Today, the Real Sporer features another edition of live debate coverage. We’re fairly certain that our candidates will distinguish themselves from the wacky Dems, all of whom promised aggressive government spending, unconditional retreat from Iraq and socialized medicine in their recent appearance at the WorldKos convention.
87 comments:
George begins with Sam Brownback's hard hitting ad at Mitt Romney's abortion record.
Sam says it's a truthful ad. Mitt was pushed by George to describe the part of the ad that wasn't true.
Mitt said he opposed taxpayer funded abortions. Mitt admitted changing his position and said he was tired of holier than thou politicians who think its important to that they were pro-life longer.
Mitt started to look rattled but quickly regained composure.
Second question challenges Mitt to defend statements about Rudy being pro homosexual marriage and pro-choice.
Mitt was smart and deferred to Rudy.
Rudy flat out denied support for homosexual marriage and said that abortion is wrong but the choice isn't one for the government to make.
Tommy T got the third question, also about abortion and Rudy.
tommy gave a good answer about the GOP position and acknowledged that Rudy's position was at odds.
George asked a fourth question about Rudy's abortion position to John McCain.
George quickly gets back to his left wing roots with a questino about Iraq, from a Grinell resident to Ron Paul. Not the most typical Republicans.
Ron Paul sounded utterly foolish in his response, more whining about the war being illegal-which is simply a lie, its not even an argument.
Duncan Hunter just smacked Ron Paul like Suger Ray and the bum of the month club.
Hunter said the defeatism of the Democrat position, that Ron Paul mirrors, will undermine our success.
Gov. Huckabee's position was a middle ground. Win the war but forcce regional actors into a greater role.
Sam identified the missing element and advocated the Tommy/Brownback/Biden partition plan.
McCain was then asked about "benchmarks", written into law with another loaded leftie question about failing to make benchmarks.
McCain answered that we are meeting benchmarks now and that the consequences of failure our worse. The answer sounded canned but also utterly true.
Rudy then hit the Ds hard for not even mentinoing the words "Islamic terrorist"
Rudy pointed out that even liberals in the NY Times say we are now winning and the surge is working.
Little George then said we the success is "only military".
Mitt came up with a great slap at Obama for going from tea with the enemies and bombing our allies. The transitin was from "Jane Fonda to Dr. Stragelove". Great line.
Tom Tancredo had to fight for time. He then said it right, the war is against Islamoterrorism and Iraq is just a battlefield.
Tom then talked about the need for more aggressive rules of engagement. More common sense from the feisty little fella from Colorado.
Tommy Thompson followed with critical commentary about the Iraqi politicians incompotence. True but not relevant to the American issues in Iraq.
Not surprisingly, appeaser George let Ron Paul, the only appeaser in the GOP ranks have the final word.
Ron sounds just like the people who opposed lend lease and the draft just before Pearl Harbor.
McCain expressed statesmanship in his usurpation of time following the Ron Paul statements.
Think of the consquences.
David Yepsen asked about the Grassely health care plan.
Huckabee kind of ducked the question-first time we've ever seen him do that. Mike said we needed to change behavior.
tommy Thompson also ducked by t alking about hte need for improved preventative health care. Tommy also discussed an interesting proposal
Tancredo just hit another homer. Not the responsibility of the government to provide womb to tomb healthcare. Right on!
Mitt said we need to insure everyone and criticized the tax based credit system. Mitt cited his Massachusetts example.
Seemed to oppose Grassley version.
Rudy, straight up attacked the bill as the road to socialized medicine, if you want a system like England France or Cuba, so with the Ds. A very clear argument about what not to do. Rudy then offered market based solutions.
Duncan Hunter proposed buying health insurance across across state lines.
Brownback prsented the basic choice between Rs and Ds. Ds want government solutions and we want market based solutions. Ds
Little George brings the topic back to Obama bombing Pakistan.
Rudy agreed that he would keep the option open. Seemed to waffle on the Pakistan issue and was critical of Pakistan. Wanted permission to attack.
Mitt was very good on this one. He pointed out that Obama wants to meet with the worst dictators on earth but would bomb our friends.
Mitt pointed out that all options are always on the table but it isn't presidential to say things like attacking friends is an option.
Little George then returned to another tiresome attack on W by asking if promoting democracy was a good idea.
