It also happens to be the definition used by Mormons. Let's use a Venn Diagram to illustrate the difference between the definition as used by Pastor Jeffress and Mormons.

"Christian" to a Mormon

I use the Venn Diagram below with one circle representing Mormons and the other representing Robert Jeffress' church. It should be noted that Mormons use the Bible in their teachings and adhere to its principles and most especially the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. Because the term Christian is used in the Bible and Mormons use the modern definition of christian as anyone that professes to believe in the teachings of Jesus, Mormons would place the term "christian" in the Both section of the Venn Diagram below. Thus the Mormon definition is inclusive and shares the term with Paster Jeffress and his church.

"Christian" to Robert Jeffress

Despite the fact that Mormons use the Bible and a widely acknowledged definition of Christian exists, Robert Jeffress has chosen to use a definition of the word Christian that limits inclusion to his group alone. His group has spent significant time on a list of criteria that exclude others from using the word Christian. To illustrate, if Mormon's are the left circle and Robert Jeffress is the right circle, then Jeffress would put the word Christian in the "or" part of his circle. So we can easily see why he looks so out of touch with the dictionary definition of Christian and bristles when Mormons call themselves christian.

Concluding thoughts: It is my estimation, that Pastor Jeffress' (who in the Southern Baptist Convention rules maintains a lot of autonomy for his congregation) own religion can be identified as a cult, as the SBC came about in 1845 and the Baptists in 1609 from John Smyth; founded by a man. Their use of the Baptist Faith and Message solidifies their differences with Methodists, Catholics and Mormons and can be viewed as their "other book" (although it should be noted that because they don't believe in modern prophetic revelation from God, the order of the bullet points hold no "revealed word of God" status like the Bible). Further, the differences in the definitions of the word Christian demonstrate that Mormons use a more inclusive definition than Pastor Jeffress which angers him. And finally, it is my estimation that Pastor Jeffress has achieved the status of a social cult as described at the Coffee Talk by Christian author Rick Walston of the Columbia Evangelical Seminary in 2001. Pastor Jeffries purposefully used a pejorative term to describe Mormonism in an effort to improve the chances of Rick Perry in the Presidential election of 2012. His actions demonstrate a narrow-mindedness and reveal a bigoted disposition. His actions were inappropriate.

Mormons - Christians - Baptists Venn Diagram

The following Venn Diagram was created by googling "Why are [enter the group] so..." and having Google recommend the top searches. Hat tip to these bloggers for this information.

Definition of Bigot per Merriam Webster Dictionary:

a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance

The Power of the Presidential Polls and the 2012 Election

2011-02-24T18:37:00.001-08:00

Polls can be a little crazy - or maybe it's just the polled individuals that are crazy?

I can't help but feel a bit wary when a poll shows Sarah Palin leading the GOP contenders on Foreign Policy? Wow, how is that possible? I just find it difficult to imagine Ms. Palin talking with world leaders on issues - like Egypt or Libya.

Read about it at Gallup here.

Romney Has Earned His Spurs - Likely 2012 Presidential Candidate

2010-02-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

Interesting happenings at CPAC where Romney came in miles ahead of other potential candidates. Palin skipped out again and Huckabee came humbly low in the results. In Detroit's Free Press, they titled an article, "Time might be right for Romney Presidential Run: Former Michigander maintains presense with book, frequent events", they said:

Many establishment conservatives who once viewed Romney with suspicion
because of his roots in liberal Massachusetts and his past support of abortion
and gay rights have been won over, says Tony Fabrizio, a GOP pollster who ran
the straw poll.
Romney, the son of former Michigan Gov. George W. Romney, is
a native Michigander.
“They view him as one of the party’s elder statesmen,”
Fabrizio says. “They see him as more thoughtful and measured than before, with
nothing to prove. He’s earned his spurs.”

It is nice to remember that Romney is a native Michigander who did a stint in liberal Massachusetts. To me, I like the idea that Romney knows how to work with Democrats - perhaps he will get more done for the American people than Barak Obama who appears unfamilar with the Art of Negotiation.

Medical Debt and how to blame your Healthcare System!

2009-11-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

Lisabug, thank you for the blog post at The Frampton Family: Intermountain Healthcare & Medical Debt, while I don’t agree with you that Intermountain Healthcare is to blame for your medical debt (it appears your genetic makeup and lifestyle would have drawn down massive medical debt no matter where you lived – no fault of yours, that’s just the way it is) I do agree there are some things you can do.

I am interested by your case and would be interested in your answers to the following questions as I try to make sense of the situation:

Can you give us a ballpark of how much medical debt you have? Perhaps a range: less than $5,000, between $5,000 and $15,000 or greater than $15,000?
Also, as a family of four if your income is less than 200% of the Federal Poverty level you might be able to use the Prescription Drug Assistance programs made available by the Pharmaceutical companies. You can probably get free drugs or greatly discounted drugs – check it out at the Partnership for Prescription Assistance
I would be interested to understand your insurance situation. Were you on an employer provided plan; was it a small or large employer? You mention the deductible was too much, please let me know about how large the deductible was? Also, if you are comfortable, let me know who your insurance company was and what plan it was? That way I can look over the benefits and get a better idea of what they were trying to do?
Finally, I know culturally Bankruptcy carries a variety of connotations. From your article you appear to look down on Bankruptcy? Please describe your thoughts on the purpose of bankruptcy and when/if people should apply for it? It appears you are from Utah, so you might want to check out the Utah Courts site for legal assistance here. Chapter 7 bankruptcy costs around $300.00.

Ok, that does it! I am creating a unique survey to gather responses. Please follow the link below to express your thoughts about Medical Debt:

Click here to take a Medical Debt survey

Once I have all the responses, I will post the results.

My personal conclusion before the survey results:

In short, I think that no matter where Lisabug had chosen to live, she would have experienced extremely high medical debt. It is not specifically Intermountain Healthcare, it has more to do with Lisabug's genetics, behavioral choices, and her physical and social environment. There is one thing though that Lisabug ignores - namely, that her medical debt would be higher if she lived in any other state in the nation. In other words, the charges she incurred in Utah are lower than the charges she would have incurred anywhere else in the nation. There can be no doubt that Intermountain Healthcare is one of the principle reasons Utah's health spending per capita is the lowest in the nation.

Health Spending Per Capita Comparision From Highest to Lowest
Source: Statehealthfacts.org created by the Kaiser Family Foundation (2004)

District of Columbia
$8,295
Massachusetts
$6,683
Maine
$6,540
New York
$6,535
Alaska
$6,450
Connecticut
$6,344
Delaware
$6,306
Rhode Island
$6,193
Vermont
$6,069
West Virginia
$5,954
Pennsylvania
$5,933
North Dakota
$5,808
New Jersey
$5,807
Minnesota
$5,795
Ohio
$5,725
Wisconsin
$5,670
Nebraska
$5,599
Maryland
$5,590
Florida
$5,483
Kentucky
$5,473
Tennessee
$5,464
Missouri
$5,444
New Hampshire
$5,432
Kansas
$5,382
Iowa
$5,380
South Dakota
$5,327
Indiana
$5,295
Illinois
$5,293
Wyoming
$5,265
North Carolina
$5,191
Alabama
$5,135
South Carolina
$5,114
Washington
$5,092
Montana
$5,080
Mississippi
$5,059
Michigan
$5,058
Louisiana
$5,040
Hawaii
$4,941
Oklahoma
$4,917
Oregon
$4,880
Arkansas
$4,863
Virginia
$4,822
Colorado
$4,717
California
$4,638
Texas
$4,601
Georgia
$4,600
Nevada
$4,569
New Mexico
$4,471
Idaho
$4,444
Arizona
$4,103
Utah
$3,972

What is given from one, must be taken from another

2009-07-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931-2005

Hello economists - Mitt Romney already called this crisis

2009-07-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

I really couldn't help but laugh at this article title that I read on MSNBC:

Economists point to rising debt as next crisis

The AP makes it sound like this is some brand new crisis rearing its ugly head on the horizon. I find it interesting that this issue was addressed by Mitt Romney during his presidential run in 2008. And I am not the only one that noticed how the top issues today are ones that Mitt Romney could address:

Hitting budget,s
Decreasing debt,
Aligning healthcare incentives to focus on preventive care,
Turning the nation around economically.

The Wall Street Journal has an article titled Romney Emerges as Top Issues Play to His Strengths. I thought this part of the article was most interesting.

And beyond the economy, what are the other big items on the agenda? Well, one is the auto industry, which happens to play nicely to the Romney background as a Michigander and son of an auto-company executive. The other is health care, which tees up Mr. Romney to talk about the health overhaul he led in Massachusetts while that state's governor. All this leads, inevitably enough, to talk of Mr. Romney already emerging as a leading contender for the party's next presidential nomination. Of course, talking about the 2012 presidential race at the midpoint of 2009 is silliness on stilts. Mr. Romney says he doesn't know whether he will run, which is the only sensible thing to say.

I think Mitt Romney could address these issues. Confidence in Romney in 2012.

What is an American? And what do they look like?

2008-08-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

In this time of bitter disputes about politics. Sometimes it is nice to step back and remember who we are - AMERICANS. Hat tip to the video makers of this one.

Who is an American? People from all over the world.

Neal Boortz: The FairTax Book - what a baby

2008-03-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

I've been reading up on the FairTax. Mr. Neal Boortz, syndicated talk show host, wrote a book with Congressman John Linder called The FairTax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS. I absolutely do not support the idea of the "FairTax" based on his book.

The kicker for me shows up on page 78.

Neal Boortz has just finished explaining on page 77 how "The federal government will pay the states one quarter of 1 percent" for collecting the "FairTax"; in addition, "the same amount will also be paid to the business that collects the tax". Basically, the states and businesses turn the collection of the "FairTax" into a venture that adds to the bottom line. What are the ethical implications? The incentives of collecting taxes have changed wildly under the FairTax.

Further on page 77, Neal points out that it is really all just conjecture that prices will go down, like for your doctors visits. I have my doubts about the FairTax making any prices go down (they might be able to do it with legislation, but most companies will not drop 26%). The FairTax will result in higher prices overall.

Then on page 78, Neal calls for the Federal Government "to pay the consumption tax along with everyone else". He goes on to say, "Remember, the FairTax is neutral. It plays no favorites. We've had enough of 'playing tax favorites' game with the present system..."

And this is what I find so crazy about his perspective. Neal seems to have forgotten that although the FairTax doesn't "play favorites", politicians do. The incentives for spending start to include paying for states to regulate and collect the tax, and paying companies to collect the tax as well. I can see the quarter of one percent slowly ticking up over time as states and businesses refuse to collect the tax because it costs them more money than they receive. I believe the FairTax places more pressure on politicians to create pork barrel spending, not only do they get money invested, but the companies that lobby them get a piece of the pie as does the state government.

In conclusion, the FairTax's big claim is that it is meant to be revenue neutral. Let's take a look at the idea "that the federal government will send every family in America a prebate". Most recently the Federal Government alerted some 130,000,000 tax payers to expect a check from the Federal Government. And what did this one time mailing cost the US taxpayer?

$42 million dollars

Now let's times that by twelve months, that gives us $502 million dollars, nearly a half billion dollars, for the yearly mailing of prebates. Of course, we times this by the FairTax and we add an additional $151.2 million for an amazing total of $655.2 million dollars just to get the prebates into the American taxpayers' hands. (I ignore death payments that would need to be stopped, also fraud, and the terrific cost of returned mail.) The FairTax is not revenue neutral.

The FairTax may sound like a good idea, but somebody needs to, as Mr. Thomas Sowell suggests in Applied Economics, "Look beyond stage one", the FairTax doesn't look as happy go lucky as Mr. Boortz childishly puts it in his book.

Ron Paul Bids Presidential - Loses His Job Back Home?

2008-02-25T06:45:00.000-08:00

Will Ron Paul lose his Senate seat? I was surprised to read this article on ABC News about Ron Paul. The article was titled: Paul's Revolution: National Buzz, Lost Job?

I hadn't ever considered the consequences of running a national campaign. Here are three paragraphs that sum it up.

On the campaign trail for president, however, [the candidates] can
raise their profile from local pol to national voice. They can raise millions,
draw crowds, rally the base, needle the front-runners, and maybe, just maybe,
start a movement or at least force a dialogue.

But beware members of Congress: Stepping onto the national stage can have
serious consequences on the soapbox back home.

"I do think the presidential race has exposed some of his values and
principles that are not in line with his district, and that exposure has done
him harm at home," Republican primary challenger Chris Peden said of Paul.

Latest Presidential Poll Released...

2008-02-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

The poll results are in: Mitt Romney 45%, Mike Huckabee 10%, and John McCain 6%.

Barak Obama took in 38%, while John Edwards was close with 36%.

These results were gathered from 300 dentists during the Chicago Dental Society's 143rd Midwinter Meeting. The results indicate Mitt Romney has the best smile of all of the Presidential candidates.

The poll also found that childbirth really was tougher than pulling teeth, and raising teenagers came in a close second.

Read the entire story at United Press International, Poll: Dentists like Romney's smile best

Barak Obama vs. Hillary Clinton Presidential Debates

2008-02-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Presidential Debate CNN held on February 21, 2008 in Austin, Texas
These are my notes from the debate. I missed the first half and these are my impressions.

Obama keeps saying the phrase, "That's a debate I want to have." Come on man, you're in a debate right now, have it out!

Obama has said over and over that he wants to "Sit down with our enemies" and talk it out. But, looks like he is flip-flopping tonight. He just gave a one minute explanation that if you covered your TV screen would have sounded like a Republican Presidential candidate talking about his readiness to be the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. Too bad Obama never served in the military.

Obama just went off on Pakistan. Saying he would get in there and take care of business. What's he talking about? Getting the soldiers out of Iraq so he can send them to Pakistan? There goes his, I’ll talk it out with everyone stance.

Obama had 91 million in earmarks for Illinois. Illinois is 4% of the US population. I am not sure what the CNN moderators were talking about, but Obama told where those earmarks went back in June of 2007.

Clinton had 342 million in earmarks for New York. New York has 6.4% of the US population. Perhaps one is very effective or corrupt?

Clinton just said McCain supported the Bush tax cuts. Hilarious because most Republicans don’t think he does.

Question about leadership demonstrated in a time of crisis?
Obama – my life is one big crisis that I have been dealing with since I was a baby. The trajectory of my life tells me I’m headed right. Sorry about the drugs, I’m good at organizing people; I’ll give a government worthy of the decency of people.

Clinton – Everybody knows I’ve faced some crisis in life (she got a good laugh). She talked about the opening of the Intrepid Center and seeing the soldiers. Some walked in, some came in without limbs, and some came in on gurneys. (I was actually touched by her comments. I was drawn in and my respect for her grew a little bit. Great response – oh wow, she actually drew Obama and caused him to shake her hand. And now a standing ovation!!! Amazing.)

Concluding thoughts: Most of the questions went to Clinton first; this allowed Obama to position himself against her answers and allowed him to think about a response.

I think Clinton knocked this one out of the park. I am stunned.

Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama: Yeah, John Edwards had it right

2008-02-18T05:59:00.000-08:00

The Wall Street Journal report an article titled "Democrats' Attacks on Business Heat Up". It was written by Laura Meckler and Kris Maher in the Weekend Edition.

"The candidates have made broad attacks on corporate wealth and tax cuts they say tilt toward the rich, along with more specific attacks against health insurers and oil companies, among other industries. On Friday, Mrs. Clinton began airing a TV spot in Wisconsin in which she says, "The oil companies, the drug companies, have had seven years of a president who stands up for them.... It's time we had a president who stands up for all of you."

"Both candidates increasingly sound like former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards as they pursue his endorsement and the voters -- particularly union members -- who were drawn to the populist candidate before he dropped out last month. Illinois Sen. Obama got a boost toward that goal Friday with the backing of the Service Employees International Union, one of the most politically powerful labor organizations.

The democrats have done something that I had hoped not to see. They are attacking business with a vengeance. If we can just get rid of business we can solve all of our woes.

Clinton said, “We’re going to end every single tax break that still exists in the federal tax code that gives one penny of your money to anybody who exports a job. Those days are gone.” While Barak Obama has been denouncing NAFTA “for shipping jobs overseas and forcing ‘parents to compete with their teenagers to work for minimum wage at Wal-Mart. That’s why we need a president who will listen to Main Street, not just Wall Street.”

I don’t know what kind of town all of you live on, but my Main Street has all sorts of businesses along it? Any way it appears a major beef between the two candidates is NAFTA (I like to the trouble is more because the US has the second highest tax burden on business which makes us an unfavorable place to locate.)

Earlier I talked about who owes who favors on DAY 1 in the White House – looks like the tables have turned a little against Obama, who now owes the most favors to Unions.

Money raised by Unions for Democrats:
Obama $3.671 million
Clinton $3.418 million

On a different note, Peggy Noonan declares there has been some internal conflict in the Clinton campaign: campaign guru Mark Penn yelled, "Your ad doesn't work!" to ad maker Mandy Grunwald, who shouted back, "Oh, it's always the ad, never the message." Ouch!

Where is Rudy Giuliani now? and other New York Times News

2008-02-16T21:13:00.000-08:00

I was reading yesterday's New York Times and came across some interesting articles:

From Canditate to Corporate Lawyer: Rudy Giuliani is no longer a candidate for the presidency, having dropped out two weeks ago. But at least he has a law firm bearing his name to return to.
That would be Bracewell & Giuliani. Giuliani made $1.2 million from the company, that was $1 million base salary and 7.5% of the profits of the New York office. (Wow, that's kind of a nice salary.)

I thought this one was kind of funny since Huckabee was zinging Romney on the Caymans.

Huckabee Offshore's His Speeches: The reporters following Mr. Huckabee asked him if this might present a conflict for him, to be picking up some cash in a place that he criticizes.“OK, first of all let’s get something straight: I’m not gonna be taking money and parking it in the Cayman Islands,” ABC News reported, describing his tone as “a little combative.” “I’m gonna get enough money to come back and pay about 40 percent in taxes on what I earned. There’s a big difference.”Mr. Huckabee said he has to give speeches to earn money and “make sure I can make my mortgage payments, just like everybody else has to do.”He also noted: “I’m the only person who doesn’t get paid by the taxpayers to campaign. Senator Obama, Senator Clinton, Senator McCain, they campaign every day and I’m paying for their campaigns. I’m paying because I’m a taxpayer, and I have to pay for their Senate salaries even if they are not on duty.” (Compared to Giuliani's salary Huckabee's got to bring in dough some how.)

This next article is titled Fresh Start Conservatism by David Brooks and encourages Republicans to gather around the "spirit of reforms". A brief highlight is:
1. Policies that foster two-parent families.
2. Policies for early-childhood education.
3. Policies to loosen the grip of the teachers' unions.
4. Encourage national service for 20 somethings and prepare and emotionally engage future college students.
5. Policies encouraging worker security like portable health insurance and retraining accounts.

Republicans believe positive government can help prepare people for the rigors of competition, so they can have an open field and fair chance.

The article in its entirety is below.

Fresh Start Conservatism
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: February 15, 2008

In the 19th century, industrialization swept the world. Many European nations expanded their welfare states but kept their education systems exclusive. The U.S. tried the opposite approach. American leaders expanded education and created the highest quality work force on the planet.

That quality work force was the single biggest reason the U.S. emerged as the economic superpower of the 20th century. Generation after generation, American workers were better educated, more industrious and more innovative than the ones that came before.

That progress stopped about 30 years ago. The percentage of young Americans completing college has been stagnant for a generation. As well-educated boomers retire over the next decades, the quality of the American work force is likely to decline. Mitt Romney captured the consequences in his withdrawal statement: “I am convinced that unless America changes course, we will become the France of the 21st century — still a great nation, but no longer the leader of the world.”

Americans feel the slippage every day.

If I were advising the Republican nominee, this is one of the places I’d ask him to plant his flag. I’d ask him to call for a new human capital revolution, so that the U.S. could recapture the spirit of reforms like the Morrill Act of the 19th century, the high school movement of the early 20th century and the G.I. Bill after World War II.

Doing that would mean taking on the populists of the left and right, the ones who imagine the problem is globalization and unfair trade when in fact the real problem is that the talents of American workers are not keeping up with technological change.

