Obamaville - January 30 - Florida Primary Eve

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Any Surprises Tomorrow?

In a word, no. Romney, as expected before the media driven Gingrich surge, has equaled his surge in the polls with a retreat about as dramatic. In the process he has left a lot of people perplexed.

The volatile Republican candidate who wants to take on our Democratic President, in which there would have been a clash of wills over who is the most intelligent, most knowing and most scholarly, has fallen by the wayside in spite of media efforts to prop up his flailing campaign.

The problem is Newt can never live up to his exaggerated opinion of himself. The second problem is he might be a senior member of the establishment, but it was an establishment that lost control long ago.

While the media wants him to remain in the race to rip Mitt Romney apart and leave Romney vulnerable to the expected billion dollar attack by the president this fall, I believe the media, Obama and his Chicago gang are way out of touch with the public.

Newt's petulant and insolent attacks on Romney just make Newt look smaller and smaller in the eyes of the public. He shows no signs of being interested in what the public wants, only satisfying his raging animosity toward a candidate who is simply walloping the schoolyard bully.

Revenge, anger, and jealously are hardly becoming a GOP candidate for president and the more he sho9ws his true colors the faster his fall from grace in the eyes of the public.

As for Romney, he is getting a Harvard education in the primary because as soon as he wins the nomination, the Harvard president will try the same tactics only then Romney will have the experience and class to keep the election focused on the economy.

Barack Obama, through his mouthpieces in the media and campaign, is doing everything possible to encourage Gingrich because the biggest obstacle to his re-election is not Romney, it is the truth. This president has failed to address high unemployment, his $1.3 trillion a year deficit, and his ballooning nearly $16 trillion national debt.

As a result, there is no growth in the economy and no way health care costs can be controlled, Social Security can be saved, and Medicare can be protected. We are in a whale of trouble is the president is not held responsible for what he didn't do, and what he shows no signs of wanting to address in the immediate future.

ObamaCare does nothing to reduce health care or health insurance costs, and most certainly will not make Americans healthier. Just tell us the truth, that the problem is greater than they thought and is not being addressed.

The same with the unemployment, deficit and debt. We are not over the recession, but we could be, if the White House would admit they failed with social engineering to solve our problems and now must listen to the people who want less government, less regulation and most certainly a lot less hot air from our nation's capitol.

There is nothing wrong with admitting we still have a problem. Honesty is always better than cover ups, misinformation and distortion. We have had three years of intellectual thought. We need solutions, not theories. We need a will to take on the problems, not ignore them. We need foresight to tackle issues like Social Security and Medicare reform, not act as if they will take care of themselves.

Right now Romney is the only candidate relentlessly pursuing an agenda of the concerns of the people. Yes, he must deviate for a short time to secure the primary nomination and if that means to defeat Gingrich then so be it. But rest assured he will focus on the issues, the national issues, and that is the president's Achilles heel.

Now as I mentioned before, at this time the last campaign Obama and Hillary were in a brutal battle over the attempts (according to Obama) by Bill Clinton to use the race issue to defeat Obama. Now that sounds a lot meaner than today when Romney's tax returns showing $3 million in taxes paid and $3 million in charitable contributions seems to be the big concern?

Need I remind us all that maybe we need a president that can't be bought. Maybe we need a president who spends his time on the people's business instead of campaign fundraising. Maybe we need hope and change. Maybe we can get it this time.

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Obamaville - January 26 - The Last Florida GOP Debate Recap

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Thursday President Obama took off on a five state junket stretching from coast to coast.  It was his government financed non-campaign trip to critical campaign swing states in an effort to sell his non-campaign State of the Union message where he laid out his election campaign platform.  Duh???

Anyway, he's out of town so the Republicans held their 18th debate of this early primary season.  Don't forget, there are still 46 more states to decide.  I, for one, think we have reached the point of intellectual saturation and constipation from this many debates.  Doesn't the media have anything else to do?  Why aren't they covering some hard news instead of trying to manufacture political news?

Maybe half a dozen would have been tolerable by this point, but one and a half dozen seems like gross over-kill.  They may serve a psychological purpose in giving that good old liberal lame street media a chance to dig deeper and deeper in trying to find weaknesses in the GOP field, and they burn up GOP financial resources thus saving Obama campaign money.