Huckabee said that it would n't be key to his foreign policy. He felt that it would be a better idea to become a better example through prosperity.
Ron Paul returned to the complaints about the neo cons.
Rudy spoke next about defining democracy and the creation of democratic infrastructure.
George S then wanted to get in a shot about pushing for elections to quickly in Gaza.
McCain pointed out that elections don't mean democrcy, rule of law is a prerequisite for democracy.
McCain then returned to victory in iraq and some other non sequitars.
Mitt then said education and health care are the underpinnings ofdemocracy. Huh?
George S. again asked if Romney would do what Bush was doing. Wow, running dogs of the press just can't get off of criticizing W, who isn't running.
Tom Tancredo defended his theory that he would respond to a nuclear attack on the US with the destruction of Mecca.
Tommy Thompson said we were too politically correct.
Sam said words matter. Cited Reagan and tearing down the wall. Sam said that we are at war with Islamic extremists. Talked about realism in pushing democracy.
Now we get to the bridges.
first question, raise the gas tax to fix the bridges.
Huckabee said to reprioritize. Need to fix the grid lock in airports for example. Good answer on reprioritizing government spending.
Rudy disabused David Yepsen of the notion that the only way to get more money is to raise taxes. Rudy said he raised more money by lowering taxes. Rudy's answer was great on this one in describing the tremendous revenues that increased growth creates when you cut taxes.
Romney echoed Rudy's statements.
McCain attacked the pork barrels in the transportation bill.
Blogger is working again.
Huckabee spoke first about the Fair Tax. Gave a great defense.
Romney urged caution and offered criticism of elements.
Rudy urged elimination of the death tax; simplification and reduction.
Rudy's criticism was of the complexities of getting to Fair Tax or a flat tax proposal.
McCain, also urged simplification. He proposed a Greenspan commission and an up or down vote on its proposal.
Tancredo supports Fair Tax because income tax manipulate behavior. A very good argument against federal over reaching through the tax code.
Sam went with a flat tax proposal. Sam's critique echoed the federal over reach argument that Tom Tancredo made.
Another dumb reader question about the candidates' significant mistakes.
Who cares about mistakes.
Romney said being publicly pro-choice was a mistake.
Rudy brought down the laughs when he said he couldn't do it in 30 seconds.
McCain thought volunteering for extra combat was defining moment and then meeting with Keating back in the 80s.
the last question was what would be restored to the White House.
Tancredo began with a great answer--he would resotre honesty be getting rid of political correctness.
tommy Thompson-open up the East Wing to more ideas.
Brownback-restore the family by trying to end broken homes and appoint a pro-life justice.
McCain-loved the country, fully prepared. Didn't address the question.
Rudy-restore hope to the entire country like he did in New York, unlike the Dems, who also have no executive experience to go along with their defeatism.
Romney-strengthen America's military. More soldiers and better weapons.
Huckabee-restore the American people as the boss.
Ron Paul-restore openess.
Duncan Hunter-great answer, restore economic patriotism. Bring back building in America. (Yeah, use the "made in America" label as a Presidential slogan is exactly what this country needs.)
It was the Rudy McRomney show!! The Tanc REALLY stepped up his debate performance when George would actually let him talk. Tancredo is a better man than me. I would have walked my ass offstage and started shaking hands with the crowd if I was going to do nothing but stand there.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0807/Mitt_unplugged.html
Did anyone else notice how Ron Paul looked like a young child with a badly bruised ego for the rest of the debate after the crowd booed him on his "Just Go Home" remark? I guess that’s one way to shut him up ... Give him a visible display that outside of the roving band of hippy-wanabe-vandals that stand out on street corner screaming his name at unfortunate passers-by, the GOP doesn’t support his message and in many cases, doesn’t want him around at all.
I think the most important part of the debate is the comparison that can be made between the Republicans allowing a lefty to run a debate and actually, wait for it folks, debate each other on the issues. Does anyone think little george would ask the questions he did to us, to the liberals?
Tancredo won the debate, hands down
Huckabee second
Hunter third
Everyone else but paul in the middle
Then Mr. Cox, who wasnt in the room
Then Ron Paul.
i want to hear someone ask Hillary what her biggest mistake is.