Doing that would also mean stealing ideas from both the left and right. Liberals have spent more time thinking about human capital than conservatives, who have tended to imagine that if you build a free market, a quality labor force would magically appear.

Doing that would also mean transcending economic policy categories. If there is one thing we have learned over the bitter experience of the past 30 years, it is that per-pupil expenditures and days in the classroom are not sufficient to produce superb information-economy workers. They emerge from intact families, quality neighborhoods and healthy moral cultures.
Finally, doing that would mean laying down lifelong policies. Human capital development is like nutrition — you have to do it every day.

The first group of policies would foster two-parent families. If all American families looked like the intact middle-class ones, we wouldn’t have nationally low education outcomes. Married men earn 10 percent to 40 percent more than single men with similar skills, and their children are much more likely to graduate from high school. But among the lower-middle class, there is a poisonous spiral of economic stress and cultural decay.

A new working class tax credit applied against the payroll tax would reduce some of the stress. So would a larger child tax credit and increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit. The federal budget should bestow less on seniors and more on young families.

The second group of policies would involve early-childhood education. There could be nurse-home visits for children in chaotic homes so that they have some authority in their lives. Preschool should be radically expanded and accountability programs put in place.

Third, the next president has to loosen the grip of the teachers’ unions. Certification rules have to be radically reformed to attract qualified college graduates. Merit pay has to become the norm. Reforming superintendents need the freedom to copy the models — like KIPP Academies — that actually work.

Fourth, Democrats like to talk about college affordability, but that’s the least important explanation for why so many students don’t complete college. The real reasons are that students are academically unprepared and emotionally disengaged. National service should be a rite of passage for 20-somethings, and these volunteers could mentor students through high school and college years.

Fifth, portable health insurance and retraining accounts would give adult workers security. Income taxes are not going to be coming down, but they need to stay where they are. As Edward Prescott has shown, higher taxes mean less work, and less work means less worker development.

The agenda could go on, but the point is this: Democrats believe in fine-tuning the economy.
They believe in intervening in a thousand little ways to address problems. Republicans believe these thousands of little Band-Aids hinder movement and distort productivity. But Republicans do believe, or at least should, that positive government can help prepare people for the rigors of competition, so they can have an open field and fair chance.

That’s the conservatism of the fresh start.

Sharing Some Similarities: Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, and John McCain

2008-02-16T18:00:00.000-08:00

I am still debating what I will do for the rest of this political season. It’s been nice to take a break from the constant blogging.

However, I wanted to comment on some of the similarities between Clinton, Obama, and McCain. The Wall Street Journal from February 14, 2008 ran an article titled “Change Seen on Key Issues as Presidential Candidates Agree”. The article listed the common ground between the Democrats and McCain – for conservatives, some of these are issues for which you should prep your form letters.

Common Ground – despite their many differences, John McCain and the two Democrats share similar views on several key issues

For global treaty on climate change

For cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

For embryonic stem-cell research

For giving illegal immigrants straightforward path to citizenship

For closing Guantanamo Bay prison

Against waterboarding (I heard a funny comment on NPR today, a lady was discussing the GOP and wondered if McCain had alienated the “pro-waterboarding voting block of the Republican party”)

Against elimination of the estate tax

For renewed focus on war in Afghanistan

For expanded veterans’ health benefits

Barak Obama also released his economic plan at a cost of $140 billion per year; to be funded by ending the war in Iraq, closing corporate tax loopholes and allowing many of President Bush’s signature tax cuts expire in 2010. The WSJ said, “Mr. Obama’s plan revealed an economic worldview in which government must right the wrongs created by a system in which wealth begets access to power, and power, in turn, bestows more riches on the wealthy.”

Obama at the Top, so what?

I’ve always struggled with the idea that government’s purpose is to redistribute wealth. The nation would be a better place in my opinion if neighbors would turn off WOW and take a little kindness over to their neighbor. Nothing against WOW, but as a population we sure are stuck inside our houses.

Mitt Romney campaign sends out letter endorsing John McCain

2008-02-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney invites his supports to gather around John McCain for the sake of the GOP.

Dear ,

Thank you for your strong support and dedication to Governor Romney and the campaign. We had such great success in so many states because of all your hard work and the efforts of your team of volunteers. As you may have heard, yesterday Governor Romney endorsed Senator John McCain for President of the United States. The Governor and his family thought long and hard about this decision and feel that it is best for the Republican Party to bring the country together and unit behind one candidate. We need to provide our party with the best opportunity to defeat the Democrats in November.

Below are Governor Romney’s remarks from his press conference with Senator John McCain:

Thank you all very much. And thank you all for joining us on such
short notice.

This isn’t my first joint appearance with Senator John McCain, but it
promises to be one of our more pleasant exchanges.

I am honored today to give my full support to Senator McCain’s candidacy
for President of the United States. Today I am asking my delegates to vote for
Senator McCain.

As you all saw over the past year, things can get rough in a political
campaign. And in the thick of the fight it’s easy to lose sight of your
opponent’s finer qualities. But in the case of Senator John McCain, I
could never quite do that. Even when the contest was close and our
disagreements were debated, the caliber of the man was apparent.

This is a man capable of leading our country at a dangerous hour.
Senator McCain understands the war we are in – the necessity of victory and the
consequences of surrender. For him, national security isn’t just another
item on the agenda. It is the abiding concern and responsibility of our
nation.

This is a man who tied his political fortunes to the fortunes of his
country in a time of war. Such courage is not always rewarded in politics,
but it was this time – and that is a credit to both the man and to the party he
will lead in the election of 2008.

This is a man who has served and suffered for his country. John
McCain’s greatest test was long ago. But the loyalty, and love of country,
and strength of heart that saw him through are still the qualities that define
him. With their rhetoric, our Democratic opponents are very skilled at
striking heroic poses. But with our Republican nominee, we’re going to
offer America the real thing.

I am pleased to introduce a real America hero, the next president of the
United States, Senator John McCain.

It is time for our party to come together by standing behind Senator John McCain for President in order to keep our country prosperous and strong. Thank you once again for your support of our campaign.

When Bowing Out of the Presidential Race is the Responsible Thing

2008-02-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

From the Blogometer:

Conservative bloggers were pleased that Mitt Romney endorsed his former rival McCain:

Power Line's Paul Mirengoff: "Romney casts himself in a good light with this move, proving that his personal feelings will not stand in the way of making the decision that's in both his and the nation's interest."

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt: "If you believe Senators Obama and Clinton, they fundamentally fail to understand the consequences of withdrawal in Iraq or the contours of the menace in Iran. Neither appears to grasp the jihadist threat. Senator McCain does. Because Mitt Romney cares deeply about the safety and security of the country, he was certain to endorse Senator McCain. That he did so quickly is a testament to the starkness of the choice facing America, McCain's complete commitment to victory, and Romney's understanding of the stakes."

Commentary's Jennifer Rubin: "On one level, Romney is making good on his pledge to unite the GOP and prevent the Democrats from taking the White House in perilous times. However, he is also amplifying the contrast between himself (high-minded GOP loyalist) with the man who may be his competition in 2012 or 2016, Mike Huckabee."

Mitt Romney Following in the Footsteps of Ronald Reagan

2008-02-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

I was asked, by a friend from Tennessee, if I thought Mitt Romney would attempt to become the Governor of Michigan. I thought it was a very good question, of course my response is just conjecture. However, this rumor of Romney running for Michigan Governor can be laid to rest quite quickly by referring to the Michigan Election Laws.

MICHIGAN ELECTION LAW (EXCERPT)
Act 116 of 1954
168.51 Governor or lieutenant governor; eligibility; violation of §38.412a.

Sec. 51.

A person shall not be eligible to the office of governor or lieutenant governor unless the person has attained the age of 30 years and has been a registered and qualified elector in this state for 4 years next preceding his or her election, as provided in section 22 of article 5 of the state constitution of 1963. A person who has been convicted of a violation of section 12a(1) of Act No. 370 of the Public Acts of 1941, being section 38.412a of the Michigan Compiled Laws, shall not be eligible to the office of governor or lieutenant governor for a period of 20 years after the conviction.

Michigan, like most states, has requirements for governors. In this case, they must be at least 30 years old and have been a registered and qualified elector (that means attained residence in the state which can take a year or two) for four years before they run for office.

In the case of Mitt Romney, the Presidential race of 2012 would just arrive when Romney would be able to run for governor of Michigan. I do not see this as a smart move for Mitt Romney.

However, I think we are going to see a lot of Mitt Romney nationally over the next four years. In the Washington Times is an interesting article titled, "Right Wants Romney as Standard-Bearer".

While John McCain was speaking to CPAC and getting the cold shoulder, Mitt Romney who had already addressed the group was now huddled with about 50 conservative leaders discussing how to preserve conservative principles "lowering taxes, limited government and free speech".

The article went on, "The purpose of the meeting was for him to announce his willingness to fight shoulder to shoulder with true conservatives from here on out," said political strategist Paul Erickson, who worked for Mr. Romney"s campaign. "He did just that."

The head of the American Conservative Union expressed surprise and enthusiasm for Mitt Romney leading out on conservative issues. Keene said, "If someone had suggested a year ago and a half ago that we would be welcoming Mitt Romney as a potential leader of the conservative movement, no one would have believed it, but over the last year and a half, he has convinced us he is one of us and walks with us."

I foresee a strong conservative place for Mitt Romney over the coming years.

Evangelicals and Mormons are not so different - Politically Speaking

2008-02-08T22:31:00.001-08:00

Let me start by saying I already understand the definitional difference of the word "Christian" between Evangelicals and Mormons.

I want to point out the importance of Evangelical and Mormon cooperation when it comes to politics. During the last couple of months some important things about tolerance and cooperation have been brought to my attention. I now want to share my thoughts on this subject with you.

An instructor of mine always says, "We are more similar than we are disimilar." I believe him. When John F. Kennedy, a catholic, ran for President of the United States, he said,

"I believe in an America... where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials; and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all. For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew— or a Quaker or a Unitarian or a Baptist... Today I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you — until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped at a time of great national peril. Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end; where all men and all churches are treated as equal; where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice; where... Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood."

Unfortunately, America has not yet reached that ideal condition. Now that the Mormon has been driven from the Presidential race, the Evangelical will begin receiving negative pressure (in fact, it's already started). The Wall Street Journal Friday, February 8, 2008 published an article titled Mormons Dismayed By Harsh Spotlight. Having witnessed the misinformation propogated about Mormons, this article surprised me about the findings presented, not about Mormons, but about Evangelicals. While Evangelicals aren't as misunderstood as Mormons, for instance the reputable Reuters News Agency introduced Mitt Romney as a Presidential candidate by writing on the first page, "Devout Mormon and former bishop of the Massachusetts' temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Any knowledgeable person would know that Mormon's don't have bishops in charge of temples, they have temple presidents and Mitt Romney has never been one). Any way the study indicated that Americans with concerns about Evangelicals for President was just slightly below Mormons. An Evangelical President had 25% with some reservations and 20% who felt very uncomfortable, while the Mormon Presidential candidate had just 4% more with some reservations and only 1% more who felt very uncomfortable. Turns out politically speaking Evangelicals and Mormons have a lot in common.

Mitt Romney faced enormous misinformation and often negative pressure because of his religion. This antagonism has come from individuals, the media, and even other churches. On the blogosphere, I have visited many websites and seen the vitriol and hatred lambasting Mormons. A particularly nasty message board has been the MSNBC board under the question, "What do you think of Mitt Romney's candidacy?" The message board was allowed by MSNBC moderators to be used by five trolls that went by the names zadra, susala, Vandals Handle, IIF, and Ed in America. The data from the MSNBC message boards tell the story.First let's look at the number of posts. Romney's numbers look amazing. Absolutely the most of all the Presidential candidates. Second let's look at the number of views. Again only Hillary Clinton comes close to the number of views that Romney has recieved. Both of these indicators make things look good. But the third point reveals the rest of the story.

In this third graph we see the number of authors. Romney's message board comes in third, yet look at all of those posts. The reason is that the five trolls mentioned above copy and pasted, over and over, anti-Mormon articles that misinformed the public and had nothing to do with Mitt Romney as a candidate. There is ample evidence of this in other places as well.

Now, I again refer back to John F. Kennedy's speech, "Today I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you...". Freedom of religion is as important today as it was when this country was founded. It will take both Evangelicals and Mormons united in common political purpose to accomplish and guarantee for all faiths the peace and priviledge to worship Almighty God as they see fit. Now that the Mormon has been driven from the Presidential race, the main stream media and others will turn their focus on the Evangelical candidate. America is great because of diversity of thought which leads to the innovation necessary to conquer the problems that we, The People, must face.

United we stand, divided we fall.

Suggested readings:
John F. Kennedy Speech - you can both read the transcript or watch him speak
Article VI blog - Focuses on Article VI of the United States Constitution

The Main Stream Media and the Marketing Destruction of Mitt Romney

2008-02-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

The main stream media has done a great job hampering, hindering, and slyly biasing the Presidential race in 2008. I offer the following evidence as my observations of media bias against Mitt Romney.

1. Mitt Romney's political strategy was leaked early to the media. Including his thoughts on how he wanted to win the race. The strategy outlined the strengths and weaknesses of both his opponents and himself. This leak allowed the main stream media to have a prepared script months ahead of time for their articles, political punditry, and Romney shots prepared (Romney even noted in this strategy that he may be attacked as a flip-flopper - which the media exploited).
I almost never saw the news media discussing in depth the other candidates’ strategies. This included Romney's campaigning strategy, like which states he was focusing on, where he wanted a strong win and what he was doing. Why is this important? Because the media gave Huckabee, McCain, and other anti-Romney groups specific targets for their calling, mailings and whisper campaigns.

2. Polls were used as a way to get out the vote against Romney. Over and over in states that Romney looked close to winning, the media provided a lot of news coverage that he might be ahead. For instance, in Florida and again in California, polls and pundits made a huge deal that Romney was in the lead. This sly coverage by the media energized groups against Mitt Romney and in some cases lulled some of Romney's supporters from the polls because they thought he had enough votes.

3. The media kept everyone, except for Mitt Romney, within easy click-reach online. This morning (Super Tuesday) when I looked up CNN news, there on the front page with a huge title with the words John McCain picks up key Super Tuesday endorsement. Never mind that the news of this particular endorsement was three days old.

I scrolled down the page further and on the right were eight articles. Four of the articles were about McCain; two were for Huckabee and absolutely NOTHING to be found on Romney. This occurred over and over. Why is this? Straight and simple - it is MONEY! My belief is that the main stream media recognized Romney has a lot of money. They are basically positioning the media coverage to force Romney to spend money. From all the free news conference coverage for Huckabee since Iowa, to the many free articles and news coverage for his digs, dings, and jabs at Romney. The media coverage was not balanced giving many more stories to Huckabee and McCain.

4. The role of Jay Leno, Stephen Colbert, and David Letterman cannot be underestimated. Oh yeah, and don't forget Connan O'Brien (didn't he and Colbert make Huckabee?).

I am deeply disappointed with the major news media outlets. I feel they took away the choice of the American people by presenting the terrible side of Romney and allowing the other candidates to broadcast their attacks for free. I will end here as I might say some cruel things about some specific reporters at specific news outlets.

Mitt Romney says Goodbye to 2008 Presidential Bid

2008-02-07T18:00:00.000-08:00

Dear ,

If you have not heard by now, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president. This was not an easy decision for me, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support from the beginning to the point where we are today. We’ve come such a long way, and our hard work together will leave an imprint on the course of history.

As I addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) yesterday in Washington, D.C., I outlined what I know is the right course ahead for our nation – a course based on conservative principles such as individual responsibility, strong faith and values, economic strength with lower taxes and a national defense that will not retreat from the threat of evil extremism.

I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating Al Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding surrender to terror.

This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and, you, our supporters, have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country.

You can be sure I will continue to stand for conservative principles. I will fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of those things is that we cannot allow the next President of the United States to retreat in the face evil extremism.

It is the common task of each generation – and the burden of liberty – to preserve this country, expand its freedoms and renew its spirit so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future.
Please stand proud today that you fought for a cause greater than yourself, and please continue to fight to preserve our ideals.

Thank you again so very much.
Mitt

Romney Speaks at CPAC and Suspends Presidential Bid

2008-02-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

Lots of people cheering. What an honor to be here. Laura Ingram introduced him. Thanks to talk radio. I love being introduced as the conservative’s conservative. Ann is here and my boys.

Thank you, it was an honor to be here last year. I look forward to joining you many, many more times in the future. Last year CPAC gave me the send off I needed. Nearly 4 million people have given me their support while 4.7 million have given their support to Mr. McCain. Yet he has got more delegates.

Conservative principles are needed more than ever. Or we may become the France of the 20th century. Sharon Perez said, "America is unique. In most wars countries take land, America laid down millions of lives and did not take land after WWII." The strongest ally peace will know and has ever known is a strong America!

That's why we need to face our challenges. Our culture is under attack. Mr. Landis' work traces history. The thing we learn is that the culture makes all the difference economically. Even people that don't believe in God believe in something greater than themselves. Our ideals are the source of the nation’s strength and they always will be.

The threat to our culture comes from within. Liberals attempt to substitute government largesse for individual responsibility. Dependency is the drug that we should fight.

We are at war. Hillary and Obama would retreat and declare defeat. I believe, along with McCain, in doing whatever it takes in Iraq. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

I hate to lose.

My family, my friends, my supporters across the country, if it was only about me I would go on. But this is not about me, this is about America. I love America and because of that I feel I have to stand aside for our party and our country.

I will continue to stand for conservative principles. We face the burden of liberty. We are dedicated and we will succeed beyond our wildest dreams. I love you.

The crowd was stunned! The next speaker got a few boos by trying to move the CPAC meeting along. They were gracious, however, and the meeting continued.

Thank you Justin Hart for the great close up video.

Full text now available.

UPDATE: I am not too surprised by this. We ended up much lower in the delegate race than we had hoped. If we had over 400 delegates we could have continued, but 270 just wasn't in the running. I think Romney has withdrawn from the race very graciously. He is a great conservative and represents a kind of dignified hope that few Presidential candidates could inspire.

He inspired hope not from his great speaking (he did have some grammatical errors), he inspired hope not from his political skills (he was not a professional politician like others), he inspired hope not from his debate skills (he could look a bit flustered); no, Mitt Romney inspired hope because of his belief in Americans, he inspired the masses because of his faith that the American people are the hope of the world, he inspired hope by calling for America to stand up to the level of its greatness and continue as the strongest nation in the world, Romney inspired hope because of his faith that America is great because of her people and her people are tolerant, generous, strong, and innovative.

Thank you Mitt Romney for inspiring this hope in me.

NYT - Razor Thin Margins Show Nationwide Split or in otherwords PEOPLE VOTE FUNNY

2008-02-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

On the Republican side, all of Missouri’s delegates will go to Senator John McCain, under Republican Party rules, but the popular vote looked more like a pie split nearly in thirds.

Mr. McCain, who won 33 percent of the state’s Republicans, finished about 8,500 votes in front of Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, who wound up with 31.5 percent. Not far behind was Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, with 29.3 percent.

Republican voters in Missouri were split over what they saw as the most important issue facing the country, statewide exit polls conducted by Edison/Mitofsky for the National Election Pool showed; 44 percent said the economy was most important, followed by the war in Iraq (20 percent), illegal immigration (18 percent) and terrorism (13 percent).

Republicans who shared certain top concerns also seemed to share preferred candidates. Many who chose illegal immigration said they voted for Mr. Romney, while those who chose the war voted for Mr. McCain, and those who selected terrorism voted for Mr. Huckabee.

Although Republican leaders in Missouri dismissed worries of lasting divisions, saying many voters now seemed ready to unify around Mr. McCain, some spoke of a lingering divide.

“I think frankly Senator McCain will have a challenge,” said Delbert Scott, a Missouri state senator who supported Mr. Huckabee. “People may vote for him, but they won’t bring the neighbors to vote for him.”

My analysis: I agree with Mr. Scott, both Romney and Huckabee supporters would prefer not to vote for McCain. I heard someone say that both the conservative supporters of Romney and Huckabee would cast a ballot for John McCain with a guilty conscious because they know he isn't a true conservative.