But Obama is going to have a billion campaign dollars to spend!  That is like a federal stimulus program.  Only two presidential campaigns in history have cost more than $270 million and they were both his, which just proves the point we are getting the best politician money can buy.  He will spend $1.8 billion in two elections to win a job that only pays $400,000 a year, or $3.2 million over 8 years.

As for the Republican debate that took place.

There were two winners in  the last Republican debate before the Florida primary Thursday night.  First was Marco Rubio, the rising Republican star Senator from Florida as both front runners, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, said they are considering him a leading candidate for a higher position than cabinet if they win the nomination.

Now the only job higher than the president's cabinet is vice president, so there is a very good chance the Republicans will be the first political party in American history to nominate a Hispanic for vice president.  A background story I did on Marco Rubio a couple of years ago follows this story.

The second winner was Romney who clearly won the debate even though Gingrich and Santorum gave him plenty of jabs.  He countered their attacks, stood his ground, and firmly and decisively controlled the outcome.

Of course he has a few more answers and positions he needs to fine tune before he takes on Obama in September but he made a giant step forward in fulfilling the uncomfortable role of aggressor in the debate.

More important, he began drawing sharp contrasts with Obama on the issues Obama cannot defend like his handling of the economy, jobs, health care, housing and energy.  After three years in office the president has little to show and a lot to promise.

Ron Paul was much sharper this debate although the moderators continue to ignore him much of the time, especially when follow up comments are given.  Still, his jokes kept thing from getting too intense and when Wolf Blitzer, the CNN moderator, pressed him about the problem if he was elected that he would be the oldest president in history, Paul shot back, be careful with your question, we passed an age discrimination law in America and you are close to it, to the laughter of the crowd.

When asked about his medical condition he replied he was healthy enough to challenge anyone on stage to a 25 mile bike ride across the Texas desert.  There was much more laughter.

Rick Santorum gave his best and most passionate but his responses were too complicated for viewers, at least me, to understand while others flat out disagreed with the typical person watching the debate.  Though it was his best effort, one could sense that his hopes for winning this time are rapidly fading and he is turning his attention to laying the groundwork for a 2016 campaign.

Ron Paul has clearly won the admiration and respect of Romney and Gingrich.  As Paul continues to attract youth and Independents, he becomes a potential crucial ally to the GOP winner because Paul can keep votes away from Obama.

Since Ron Paul really has no illusion about winning the presidency and is committed to building popular support for his agenda for America, he will be a winner.  People are hearing and believing in his message of eliminating debts, deficits, wars and foreign aid.  His individual freedom and fear of a massive central government bureaucracy, which is pretty much what we've got, are resonating with about 20% of the voters across both party lines and with Independent.

Newt Gingrich seemed almost asleep on stage.  Gone were the rapier slashes and sharp barbs.  Last debate NBC silenced the crowd and Gingrich just doesn't make it with his one liners when there is no response from the crowd.  There were no excuses in this last debate, CNN allowed the crowd to respond.  It was far more entertaining, interesting and informative than the clinical and sterile exercise NBC gave us last week.

Yet the master debater and historian seemed stunned by Romney's attacks and counter attacks and never got into a grove with the audience.  If he was slipping in the polls before the debate he stumbled in this chance to recover.

All four candidates managed to get in some good discussion about President Obama and his failed policies and to identify a far different approach to government they supported.

Mitt Romney was far more at ease in this debate than previous ones and this time the attacks inspired him as his responses and counter attacks were pretty much effective.  In the end he was the clear winner no manner what those radical socialist liberal and radical right wing conservative commentators on network and cable news say.

Now it is a long ways to the Republican National Convention in August and to the 1,144 delegates the winner needs at the convention so a lot could happen.  The news media also seems to forget that by the end of the Florida primary next Tuesday we will have only heard from 4 out of 50 states.

The following is a reprint of my earlier story introducing Marco Rubio to my readers.  You should learn about this young man and his family because he may play a big role in the future of the nation.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Rising GOP Stars - Marco Rubio, Cuban American Tea Party Patriot

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Highly regarded for his principled, energetic and idea-driven leadership, Marco Rubio won a three way battle for U.S. Senate fighting off numerous trips by Obama and leading Democrats and efforts to split the GOP vote in 2010. His humble and honest acceptance speech after the victory was one of the highlights of all speeches by candidates. Take a moment to listen to this 39 year old rising star.