I want to hear someone ask Hillary what she thinks is the biggest failure of American (or whatever that stupid question was from Chris Mathews)
I want them to quit wasting my time with ridiculous questions, like ...say something nice and something bad about your opponent.
I was at the Iowans for Tax relief presidential forum a while back and recall Romney ducking the question on Fair Tax. He said "my people haven't looked at it, so I don't know how I feel about it yet."
Then, he comes out in this forum and slams the Fair Tax. Something along the lines of "it's too tough to tackle, so why bother?"
Yepsen displayed his liberal roots with his question about raising taxes to fix bridges. Rudy ripped him with the best answer I've heard any candidate give so far about tax policy.
You cut taxes and tax revenue actually goes up. It always does. It is right now. We have historic rates of tax income. Record high reveneue to the government.
When you raise taxes, you reduce tax revenue. It always works that way. Always!!!!
So, how stupid is Yepsen and how stupid are democrats to have that ignorant assumption that you always have to raise taxes to get tax revenue.
Rudy was Right on right on! I was embarrased to discover that Yepsen is the only alledged sorta kinda republican columnist for the Register.
He's been foolin us all along. Or...he's just plain ignorant about these important issues and can't frame the question properly.
ah hah! Maybe the reason democrats always posit that premise is because they think that WE are stpid.
The real reason they want to raise taxes is not necessarily to raise revenue for Pelosi's latest pet projects, but to reduce income and create more low income people who must depend on the government for welfare.
Pelosi just raised taxes on oil companies again. Does she really think that the Oil Companies are going to take this out of their profit or pass it along to the consumer.
Yes, they just hit poor people again. They just made it that much harder for a poor person to drive to work, thus creating a new family dependent on welfare (liberal government).
The Federal government allocated millions and millions of dollars to New Orleans over many years prior to Hurrican Katrina for the specific purpose of improving the levies.
The levies were not improved because Louisiana and New Orleans decided to spend that money elsewhere.
A football stadium perhaps?
A vast right wing conspiracy to conjer up a hurricane to kill just black people? My god, Bush has to be the smartest person ever born on earth to conduct all the conspiracies he's accused of managing.
Be aware, the progressive wing (reid, pelosi, moveon. george soros) are marching toward dictatorship one step at a time.
First, socialism, then communism Cuba style! They are on the slippery slope that eliminates freedom.
They don't think you can handle freedom. They want to manage it for you. They know better. You need them.
I think Tancredo wins best use of time allotted. His answers were a bit new and I liked what I heard.
He accurately depicted what tax policy was really about - the federal government controlling behavior. I've not heard anyone else make that point and it is a point that should be made often.
He also made the point that too many republicans have forgotten - it is not the federal government's responsibily to make sure I'm "happy".
mcquisling - how are you going to defeat evil if you run away so easily from difficulty. It's a thread I've noticed in your comments.
You quit being a republican, you advocate taking away our tools to fight evil by encouraging conservatives to not give money to any republican entity and now, you would run off stage if it's not going your way.
You have to stay in the ring if you really want to defeat mcquisling and fred thompson.
The rest of us are dancing as fast as we can. I sure wish you'd help.
USA TODAY's Susan Page reports that President Bush is making some headway in arguing that the increase in U.S. troops in Iraq is showing military progress.
In the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, taken Friday through Sunday, the proportion of those who said the additional troops are "making the situation better" rose to 31% from 22% a month ago.
Those who said it was "not making much difference" dropped to 41% from 51%.
From the same survey:
The number of those who favor removing virtually all U.S. troops from Iraq by next April 1 has dropped a bit, though two-thirds of those surveyed still support the idea.
In the July survey, a record high of 62% had called the invasion of Iraq "a mistake."
That view is now held by 57%, roughly where it's been for more than a year.
Someone said: "You cut taxes and tax revenue actually goes up. It always does."
So I guess we could have unlimited revenue if we abolished taxes, or maybe kept the taxes but set the rate at zero.
That's the logical conclusion of the claim, isnt't it?
spotlight...