Here is the data based on voters top issue:
44% Economy most important - voters didn't seem to vote for a specific candidate based on this issue, which I find surprising. Clearly, Romney would should have swept these voters, yet he didn't.
18% Immigration - voted Romney (Makes sense was endorsed by the candidate that believed in immigration reform the most)
20% War - voted McCain (crashed five planes, spent a lot of years as POW, served on some committees on war)
13% Terrorism - voted Huckabee (can someone please explain what Huckabee has done on Terrorism?)

Now what does this data tell us? Nobody is hurting enough in the economy for them to chose an economic candidate. I guess every voters got a pet issue, kind of fun to see us all muddling through.

Mitt Romney Rap Star with appearance by Ronald Reagan Michigan, Harvard, Brigham Young

2008-02-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

My Man Mitt - Ronald Reagan believes in him

Wow, what a wild ride on Super Tuesday. I found myself dodging out of the CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News coverage because of the extreme focus on the analysts, the never ending expounding of points, and selective analyzing of exit polls. I was coming down with a headache from all the non-stop noise.

Then I stumbled across something that really surprised me. I stumbled across PBS of all things. Gone was the ever changing lights, the strange and and shaking camera angles, the dizzying non-stop analysis, the "I've got to sell this program so I can make some money" focus. In short, the stress of watching the news.

The program was called simply Super Tuesday and with a straight camera shot on his face sat Mr. Jim Lehrer of the Newshour. He and his co-hosts, Mr. David Brooks and one other I don't think was Mr. Mark Shields, calmly discussed the 2008 Presidential race. As each state's data became available, Mr. Lehrer politely interrupted the conversation and looking straight at the camera announced the news. It was calm, it was straightforward (it was a hair slower announcing the results compared to the main stream media) but it was thoughtful and provocative. And I was surprised.

This experience reminded me recently that the most fair news I have heard over the last month came from all places, National Public Radio (NPR). They tended not to sensationalize, they gave candidates the opportunity to speak, they weren't disparaging or rude. They also didn't broadcast all the foibles of every candidate and focused more on issues. While I have been frustrated with other news outlets (partially because I recognize they are money making ventures and realizing that Mitt Romney has a bit of money, they have unfairly given free reign to the airwaves for McCain and Huckabee. From Iowa I saw more national news coverage of Mike Huckabee than I ever saw of Romney's ads. Not to mention Ron Paul {I got to include him or I'll get spammed} not getting any media lovin'. I think the media news outlets want Mr. Romney to spend his money on commercials. Of course, this serves two purposes: first, the media outlets make a ton of money, and second, Mr. Huckabee gets to position himself as the dumpster-to-the-White-House candidate).

Anyway, Super Tuesday has taught me a valuable lesson, that frankly I never would have learned otherwise. I came away with a new vision of the cable news media outlets - their approach to news gives me a headache. Hat tip to Mr. Lehrer and colleagues for steady results presented in a calm manner.

Super Tuesday has arrived! Political pundits and common citizens join in making a decision

2008-02-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

My political prediction - the GOP race will go on. Huckabee will get more pressure to drop, McCain will claim victory, Romney will continue to move steadily forward.

I'll update thoughts as the day goes on.

Update: DON'T vote for McCain
STATEMENT FROM DR. JAMES DOBSON of FOCUS ON THE FAMILY: I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language. I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded at times more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered leaving the GOP caucus in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being Kerry's running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience. But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country.

Update: Wayne Grudhem supports Mitt Romney
As an evangelical professor of Bible and theology, I have decided to support Mitt Romney for President (even though he is a Mormon) for two old-fashioned reasons: First, he is the best-qualified candidate, and second, he holds moral and political values consistent with those in the Bible.
Best-qualified: The best predictor of future performance is a person’s past track record. Romney’s record is stellar:
Intellectual ability: He was in the top 5 percent of his class at Harvard Business School and simultaneously in the top 1/3 of his class at Harvard Law School. He is incredibly intelligent.

Update: McCain using Robo calls attacking Romney as anti-family, anti-God.
New McCain video released.

Update: Huckabee and McCain collude to get win for Huckabee
Update: Ron Paul in on the love fest in West Virginia gets himself 3 delegates

Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer conceded defeat for Sen. John McCain at West Virginia's Republican state convention on Tuesday.Roemer, who represented McCain at the Charleston event, asked McCain boosters to support Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on the second ballot in order to block former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Beth Myers says about the collusion, "Unfortunately, this is what Senator McCain's inside Washington ways look like: he cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney's campaign of conservative change.

"Governor Romney had enough respect for the Republican voters of West Virginia to make an appeal to them about the future of the party based on issues. This is why he led on today's first ballot. Sadly, Senator McCain cut a Washington backroom deal in a way that once again underscores his legacy of working against Republicans who are interested in championing conservative policies and rebuilding the party."

Update: Rush Limbaugh rips McCain on Bob Dole comments
Rush has just exposed another McCain dirty tricks, McCain/Feingoldprotected lie. McCain's camp leaked the Bob Dole letter to Rush andplayed it up as an endorsement and now is offended that Mitt dismissedits importance. Dole not only did not endorse McCain, he alsocriticized McCain on a few points in the letter in question.

UPDATE: Huckabee is speaking on TV. Sometimes one small stone is more effective than a whole lot of armor. We have seen that the widows mite more effective than all the gold in the world. (Starts with his I'm a poor man talk to juxtapose himself against Romney.) I'll be President in a year from now, I look forward to nailing the going out of business sign on the IRS. (What a joke.) Blah, blah, campaign promises... all of us created equal that every single person has value (except for Mormons)... (I can't help but notice his wife is really tall and where is Chuck?)... elections have a way of tearing us apart... we wanted to see our party pull together again... limited resources a lots of heart... eight years old he saw the governor and live his whole life never seeing a governor... In a few more months you'll help me become the 44th President of the United States... (hold on I got to go throw up)

UPDATE: Huckabee interviewed on CNN. Proved we are still in this. Record fundraising (They only raised 4 Million out of goal of 10 Million). Why stay in the race? I don't think it's so unlikely. It's not over until the final bell has sounded. I spent my life, I've never been the favorite, and now I know what it feels like to go from deep in the whole to the top of the mountain (he's power hungry). Communication between campaigns: I've not talked to anybody about West Virginia. (Arrogant man!)

UPDATE: Mitt Romney interviewed on CNN viewed from Boston. Appreciate his sons. One thing that is clear is that this campaign is going on. We are going to win this thing and go all the way to the White House. We haven't heard from the western states and we will have them early in the morning. The three places we have lived voted for us (people that know them support them, they are good people). How much money you've raised. We are doing it all for the same reason, your kids and my kids. Setting up a strong government for our kids. Most capable economy, education. I am convinced that... We will keep America strong... Strengthend the military, the economy and that is the base for us to help out... lift America, keep taxes down, stop illegal immigration, We are giong to train nations around the world and lead in innovation, lead the world... More important to know how America works than Washington... Important to have a President whose had a job in the private sector... we've asked them to live by ethical standards. THEY HAVEN'T! It's time for the common people to lead in Washington... It's must be our commitment and peace and prosperity. This is the greatest nation in the world. We will do it together.

Super Tuesday Delegate Count Prediction - whose the winner?

2008-02-05T03:03:00.000-08:00

Total Delegate Counts: McCain = 577 Romney = 429 Huckabee = 270

Got these numbers from Red State - read the state by state analysis here.

This site has an excellent analysis of the state by state break down on delegates.

UPDATE: Got this end of day February 6th, 2008
Total Delegate Counts: McCain = 680 Romney = 270 Huckabee = 176 Paul = 16

Looks like McCain and Paul did better than expected. While both Romney and Huckabee underperformed. Got some ground to make up on McCain.

Anyway, with all of the states added up, McCain does look like the front runner, Romney looks great in the midwest and west, and um, Huckabee is a one trick pony, barely got above Romney in the southern states by a half percent.

Romney to Huckabee "No Whining", Giuliani still slams McCain

2008-02-04T23:30:00.000-08:00

From CBS News' Scott Conroy: ATLANTA --

Mitt Romney fired back against Mike Huckabee over the former Arkansas governor’s accusation that Mitt Romney has engaged in "voter suppression" in arguing that a vote for Huckabee is a vote for John McCain. “I don't think he's chosen the right word,” Romney said at a press conference after speaking to hundreds of enthusiastic supporters at a rally here. “It's not voter suppression. I want people to vote, but I want them to vote for me. That's sort of the nature of politics, as I understand it.”

In recent days, Romney has avoided responding to Huckabee’s barrage of attacks, as the former Massachusetts governor seeks to portray the nomination fight as a two-man race between himself and McCain. But in his remarks this afternoon, Romney hit back hard. “First a couple of rules in politics,” he said. “One: no whining. And number two: you get them to vote for you and so I want them not to vote for Mike Huckabee and not to vote for John McCain and to vote for me … that’s not voter suppression. That’s known as politics.”

Romney was flanked by former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn. — a prominent conservative advocate who endorsed Romney last week. Santorum stepped to the microphone to make his own case about why Romney is the only choice for voters who want a conservative candidate as the Republican nominee.

“The reason I got in this race is I wanted to make sure a conservative got elected,” Santorum said. “I’ve been saying for a year that it isn’t John McCain. I think more and more people are coming to that conclusion — that it’s not John McCain. The alternative — the only alternative — to stop the McCain ‘Twisted Talk Express’ is Mitt Romney.”

And on a side note: Rudy Giuliani still has this attack up against John McCain on his website.

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA): “We Would Have Had A Much Bigger Tax Cut If It Was Not For John McCain.” (Kathryn Jean Lopez, “A Conservative Case Against McCain,” National Review, article.nationalreview.com, 1/14/08, Accessed 1/18/08)

In His Twenty-Year Senate Career, John McCain Has Voted At Least Fifty-Two Times For Higher Taxes On The American People – That’s More Than Twice A Year.*

McCain Was One Of Only Two Republican Senators To Vote Against President Bush’s 2001 Tax Cuts And One Of Only Three Republican Senators To Vote Against President Bush’s 2003 Tax Cuts. (H.R. 1836, Senate Vote #170, Conference Report Agreed To: 58-33: R 46-2, D 12-31, 5/26/01, McCain Voted Nay; Lori Nitschke and Wendy Boudreau, “Provisions Of The Tax Law,” CQ Weekly, 6/9/01; H.R. 2, Senate Vote #179, Passed 51-49: R 48-3, D 3-45, I 0-1, 5/15/03, McCain Voted Nay; H.R. 2, Senate Vote #196, Conference Report Agreed To 51-50: R 48-3, D 2-46, I 0-1, With Vice President Cheney Casting A “Yea” Vote, 5/23/03, McCain Voted Nay)

Get your thoughts in on the action at Red State they have an open forum right now.

Mitt Romney Humbled to be considered for President

2008-02-04T23:17:00.000-08:00

After addressing convention delegates in West Virginia, Romney planned to fly to Massachusetts to vote in his hometown, the Boston suburb of Belmont.

He said he and his wife, Ann, had talked Sunday night about the prospect of walking into the voting booth and seeing his name listed as a candidate for president.
"It's something I would have never imagined," said the 60-year-old, whose late father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, sought the presidency in 1968.
"I mean, it's an honor, obviously, it's an enormous honor to even be considered as a candidate for president and to know that there will be hundreds of thousands and hopefully millions who will say, `You're the guy we'd like as our next president.' It's a very humbling honor," he added.

Read it here.

On another site, Kyle says comparing John McCain to Mitt Romney:
Romney, on the other hand, has shown a consistency of character. He is affable and engaging publicly and coolly competent behind closed doors. He is never out of his league on any issue and generally is the most capable person in the room. He refrains from making personal attacks and always projects a sense of optimism. This is the kind of personality that I want in the president’s office. Indeed, it seems much better than someone whose temper is never out of reach. Competence is what I want in a president, not a bully.

McCain not the conservative choice for President ACU RATING TELLS IT ALL

2008-02-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

Senator John McCain's lifetime rating of 82.3% from the American Conservative Union is often cited as proof that he is conservative.

Here is a closer look at that 82.3 rating.

First, a rating of 82.3 is not really that high. It puts Senator McCain in 39th place among senators serving in 2006, the latest year for which the ACU has its ratings posted online. For that most recent year in particular, McCain scored only 65, putting him in 47th place for that year. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE), for example, scored 64 and 75, respectively, in 2006.

Generally, McCain has voted less conservatively in more recent years. His average for 1990-97 was 88, but was only 74 for 1998-2006. Below are his yearly ratings since 1990.

So where did McCain differ from the ACU? The big areas were taxes, campaign finance reform, the environment and, most recently, immigration. There was also a smattering of support for trial lawyers; federal intervention in health, education, safety or voting issues; internationalism; and some social issues. He was more consistently conservative on spending and defense issues. The list below summarizes all his votes since 1998 that differed from the ACU's position.
Read more about at American Thinker.

McCain, Huckabee the wrong choice for Evangelicals

2008-02-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

McCain, Huckabee Worst Picks for Evangelicals

MEDIA ADVISORY, Feb. 4 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Reverend Rob Schenck (pronounced SHANK), in his capacity as a private citizen, today released this statement regarding tomorrow's primary votes:

"I have spent the last 33 years as an active evangelical Christian. I am an ordained evangelical minister. I graduated from an evangelical Bible college and an evangelical seminary. I serve on the board of America's oldest association of evangelical church leaders, and I head one of the most active evangelical ministries in Washington, DC.

"I have thought long and hard about the upcoming elections. I have prayed earnestly about them, and I have met many of the candidates and their top campaign people and I have studied their platforms and policy proposals.

"After careful and prayerful consideration, I have concluded that an evangelical vote for Mike Huckabee is a vote for John McCain, and a vote for John McCain will be a disaster for this country.

"Let me explain. It's clear to me and many others that Mike Huckabee is not broadening his appeal enough to win the primary. Therefore, his only contribution is to siphon off votes, giving McCain a clear path to victory. It's very possible Huckabee is being positioned to be John McCain's pick for vice president. In order to win, McCain needs Mike Huckabee and the evangelical votes he brings with him. The specter of a McCain-Huckabee ticket is bad for evangelicals.

"McCain is proud of his signature accomplishment, the McCain-Feingold law co-authored with liberal Democrat senator Russ Feingold. McCain-Feingold severely limits the First Amendment rights of evangelicals. McCain will use this law as the litmus test for his Supreme Court nominees. If a judge is likely to be against McCain's unconstitutional law, McCain will not nominate him. Make no mistake about it, constitutional originalist judges will be against McCain-Feingold. These same judges will also be pro-life, for traditional marriage and for the public acknowledgment of God.

"Only liberal judges will support McCain-Feingold. They will also be pro-abortion, anti-traditional marriage and against the public acknowledgement of God. So, with a McCain-Huckabee administration, or with a McCain-anyone administration, we get the wrong judges. Most distressing, we get the wrong justices on the U.S. Supreme Court."Evangelicals must consider both the stakes and the realities in this election. Mike Huckabee's continuation only helps John McCain. The consequences are just too great to take this risk. A McCain victory will hurt this country because of the long-term damage of the wrong judges and justices. Worse, McCain's court legacy will continue to hurt our children and our grandchildren, perhaps even our great grandchildren.

"Evangelicals must choose wisely from among candidates other than Mike Huckabee and John McCain as they vote tomorrow, February 5.

"For identification purposes only, the Reverend Rob Schenck (pronounced SHANK) is president of Faith and Action in the Nation's Capital, chairman of the Committee on Church and Society for the Evangelical Church Alliance and co-founder of the annual National Memorial for the Pre-born and their Mothers and Fathers, the only pro-life worship service held inside the U.S. Capitol complex in Washington, DC.

McCain Nervous, Romney Hopeful, Huckabee Bitter

2008-02-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

Republicans spar over economy MSNBC reported the following:

McCain told "Fox News Sunday" he would veto any tax increase passed by a Democratic-controlled Congress. McCain, who opposed President Bush's first two tax cuts, now says Congress should make the reductions permanent, and that there also should be further tax reductions for business investments.

Romney told ABC's "This Week" that McCain "doesn't understand the economy" and that his advocacy of a higher gasoline tax to combat global warming would hurt U.S. consumers.
Romney added, "If we want a party that is indistinguishable from Hillary Clinton on an issue like illegal immigration, we're going to have John McCain as a nominee. That's the wrong way to go."
Romney said he will continue pouring his own money into his campaign, contending that McCain is much better known to most voters.

McCain, who also appeared on "Face the Nation," said he is "far more conservative" than Romney.

McCain later told reporters that despite polls showing him with a 20-point lead over Romney, "I'm incredibly nervous, and I've seen that movie before." Knocking twice on a wooden table in his campaign bus, he said, "a lot of this business is expectation levels, so it's our job to keep our own expectation levels down."

Huckabee said it was time for Romney, who lost major contests in South Carolina and Florida to McCain, to drop out of the race.

"I think it's time for Mitt Romney to step aside," the former governor, who has won only the Iowa caucuses, said on CNN. "If he wants to call it a two-man race, fine. But that makes it John McCain and me."

Update: Republicans consider Mitt Romney the strongest CONSERVATIVE for the Presidential Nomination. Here's hoping for another upset, like the NY Giants over the Patriots.

Conservatives flocking to Romney here are a few sites:
The Problem with John McCain
But, as we learned with former Sen. Bob Dole, the American people want more than a war hero to lead our country. We need somebody who is level-headed on the big issues: immigration, the war against radical Muslim jihadists, (which goes far beyond the “surge”) the economy, taxation, threats of government-run health care, and the man made issue of global warming.

Why I will Not be Voting for John McCain and yes I did invent the term Blogosphere
Here is an example from a commenter named Scott Martin:
"I’m still confused about the intensity of the hatred towards McCain. I know he has bucked the conservative movement on a few occasions but the level of animosity is amazing."
I don’t ipso facto ascribe this sort of response to wilful stupidity or robotic submission to a political party, but I do ascribe it to ignorance. And the cure for ignorance is facts. If you can read the following and still vote for John McCain, fine. But don’t consider that you are doing yourself, your country, or your party any favors.

It's time to unite around Mitt Romney
What's with this mutual admiration society with McCain and the Democrats? They have such high regard for one another because McCain has more in common with the Democrats than he does with conservative Republicans. Democrats like Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton love John McCain because they are on the same team so many times. They have different letters by their names but they hold much in common.
A Vote for Huckabee is a Vote for McCain
How? Like it or not, Huckabee is done. Huckabee does not and will not have the delegates, momentum, or money. Huckabee will probably win Alabama and maybe a couple other states but he will not win the nomination. Most Huckabee supporters probably realize this. If you are one of the few who still thinks that Huckabee can win the nomination, there is probably very little that can persuade you to change your vote. But if you are one of the majority who understands that Huckabee will not win the nomination, please switch your vote to Mitt Romney.

A WIN IN CA WILL HELP MITT ROMNEY Zogby says

2008-02-04T07:25:00.001-08:00

Reuters reports on a new Zogby poll on February 4, 2008:

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, led McCain 40 percent to 32 percent in California, where the margin of error was 3.3 percentage points. A win in California, the most populous state, could help puncture McCain's growing momentum in the Republican nomination fight.

McCain won the last two contests, in South Carolina and Florida, to seize the front-runner's slot in a hard-fought Republican race despite qualms among some conservatives about his past views on taxes, immigration and campaign finance.

"Romney is widening his lead in California and has a really big advantage with conservatives," Zogby said. "Romney winning California would give some Republicans pause when they look at McCain as the potential nominee."

Romney said he would cut short a scheduled trip to Georgia and fly back to California on Monday for a last-minute campaign visit.

'A GOOD SHOT'

"People there are taking a real close look at the race and it looks like I've got a good shot there," Romney told reporters.

In Missouri, McCain leads former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee by 35 percent to 27 percent, with Romney in third place at 24 percent. The margin of error was 3.4 percentage points.

"Huckabee and Romney are splitting the anti-McCain vote in states like Missouri," Zogby said.

A trouncing in Maine! Who was blown away by 31%?

2008-02-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

John McCain got blown away in the Maine caucus. Even after McCain's supposed momentum from Florida, he was trounced by Mitt Romney. Beat by 31% of the vote!