In 1971, Marco was born in Miami to Cuban-born parents who came to America following Fidel Castro’s takeover. When he was eight years old, Rubio and his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where his father worked as a bartender at the Sams Town Hotel and his mother as a housekeeper at the Imperial Palace Hotel. In 1985, the family returned to Miami where his father continued working as a bartender at the Mayfair House Hotel until 1997. Thereafter he worked as a school crossing guard until his retirement in 2005. His mother worked as a Kmart stock clerk until she retired in 1995.

Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School, graduating in 1989. He attended Tarkio College in Missouri for one year on a football scholarship before transferring to Santa Fe Community College and then graduating in 1993 with a bachelor of science from the University of Florida. He continued his studies at the University of Miami where he earned his juris doctor, cum laude, in 1996.

From 2000-2008, Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives. During this period, he served as Majority Whip, Majority Leader and Speaker of the House, effectively promoting an agenda of lower taxes, better schools, a leaner and more efficient government and free market empowerment. Rubio also helped spearhead Florida’s congressional and legislative redistricting effort. He chaired the House Select Committee on Property Rights, which crafted national model legislation to protect private property rights following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo v. City of New London decision that opened the door for eminent domain abuse.

During the two years prior to assuming the speakership, Rubio traveled around the state hosting “Idearaisers” to solicit Floridians’ input on ways to strengthen Florida. The 100 best ideas were compiled into a book entitled “100 Innovative Ideas for Florida’s Future” which served as the basis for his term. All 100 ideas were passed by the Florida House. Fifty-seven of these ideas ultimately became law, including measures to crack down on gangs and sexual predators, promote energy efficient buildings, appliances and vehicles, and help small businesses obtain affordable health coverage. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich hailed the effort as “a work of genius.”

In addition to these ideas, Rubio championed a major overhaul of the Florida tax system that would have eliminated all property taxes on primary residences in favor of a flat consumption tax. The effort garnered national attention, with Grover Norquist, president of the fiscally conservative Americans for Tax Reform, praising Rubio as “the most pro-taxpayer legislative leader in the country.”

During his legislative career, Rubio also promoted efforts to develop a world-class public school curriculum, increase performance-based accountability, enhance school choice and target the socio-economic factors affecting chronic academic underperformance. He is also widely credited for blocking the expansion of gambling in Florida and shepherding the passage of historic energy legislation based on market incentives rather than government-imposed mandates.

Since the end of his tenure as Speaker, Rubio has resumed his law practice as a sole practitioner. He has also served as a visiting professor at Florida International University’s Metropolitan Center, worked as Florida Chairman of GOPAC and as a political analyst for Univision during the 2008 election cycle.

He has also continued his community and civic involvement, serving on the boards of the Latin Builders Association and Alafit International, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting global literacy. He also remains engaged in the West Miami community where he served as a city commissioner prior to being elected to the state house.

Rubio and his wife, Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio, have been married since 1998. They are the parents of four children: Amanda, Daniella, Anthony, and Dominic. They currently live in the working class city of West Miami, just four blocks from the home his parents moved the family to in 1985.
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Obamaville January 24 - The Millionaire's Club

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With the President about to come on television and give his State of the Union address tonight I need to get a few thoughts on paper regarding the presidential c ampaign.

Last night we had the 18th out of what seems like 40-50 potential debates between the GOP candidates and if nothing else, it was quiet by comparison to the others.  What a change when the normally rowdy audience has to be quiet.  It was like March Madness without cheerleaders.  Eerie...

In the last 24 hours Gingrich released his contract with Fannie Mae and Romney released his taxes for two years.  Considering the massive hype by the media in demanding the information, most analysts had no clue how to analyze the information.  How could they, they didn't know anyone but Buffett could make that many millions a year.

It seems it took about 400 pages for the Romney taxes to get done under the existing tax laws and the jealously among liberal pundits was obvious.  After reviewing the material all day they are still distorting the information, twisting the facts and mangling the analysis.

Of course that is minor compared to the outright lies by Democratic spokespeople but lies have become institutionalized under the current Administration.  So let me just ask this because I think Obama is a nice guy but ill-prepared to be president, and that is after three years on the job.

Why is it nearly every single Obama economic policy staff member he brought into his Administration is gone, disappeared, silenced?  Why is it the only economic mouth piece for the president are political hacks from the campaign, and not an economist from the White House Council of Economic Advisors?  And why is a multi-zillionaire from Omaha the only economist the president mentions?