You might need a little lesson on the Laffer curve:
Theory Basics
The basic idea behind the relationship between tax rates and tax revenues is that changes in tax rates have two effects on revenues: the arithmetic effect and the economic effect. The arithmetic effect is simply that if tax rates are lowered, tax revenues (per dollar of tax base) will be lowered by the amount of the decrease in the rate. The reverse is true for an increase in tax rates. The economic effect, however, recognizes the positive impact that lower tax rates have on work, output, and employment--and thereby the tax base--by providing incentives to increase these activities. Raising tax rates has the opposite economic effect by penalizing participation in the taxed activities. The arithmetic effect always works in the opposite direction from the economic effect. Therefore, when the economic and the arithmetic effects of tax-rate changes are combined, the consequences of the change in tax rates on total tax revenues are no longer quite so obvious.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/bg1765.cfm
It's an idea of optimal taxation. Your observation correctly identified one point on a Laffer curve, but it is an unusual point that doesn't exist in the real world. But what the hell is the real world anyway?
This was on The Fix with Chris Cillizza.
Posted at 09:20 AM ET, 08/ 6/2007
John Edwards: Mad as Hell
Over the last few weeks, a new John Edwards has emerged.
Beginning with the CNN/YouTube debate on July 24, Edwards has appeared far more angry -- outraged even -- at the current Administration, the war in Iraq and even many in his own party.
At last weekend's YearlyKos presidential debate, Edwards worked himself into a lather on almost every question -- loudly proclaiming the need for real and big change while dismissing the half-measures and compromises advocated by some of his opponents.
Put simply: John Edwards is mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore.
The angry Edwards is a marked contrast to the former North Carolina Senator's sunny optimism and unwillingness to attack any of the other candidates during the 2004 elections.
Iowans seemed drawn to that positive message, nearly delivering Edwards a stunning victory in the first-in-the-nation caucuses.
That Edwards is gone, however, and in his place a candidate who seems intent on showing his disgust and distaste at every chance he gets.
let's spotlight the democrats ignorance on economics 101. They never take those classes in school. Too much blue sky truth rather than green sky wish it were this way, theory.
Thanks Laffer guy at 3:39. So we can agree that it's not "always" true that lower rates mean more revenue. That was the claim (at 12:57 pm) that I disputed.
True enough. Things are not "always" what someone thinks they ought to be. However, to make one small obscure mention that zero taxes produces zero revenue implying then that the assumption of lower taxes producing increased revenue is somehow daft is, well, daft in its own logic.
Edwards stands in solidarity with Sioux City strikers
4:50 PM
By Bret Hayworth, Journal staff writer
6 comment(s) | Share | Small | Large
Democratic Party presidential candidate John Edwards came to Sioux City today to show solidarity with the mixers, yard employees and ready mix drivers in Teamsters Local Union 554 who have been on a work stoppage from Standard Ready Mix since October 2006.
Several hundred people gathered just outside Standard Ready Mix as Edwards began his five-stop campaign swing through Sioux City, Orange City, Sheldon, Spirit Lake and Spencer. His theme on the day was to ensure that not just the upper class in America thrives and that the middle class doesn't disappear.
Speaking to a crowd largely adorned in union T-shirts, Edwards said for the middle class "to survive, one of the critical things we have to do is strengthen and grow the organized labor movement in America. I've walked a bunch a picket lines all over the last several years, and I'm proud to be here with all of you."
As president, Edwards said he would back banning the hiring of permanent replacements for strikers, support the Employee Free Choice Act to give workers "a real choice in whether to form a union" and toughen penalties for breaking labor laws.
Edwards said his appearance in support of the strikers was "not about politics, this is about doing what is right for the people you stand up for... Your cause is my cause."
hey spotlight absurdity. No one said...no taxes. It was low taxes. Each time taxes are lowered...rates of tax revenue increase...just like it did when President Kennedy did it.
You missed the point and went for the absurd extreme conclusion to justify your ignorance about how the economy works.
You quit being a republican, you advocate taking away our tools to fight evil by encouraging conservatives to not give money to any republican entity and now, you would run off stage if it's not going your way.
Check your premise. You assume that the only way conservatives can fight evil is by being a Republican. Not the case.
If you had actually read the post, I said that I would have gone out in the crowd and started shaking hands. Distracts the hell out of the people on stage and gets me face time with the electorate.
You have to stay in the ring if you really want to defeat mcquisling and fred thompson.
I prefer to fight outside the ring, in the back alley if you will. Republicans don't think outside their little box when it comes to the WOT or eliminating liberalism.