Results:
Mitt Romney 52%, John McCain 21%, Ron Paul 19%, Mike Huckabee 6%, Thompson 4%

Even Mike Huckabee barely registered, he was back down there by Thompson who kindly dropped out when he realized he was wasting time BEFORE the Maine caucus.

With the win in Maine, Mitt Romney is just 5 delegates behind McCain!

Mitt Romney is electable. Vote Romney 2008!

Victory in Utah for Mitt Romney - A Landslide Win

2008-02-04T05:30:00.000-08:00

Five Reasons Jeff Fuller Predicts a Mitt Romney Victory in Utah:

1) Romney lived in Utah recently and saved the state's reputation through turning around the Olympics. Utah voters both saw his amazing leadership/turnaround skills and want to reward him for his service to their state. The key from the exit polls will be to see how non-Mormon Republicans break for Romney . . . I'm predicting that it won't be too different from the LDS percentage . . . and THAT WILL BE THE POINT TO DRIVE HOME.

2) Let's face it, Mormons will vote overwhelmingly for Romney in Utah. We already saw something similar in Nevada where 94% of the LDS GOP caucus goers were for Romney. However, I also detailed in a previous blog that, counting the LDS Democrat caucus goers in NV, the real percentage of LDS choosing Romney was actually 73%. That's still a strong base of support, and an email from my friend helped me understand why this may be:

Maybe this is a false distinction that exists only in my own brain, but I think there's a difference between Huckabee's evangelical support and Mitt's mormon support. I think some evangelicals vote Huckabee not because of his policy or conservative nature but because of his religion. I think there is high support for Romney among Mormons because Mormons are less likely to be suspicious of Romney's mormonism and so are able to back him because of his policies and conservative nature.

I'm sure there are exceptions to that for both Huckabee and Romney supporters. But, basically I sense that religion has prevented objective comparison on the issues, and when such comparison happens, Romney benefits. I thought this was a great point and can be used pre-voting to explain part of why Romney will win Utah so convincingly . . . THAT UTAH REPUBLICANS ARE SO PAST/BEYOND ANY CONCERN WITH VOTING FOR A MORMON THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO VIEW ROMNEY AMONG THE CANDIDATES WITHOUT A FEAR/BIAS (Conscious or not) OF HAVING A MORMON NOMINEE/PRESIDENT. WITHOUT THIS, THEY OBVIOUSLY REALIZE THAT ROMNEY IS, FAR AND AWAY THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT!

3) Utah's full of "very conservative" Republicans. Romney has won this demographic by a very wide margin in just about every state so far . . . they'll break in a major way again for Romney in Utah.

4) There will be PLENTY of Mormons voting for Obama or Hillary. We'll have to wait for the exit polling, but this factor will help lessen the "block Mormon vote" criticisms that will be sure to be the main headline out of Utah's primary.

5) If being LDS is enough to clean up in Utah, please show me the poll that ever had Orrin Hatch (a long-time and well-loved UTAH Senator who is LDS) leading in the 2000 GOP race for President in either Utah or Idaho (yeah, I know he dropped out after Iowa, but Romney was leading Utah polls big early and way before Iowa). I think this factor combines nicely with point #2 above . . . that it's not that they're voting for Romney because he's Mormon, it's that they're not freaked out that he IS a Mormon and can view him without that potential bias . . . that Mormons weren't that impressed with Hatch as POTUS material and rejected him on those grounds.

Who is more electable? McCain, Clinton, Obama or Romney?

2008-02-04T00:29:00.001-08:00

I just found this awesome website that compares John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama and Mitt Romney - the four main Presidential Candidates. This is incredible detail into who is most electable. Everyone keeps talking about which candidate can beat whom, and which one appeals the most to the American people. This objective analysis was fascinating to me.

There are two spreadsheets so look at both then post your thoughts about who is most electable. You'll need to visit Political Scene 2008 and click on the spreadsheets to see for yourself the data.

Review the Leadership and Electability Indices, then come back and let me know who you think is most electable?

Mitt Romney MA Healthcare Plan Bust Boom or Experiment

2008-02-03T23:02:00.000-08:00

I was discussing with a nice person Rosemary about this health plan in MA. Here is my response to a question about the plan.

The health plan in MA is difficult to explain, but I will do my best as I work in health insurance.

I am a student and we recently studied Romney's healthcare idea in my managerial economics class (funny his idea is used to teach economics). Anyway, because the government made a law requiring emergency rooms to provide services to anyone coming through the door (an unfunded government mandate), hospitals raise their rates to earn money to cover this "bad debt/charity care" as they call it. The rise in hospital costs requires insurers to raise the insurance premiums to cover the expected risks. The main idea of insurance is to spread risk across the largest healthy population as possible, thereby decreasing the amount each person needs to contribute (that is why large employers get better insurance rates than individuals and small employers).

Contrary to popular thought that a majority of those without insurance were poor people that could not afford it, an MA study revealed the largest population without health insurance were healthy and wealthy single males who for one reason or another didn’t want insurance because of the common "invincibility complex". Well, in health insurance, the less healthy people in the pool, the higher the cost per person. Thus a small pool of sick persons (with high utilization) will have higher premiums than a large pool with a mix of sick and healthy persons (both high and low utilization). The MA health plan attempted to bring everyone in MA into the insurance pool in order to lower the insurance premiums for everyone. And this has been successful, in that people now pay a lower premium but receive a lot more benefits. MA residents also have increased choices – they can choose between 42 plans (I get to choose between three, how many for you?).

Romney spoke about his Healthcare plan in the last debate (he hasn’t hid from the questions on it). If I remember correctly he said that after he left, the current democratic governor added some things that made the plans more expensive. The new governor raised the minimum coverage benefits which naturally led to a higher price. Some good things have come, for instance, most MA residents can get a health plan worth twice the value at half the price. And MA has reversed the number of uninsured, over 300,000 more people are in the insurance pool.

A disadvantage claimed by some is that the insurance premiums jumped by 12% this last year. However, it should be noted that in 2006 nationaly insurance premiums moved up 7.7% and in 2007 national insurance rates moved up 6.1%. With utilization being the main driver in healthcare costs the 12% represents higher premium costs and a higher utilization of services. The bottomline is that MA is experiencing the baby boom effect - more people are using healthcare services than ever before. Covering more people's procedures requires more money leading to higher insurance premiums. 12% isn't too bad, just talk to those small and large employers that got hit with 18% increases!

On April 11, 2006 Mitt Romney said in the Wall Street Journal with regards to the healthcare plan, "Will it work? I'm optimistic, but time will tell. A great deal will depend on the people who implement the program. Legislative adjustments will surely be needed along the way. One great thing about federalism is that states can innovate, demonstrate and incorporate ideas from one another. Other states will learn from our experience and improve on what we've done. That's the way we'll make health care work for everyone."

Mitt Romney worked with MA to start the experiment on Healthcare - NOBODY else has even come so close to trying. It is an impressive thing, unlike some Senators that have passed no meaningful legislation, Mitt Romney worked with the people of MA and got a plan passed that they liked. On abortions, one of the requirements from the MA legislature was that an oversight group be in charge of the approved benefits (not the governor, not the legislature). Romney signed the law and the committee chose the benefits including the abortion money (what do you expect from a blue state?). Having been a participant in the Healthcare for All Americans forum, I can tell you one major debate is what constitutes "a basic level of care". I personally would not have added abortion to that list and neither would President Mitt Romney (his Presidential Platform is pro-life).

In conclusion, even if this healthcare experiment fails, Mitt Romney has more knowledge and skills to work on the next experiment. With 60% of our entire budget spent on entitlement programs like Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security our biggest savings can be realized by tackling these tough questions. I think Mitt Romney can do the job in a smart efficient way – the guy owes no favors to anybody in Washington and is smart about data.

Anyway, I know it was more than you wanted and I am tired so I’ll have to work on the other one later. Good night.

John McCain's John Kerry Ad - Is He Forgeting Things?

2008-02-03T01:11:00.000-08:00

A long time ago, well just four years ago, John Kerry reminisced from his journal about a Christmas night when he lay gazing up into the empyrean reflecting on the great President Nixon. The only problem was Nixon wasn’t elected President until a year after that Christmas.

It’s now septuagenarian John McCain’s turn to “forget” the timing of his life events.

In a recent ad, John McCain talks about the inspiration that President Ronald Reagan was to him while he was a POW in Vietnam. The ad starts by saying, "As a prisoner of war John McCain was inspired by Ronald Reagan". The only trouble is John McCain lived in Florida before he entered the war and Ronald Reagan was a governor of California when McCain was a POW. In fact, Ronald Reagan became President seven years after John McCain got back from Vietnam. Even more interesting, John McCain entered politics two years into Ronald Reagan’s first term. McCain enlisted as a foot soldier for Reagan in 1982, unless he was some sort of visionary in Nam, I don't understand how Reagan was inspiring him. Ah, the vicissitudes of old age.

Unless I am missing something, McCain can’t remember what was happening, can’t remember what you said, nor can he understand when he's been caught in a lie – at least that’s what McCain appears to demonstrate.

I am going to vote for Mitt Romney.

IMMIGRATION Don't Ask Presidential Candidate John McCain

2008-02-02T23:41:00.000-08:00

First off, John McCain lost Maine by a long shot. Sure hardly anybody campaigned there, although Ron Paul stopped by and Mitt Romney sent his son Tagg to get a hotdog. But what surprised me is that John McCain had all the endorsements. But to the residents of Maine the endorsements meant nothing. Endorsements aren't part of the 2008 voter information packet and McCain once said, "I hope people will judge me by those who have endorsed me." Is that because conservatives don't trust him on economics and social issues?

The crushing defeat in Maine is a blow to McCain for the following two reasons:
1. McCain brought in the most money from Maine residents and still lost.
2. Look at the long list of distinguished groupies that endorsed McCain and he still lost.

JOHN MCCAIN 2008 MAINE LEADERSHIP TEAM

Honorary Chair
Former Governor John R. McKernan

Co-Chairs
United Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine)
United States Senator Susan M. Collins (R-Maine)

Vice Chair
State Representative Josh Tardy (R-Newport)

Legislative Team (see below)

Even with McCain's powerhouse group, he still got toasted. However, the purpose of this post is to bring to your attention McCain's distaste with questions about immigration. In Arizona, his own state, look at how he treats a man who presents a question about illegal immigrants.

Don't" Ask McCain - Watch a funny movie here

Legislative Team
Representative James Annis (R-Dover-Foxcroft)
Representative Rich Cebra (R-Naples)
Representative Kathy Chase (R-Wells)
Representative Dean Cray (R-Palmyra)
Representative Phil Curtis (R-Madison)
Representative Harold Ian Emery (R-Cutler)
Representative Stacey Fitts (R-Pittsfield)
Representative Ken Fletcher (R-Winslow)
Representative Jeff Gifford (R-Lincoln)
Representative John McDonough (R-Scarborough)
Representative Everett McLeod (R-Lee)
Representative H. Sawin Millett (R-Waterford)
Representative Gary Moore (R-Standish)
Representative Kerri Prescott (R-Topsham)
Representative John Robinson (R-Raymond)
Representative David Richardson (R-Carmel)
Representative Wes Richardson (R-Warren)
Representative David Savage (R-Falmouth)
Representative Thomas Saviello (U-Wilton)
Representative Joseph Tibbetts (R-Columbia)
Representative Windol Weaver (R-York)

John McCain the Arm Chair Warrior? and Assymetric Warfare

2008-02-02T21:41:00.000-08:00

I read a blog today from an individual who had decided to back John McCain. The blogger states, "And above all else, the most important issue facing this country is the declared war on America perpitrated by the Islamo-Fascits across the Globe, and the Iraq War."

Here is my response:
I enjoyed your analysis; however, the greatest threat originally proposed by Osama Bin Laden was not related to the military – it is economic. Osama wants to drain the US of its economic power by engaging us in a protracted war where we will use billions of dollars and end up leaving much like Russia in Afghanistan. The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security wrote a strong piece on this subject called Energy Security.

Osama Bin Ladin boasted in 2004, We "bled Russia for ten years until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat". His current strategy is the same. I propose a military man is not our best choice in this protracted conflict. We need an economic man.

With Bush in the White House, our generals have done a superb job fighting – Petraeus and the other generals have great ideas (not politicians like McCain who claim Petraeus’ ideas are his own). McCain has been in the Senate for 24 years – he is not a solution but part of the problem. McCain sitting on all those defense committees did not keep us safe! He was advising them when all of the junk occurred, he missed it just like everybody else. He will do just as much for America continuing as the committee member he has always been.

The future of warfare is not in McCain’s experience. We are talking technology and that requires a strong economy. We need unmanned planes, smart bombs, strategic missiles, robotic arms and satellites. The next generation of warfare is Asymmetric – McCain has no experience in it.

Mitt Romney understands economic incentives – both domestic and foreign. Whether it is aiding our allies, or hindering our enemies, economics is the key to the future. Economists estimates 80% of jobs in 20 years haven’t even been thought of yet. Mitt Romney knows how to incentivize research and development in new technologies. Only Mitt Romney has the experience to position America globally to take advantage of those opportunities.

It’s time to Rally to Romney for a truly strong America. A strong economy allows us to build the strong military – thus defending us both financially and militarily.

Please note: John McCain is technically not an "Armchair Warrior" as the Urban Dictionary defines an armchair warrior as "someone who has never served in the military, but who rah-rahs a war when it is broadcast on TV from his armchair while swilling beer."

John McCain says Its not the social issues I care about

2008-02-02T20:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, the ONLY issue John McCain carries any weight on is defense. I would argue that he is poor on that as well. He has been a US Senator for Arizona for nigh on 25 years. His claim is the same thing over and over, "I've been on the committees in Washington all this time defending America".

Ha, ha, ha, ha. Sorry, I can't help but laugh at that.

If John McCain has been on the committees all this time, then he is PART OF THE PROBLEM. He hasn't kept us safe; he didn't protect America sitting in a plush seat in Washington. It was the soldiers that did the work. But I digress; this post is about social issues.

The Washington Post recently reported the following surprising statement:

McCain seems distinctly uninterested when asked questions concerning abortion
and gay rights. While campaigning in South Carolina, he told reporters riding with him on his bus that he was comfortable pledging to appoint judges who would strictly interpret the Constitution in part because it would reassure conservatives who might otherwise distrust him.
"It's not social issues I care about," he explained.

John McCain ignores economic and social conservatives. Only Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee have declared their intentions to keep conservative judges and move forward on social issues. Their Presidential platforms are pro-life and pro-family.

I found this on Article VI blog (this is a MUST READ):

As things have turned out, Evangelicals have not refused, so much, to vote for Mitt Romney because he is Mormon, they have instead chosen to vote for Mike Huckabee because he is “one of us.” How much a role suspicion and bias against Mormonism has played in that somewhat more positive-appearing choice is a determination that will ultimately be up to pollsters and psychologists in the years after the election to determine. And while it may not be “bigotry” it is identity politics, and they are as suicidal as pure bigotry.
No identity group is sufficiently large to carry a presidential election. A coalition is required. What Mike Huckabee has done is peel off one section of the traditional conservative coalition, Evangelicals, and claimed it for himself. With the coalition split, neither Evangelicals or the greater conservative coalition can win.
The presidential candidate for a party leads that party. That leader is going to pay attention to and drive the agenda of the coalition that got him there. Not only are Evangelicals not part of the coalition that has gotten John McCain this far, McCain has in the past loudly and actively found Evangelicals distasteful.

Let's face it though, only Mitt Romney has the money to continue on. And recent polls show Huckabee with a 5 to 8 percent change of winning against a Democrat. I hope Huckabee supporters will throw their support behind Romney so we can ALL block McCain.

McCain can continue to help the war from his plush Washington chair. Romney can help America face the global economy. In fact, economists estimate that 80% of jobs in 20 years haven’t even been thought of yet. I believe Mitt Romney can position America on a global scale to take advantage of those opportunities. He supports social issues and he knows how to bring together a strong team for national defense.

Now is the time to Rally to Romney.

Update: New ad showing how close McCain and Clinton are.

The Mormon faces more prejudice than the Black Man

2008-02-02T09:55:00.000-08:00

This Presidential race is a step forward in many respects. We have as candidates a woman, a black man, a Mormon, and a POW.

Now I want to state up front that I do not subscribe to labels per se, but the purpose of this post is to point out an interesting fact.

The players:
The woman Hillary Clinton
The black man Barak Obama
The Mormon Mitt Romney
The POW John McCain

The setting:
Present day the United States of America.

Background:

Women - Although women were allowed to vote in 1869 and 1870 in Wyoming and Utah respectively, Congress disenfranchised women in 1887. The national woman's suffrage movement has it's beginnings in 1850. After seventy years of parades, picketing, and demonstrations the 19th Amendment granted Women the right to vote in 1920.

Blacks - The terrible subjection of fellow humans to slavery began a long time ago. On the American continent, slavery has been a scar on the face of freedom since 1619. In the 1750's the abolitionist movement slowly began to take hold. In 1780 the Massachusetts Constitution declared all men born "free and equal" effectively abolishing slavery in the state. (I find it interesting that MA is also the state that elected Mitt Romney as Governor.) After hundreds of years and a civil war, black men were freed with the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865.

Mormons - The Mormons originally began in 1830 and were subsequently harried and harassed until they fled to the territory of Mexico (what is now Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Arizona). The term "Mormon" was originally used as a slur against Mormons but has over time been accepted as a label (although it should be noted that most adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prefer to be called Latter-day Saints not Mormons). No other religion has ever been persecuted in America so vehemently and violently, including an extermination order by Governor Lilburn Boggs of Missouri in 1838 (I just learned that Quakers and Baptists were violently persecuted in Virginia early in America's history). Freedom of religion was granted to Mormons in 1791 with the passage of the Bill of Rights Article the third. Freedom for a Mormon to run for President came with the ratification of Article VI of the Constitution of the United States in 1787. (Notice these two items pre-date the formation of the Mormon church.)

POWs - To be entitled to prisoner of war status, a captured service member must have conducted operations according to the laws and customs of war: be part of a chain of command and wear a uniform and bear arms openly. American POWs, sometimes mistreated by their captors, are usually viewed as heroes and are accorded hero status. I am unaware of American POWs being treated pejoratively upon their return to the US. Mr. McCain returned to the US in 1973 and has subsequently served 25 years in the Senate.

Discussion:
History has already been made with the distance each of these candidates have come (even the POW dodged the South Carolina elimination round of yester year). One item of interest, however, is that Mormons continue to receive a significant amount of prejudice in America. An American born religion is despised and hated by a vocal yet small group of people. In fact, in many circles it is OK to discuss Mormons in a way that would not be done to women, blacks, or POWs.

I admire America, I think the American people are our strongest advantage in the world. We are a people that because of, NOT in spite of, our diversity are able to tackle complex problems and reach solutions. Although three of the four groups above still receive pejorative treatment at the hands of fellow Americans, we have come a long way in tolerance.

The Reverend Cecil "Chip" Murray, a Senior Fellow in the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California and the Tanzy Chair in Christian Ethics, is the Senior Pastor of the Los Angeles First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME). Reverend Murray in an interview on November 6, 2007 was asked, "In 2008 whose candidacy will face the most opposition, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? Who do you think will face the most opposition or the most prejudice today?"

The Reverend Murray replied, "The Mormon. Because America is still growing."

I recognize that everyone has their prejudices, but how sad for America, land of the free and home of the brave, when blindness covers their sight and prejudice beats their minds back into eighteen hundreds. Amy Sullivan in an article in the Washington Monthly pointed out that some of the anti-Mormon sentiment is based on rumors, unfamiliarity and "a vague feeling Mormons are kind of weird." She talks about being in fifth grade in the basement of her Baptist church and being instructed by her teacher that Mormons fall somewhere between "devil worshippers and Jim Jones." I find it repulsive that anyone is still teaching intolerance and hatred based on religion.

To quote Mitt Romney, "I just don't believe the people in this country are going to choose their candidate based on which church he or she goes to. I just don't believe that... my faith isn't terribly well known around this country. But I don't think for a minute the American people are going to say, "You know what, we're not going to vote for this guy on a secular position because of his church." I just don't believe that. I think when the constitution and the founders said no religious test shall ever be required for qualification for office or public trust in these United States, that the founders meant just that. And I don't believe for a minute that Republicans, or Americans for that matter, are going to impose a religious test, it's as un-American as anything you can think of... I believe that free American people are the source of America's greatness."