Now I like Buffett and I lived in Omaha but he doesn't work for the president, he seldom talks to the president, and even he must be wondering after three years what in the heck is the kid doing in the White House?

About the Romney return, he may not be Buffett but he is definitely the richest candidate for president since John F. Kennedy and I am delighted we finally have a candidate for president who can't be bought because he has all the money he needs.

Obama, the Democrats and even the Republicans have been talking about the need for tax reform.  So why has nothing been done for the last three years?  As I recall, Obama and the Democrats had veto proof majorities the first two years, and controlled the White House and Senate all three years.  So what is the problem?  Probably the same problem as the fact the Democratic controlled Senate has not passed a federal budget for over 1000 days, sheer lunacy in these trying times.

Romney paid about $3 million in taxes and gave $3 million in charitable contributions in 2010, and did about the same in 2011.  Like I said in an earlier article, he gave more to charity than all the other candidates and Obama combined.  Virtually all his income came from investments, was not earned income under tax laws, so it was taxed at 15%.  There is nothing in his return to raise any questions, only jealously from political and media pundits.

I would think the American dream would be for anyone to have been so successful in business that they make $21 million a year from investments, investments in many other companies in our country.  Still, the Democrats will condemn it.  For some reason "making it" in America is a bad thing.

As for Gingrich he may have more to explain than his super rich opponent.  Newt made well over $1 million with a consulting contract with Freddie Mac, the agency behind the collapse of the housing market.  While Freddie was driving more people into foreclosure than any time in our history to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in tax losses, Gingrich was walking away with over $1 million.

Now I agree with Obama on one thing, only the super rich can tell us how to fix the tax code.  Obama has Buffett and I have Romney.  The question we must ask is do you want someone outside the government making these monumental decisions like Buffett, or do you want someone in the presidency who has the knowledge and experience and works for the people of the United States?

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Obamaville - Campaign 2012 - A Millionaires Delight?

With just two days until the GOP primary in South Carolina a new player has unexpectedly joined the Republican fracas as the Obama White House has officially broken a promise to stay on the sidelines of the GOP primary politics.

Apparently the Obama advisors just can't resist a chance to influence the vote and for the first time this election the White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, used the podium of the White House to blast Mitt Romney over his personal income tax comments.

To be fair, Romney was left unprotected and unprepared by his campaign staff on the issues relating to releasing his income tax records.  For a campaign that has maintained a sharp focus on the economy for the long haul and the battle against Obama for the presidency, this was a serious media blunder.

Sensing blood in the wind, the Chicago gang of Obama simply could not resist joining the effort to distort and smear their probable opponent.  In perhaps a blunder on their own part, it was rather odd they left the hatchet job to the White House Press Secretary, paid for by US tax dollars, when all the good Obama mouthpieces are with the campaign and not on the government payroll.

But then they also have President Obama, also on the taxpayer payroll, racing around the country raising hundreds of millions of campaign dollars while acting like a president.  In another related development the Obama campaign is starting to air political campaign commercials in battle ground states even though he is unopposed and the GOP opponent will not be selected officially until the end of August.  By my calendar that is still six months away.

So Romney comments on his probable tax rate of 15%, speakers fees of $300,000 and is ill-prepared to defend his right to be successful, make a lot of money, and be an example for others.

Carney used the White House podium to say Romney is evidence of the need for the millionaire's tax to prevent the rich from paying lower tax rates than middle class Americans.  This is what he had to say.

“The president feels very strongly that everybody needs to pay their fair share and that everybody, therefore, gets a fair shot at the American dream,” the White House press secretary Jay Carney said at his press briefing.

"That includes millionaires who might be paying an effective tax rate of 15 per cent when folks making $50,000 or $75,000 or $100,000 a year are paying much more,” Mr. Carney added.

Though he tried to keep Obama out of the fray by saying his comments were not "specifically" discussed with the President, anyone with any knowledge of the workings of the White House knows nothing is said by the Press Secretary without the approval of the President.

One might consider this politics as usual but there are a couple of potential issues that might benefit Romney as his taxes are released.

First, most of his income came from investments, not salary, just like Obama advisor Warren Buffett and most millionaires.  There is a fixed tax rate of 15% for such income so that is the law.  Romney has supported comprehensive revision of the entire tax code.

While the capital gains tax, which is lower than individual tax rates, favors the wealthy, it was set up to encourage the investment of such funds into building businesses which generates jobs.  If anything, reinvestment in America seems to be a good thing.