I think the main difference between you and myself is that your enemy is Democrats. My enemy is liberalism as an ideology and a governing philosophy. We are not going to defeat it "in the ring." We have to resort to a guerilla war against liberalism.
See, there is a method behind the madness.
By JEFF ZELENY of the New York Times
Published: August 3, 2007
....The relationship began to change, according to several Democrats who are friendly to both senators, when Mr. Obama began musing aloud about a presidential bid. The day he opened his exploratory committee, several Senate observers said, he extended his hand and said hello on the Senate floor. She breezed by him, offering a cool stare.
One week later, following the State of the Union address, the two senators found themselves doing a back-to-back interview on CNN. Mr. Obama went first, with Mrs. Clinton pacing a few feet away. Finally, an aide escorted her completely around the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building, avoiding walking directly by Mr. Obama.
Many Senate observers, even those close to Mrs. Clinton, say they believe she set the less-than-collegial tone.
perhaps you all saw that the taxpayer is giving Bill Krause, CEO of Kum and Go and of Touchplay fame 1.6 million dollars of our money for his trouble.
i wonder how much health insurance they could buy for kids with that?
Clinton and Obama have barely spoken to each other for months... Day he opened his exploratory committee, he extended his hand, said hello to Clinton on Senate floor. 'She breezed by him, offering a cool stare'... Developing...
NewsMax.com Wires
Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Democratic presidential contender John Edwards on Monday criticized former President Clinton, arguing that he allowed corporate insiders to shape the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement that has cost U.S. jobs.
Edwards' complaints about the former president beloved by voters in his own party was a defiant move meant to highlight rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's relationship with special interests.
It comes two days after Clinton refused Edwards' challenge to stop taking campaign donations from lobbyists, saying many represent good causes.
"It's time that the president stood up and fought for American workers," Edwards told a crowd of about 300 people at a union hall in Cedar Rapids. "It's time to have a president that always puts the interests of the American people first."
Edwards criticized the presidential leadership during the 1993 passage of NAFTA, which was started by President George H.W. Bush and pushed through by Clinton.
He said the trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada was "written by insiders in all three countries."
Edwards said the policies of President George W. Bush have devastated towns and communities all across America, but "this is not just his doing."
"For far too long, presidents from both parties have entered into trade agreements, agreements like NAFTA, promising that they would create millions of new jobs and enrich communities," he said. "Instead, too many of these agreements have cost jobs and devastated towns and communities across this country."
Monday, Aug. 6, 2007 9:19 a.m. EDT
Iowa Group Gives Huckabee High Marks
This story was written by Susan Jones, CNSNews.com senior editor.
The presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee is hailing his "post-debate momentum," following the latest gathering of Republican candidates in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday. The debate was televised on ABC.
A focus group of 29 Iowa Republican voters, convened by pollster Frank Luntz, gave Huckabee high marks for his clear answers to the questions.
The former Arkansas governor didn't sound like a Washington insider, one of the focus group members said.
Appearing on Fox News Monday morning, Luntz said Huckabee may "break out" at the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames this coming Saturday.
The Huckabee campaign, meanwhile, is asking its volunteers to "redouble your efforts to get even more Iowans to the straw poll in Ames to vote for Mike Huckabee."
Rudy was interviewed tonight wherein he discussed the political sophistication of Iowans. We know the issues and we are a good filter.
Yes, Iowans are very knowledgable about the issues because we take our first in the nation role responsibly.
This goes for Iowa democrats as well. We all take our responbility to the nation seriously.
it's how we serve our country when we are too old to serve in the military or attend Hitlery's Youth Corp Re-education camp.
I can’t believe I haven’t heard any of the rival R candidates pounding on Romney after his softy attack on Obama. So how is Romney going to answer if this question is posed: “If you have actionable intelligence on bin Laden in Pakistan and the Pakistani government is unwilling to act (a reasonably likely scenario to actually happen), what would you do?” – According to Romney’s attack on Obama, Romney would not go after bin Laden. He would be too scared to upset a “friendly” military dictator. I mean really, is this guy an R??
What a perfect opportunity to bring down the R front runner in Iowa and NH. And it seems like nobody is going after the guy. Just can’t believe it.
the President of the Atlanta NAACP said in an interview today that Michael Vick is being "lynched" and they are going to honor him as a great hero at an event sponsored by the Atlanta NAACP.