I agree with Mitt Romney. America is better than bigotry, and no matter how many distorted anti-Mormon mailers are sent, and no matter how many distorted anti-Mormon phone calls are made, and no matter how many distorted anti-Mormon people blog, the American people, true believers in freedom of religion, can rise above the storm of words and elect a President that John McCain called, "A man of honesty and integrity. A man prepared to serve... a man of unimpeachable integrity and honesty... he could do a lot of things, yet this man has willingly stepped forward... [he is] somebody the young can look up to and admire."

Place a historic vote for Mitt Romney in 2008.

The full interview of Reverend Murray.

McCain endorses Romney United States IMPORTANT VOTER INFORMATION

2008-02-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Campaign Election 2008 You Decide

Either Mitt Romney has risen rapidly politically, or John McCain has risen slowly. Oh, United States voters, McCain endorses Romney. McCain said: Mitt Romney is 'a man of honesty and integrity. A man prepared to serve... a man of unimpeachable integrity and honesty... he could do a lot of things, yet this man has willingly stepped forward... [he is] somebody the young can look up to and admire.'

Place your vote for Mitt Romney, endorsed by John McCain.

Hey Americans - Sweet Tax Relief Plan on the Horizon!

2008-02-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Great article about the details of Mitt Romney's Tax plan
NICOLE GELINAS

Mitt Romney’s Smart Tax Plan
Investment-friendly tax cuts, not one-time rebates

31 January 2008

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney made a respectable showing in Tuesday’s Florida primary, and that’s good news for Americans worried about both the home-mortgage meltdown and their tax bills. Unlike Washington politicians, vying to outdo one another printing money to rescue Americans from falling home prices, Romney has proposed a bold long-term tax policy that would encourage Americans to choose their investments, both housing and otherwise, more wisely.
For the past two weeks, what’s passed for a debate in Washington over taxes and the mortgage crisis is an inane frenzy over a “stimulus” package, which means supposedly free money: $100 billion or so in taxpayer “rebates” to be mailed out this year, once Congress and the president work out the details. The rebates are supposed to avert a recession. If five-figure-earning American families have an extra $300 to $2,100 to spend, the thinking goes, they won’t pinch pennies as home values plummet. But this form of stimulus is unlikely to work, as plenty of smart observers have already pointed out. A one-time cash payment won’t change most people’s spending behavior; the reason they felt comfortable spending so freely before was that they figured that they could tap their rising home equity for extra cash regularly, not just once. Besides, the stimulus comes at the cost of further debasing the dollar over the long term, since the Treasury Department doesn’t have extra money lying around to pay for it.
Both Romney and John McCain deserve credit for mostly staying out of this frenzy, but Romney’s tax plan seems particularly fresh and intelligent in such a foolish atmosphere. Romney seems to believe that Americans are smart enough to plan for the long term rather than salivate over a one-shot check. His audacious plan would cut the tax rate on capital gains, interest, and dividends for any taxpayer making less than $200,000 annually to “absolutely zero.” This elegantly simple proposal would invite Americans to save and invest as much as they can or wish to without worrying about mind-numbingly complicated tax calculations.
But just as important, the plan would encourage people to diversify their investments without fear of poking the hornet’s nest of tax liability. Right now, a middle-aged American who has spent a few decades building up an investment portfolio outside his tax-favored IRA faces constraints if, like any wise investor, he wants to rebalance and update that portfolio periodically. If he was smart enough to invest in John Deere a few years back, for example, and wants to lock in some of his hefty profits today and rebalance his portfolio by selling some shares, he has to pause and consider the tax consequences, not to mention the annoyance of the whole process. Even if he already uses an accountant, he must dig up a trade confirmation from years ago as proof of what he paid for his stock in the first place. Under Romney’s plan, investment decisions would become simply investment decisions—and the investor would no longer have to ask himself, “Do I really want to go through all these tax calculations?”
Romney’s plan would accomplish another important goal: getting Americans to invest in something besides their homes. Even as capital-gains taxes have discouraged investing in stocks, the tax code has long encouraged people to invest in bigger houses—even if those houses are overpriced by any rational measure—because Americans know that they can deduct the interest that they pay on their mortgages from their IRS bills every year and, in many cases, get tax breaks when they sell their homes at a profit. Romney’s new incentive for market investing would serve as a counterweight to this lopsided code—which was meant to encourage Americans to own their homes rather than rent, but which has also led them to put far too much of their wealth in one large asset.
Romney would also enact permanent tax cuts for businesses and make permanent the Bush personal income-tax cuts, including dividend and capital gains reductions and rate cuts for top earners. He’d reduce the lowest tax rate, again permanently, from 10 percent to 7.5 percent, adding up to an average annual savings of $400 for working-class families as well as a one-time retroactive check. This move would make continued tax cuts for upper-income earners more politically palatable, and it’s far superior to the rebate plan that Congress and the White House are discussing because families could count on the savings every year.
McCain, Romney’s chief rival for the Republican nomination, has likewise pledged to keep the Bush tax cuts permanent, including keeping the current rates on capital gains and dividends. He’d also roll back business taxes and work to repeal the onerous alternative minimum tax. These are good ideas—and far better than those that Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who propose to eliminate the Bush tax cuts for families earning $200,000 and $250,000 respectively, have offered. But so far, only Romney has come forward with a daring new proposal to encourage tens of millions of Americans to invest in the capital markets.
Here’s a good question for McCain before next Tuesday’s nationwide primary showdown:

Do you support a Romney-style investment-creating plan—and if not, why not?

Nicole Gelinas is a contributing editor to City Journal and a Chartered Financial Analyst.

John McCain and Hillary Clinton Share a Special Bond

2008-02-01T00:31:00.000-08:00

What do Hillary Clinton and John McCain have in common?

I am not sure, but I hear they are "very close".

John McCain is not the conservative Romney, Huckabee, and Paul supporters would have hoped for. Even Michael Reagan son of Ronald Reagan says, "John McCain Hates Me." Ann Coulter claims she will vote for Clinton if McCain wins.

"Nobody does it* better."

Special thanks to my spouse for taking three hours of her time for this gem.

*it = being a flip flopping politician

Update: New ad comparing John McCain's record with Hilary Clinton.

Mitt Romney is the Ronald Reagan of Our Time

2008-01-31T08:41:00.000-08:00

So the Main Stream Media is still rooting for its liberal Republican baby John McCain (I know what you're thinking, McCain is really old, but he still throws fits like a baby). Anyway, McCain looked like a smug, lying politician during the debate last night. I wrote down three or four times when John McCain's "Straight Talk Express" hurdled off the bridge and exploded into a great ball of fire. McCain is definitely a Washington Politician (I'll post more on that later).

So why is it that I call Mitt Romney the Ronald Reagan of our time? Because he represents all three groups of the conservative Republican base: the Social conservatives, the defense conservatives and the economic conservatives. I am excited about what Mitt Romney can do with America. Senator Jim DeMint was interviewed today on NPR. He too is excited about what Mitt Romney can accomplish in Washington. A true outsider, just like Reagan, Romney owes no favors (just look at McCain with all of his endorsement baggage piling up).

Joshua Trevino writes: CNN has the exit-poll numbers, and they reveal some surprising things:

Romney won pro-lifers.
Romney won the mainstream religious. (Huckabee won the very religious less than one-fifth of the pool.)
Romney won the Protestants.
Romney tied Huckabee with Evangelicals.
Romney won the pro-GWB voters.
Romney is the primary second choice of Giuliani voters, Thompson voters …. and McCain voters.
Romney won the immigration hard-liners.
Romney won the upper-middle class, earning between $100,000 and $200,000 annually.
Romney won the terrorism-oriented voters.
Romney won the self-identified conservatives and the self-identified very conservative.
Romney won the values-oriented voters.
Romney won the tax-cutting voters.

Now I won't say, "My friends" with the sarcasm displayed by John McCain yesterday, but I will say, Fellow Americans - Mitt Romney has the poise, the leadership, and the tempered demeanor to be a President and Commander in Chief. John McCain displays the one style old "bossing people around" leadership practice (I'll be posting more about that soon) while Mitt Romney represents the new adaptive participative leadership style. I can tell you that Mitt Romney will get more done in Washington than John McCain has in his 22+ years in the Senate!!!

Rally to Romney, the Ronald Reagan of our time.

You can find out more about Mitt Romney by learning about his positions: Check out this book that summarizes Romney's positions.

Presidential Debate January 30, 2008 Reagan Library

2008-01-31T00:11:00.000-08:00

Presidential Debate January 30, 2008 Reagan Library

Here are my notes from the debate; I missed the first half hour.

They are all Federalists, in other words they think each state has the freedom to experiment. (McCain looks like a small man sitting next to Romney)

Huckabee on the Economy: Question about using money for highways sounds like a Democratic plan. Again mentioned parents not getting home to soccer games (as if that is a government concern).

Romney disses the Big Dig in MA. (I bet MA residents liked that.)

Ron Paul doesn't like the idea of borrowing money from China. (I agree, however, Market Place talked about the reliance between China and the US on borrowing)

McCain asked a question about the economy. (Twirling his pen, is he nervous about this question?) Blah, blah, blah, one page mortgage paper, fix rating system. (Yeah right.)

(It's interesting to me that Romney always pays attention to the others as they speak. McCain on the other hand looks like an arrogant, smug jerk.)

McCain asked about opposing the tax cuts originally because they favored the rich. Now he has flip flopped and claims it was because of spending. (So much for Straight Talk Express, what a joke.)

Romney asked about economy. I doubt many people understood this comment, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Romney explains McCain's ideas about stopping spending are basically nickel and dimes. The US economy spends 60% of the money on entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, 20% on the military, and 20% is discretionary spending. The biggest impact we can have is by tackling the 60% spending on entitlement programs. (That makes so much sense! Romney is definitely a smart man.)

Huckabee says he will have a fence built within 18 months.

Romney on immigration. No amnesty, no special path way to citizenship. Illegal immigration those recently arrived head home; kid in school? give them time to finish school then head on home; others with commitments, give them time then have them gather up their belongings and head on home to get in line. Prolegal immigration, they are a valuable source of vitality for America. (Lots of applause)

McCain on border security, would he vote for his bill if it came to the senate floor. POLITICAL SPEAK McCain dodged the question. Flip flopper McCain - either his original idea was stupid, or he has changed his position. Then he talks using "we" instead of standing up for his stupid idea and admitting guilt. What a flip flopper. "We are all committed" McCain says. What a joke, Straight Talk Express plunges off the tracks and blows up in the valley.

Huckabee mentioned about everyone being equal. He mentioned fetuses, humans, but left out religion. He lost an opportunity to appease some fears about him. He also dodges every question presented to him. "I am not going to say anything about Reagan."

Everybody was basically the same on Judges - EXCEPT McCain who talked about all the favors he owes to his "good" friend O'Conner. This guy is a political snake.

Romney Question did George Bush destroy the Republican Party? I think the party is better off. I blame Washington, they overspent, and they didn't keep their promises. (Note McCain rubs his hands with a weasely look on his face as Romney talks about the military). Romney is appealing to Social, Economic, and Family Value conservatives.

Back and forth about the Timetables.
McCain comment about timetables. He smirks and looks self righteous.

Romney I have never supported time tables for withdrawal. McCain smirks again. (Well excuse Romney for not knowing your Washington speak! McCain is looking like a freaking jerk! He is bumbling his words and sounds a bit crazy, "If we had lain in the weeds until they had gone." What the hey? McCain is babbling.)

McCain says, "Of course, he said their should be a withdrawal." "I'm the expert on what you said." (McCain is an arrogant son of a gun. He's flip flopping and incoherent, not only that McCain is smiling like a village idiot. Just like someone that can't solve problems, McCain blasts out three quick attacks on Romney. Straight Talk Express slams off the bridge and plunges hundreds of feet into the raging river.)

Romney says McCain is Washington style old politics (I'll be posting my old leadership style verse new leadership style essay soon.) I loved Romney's comment, "[McCain] you got three Pinocchio for your mischaracterization from the Washington Post".

(I've got to take a break and shout McCain is a freaking smug guy!)

McCain - attacks Romney again about his success. "My friend, Huckabee will agree with me about your money.”Vote for me McCain, I want 100 years in Iraq!"

Paul puts McCain and Romney in the same boat with respect to Iraq. They both want to get the job done there.

Huckabee If Iraq fails it will create a vacuum there that could be used by Al Qaeda.

McCain "Protecting America's interest it’s not about casualties." Huh? McCain claims he came up with the Petraeus strategy. (What an egomaniac.)

Huckabee "I look at the actions rather than what they are saying."

Romney There are four major strategies in the world today: 1. Those countries that control energy like Russia, 2. China communism and a wild west free enterprise, 3. Al Qaeda, 4. Free enterprise and free individuals the USA.

McCain on leadership and management. I know how to lead, vision knowledge, background. 20 years on security committees (doesn't this mean that McCain is partially to blame for 9/11 - he sucks at making good security measures)

Romney McCain would not be good for the economy. Governors are leaders. Legislators are committee members. Leaders are small business, middle sized business - they are leaders not just managers. Govern in charge of National Guard and state police.

Romney the problems facing a commander of chief does not require service in the military. Foreign policy and military is no longer like a checkers game, it is more like three dimensional chess. McCain thinks its checkers. Romney has the capacity to think in the manner of chess.

McCain Starts with what looks like a compliment then turns it into a dig against Romney (McCain is such a double talking politician. The Straight Talk Express drives off the end of the tracks and explodes.) McCain says he hopes people will judge him by those that have endorsed him (that would be liberal newspapers and a cross dressing Rudy).

Huckabee political speak genius. Agrees with Romney that a governor is a better leader than a senator.

Romney thinks Reagan would support him.

McCain hits at Romney with his first statement again (what a loser, he looks like an angry little man)

Paul kind of impressive talk there. Liked the gold standard.

Huckabee just called the other candidates arrogant and presumptuous for thinking Reagan would support any of them. (What a politician, the guy is just like McCain - political speak champions)

At the end I noticed two things about the cameras:
1. Huckabee's wife is as tall as Arnold
2. Little camera time given to Romney, mostly on Huckabee and McCain.

Concluding thoughts: I am ticked off at McCain! The straight talk express is a bunch of garbage. John McCain showed himself to be a pig headed jerk. Digging Romney at every comment. What a smug jerk.

Paintball with the Presidential Candidates - Happy Shooting

2008-01-30T00:03:00.000-08:00

McCain: Shifting American Politics to the Left - MSM Loving it!

2008-01-29T22:21:00.000-08:00

The only good thing for conservatives about John McCain is that he survived as a POW. Aside from that John McCain is a flip flopping liberal. Now I am not good enough to claim when someone is a hypocrite, but I think John McCain comes pretty close. For instance, he stated he wouldn't get involved in negative politics, yet McCain has been called on the carpet by news outlets and bloggers for his dishonest characterization of Mitt Romney's position on Iraq. Here are a few comments on the subject:

[McCain] said he was quoting Romney as favoring a "timetable" for withdrawal and argued that he was not misquoting Romney, saying, "Clearly, the impression was that he was ready to set a date for withdrawal." But Romney quotes circulated by McCain's campaign didn't show Romney making that exact comment _ nor did aides back up McCain's earlier comment that suggested that Romney "wanted to set a date for withdrawal." See the Huffington Post.

In doing so, [McCain] relies on a statement which cannot fairly be construed as advocating withdrawal. This is the conclusion of virtually everyone who has looked at the issue, except for some of McCain’s supporters. McCain, in short, has smeared Romney. See Paul Mirengoff.

John McCain today flat-out lied about Gov. Romney's position on the troop "surge," etc. This is no surprise. McCain's "straight talk express" has been anything but straight for quite some time now. He has been making false claims about what his position on immigration was just last summer. He has been making false claims about why he opposed Bush's tax cuts. He has been making false claims about Romney's stance on "torture." He has made misleading (not exactly false, but certainly misleading) representations about Giuliani's position on the line item veto. He has misrepresented his helpfulness on judicial nominations. And I know I am forgetting some of the other things he has not been exactly straight about. See Quin Hillyer.

Since McCain and his surrogates insist on making this a big issue, let's engage them. They are dissembling about what Romney said. I have provided quotes below. We have now heard from Woolsey, who is repeating the disinformation. And we have now viewed the video-tape, which clears Romney of the allegation, i.e., he did not call for a specific time to withdraw our troops. Now, if this is the big bombshell the McCain campaign is using in the days before the Florida vote (albeit people are casting votes throughout via absentee ballots), it's pretty disgraceful stuff. See Mark Levin.

Yeah, pretty egregious [of McCain]. [Romney] never said he “wanted” to withdraw or that he wanted a date set, and it’s patently clear he doesn’t want any timetables publicly announced. See Allahpundit.

It’s a reminder — like the McCain campaign’s dishonest line of attack this weekend — that as admirable McCain is as both a hero and a politician, he is not irreproachable even on national-security issues. McCain is fond of saying he’d rather lose a political campaign than a war; he now seems to be swimming close to using the war to win a political campaign in the most dishonest of ways. It’s conduct unbecoming a man we all respect. See Kathryn Jean Lopez.

Then he was asked to justify his contention that Romney once supported a withdrawal timetable for Iraq. (I wrote this morning that McCain "stretched" history with the remark, and a few moments before this particular question received a stern talking to by two McCain aides and one reporter.) See Marc Ambinder.

This is a fundamentally dishonest attack. One of the reasons why some Republicans who have opposed McCain over issues like the BCRA and immigration have tried to keep a civil tongue in discussing McCain is because of the respect he has earned as a stalwart on the war. He deserves that respect; he has been an indispensable voice for the effort and has the right to hold himself up as that. However, he should be showing that respect to others who have supported the war and the troops. See Ed Morrissey.

McCain’s unfair stab at Romney this weekend may not cost him anything. The endorsement from Florida’s popular governor, Charles Crist, came at just the right time to bury the item in the local news. And if he does win the nomination, this moment may not even be remembered. Unfortunately, the truth is always too complicated for a quick explanation. See David Freddoso.

McCain is Political Speak:
In the brief economic part of his presentation, McCain is insistent, absolutely insistent, that the Bush tax cuts he voted against, and would still vote against today, be made permanent. It’s hard to imagine how he can say the word “permanent” much more in the course of a couple of sentences: “But I think, my friends, that’s what we should do, I think it’s very important, to keep the tax cuts permanent, make the tax cuts permanent. If we don’t do that, every family and business in America is going to see an increase in their taxes in 2010. So we need to keep the tax cuts permanent.” See article by Rich Lowry.

Doesn't anyone else see what is happening? McCain is a darling of the liberal media (as are all the democratic candidates). If McCain can get elected with the help of the main stream media then the only two candidates available are a liberal democrat and a liberal republican. This dynamic would shift the entire United States of America to the left away from conservatism. Maybe Huckabee is doing to Romney, what Huckabee accused Thompson of doing to Huckabee.

Again, I am shocked at how the other Republican candidates have ganged up against Romney. You've got to see this video.

Update: I stumbled across this article by Vic Lundquist who analyzes the Florida results and discusses religious bigotry in America.

Florida Prediction for GOP President - Lost Mormon?

2008-01-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

The night before the big primary. I think Mitt Romney will come out ahead 1%. I am looking forward to the results.

Update: McCain 36%, Romney 31%, Giuliani 15%, Huckabee 14%, Paul 3%

I was wrong. I have to admit Florida was an exciting race (makes me wonder how much money the TV/Radio/Newspaper companies are making off this campaign season). I heard three comments, however, which surprised me:

Sheridan Kernop said she originally considered Romney, but moved to Huckabee. And why the change? “The honest truth? Because he’s a Mormon.”

Humberto Leach voted for Mitt Romney because he thinks he is the best candidate to beat the Democrats. "It was a hard choice because I voted against my religion. [Meaning religiously he should have voted for Huckabee]."

On another blog, which shall remain nameless since they deleted my comments and instead of talking politics went straight to Mormon bashing. The blogger didn't support Huckabee tax policy, he didn't think Huckabee was the best candidate, but they shared a religion and because of that simple reason, "God forbid any other candidate should win".