Romney is the only presidential candidate who has called for a means test to limit capital gains to only the rich, $200,000 plus income.  The media and political pundits forget that many Americans are subject to this tax for their mutual funds and other investments.

According to U.S. News almost half (42%)  of all Americans use 401(k), IRA, Keogh or other type of retirement account.  A record low 23% of Americans expect to receive pension income, while 20% expect stocks and mutual funds to be a major source of retirement income.  Withdrawals from retirement accounts are taxed as normal income while stocks and mutual fund withdrawals are taxed at the lower capital gains rate.

In addition, when the Romney taxes are released don't be surprised if it shows Romney gave more to his church than anyone else, quite possibly more than all the other candidates and President Obama combined.  His other charitable contributions may also dwarf the other candidates.

Taxes are complex.  There are thousands of pages of US tax code.  It needs an overhaul but attacking classes of taxpayers and calling for the redistribution of wealth is no way to achieve it.  All candidates and both political parties must work together to make the system fair and just.

Obamaville & GOP Primary Campaign

Obamaville January 17, 2012

With the presidential election just 9 1/2 months away and the South Carolina primary this weekend perhaps it is a good time to review the current state of affairs.

On the GOP side Romney is headed for the nomination although watch for Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry and Ron Paul to keep things lively for a few more primaries. None have a chance to catch Romney but the news networks are working overtime to keep them in the race both to damage Romney's position against Obama and to keep up the already rather dismal TV ratings.

Truth is Romney wins in South Carolina and Florida this month could end the contest.  No doubt Ron Paul will stay in, probably until the convention.  While Obama campaign leaders want Romney to be bloodied by Paul and the others, me thinks the Chicago backroom boys are miscalculating the Paul impact.

Truth also is Ron Paul is not costing Romney votes.  Paul pulls the youth (Democrats) and Independents and those are the two groups that gave Obama his narrow win in 2008.  The longer Paul stays in the more votes he costs Obama and the general election is already too close to call.

At least the primaries so far have seen Romney withstand a withering and blistering stream of attacks from his opponents, the Obama thugs, the news media and the Democratic pit bulls.

Conventional wisdom from the Democratic pundits and news media is Romney can't win the conservatives or Christian right therefore he is the best opponent for the billion dollar kid, our President Obama.

Do they really think the conservatives or evangelicals could embrace Obama over a Republican after the three year on the job training record of Obama?  The Obama boys from Illinois may know what makes Chicago tick, I mean the last two governors of that state are in jail, but they do a very arrogant and horrible job of reading Joe Six Pack.

As if the economy alone, yes Obama's economy, is not enough to toss the gang out of the White House and Congress, and the billion dollars Obama will spend to get re-elected is not insulting to the whole concept of democracy and free elections, they have bigger problems than Romney.

When Obama took office in 2009 crude oil sold for $36.51 per barrel and the cost of a gallon of gasoline was $1.85.  Just three years after he took control of the economy the price of crude oil is now $101.56 a barrel and gasoline is $3.44 a gallon.  According to conventional math that is a 278% increase in crude oil and 186% increase in gasoline in just three years. Some management of the economy.

That means the price of not just gasoline but everything derived from oil like cosmetics, plastics, fertilizers, and thousands of other items people use every day will continue skyrocketing right up until election day.  We won't be better off under Obama, we will be broke.  Of course he can blame that on Congress but Obama doesn't even have an energy policy for independence that Congress can vote up or down.

So besides the lack of much of anything in the record of the Obama team, the still sputtering economy, and in spite of the billion dollar campaign war chest built up by Obama while he was supposed to be governing, what else could go wrong for him?

How about a Republican National Convention surprise?  One of two things could happen at the GOP convention that could radically alter the election in November.  If Romney wins the presidential nomination as expected he could pick either Chris Christie of New Jersey or Marco Rubio of Florida for Vice President.

Christie would not just solidify the conservative and social conservative vote but would energize them with his no holds barred campaign and governing style and it has been a long time since we have had a leader like Reagan not afraid to stand up and fight for the people.

Rubio would seriously erode Obama's need to maintain the Hispanic vote in order to win, and he would also pull the conservative, evangelical and Tea Party voters.  Yet another potential powerhouse ally for Romney, both Christie and Rubio would also appeal to a lot of Independents.

So in spite of what the Obama campaign says there may still be a lot of surprises ahead for the those who think the White House is for sale to the highest bidder.