I guess the Founding Fathers, John F. Kennedy, and Mitt Romney are wrong, there is a religious test for President. If Mitt Romney wasn't a Mormon he would have had the nomination wrapped up months ago - the man is head and shoulders above the others. I am a little bit saddened by America, Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, do you see the subscript there? Does it say something like "except for Mormons"? I don't think everyone thinks bad of Mormons, but I have been surprised by all the distasteful phone calls slamming Mormons from Huckabee's campaign, and the snide remarks from Ron Paul's campaign, not to mention the bizarre attitude that "any body except a Mormon body will do". Or Americans thinking a Mormon (even one as accomplished as Mitt Romney) cannot be President because of his faith - who cares about his Presidential platform.

John F. Kennedy respected religions, even the Mormons. You don't have to agree on doctrine to remain secure in your faith and to complement people of other faiths. Voting for Mitt Romney is not against one's faith - you're not voting for a Pastor in Chief. You're voting for an executive officer to provide vision, values, set priorities and deadlines for the next four years in America. I believe Mitt Romney, even if he is a Mormon, will do just that.

Calling Floridians Political Phone Calls

2008-01-26T21:22:00.000-08:00

Now that the Sunshine state is in the spotlight, I volunteered two hours today and made some phone calls into Florida. Here are some of the conversation highlights from talking with real people in Florida. I always introduce myself and then ask how they are doing - almost everyone was sick of political phone calls.

Conversation A:
I talked with a sweet woman who had been tracking the number of phone calls she had received. She said she had received 19 so far. When I expressed surprise, she said she realistically was expecting around 30 before Tuesday's primary. As a registered voter, she recognized that political phone calls are part of the process.

Conversation B:
I talked with a man who started out saying he didn't care what I thought about politics because it was the candidates that needed his vote. I agreed and asked him what he thought (he also mentioned it was nice to talk to a real person) and then he unloaded. His main concerns had to do with raising his family and getting his kids through college so they could get a great job. At a jab at McCain and Giuliani he said he didn't care about terrorists, even though he lived by a military base. He wanted economic prosperity so his kids could move out of the house and find a job that would provide for their needs. He really got worked up and before I knew it he was using cuss words, then he dropped the f-bomb and hung up.
Well, I didn't find that very fair, I didn't even get to tell him that I was a student with three kids living in an apartment and knew exactly what he was talking about. So I did what any good phone person would do, I called him back.
He was completely surprised. He talked for another ten minutes about the economy and his worries about his family and the future. Finally, I was able to tell him my story. As an MBA and an MHA student, I support Mitt Romney because of his economic policies. A strong economy begets a strong military, and both of those provide protection for my family, both financially and economically. I then gave him the local phone number and suggested he call them and say, "These are my concerns, I'll be watching closely over the next few days to see what Romney says about this." Our conversation ended very well, "God bless you" he said.

Conversation C:
I talked with a lady who said she had already made up her mind. I asked if I could share with her my reasons for supporting Mitt Romney. She reluctantly agreed. I explained the US spends 4% of GDP on the military and 16% on healthcare. It takes a strong economy to support the military and only Mitt Romney has the real world experience to help America prosper. Economists estimate 80% of jobs in twenty years haven't even been thought of yet. Only Mitt Romney can position America to take advantage of those jobs. When I finished, she seemed very impressed and said, "That was very convincing." I think she will be checking that box for Mitt Romney on Tuesday the 29th of January.

Conversation D:
I talked with a young lady who answered the phone, "Victoria's Secret, how may I help you?". (I think they were tired of political calls.)

Conversation E:
A man answered the phone and said he had already cast his ballot, but that his wife hadn't. In the background she protested, but he finally got her to answer the phone. After a brief conversation, she wondered aloud, "My husband voted for John McCain, can he get his ballot back and change his vote to Mitt Romney?"

Conversation F:
A woman asked me right off the bat, what is Mitt Romney's position on pro-life issues. I told her about how Mitt Romney converted to the pro-life stance as Governor of Massachusetts. As a governor he came down on the side of pro-life issues over and over again. His Presidential platform is pro-life and pro-family values. She said those were the issues important to her and I suggested she check out mittromney.com for more information.

Conversation G:
I talked with a man who was one of the most polite people I've talked with. He was debating between Giuliani and Romney. He said, "I would never vote for McCain - even if he won I would vote for the democrat, unless it was Hillary Clinton." He thought McCain was one of the most liberal political figures to call themselves a Republican that he had ever seen in politics. We had a great discussion, talking about healthcare and some of the trends in Florida hospitals. As an MHA student I promised to look into fellowships in Florida. We ended the conversation very well - sometimes I wish I could keep track of some of those people. Good Folk!

Anyway, I've never followed politics, but I must admit that people are excited and enthusiastic about Mitt Romney. Over and over people admired his economic knowledge and admitted the fact that we need a great economy to support our soldiers in the field with the best equipment and technology, people also admired his family values, and his great example for MBA students across the nation. Every MBA student wishes to be successful like Romney. As an economic conservative, I strongly endorse Mitt Romney for President of these United States.

McCain Continues His "Straight Talk" Express, Huh?

2008-01-26T21:03:00.001-08:00

So John McCain pulls another Huckabee! McCain claims he is the gentleman of politics and then purposefully misrepresents another candidates' position. This is the same type of thing that McCain caught flack on in South Carolina.

In the course of a few hours, McCain said that Romney once wanted to set a date to withdraw from Iraq, accused him of working on the same side as Hillary Clinton in the Iraq debate, and accused him of disrespecting American servicemen and women. Check out this myth debunked here.

What exactly does McCain mean by demanding that Romney apologize to
American troops? Is McCain suggesting than any American who opposed the surge
was somehow not supporting American troops? Is he saying that it is unpatriotic
to debate American policy in Iraq? It sure sounds like it. And it is an
unbecoming posture for McCain, who has been boasting in
recent days about the "respectful debate" he would have with Hillary
Clinton, John Edwards or Barack Obama should he win the nomination.
John McCain's statements on Iraq, early on - what a Flip Flopper.
“Mr. President, can anyone seriously argue that another 6 months of United States forces in harm’s way means the difference between peace and prosperity in Somalia and war and starvation there? Is that very dim prospect worth one more American life? No, it is not.” -John McCain Senate Floor, 10/14/93
"There is no reason for the United States of America to remain in Somalia. The American people want them home, I believe the majority of Congress wants them home, and to set an artificial date of March 31 or even February 1, in my view, is not acceptable. The criteria should be to bring them home as rapidly and safely as possible, an evolution which I think could be completed in a matter of weeks.
Our continued military presence in Somalia allows another situation to arise which could then lead to the wounding, killing or capture of American fighting men and women. We should do all in our power to avoid that.
I listened carefully to the President's remarks at a news conference that he held earlier today. I heard nothing in his discussion of the issue that would persuade me that further U.S. military involvement in the area is necessary. In fact, his remarks have persuaded me more profoundly that we should leave and leave soon.
Dates certain, Mr. President, are not the criteria here. What is the criteria and what should be the criteria is our immediate, orderly withdrawal from Somalia. And if we do not do that and other Americans die, other Americans are wounded, other Americans are captured because we stay too long--longer than necessary--then I would say that the responsibilities for that lie with the Congress of the United States who did not exercise their authority under the Constitution of the United States and mandate that they be brought home quickly and safely as possible. . . .
I know that this debate is going to go on this afternoon and I have a lot more to say, but the argument that somehow the United States would suffer a loss to our prestige and our viability, as far as the No. 1 superpower in the world, I think is baloney. The fact is, we won the cold war. The fact is, we won the Persian Gulf conflict. And the fact is that the United States is still the only major world superpower.
I can tell you what will erode our prestige. I can tell you what will hurt our viability as the world's superpower, and that is if we enmesh ourselves in a drawn-out situation which entails the loss of American lives, more debacles like the one we saw with the failed mission to capture Aideed's lieutenants, using American forces, and that then will be what hurts our prestige.
We suffered a terrible tragedy in Beirut, Mr. President; 240 young marines lost their lives, but we got out. Now is the time for us to get out of Somalia as rapidly and as promptly and as safely as possible.
I, along with many others, will have an amendment that says exactly that. It does not give any date certain. It does not say anything about any other missions that the United States may need or feels it needs to carry out. It will say that we should get out as rapidly and orderly as possible."-John McCain Senate Floor, 10/19/93

Straight Talk - John McCain's Straight Talk Express plunges off the road and into a revine exploding a ball of fire.

Crist Endorses John McCain? What the hey?

2008-01-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

We are getting down to the wire and Florida Governor Crist endorsed John McCain for President. Here are some comments I picked up from various locations. True Republicans don't seem too pleased (for that matter the Florida democrats also sent out a statement).

Florida democratic party said:
“Crist: Screw You, Florida. This is a slap in the face to every Floridian. Of all the candidates in the race, Charlie Crist picks the one who ridicules the proposed national catastrophic fund that would reduce insurance rates for all Floridians,” state party spokesman Mark Bubriski said. “So much for being the ‘People’s Governor.’”

Nate said:
It seemed like Governor Crist was a little fake in his endorsement. He said, “I just decided today.” Was he waiting to see who the clear winner would be so he could endorse the winner? The whole thing seemed a little odd.

Mitt Romney Communications Director Kristy Campbell:
“We have a great deal of respect for Governor Crist but we happen to disagree with him on who would make the best President. Governor Romney is working hard for the support of every single Floridian who wants lower taxes, less government, stronger families and a strong military. Governor Crist’s vote is only one vote. The endorsement that matters most to Governor Romney is the endorsement of the People of Florida.”

Miami Herald
''Crist is popular, but he's not Oprah,'' said pollster Kellyanne Conway.
And top Crist advisors, such as lobbyists Brian Ballard and J.M. ''Mac'' Stipanovich, have been longtime McCain men. ''We've been working this for a long time,'' Stipanovich said.

Hucks Army Defecting in Droves

2008-01-26T03:51:00.000-08:00

Over and over the story reads the same...
I donated money to Mike Huckabee, but now I support Romney.

Being new to blogging, I wanted to post comments and have comments posted. So I searched the blogosphere looking for people that felt the same as I. Finally I stumbled onto http://www.mikehuckabee.com/ and lo and behold I found 754 "bloggers for Huckabee". I thought, well I guess this is a good place to start. Unfortunately, over and over as I clicked through the blogs, the bloggers had moved from Mike Huckabee to Fred Thompson and many had moved on to Mitt Romney; while other blogs like Latter Day Saints for Huckabee and Michigan for Huckabee came up as Error 404: Page does not exist. People had even posted their emails to Mike Huckabee asking to be removed from his blog roll!

Then I stumbled across a Bob Lonsberry, a guy that does a radio show in New York on 1180 WHAM and Utah on Family Values 570 KRNS. His story was similar to many, many others I have read:

Mike Huckabee is the only politician I've ever donated money to. I sent him $50 last fall, when he was on the Glenn Beck TV show. I liked what he had to say about the Second Amendment and I liked the way he was so upfront with his strong religious values.
But this guy's only a conservative when it suits him, and he's got a new brand of conservatism he's peddling that is nothing but the old brand of liberalism. He is, to me, a keen, keen disappointment.
He has prostituted his religion, seeming to actively promote his Christian ties for personal political gain, and cunningly using religious bigotry against at least one opponent. He is too clever by half and it comes off looking not just cunning, but sinister. He did grow government, he did raise taxes, he was a good friend of illegal aliens – and all the 180s he's pulled in the last few weeks won't change that. Mike Huckabee is talented, and part of me still likes him a lot, but the more I learn about him, the more he reminds me of Elmer Gantry. -January 22, 2008

As more and more evangelicals realize how Huckabee misuses his religion to get votes, Hucks Army gets smaller and smaller. His "I am more Christian than thou" doesn't help any one's cause. From the debate the other night, more people thought a former Baptist Preacher was the least likely to bring the country together than a woman, a black man, or a Mormon. Huckabee has turned out to be a major disappointment.

Bob Lonsberry and former Huckabee supports, I challenge you to make Mitt Romney the second campaign to which you have donated. Just click here to make your donation. And welcome to Team Mitt!

What does Miss South Carolina and McCain have in Common?

2008-01-25T16:49:00.000-08:00

MSNBC Republican Debate January 24, 2008

McCain gets a question from Ron Paul about abolishing a committee.

McCain doesn't know what he is talking about when it comes to economics. This video shows the comparison between Miss South Carolina and John McCain as they both try to answer a question about which they have no idea. Miss South Carolina stumbled all over the place, and John McCain does the same. I love the music, "Don't know much about history, don't know much about geography..."

Ron Paul at the end says, "I don't think he knew what I was saying... He had to be [confused], because the people he brought up were actually on that committee."

You can see many of the democrats that love McCain here.

Mitt Romney wins Republican Debate January 24, 2008 MSNBC

2008-01-24T23:15:00.001-08:00

MSNBC Republican Debate January 24, 2008

Joe Scarbourough, "Mitt Romney absolutely dominated."
McCain talking twice about bridge to no where, left us scratching our head.
"Conservatives probably related to Mitt Romney."
"This was probably Mitt Romney's best performance."
"This was Mitt Romney's best debate performance."
"I saw a man who made two or three commanding responses to some questions."
"Run against not only Hillary Clinton but Bill Clinton. How would you run against them? Frankly, I can't wait. With Bill Clinton in the White House with nothing to do..."

Mitt Romney Respects Candidates - Make Tax Cuts Permanent

2008-01-24T23:09:00.000-08:00

MSNBC Republican Debate January 24, 2008

"I trust these two gentlemen (McCain and Giuliani)"
"MA was in a ditch, 3 billion dollar short fall"
"Thought they would need to raise taxes"
"Said to the business community, you don't have to worry about Taxachucetts coming back again."
"McCain should have voted for the Bush tax cuts the first time around."
"Economy in my DNA. I know how jobs come and how they go."
"I'll make sure we create more jobs."

Mitt Romney on Size of Military Republican Debate

2008-01-24T23:04:00.001-08:00

MSNBC Republican debate January 24, 2008

Welcome home bill in MA. We will pay for your entire education. Enrollment went up 30%. We need to improve the GI bill, so young people get a full ride and go to college.
"Unthinkable that democrats would say... getting out as fast or win? Get out as fast as you can is the answer to Iraq."
"We cannot turn Iraq over to Al Queda."
"I will not walk away from Iraq until we are successful and have finished that job."
Democrats claiming they are the reason for success. "Not General Hillary Clinton."

What is Mitt Romney going to stand for as President?

2008-01-24T22:57:00.001-08:00

MSNBC Republican debate January 24, 2008

Mitt Romney answers on what he is going to run? Why is he trying to be President?
"I'm gonna run on my own record."
"Washington is fundamentally broken."
"They said they would fix social security, they haven't."
"They said they would get us off of foreign oil, they haven't."
"They said they would live by higher ethics, they haven't."
"When Republicans act like democrats, America loses."
"We all agree pork barrel spending should end."
"How do we bring down taxes?"
"We are the party of fiscal responsibility."
Foundation of economy being shaken because Washington is not getting the job done.
"I am going to Washington to change Washington."

Republican Debate Mitt Romney on Semi-Automatic Weapons

2008-01-24T22:54:00.000-08:00

MSNBC Republican debate January 24, 2008

Mitt Romney supports the second amendment and gun rights, this is a question posed by Mike Huckabee.

Romney on Bill Clinton in the White House

2008-01-24T22:51:00.000-08:00

MSNBC Republican debate January 24, 2008

Great response by Mitt Romney about the idea the Clintons back in the White House.
"Bill Clinton in the White House with nothing to do, I just can't imagine, and I don't think the American people can imagine it..."

Romney Addresses Mormon Faith in MSNBC debate January 24, 2008

2008-01-24T22:43:00.000-08:00

MSNBC Republican debate January 24, 2008

I couldn't help but feel a twinge of truth in Romney's response. Who cares about his personal faith - LOOK AT HIS FAITH IN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE! Inspiring.

Americans are not going to impose a religious test, when the founders said that is as unAmerican as anything. Free American people are the source of America's greatness! AWESOME!
"I just don't believe people will chose their candidate based on which Church they go to."
"We're not going to vote for this guy for a secular position because of the Church he goes to, I just don't believe that."
"A head to head with Hillary Clinton... she takes her inspiration from the Europe of old, big government, big taxes. I take my inspiration from small government, low taxes."

Ron Paul edged out by Romney in MSNBC text debate

2008-01-24T22:04:00.000-08:00

MSNBC Republican Debate January 24, 2008

I almost fell out of my chair! Ron Paul was edged out by Mitt Romney on the text message vote after the MSNBC poll. That is crazy.

MSNBC Text poll--who won the debate?
Romney 41%
Paul 40%
Huckabee 8%
McCain 7%
Rudy 4%

Republican Debate January 24,2008 MSNBC

2008-01-24T21:33:00.000-08:00

MSNBC Republican debate January 24, 2008

Just got home and the debate is thirty minutes in. Here are my comments and thoughts so far.

Romney "Get out or win?" Democrats say get out. "Not to General Hillary Clinton" (lots of applause, and I thought it was a pretty clever line)

Paul War is not worth it. Al Queda wasn't there. They are now. (Paul so now that Al Queda is there do you just run away and leave it to them?)

Huckabee Weapons of mass destruction just weren't found, like all the Easter eggs. (I think most Americans think there was not WMD in Iraq, oopsie Huckabee)

Romney War not well managed, under planned, understaffed. Now we are in the phase we are in now. Now we have to make sure Iraq does not become a safe haven for Al Queda. (I like that he realizes there were troubles, but that America can make changes to win.)

Second Segment: Questions from candidates to other candidates, going left to right

Romney Giuliani how do we level the playing field with China. What kind of economic.

Giuliani I told you I wasn't going to answer your question. More engaged in trade the better, get to know them better. Ability to sue in China (that will be a very tough one to every make happen). What can we sell to China - energy independence, technology.

McCain Huckabee proponent of Fair Tax, how do you answer the criticism wouldn't cause more pain to lower income Americans? How do you account the resonance.

Huckabee People would love to see the IRS abolished. (Look at this conversation I had with a Pro Huckabee supporter here.) Prebate, every American would get a check (dang that is going to require a ton of administration). Wants Pimps, drug dealers, etc to be brought into the tax (this is a tiny population. Huckabee goes on in rebuttal to discount 30% - although because of the method of determining the 23% tax it comes out as a true 30%)

Paul Sunlight on group running money policy in the US.

McCain Rely on secretary of treasure to run money policy. He would rely on his group of friends (basically those who he owes favors to).

Huckabee Second Amendment ban on so called assault weapons. Do you support Brady and assault weapon ban,

Romney I do support second Amendment. I would have signed the assault weapon ban. Both the pro and anti gun lobbies came together. People have the right to carry a weapon.

Giuliani People have difficulties getting property insurance. McCain does not support a national catastrophic fund. Do you have a position on the national catastrophic fund?

Romney The answer is Yes. We had the problem in Massachusetts. So we will do as you just indicated. I am not in favor that Iowa should subsidise the people in Mass or Florida. How do we build a policy in each state. I brought together industry experts to solve health insurance.

McCain This is a terrible problem. Spread insurance across state lines (wow, that is radical). Call regulators, congress together (opps left out industry experts).

Russert Global Warming in Florida, but you are against green house gases.

Giuliani Invest in new technology. Nuclear powerplants, increase hybrid vehicles, more clean coal, incentives for new industries and biofuels. Wind, solar, etc. National project like getting man on the moon. This is the best way to fight green house gases. Positive way.

McCain Joe Lieberman and I proposed credit market on green house gases. Nuclear power, out of foreign oil, climate change is real (wow, that is almost anti-republican). Suppose we are wrong and climate change is not real, at least we will hand our kids a cleaner world (I agree with that).

Third Segment:
Giuliani Romney asked me a nice question, we've lulled them into a false sense of security. Everyone has a chance. I believe I'll get the nomination.

McCain Proud of my record on judges. Most republicans thinking about threat of radical Islam (not so my friend). Stewardship of our planet. Keep Israel independent. Very, very conservative record, but there are times when Rumsfelds strategy is wrong, Jack Abrahmoff (McCain's third largest lobbiest is the group that Jack worked for).

Romney The idea of Bill Clinton in the White House with nothing to do. (That is funny) I'll run against Hillary. 110 billion more every single year for her health care plan. Get out of Iraq, she is what is wrong with Washington. Look sending the same people back over and over will not change the results.

Romney How much money of your own wealth. There is nobody that can call me and cash in a favor. I am consiHow America works, I am giving my all. Loved his answer on his religion. I don't believe for a minute that Americans will impose a religious test. I believe individual freedom is what makes America great. (His answer here was more inspiring than his speech on religion! I was duly impressed with his response. Wow, what optimism about Americans, even though we all know we have our scum bags. Very Presidential and spoken with such great conviction. WOW!)

Huckabee Specifically do to change social security. Huckabee to Romney, you have five exceptional sons. If the country will elect me, your sons will get to keep your money. (The guy is
Everybody keeps talking about unlikely the Fair Tax is, we need to be talking about what we can do (Let me note NO COUNTRY IN THE WORLD HAS EVER RUN GOVERNMENT USING A FAIR TAX).

Romney Will you do for social security what Ronald Reagan do? I will not raise taxes. The four ways to solve the method 1. Raise taxes (worse way); we will need to sit down with Dems/Reps 2. Personal Accounts that do better than government bonds, 3. Innitial benefit calculation based on wage index, 4. Change the retirement age. Let's not scare anyone listening to me, it's not going to change people already on social security.

Giuliani Why is your campaign airing an ad in Spanish? America is built around english language. If you know other languages that is a good thing. Stop illegal immigration at the border. Tamper proof ID Card. Question Wet foot dry foot: why special policy for Cuba? Presumption that if fleeing Castro then fleeing politcal persectuiong.

Huckabee Chuck Norris said at 72 McCain too old. I didn't disagree with Norris because I was standing right next to him. I don't think that McCain lacks the rigor. He has the capacity to run.

McCain Now that Sylvester Stallon has endorsed me I'm sending him right over to take care of Norris.

Giuliani Question about NY times article. I never did anything the NYTimes suggested, if I did I would not be a convervative. I moved people from welfare to work. They wrote how mean I was. There is serious ideological differnces.

Romney Charge about you changes positions with the wind. Haven't paid your dues. I'm not going to Washington to make friends with politicians. Look at my record at Governor. Every issue I dealt with as Governor. Awarded by Citizens for life in MA on pro-life. Clear record on taxes. I am proud of where I stand and show my record to show I've been consistent.

McCain Question about temper. I don't see it as an impediment. I've dealt with friends and colleagues and wouldn't have their support if we didn't have a good. Endorses Giuliani (now why is he doing that?). All these people are good people and I intend to respect them.

Huckabee Question about quesy feeling. Solid core, faith grounds me, sense of purpose. Never use auspices of government to push my faith. They will have to deal with it. Respect people who have faith or don't.

Paul Won't stick to your party, would you launch a third party? I think they haven't stuck to our party. I've been elected 10 times as a Republican. It has a problem because we don't act like Republicans. Used to be against the department of education. We stopped wars, and here we are starting them. Why should the strict constitutionaists be removed from the party?

The end.

McCain gets Endorsement from the New York Times

2008-01-24T20:48:00.000-08:00

The New York Times editorial board just endorsed John McCain for the Republican candidate. Now one would usually suppose this to be a great honor. However, in this cause it is a slap in the face to McCain and to anyone who considers McCain a conservative. Why do I say this?

The New York Times editorial board uses words like "enthusiastically", "strongly", and "exhilarating" to describe the Democrats. Because the New York Times is "hugely impressed" by Hillary Clinton, they have endorsed her as the Democratic nominee. The New York Times is a liberal publication, you can tell just by reading the Democratic and Republican endorsements.

Looking over the Republican candidates the New York Times states in the first sentence, "We have strong disagreements with all the Republicans running for president." Yet the choice is "easy", John McCain because of his liberal appeal.

No wonder McCain hasn't been winning with the Republicans in any state thus far, he's closer to the Democrats than his own party.

I liked this take on the subject, click here.

Rudy Down and Out according to Wall Street Journal Political Market

2008-01-23T23:09:00.000-08:00

Wow, Rudy Giuliani is counted down and out by the Wall Street Journal. By skipping the early primary states Giuliani missed out on a ton of publicity. From a high of 45% chance of winning the GOP nomination, Giuliani has plunged to just 16% today. This makes him the biggest loser among the GOP candidates.

The overwhelming consensus from the early states is that Giuliani is not viable. He ended up lower in all of the races than anyone would have suspected. Looks like his wait till Florida strategy back fired on him. With Romney and McCain vying for first in both Florida and California, Giuliani may have missed his chance.

What do Clinton and McCain have in common?

2008-01-23T22:38:00.001-08:00

They are the two candidates who have accepted the most money from lobbyists. The Wall Street Journal reported, "Mr. McCain and Mrs. Clinton led all others with donations from lobbyists. Mrs. Clinton collected $568,000 from lobbyists, while Mr. McCain has $340,000."

Kind of ironic that McCain's third largest contributor is Greenberg Traurig LLP, the company McCain took the lead in investigating for which Jack Abramoff the convicted lobbyist worked.

McCain owes too many favors to people in Washington!

Fred Thompson Supporters Welcome in Romney Camp

2008-01-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I frequently visit the main website for each candidate. You know, check in on how things are going. McCain's website looks like an obituary (all the black and grey is kind of mortician-like). Thompson's website is all a stir with the news that Fred is leaving the race for President. Huckabee's website is having technical difficulties (quite a few dead links on the blog roll, not to mention quite a few people who no longer support him but can't get their site off his blog roll). Romney's site has a hilarious video of one of Romney's sons making a prank call from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Anyway, my point is that most of the candidates have by now posted a complimentary statement to the effect, "Thanks for being in the race Fred". I couldn't help but notice how Huckabee still seems a little jaded and blames Thompson for keeping Huckabee from a win in South Carolina. I had a hard time reading Huckabee's statement with any sincerity. Honestly, if the guy would have listened to Fred's speech post South Carolina, Huckabee could have shut his mouth for a few days and instead of whining about Thompson's South Carolina run, let him retire without Huckabee's imperious blame.

I found however that Mitt Romney's comments were the best. He said, “Throughout this campaign, Fred Thompson brought a laudable focus to the challenges confronting our country and the solutions necessary to meet them. He stood for strong conservative ideas and believed strongly in the need to keep our conservative coalition together. Ann and I would like to extend our best wishes to Fred, Jeri and their family and congratulate them on their efforts during this campaign.”

I have to agree here with Romney. Fred Thompson told the people how it was. He stood up for his convictions and when he was ready he could put on a good show. I think because of Thompson's ideals that Fred supporters would be welcomed into the Romney group. As an economic conservative, I support Romney and had Thompson as my second choice. I've never considered McCain (I know he talks the political talk about cutting earmarks, but the guy has been there so long he owes favors to Clinton, Feingold, and Kennedy), I had at one point considered Huckabee (but I can't stand his tax ideas, and his I'm a better Christian than other candidates position).

Economic conservatives worried about the stock market, jobs, the economy, and even foreign affairs will recognize that Romney, with 25 years experience in the business world - knows how to effectively optimize departments, use economics to benefit our allies and hinder our enemies, to create teams that have specific deadlines, to use Ghant charts and project management skills to not only talk about things, BUT GET THEM DONE! With an MBA, Mitt Romney is a highly trained manager and knows how to get the biggest bang for the buck. He knows data analysis, regression analysis, and I believe he will use those skills to cut the fat out of Washington, giving us smaller government, lower taxes, and a healthier economy.

I invite all Fred Thompson supporters to seriously consider Mitt Romney for President. You're all welcome in my camp.

Fred Thompson Drops his friends' bid for the White House

2008-01-22T19:21:00.001-08:00

I admire Fred Thompson, in fact, during the debates on the 5th and 6th I kept saying, "Wow, so that is why Fred Thompson is so cool!" While some in the blogosphere are "Crying in the Rain", others are exulting like Mike "Thompson made us lose SC" Huckabee or was it vice versa?

Regardless of your mood, I suppose when a candidate retires we, the masses, get to reflect on our favorite moment. Mine was the exchange between Thompson and Huckabee about death (although Huckabee meant death taxes).

Huckabee "I'll get rid of the estate tax and death."

Thompson "You'll get rid of death?... That ain't gonna work so well."

And although Fred drops the race his friends tried to win for him, Fred retires from the Presidential race with even more fans than his Law & Order days. Hat tip to Fred Thompson for a pretty good run from a man who understands quite a bit about being a Republican.

Most voters that choose Fred Thompson over Huckabee will find a new candidate in Mitt Romney. Looks like Thompson followers may be transitioning to Mitt Romney already. Take a look here, here, and here.

Flip Flopping John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney

2008-01-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

According to the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, the idiom flip-flopping means a complete change especially from one decision or opinion to another.

It should be recognized by everyone that all of the candidates have flip-flopped on many things. McCain saying his Amnesty bill was not Amnesty, Huckabee said he would pay tuition for illegals, but now his illegal bill is so Chuck "McCain is too old to be President" Norris tough that the illegals will go home with their children so Huckabee won't have to pay their tuition. And of course, Mitt Romney changed his position from status quo on ProLife issues to a strong position for Pro-Life issues and once he made the decision, he has come down on the side of Pro-Life issues every time. If every candidate has changed their position on things, why is it that Mitt Romney seems to be singled out by the main stream media as a flip-flopper.

When I browse CNN, Fox News, CBS, ABC, Telemundo, Reuters, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, LA Times, and others they seem to be pushing this idea that only Mitt Romney has changed his positions. Additionally, if you look at comments posted by Huckabee supporters, McCain supporters, etc, they label Mitt Romney in some cases a flip-flopper.

New research done by Vanderbilt University explains why Romney's flip-flopper label sticks. Political scientists say anti-Mormon bias finds cover in the term flip-flopper. The research project was set up to uncover the real issue behind individuals comments about Romney. The poll states, "We find that of those who accuse Romney of flip-flopping, many admit it is Romney's Mormonism and not his flip-flopping that is the real issue." This poll indicated this pattern of calling Romney a flip-flopper is especially strong for conservative Evangelicals.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I propose that Romney's convincing win in Nevada shows that Mitt Romney appeals to Family conservatives, Economic conservatives, and Defense conservatives. More over, Mitt Romney appeals to Educated Evangelicals living in the same areas as Mormons. The nation can take a collective sigh of relief - Mitt Romney is supported by evangelical Christians that know Mormons best. Those in Nevada.

Seriously consider your candidate - Mitt Romney, if he weren't Mormon, would have won this contest months ago. Romney is a great candidate and his religion has nothing to do with his skill set, his honors during his education, and his drive to make America better not only for himself but also for us and our children. As an economic conservative, I endorse Mitt Romney for President - I love the idea of a successful self-made business man going to Washington and shaking things up. Romney is a highly trained manager who sets deadlines, holds meetings to set realistic goals, and then inspires his team to exceed expectations. If you like the idea of optimizing government, running the government as a break-even business, and bringing together both democrats and republicans in businesslike negotiation meetings - THEN MITT ROMNEY IS YOUR CANDIDATE. Mitt Romney is the choice of Republicans in Nevada and Michigan.

Mitt '08

Mitt Romney Nevada Victory Speech - Battleground States

2008-01-20T20:45:00.000-08:00

Highlights from Mitt Romney's Nevada Victory Speech:

Michigan and Nevada are battleground states during the general election. It shows Mitt has a good coalition by winning those states.

Romney emphasizes his campaign is the only one attempting to compete in all states.

Romney is making his appeal to ALL Americans.

View the entire video at the New York Times by clicking here.

All right Florida, it's your turn next!

Romney wins Nevada - Was it the Mormons?

2008-01-19T15:50:00.000-08:00

The power of the Republican base is made up of three general types of conservatives: Family Conservatives, Economic Conservatives, and Defense Conservatives. I am using the numbers from Nevada with 98% of the precincts reporting to show that Romney won with the three types of conservatives - REGARDLESS of the Mormon vote. I suggest people that actually live around Mormons are not afraid to vote for a Mormon.

Nevada Caucus Numbers with 98% of precincts reporting:

	Romney	Paul	McCain	Huckabee	Thompson	Giuliani	Hunter	Tancredo
Votes	22313	5742	5558	3500	3475	1884	879	0
Percent	51%	13%	13%	8%	8%	4%	2%	0%

An NPR host stated around 2:30 PM EST that 50% of the vote for Romney claimed to be Mormon. Fox news at 3 PM EST stated 25% of those voting were Mormons in Nevada backing up the NPR statement. We will expel the Mormons by deleting 50% of those that voted for Romney and then analyze the data.

We take the 22313 and divide by 2 in order to derive 50%. This is 22313/2 = 11156.5
Because we cannot have a half person, we will lower the number to 11156. The new numbers and percentages come out as shown below.

	Romney	Paul	McCain	Huckabee	Thompson	Giuliani	Hunter	Tancredo
Votes	11156	5742	5558	3500	3475	1884	879	0
Percent	35%	18%	17%	11%	11%	6%	3%	0%

Ladies and Gentlemen, the data clearly show that even when eliminating the Mormon vote, Romney still trounced the other candidates in Nevada. Romney is electable among all three groups of conservatives: Family Conservatives, Economic Conservatives, and Defense Conservatives.

The graph from MSNBC Video is telling: 28% Protestant, 25% Mormon, 18% Catholic, 15% Other Christian

Friday Night before South Carolina Primary and Nevada Caucus

2008-01-18T22:06:00.001-08:00

Well, it's already late but I've been watching the news. Most stations seem to be carrying the Nevada Democratic race. South Carolina looks like a good contest between McCain and Huckabee. Now is the time to place your guesses, recognizing, of course, that I can just edit this post should I prove to be incorrect. Notwithstanding, here are my guesses.

McCain wins South Carolina, Clinton wins Nevada.

This is a funny video about Obama's wife mispronouncing Nevada. She went a little overboard after she realized her mistake. Let's count them up, Nevahda, and then 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1. Wow 10 more times; I think she gets it now. Watch the video by clicking here.

This video talks about the correct pronunciation of Nevada, can you believe there are even blogs tracking those mispronouncing Nevada? Looks like Mrs. Obama made the list.

Mitt Romney Michigan Victory Speech

2008-01-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most impressive victory speeches so far. Kind of inspiring what Mitt Romney says about the American People. His interaction with the crowd is thrilling.

The American People want someone who is optimistic about our future - only Mitt Romney has the experience to lead a team of Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives to make policy changes that will improve America. I feel amazed that we live in such a wonderful country where after all the politics, we still work together to muddle things forward.

Huckabee and Trouble with his web site

2008-01-16T09:06:00.001-08:00

I was browsing Mike Huckabee's presidential website. And lo and behold down on the right side is a Mormon blog supporting Mike Huckabee. Wow, even after Huckabee disses the Mormons someone is still supporting him? Latter-Day Saints for Huckabee it says. I click on the link and get the following:

Blogger: 404 Error Page - Page Not Found

Is Mike Huckabee making up support blogs? It appears he has some troubles with fibbing? Go check it out yourself by clicking here.

Evangelicals for Huckabee

2008-01-16T08:17:00.000-08:00

I have read many comments online referring to people voting for Huckabee "because my pastor told me so". I really didn't believe people would do such a thing. But to my disbelief Mr. John Sansoterra, a small business owner and a member of a the First Baptist Church in sterling heights is doing just that. In his interview he said, "Granted the temptation is there on what could help me economically what could maybe better, but for us the social comes first."

Sansoterra likes Romney's plan to help the auto industry and he also likes Giuliani's plan to lower corporate taxes. Yet these two plans that would help him better support his family, his church, and his community are framed by Huckabee and his pastor as "temptations". And are therefore votes that will be deemed as "sin" if cast. I guess there is a reason why the Christian Science Monitor calls Mike Huckabee "a conservative with a social gospel".

What does Sansoterra mean by "us"? Instead of voting for his family's future, Sansoterra joins the "us". The announcer mentioned he is voting for a true social conservative. Huckabee isn't really a true social conservative - isn't that Fred Thompson? I think what they meant to say is that he is voting for a true evangelical because his pastor told him so. And evangelicals stick together, even when their candidate has a liberal tax history and raised taxes in his state.

It's a good thing voting is done in the confidential voting booth, where a vote for one's family and future can trump the suggestions of the "us".

John McCain Debatable Straight Talk Express - A Huckabee?

2008-01-15T13:50:00.000-08:00

In reference to the new mailer sent out by John McCain the article states:

But the mailer goes on to draw a picture of Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts that is so distorted as to discredit McCain's claim to be the candidate of "straight talk."

Doesn't anyone else see that John McCain and Huckabee are both doing the same thing? They are worse than Romney in my opinion, Romney never said he wouldn't compare his record with theirs. But both McCain and Huckabee have said they will not get involved in "negative" campaigning.

Looks like McCain just pulled "a Huckabee"!

A Huckabee definition - Saying you won't do something, then doing it anyway.

syn. political speak, been in politics too long, flip flopper

What is A Huckabee?

2008-01-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

The definition of "A Huckabee" is saying you won't do something, then doing it anyway.

synonyms include: Political Speak, Been in Politics Too Long, and Do What I Think Not What I Say

As in: I will not show this attack ad, but here it is anyway.

Mitt Romney and Mrs. Blazo his teacher in 1953-1954

2008-01-14T22:01:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney is endorsed in Michigan by his teacher Mrs. Blazo. He was one you never had to "reprimand". Watch the video here.

Mitt Romney on Revitalizing Michigan Auto Industry

2008-01-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

See Mitt Romney talk about a contrast between himself and McCain. This is a great presentation. Watch it here.

Mitt Romney Gets Standing Ovation From Detroit Economic Club

2008-01-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

This was an excellent show for Mitt Romney in Michigan. You can watch it here. The Detroit Economic Club gave Mitt Romney a standing ovation for his remarks.

On a contrasting note, John McCain gave a speech about cutting the earmarks out of Washington and sending the money to where it will do some good. On the surface the idea sounds fine, but what McCain is really saying is he would redirect those earmarks to Michigan. What a politician, he can only speak in earmarks.

This is in stark contrast to Romney's plan which would get together a strong team to figure out the future direction of the car companies. Be sure to watch the C-Span coverage above.

Enthusiastic Support for Mitt Romney at Prosperity Summit in Livonia

2008-01-12T21:25:00.001-08:00

Both Romney and McCain spoke at the Americans for Prosperity summit in Livonia Saturday afternoon. While McCain got angry cat calls from the audience due to his poor understanding of economics and his immigration policy.

Romney gained an easy voter, his first grade teacher at Vaughn Elementary in Bloomfield Hills. Gloria Blazo attended the AFP event and showed Romney the class notes she had taken in 1953 when Romney was one of her students. “He was one person you never had to reprimand,” she said. School teachers for Romney!

The Americans for Prosperity summit, advocates for limited government, less regulation and fewer taxes. They gave an enthusiastic response to Romney who said,“Anyone earning $200,000 or less would have a new tax rate on their savings,” he said. “And that tax rate is zero.”

Read more here.

Huckabee Scares a lot of Conservatives

2008-01-12T20:57:00.000-08:00

While Mormons don't allow their church directories to be used for political purposes, nor their buildings; Mike Huckabee has a strong advantage by using evangelical church rosters.

Mr. Glenn lined up 50 local pastors to attend a closed-door breakfast with Mr. Huckabee in Grand Rapids. And he has compiled an e-mail list of more than 600 volunteers — many in Internet groups that Huck’s Army is connecting — who have been using church directories to make phone calls, courting local pastors and leafleting church parking lots . source

“Recruit volunteers to stand this Sunday on public sidewalks across the street from the parking lots of the biggest evangelical churches you can find,” Mr. Glenn urged in a recent e-mail message.

Richard Land, the top public policy official of the Southern Baptist Convention, argued that just as small-government and foreign-policy conservatives could not win a primary without evangelicals, “I don’t think evangelicals can win without most of the rest of those coalitions".

I am a bit surprised by Huckabee's use of religious groups. It would be interesting to hear what happens behind those closed door meetings.

John McCain vs. Mitt Romney vs. Huckabee

2008-01-12T19:53:00.000-08:00

Michigan is now in the spotlight. The latest polls show McCain at 29%, Romney at 27% and Huckabee at 19%.

I think Mitt Romney would make an excellent President for the following reasons:

As a Washington outsider, Romney does not owe anybody in Congress favors. McCain does owe political favors to Kennedy and others.
Unlike Huckabee that relies on his poorness for votes and his supporters for non financial gifts, Mitt Romney cannot be bought like Huckabee (read about it here).
While Mitt Romney doesn't have the most foreign experience like McCain, the world more and more uses economics for negotiations, sanctions, and cooperation. Mitt Romney is the only candidate that understands business and economics in a way that he can wisely use America's economic resources to aid our friends and hinder our enemies.
A vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for a lower national debt, the optimization and streamlining of Washington, and a man that beyond war can use economic sanctions with nation motivating effect.

The polls are close, but think about this, economists estimated 80% of jobs in twenty years haven't even been thought of yet. Only Mitt Romney has the experience and knowledge to uniquely position America to take advantage of those jobs. Support Mitt Romney to lead America forward with respect to the economy.

John McCain is too old: that doesn't mean he's stupid

2008-01-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

I talked with a woman from New Hampshire on Monday Janauary 7th, the day before the election. She said, "I am 85 years old and I won't vote for John McCain. When you get old, it's not the mind that goes, it's the energy level. I think it takes a lot of energy to be a President and I don't think McCain has it. At McCain's age the energy level drops although the mind is still strong. It's just what happens when you get old."

Want a job? Give a gift to Mike Huckabee

2008-01-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen for the following paltry sums you can get the following jobs:

$ Amount = Your new Job; he did it and so can you
$60,000 = University of Arkansas Stadium Commission Seat; Jennings Osborn
$44,600 = Game and Fish Commission Seat; Ronald Pierce
$20,000* = Head of the Arkansas State Police; Tom Mars
$500** = State Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission; Name withheld
$80*** = Arkansas State Board of Optometry; Name withheld

Do you really want to vote for the ethically challenged Mike Huckabee?

The guy has real ethics violations! His salary as Governor of Arkansas was $67,000. Astonishingly, Mike Huckabee accepted $121,000 in gifts in one year - almost double his salary. Mike Huckabee also received 91 gifts from 21 people. Mike Huckabee later appointed those people to important chairs and commissions. Mike Huckabee is one Presidential candidate that can be bought. A vote for Mike is a vote for more corruption in Washington.

*Estimated services based on free lawyer services provided by Tom Mars when Huckabee filed a lawsuit against the Arkansas Ethics Committee.
**Estimated service barbecue grill
***Estimated cost of eye care services

New Hampshire Fox Debate 1/6/2008

2008-01-06T20:23:00.000-08:00

These are my notes from the debate, the times may be off, but if you watch the entire thing, this is what I noted:

12:00 Huckabee uses "Political Speak" to avoid saying he raised taxes. He totally avoided the question and Romney asked him straight up FOUR TIMES. Definition of Political Speak.
20:45 Huckabee claims his comment "the CEO who laid you off" is NOT directed at Romney. Ask any of his supporters and they say it does refer to Romney. Huckabee's double talk is revealed, besides Huckabee is talking about firing 115,000 employees right off the bat. For comparision the U.S. only brought in 43,000 jobs in November 2007.
23:46 Huckabee misspeaks and says he will "get rid of death" (he meant to say death tax), to which Thompson pipes in and says that is something they can both agree on. Funny exchange.
(Note: Throughout Huckabee continually interrupts moderator. The moderator tells him to be stop talking until he can finish his question.) Huckabee continues about taxes and reveals his link to special interest groups concerned with firing 115,000 federal employees and giving a tax increase to middle class Americans, for me it amounts to 16%. The New York Times says.
29:00 McCain says, "I am an agent of change..." Hilarious, since just last night McCain was railing on Romney for being the agent of change.
31:10 Romney says Washington insiders will not get things done, if people keep sending the same people back to Washington in "different chairs."
46:05 Interesting Romney comments on qualities required to be President.
47:20 Huckabee marvels that his Democratic state kept "electing him" back into office. It's no wonder though; the guy is practically a Dem with his class warfare statements.
50:07 McCain does a hilarious funny face at Giuliani, not sure where that came from. He did it yesterday as well.
53:00 Thompson speaks about whether it is better to elect Executive or a Senator... took to long to get to the point

My DVD recorder stops suddenly, I put in new disk and restart count (hey, DVD-Rs are like politicians, they must be changed regularly):

2:00 Huckabee on immigration. Huckabee supports letting illegals go to school, and is slammed on his "don't punish the children" statement because his new immigration policy sends everybody home within 120 days. Romney chimes in and asks doesn't sending the children home punish the parents? Huckabee says he is not talking to Romney, but that he is talking to the moderator. The moderator says, "I was just about to ask the same question." And does so, "Doesn't sending the children home punish the parents?" Funny moment, Huckabee looked like a cornered politician on that one.
4:35 Amnesty vs. non-Amnesty is all nonsense says McCain. Huckabee mimics McCain's position.
5:55 Thompson says, everyone sitting as this table "including Ronald Reagan". Opps, that's not Ronald Reagan, it's John McCain dude.
15:00 Huckabee on negative ads. Moderator says, Huckabee you have said, Romney is running a "desperate and dishonest campaign", he is sitting right next to you, what do you say? He then says people can distort anything, but he doesn't call Romney dishonest to his face. McCain then talks about the negative ads he has received. Romney comes back by saying he compared their records with his to emphasis differences in their positions. He says McCain's ad was tough (and I agree, it was a personal attack by the Concord Monitor and had nothing to do with the campaign, unless the word "phony" was used on all candidates). Romney then points out Huckabee's campaign has been using personal attacks. For instance, Huckabee's campaign manager Mr. Rollins said he wanted to "kick Mitt's teeth out". Huckabee jokes that Chuck Norris is waiting outside and Thompson chimes in saying if John Wayne were here he would kick Chuck's butt.
20:00 Romney explains that he has only changed his position to pro-life. But that the media and his competitors have tried to mislabel him as if he had changed all of his positions. He says, I would rather change my position to the right, than stubbornly remain in the wrong.
27:13 Thompson says he should be President because "I've never lost an election, although I haven't been in very many."
28:25 Huckabee uses a quote by Abraham Lincoln that he used a couple hours earlier with the same moderator.
30:00 Mitt Romney's closing arguments were to the point, talked about his concern for his children and his grandchildren, he says he knows how to make America a better place for future generations
34:00 McCain's closing arguments - the guy just looks tired.

Hats off to Fox News for a debate that actually allowed the candidates to go beyond just little sound bites in other debates. I was surprised Ron Paul wasn't there, but the table did look crowded. Seriously, Rudy Giuliani looked like he was about to fall off the table. I enjoyed the debate and saw a side of the candidates I had not seen before.

I declare Mitt Romney the winner as he was the most coherent about his positions and what he would do as a President of the American people. Although Thompson didn't say a lot, I thought he actually did pretty well in this debate. McCain seemed out of touch, Huckabee was exposed as a slick talking politician. Giuliani can't move past 9/11. A vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for a leader with a proven track record and the abilities to make a better tomorrow for our children (at least after this debate).

New Hampshire Republican Debate 1/5/2008

2008-01-05T23:19:00.000-08:00

What is up with the Republican Presidential candidates? McCain endorses Huckabee for Iowa. Huckabee endorses McCain for New Hampshire. And Giuliani endorses both Huckabee and McCain for both Iowa and New Hampshire. I personally am astonished at the pathetic display of wolf pack tactics used by the Republican Candidates against one of their own! My respect for McCain, Huckabee, Giuliani, and Thompson has dropped. They acted like jackals. Only their prey got away. Romney emerged stronger.

The bottom line is they are all afraid of Mitt Romney. He is a true leader, his family is good, he has proven experience and demonstrated results, time and time again.

Just like the water buffalo in this video, Romney kept his poise, and showed an indominable spirit. (The action starts at minute 2:00. First the lions attack, then the crocodile, and finally those truly opposed to personal attacks arrive - the New Hampshire voters!)

Reasons Romney won the debate:

Romney got one third of the face time during the debate.
He was able to explain why he was in the race: strengthen families, improve education, strengthen the economy, and build a strong military.
The visible disdain by his fellow candidates was disgraceful CNN stated
They blather and cry about comparision ads and then they wolf pack Romney at this debate
CNN calls it "go after" - I call it "jackals attacking"

Disgusted with Huckabee - A DARK CAMPAIGN

2008-01-04T21:02:00.000-08:00

The following comments come from one campaign's leaders. What a hypocrite Huckabee is!

“We are going to see if we can’t take Romney out,” Mr. Rollins said.
"Romney running 'dishonest' campaign." Huckabee said.
I don't round house kick, I “just like to choke those guys out.” Norris said.
“We’re going to see if we can’t take Romney out. We like John. Nobody likes Romney.”Mr. Rollins said.

Mike Huckabee is the smiley face for a dark campaign: While he claims to be a noble christian he allows his bull headed campaign manager Rollins and side kick Norris to give out personal attacks against Romney. Huckabee is a slick talking snake - BEWARE, he will not represent the American people.

I still find it interesting that Huckabee never has his family in the media. I didn't even know his family was in Iowa - wasn't one arrested recently? I also found it interested that when Huckabee gave his "I won Iowa speech", it wasn't his wife or his sons that stood behind him, it was CHUCK NORRIS and Chuck's wife! Whenever Chuck opened his mouth I had to turn down the color on my TV, that guy has teeth whiter than #FFFFFF in HTML!!!!!! It is nice to hear his family is second or third when it comes to supporters. Put on your sunglasses to watch this one.

Another thing that bugs me about Huckabee is as he said today, "If I come in fourth or fifth in New Hampshire I'll be just fine." Hello, Huckabee there are only four or five candidates in the race!

Romney is the better candidate.

Mitt Romney Knows Business

2008-01-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

While Huckabee and Obama attempt to, as CNN says, carry momentum into New Hampshire. Romney can rely on his business experience to encourage small business innovation and push for a balanced budget.

With twenty five years business experience, Romney will balance the federal budget.

He knows how to look at a 10Q and recognize steps to make a company run better. I think his business experience will be a boon to the American people. From truly understanding how economic sanctions will affect rogue nations, to advising Congress on important changes to the IRS and Tax laws to encourage small businesses. Romney has the skills, background, and knowledge to effectively build teams, break down barriers to change, and encourage economic cooperation across the world. American can succeed economically with Romney as President.

Mitt Romney is running for President. He has pledged himself to the American people and is even using his own money to campaign. With innovation in business as one of his key campaign platforms, I believe Mitt Romney is the most prepared individual to lead America out of dire economic straits. Vote Romney for a balanced budget.

Unusual Tactics in Politics - Push Polling

2007-12-31T22:23:00.000-08:00

I've heard a lot about illegal push polling, but what if the organization doing the push polling was giving out your phone number as their customer service number? It happend to a nurse in New Hampshire.

HOW TO MAKE A TRUTHFUL ATTACK AD

2007-12-31T20:32:00.000-08:00

I just read an analysis by CNN commentators about attack ads. They mention a few things that were misrepresented by some Romney ads. What would it take to make the ad's correct?

McCain Ad "Future"

CNN says "But the ad distorts the position of the Arizona Republican... McCain's compromise legislation introduced last summer... would have required illegal immigrants to return to their home countries and pay a fine for breaking the law before applying for legal status."

However, the Washington Post Saturday, May 14, 2005; Page A20, clearly states that the McCain and Kennedy bill, before the upheaval of last summer's changes, had a provision allowing illegals to stay in the U.S. If McCain and Kennedy made the original agreement - then McCain did push to let every illegal immigrant stay here permanently! It was only AFTER other politicians stepped in that the "send everyone home first" was inserted.

The Washington Post says, "Most controversially... the bill allows illegal immigrants already here to regularize their status, but not easily; they would have to go to the end of the line, and that only after paying a hefty fine, staying employed for a prescribed period and paying back taxes. The bills' authors argue that this is not an amnesty, because it requires a recognition of wrongdoing."

How to correct the ad? Simply state McCain "championed" a bill to let every immigrant remain in the U.S. permanently. Oh, looks like they already did.

Either way you stack it, Howard Kurtz is wrong on this one. McCain did champion a bill and did push for legislation that originally allowed illegals to stay in the country, not to mention the bill currently allows illegals to accrue Social Security benefits while they are here illegally.

Huckabee Ad

Kurtz in this case points out, "Secretary of State Rice, however, did not call Huckabee's foreign policy "ludicrous." Rice was responding to Huckabee's criticism of the Bush administration for what he called an "arrogant bunker mentality" on world affairs in the January/February issue of Foreign Affairs magazine."

Technically, this is correct, but I for one construed her comments to mean Huckabee has a ludicrous grasp on foreign policy. Kurtz did forget to mention that the quote came from the Associated Press, and they are the ones that interpreted Condi's statement. USA Today has the conversation written out - in fact, what Condi really said about Huckabee is "And one [Huckabee] would only have to be not observing the facts... to say that this is now a go-it-alone foreign policy." Basically, Huckabee has no grasp on foreign policy, or in other words, his foreign policy is ludicrious!

Conclusion
Howard Kurtz' article is almost laughable when he says, "McCain is fighting back by using criticism of Romney from editorial writers, which has the effect of making him seem less negative." Did Kurtz even watch the ads? If you look closely you can see the source of the editorials that Romney is quoting against both McCain and Huckabee - so why is it that Romney's ads are attack ads, when they also rely on editorial writers?

So much for CNNs Reliable Sources host!

Concord Monitor Article "Phony Mitt Romney"

2007-12-30T01:06:00.000-08:00

The concord monitor calls Mr. Romney a "phony". Rarely has any newspaper produced an "anti-endorsement" for President. Strangely, the Concord Monitor has done just that. Other GOP candidates did not stand up and denounce such a foolish practice.

Huckabee, "Why would I criticize the concord monitor when they might endorse me next week?" FYI - the concord monitor endorsed John McCain.

McCain actually used the quote in one of his attack ads.

Look for TV Ad: "Consider" here

McCain endorses Romney to New Hampshire caucus attendees

2007-12-30T00:25:00.000-08:00

New Hampshire faces a tough choice for President. Since Huckabee isn't competing and Giuliani has already moved on to Florida, while Thompson isn't feeling ambitious enough to run for President - the GOP race in New Hampshire is left to McCain and Romney.

McCain just showed an ad touting his support by a variety of newspapers, and yet, an ad could be shown of McCain backing Romney.

Since McCain has endorsed Romney and Romney has endorsed McCain before they were running for President, perhaps the question for caucus attendees in New Hampshire boils down to this: For whom are you really voting - age may be the only differentiating factor?
A vote for McCain is a vote for McCain and perhaps his Vice President (whom he hasn't yet announced)
A vote for Romney is a vote for Romney

Both are men of their word (as far as political promises go). Experience cannot be the issue as either Romney has risen rapidly, or McCain has risen slowly. Regardless of whom you select, Oh, New Hampshire caucus attendees, both are excellent men, but it was McCain who endorsed Romney for Governor.

48 HOURS CAN RUIN A MAN

2007-12-29T23:36:00.000-08:00

Mr. Huckabee has in the past 48 hours:
1. SAID THE US NEEDS TO APOLOGIZE REGARDING BHUTTO (campaign later clarified)
2. WONDERED IF MARSHAL LAW WOULD CONTINUE, EVEN THOUGH MARSHAL LAW ENDED TWO WEEKS AGO(campaign later clarified)
3. SCREWED UP SAYING PAKISTAN DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH CONTROL OF ITS EASTERN BORDER NEAR AFGHANISTAN (Pakistan shares a western border with Afghanistan, not eastern)
4. SCREWED UP SAYING WE HAVE MORE PAKISTANI ILLEGALS COMING ACROSS OUR BORDER THAN ALL OTHER NATIONALITIES EXCEPT THOSE IMMEDIATELY SOUTH OF THE BORDER. (just wrong… plain wrong… illegals from Philippines, India, Korea, China and Vietnam were all far more numerous than those from Pakistan, not to mention the nations in Central and South America)
5. SHOT A SHOTGUN OVER THE HEADS OF REPORTERS LESS THAN A FOOTBALL FIELD AWAY
6. NAMED TO THE JUDICIALWATCH.ORG LIST OF "TEN MOST WANTED CORRUPT POLITICIANS" OF 2007 (at number 6 his integrity, ethics and leadership are in question, read the list here)
7. AND IMPLIED THAT HE HAD BOLTON ADVISING HIM ON FOREIGN POLICY WHEN IN FACT HE HAD ONLY SENT HIM AN EMAIL? (campaign later clarified)

RELEASING MURDERERS + LYING ABOUT BOLTON + SHOOTING OVER PEOPLE + DOING A SLEAZY/CHEESY HIT PIECE = Huckabee who has a simile for everything

Hello? Do you even know where Pakistan is?

2007-12-28T23:17:00.000-08:00

I don't think Huckabee is ready to be a President; he claims the second largest illegal immigrant group in the U.S. came from Pakistan. Huckabee said, "In light of what happened in Pakistan yesterday, it's interesting that there are more Pakistanis who have illegally crossed the border than of any other nationality except for those immediately south of our border".

I hope by "immediately south of our border" he means more than just Mexico, because if you include illegal immigrants from Central and South America, Pakistan is near the bottom of the list. The guy ain't ready for the big time.

Failed Mike Huckabee Presidential Bid? What now?

2007-12-27T22:58:00.000-08:00

Turns out Mike Huckabee is earning money - while a Presidential Candidate - by speaking at churches. Yes, he does have the gift of gab and the ability to counter questions with a glib metaphor or hint at a simile that makes sense to his base. However, I don't think it's Presidential to go around taking money from the collection plate, wouldn't that money do more for the poor?

Anyway, I read this comment posted by a Byron Travel and thought I would post it.

"If the Presidential thing does not work out for the Huckster , maybe he [should] get in to religious workout tapes? The Baptists have got to be just as overweight as the rest of us? Huck sounds a little bit like Richard Simmons. How does he look in shorts? $25,000 per speech might be just chump change?"

Now I don't care who you are, that's funny!!!

What is up with bare chested candidates?

2007-12-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

When Mitt Romney ran for Governor of Massachusetts, he ran an ad where his wife and he talked about their courtship. Romney, bare chested and in his swimming trunks was accused of trying to use sex appeal as a pitch to women.

And now we find Barak Obama trying to do the same. What is up with that? This picture first showed up in the Washington Post.

Note: I could not find the image of Romney.

Living High on the Hog - Michael Huckabee ethics charges

2007-12-22T19:12:00.000-08:00

“Huckabee didn’t build bridges,” said State Senator Jim Argue Jr., a Democrat and leader in the schools overhaul effort. “If you didn’t agree with him, he attacked you.” Read it here.

Can a rich man cook and become President?

2007-12-22T18:46:00.000-08:00

Just read an interesting article about Mitt Romney. Apparently, he knows how to mash potatoes. Who would have thought a rich man would help make food for the family? Even more amazing, his wife says the mashed potatoes are good. I think it's nice to hear of a candidate whose family enjoys spending time together. Read the article here.

Where were the four democrats on Iraq vote day? ABSENT

2007-12-19T22:37:00.000-08:00

So where were Clinton, Dodd, Obama, and Biden? Aren't they all still Senators, paid by the people of the United States of America? I noticed John McCain made it to debate about the funding for the Iraq War, but neither one of the four Democratic Senators bothered to show and stop the funding. I thought that was one of their main points - get out of Iraq.

I can't believe the American people pay these Senators to campaign instead of vote on important bills. They should be representing their constituency and stop blathering about getting troops out of Iraq and finally vote to make it happen. I guess the issue isn't that important, or they would have been in the Senate to debate and vote on the bill instead of selfishly trying to gain votes.

What's in a voice?

2007-12-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

I am not sure what it is? Sure the guy is handsome, sure he has some interesting policies, and yes he has done a lot for the poor and under served by taking on corporations. He happend to make a lot of money by taking on big businesses. Yes he is an excellent example in being the first in his family to go to college. I like that he isn't afraid to work with people and that he knows how to use a hammer and saw.

The problem is his voice sounds a smidge whiny and when he's making a point, he sounds a bit arrogant to me. Edwards seems like a likable guy, but he comes off as a "know-it-all". Best of luck, Mr. John Edwards lawyer, pretty good guy, but a tough voice for selling a presidential bid.