Nice.
That defames ALL the legitimate suffering real heros of the Jim Crowe south.
This is a tragedy for the NAACP if they feel Vick is being Lynched and a hero.
why isn't the name of the naacp racist? the national association of rhe advancement of colored people.
didn't that label, "Colored people" go out in the 50's? Why don't they update their name? How about they update their mission, since they have achieved the mission?
Perhaps it could be, the National Association for the Advancement of People of Color - to be more inclusive and demostrate they value diversity.
Perhaps they could be the National Association for the Advancement of People.
Celebrating Michael Vick as a hero demeans them and those who they purport to advance.
Shame on the Atlanta NAACP.
Re: tax cuts & the Laffer stuff. Looks like everyone needs a refresher on economics 101. Absent from the whole discussion is the expense side of things. In the real world and real budgets, that side exists as well. Even the W administration has admitted that the eventual increased tax revenues due to tax cuts were never enough to cover the budget shortfall from the original budget cuts. Thus, you will end up with a budget deficit unless you make corresponding cuts on the spending side. And is there anything easier for a politician than advocating for a tax cut without proposing any spending cuts? - Real economic conservatives should be thrilled about the new D spending rules in Congress.
Martin Luther King Jr is rolling over in his grave that the NAACP even exists. He was a proponent of assilimiation. He was a proponent of judging people based on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.
The mission seems to have strayed so far from the original intent of his constitution for us all.
Shame on the NAACP for not condemning the actions of this branch of the NAACP.
Is it the content of the character or the color of his skin that merits the honor?
Well....???
What would Martin Luther King jr say?
What would Jesse Jackson jr say?
What would Al Sharpton say?
What would O.J Simpson say?
"The fact that the same Republican candidates who want to keep 160,000 American troops in the middle of a civil war couldn't agree that we should take out Osama bin Laden if we had him in our sights, proves why Americans want to turn the page on the last seven years of Bush-Cheney foreign policy," Obama said.
Ouch!
rf - you and I are on the same side wtih obama. I gotta crush.. I am as sick to death of bush-clinton-bush-clinton as many of you guys are.
I find his "turn the page" very refreshing and hopeful. I'm so sick of all the fighting and gameplaying on both sides over what seems to amouont to their own personal baggage with each other, that I really hope Obama gets your nomination.
I think we have a possibility of a renaissance of sorts to a campaign more focused on "us" rather than "them". We being the citizens and Them being washington DC.
A peaceful..adult...conversation would be a nice turn of the page.
So...I wish you all luck in getting Obama to be your nominee.
Only hurts if arguably true.
al Qaeda and their friends came to Iraq to fight us there, hence that is where military history, current global politics and deductive reasoning makes Iraq the proper battlefield.
Launching a bombing attack into Pakistan without their consent would be risky at best and globally catastrophic at worst. Do you think simply killing Osama would be worth destabilizing a friendly Islamic government, that has nuclear weapons?
So as fun as it seems to posture, the real world makes Osama's statement seem almost insanely reckless.
We've intentionally decoupled budgets from the economics of tax policy, otherwise it's too painful. In a few years the onslaught of the boomers and their entitlements will make the concept of fiscally responsible budgeting a quaint idea from the last century.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
2:45 PM EDT, August 6, 2007
CAPE CORAL - Publix supermarket chain said today it will make seven common prescription antibiotics available for free, joining other major retailers in trying to lure customers to their stores with cheap medications.
The oral antibiotics, representing the most commonly filled at the chain's pharmacies, will be available at no cost to anyone with a prescription as often as they need them, Publix CEO Charlie Jenkins Jr. said.
Fourteen-day supplies of the seven drugs will be available at all 684 of the chain's pharmacies in five Southern states.
The prescription antibiotics available under the program are amoxicillin, cephalexin, penicillin VK, erythromycin, ampicillin, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, and ciprofoxacin.
Despite Prior Success, Romney Won't Propose National Health Care Fix
Knight Ridder Washington Bureau
BOSTON _ In one of his many television ads, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney boasts of his can-do management as governor of Massachusetts.
"In the most liberal state in the country," the ads say, "in the toughest place, Mitt Romney's done the toughest things."
In another, Ann Romney says proudly of her husband, "Every place that Mitt has gone, he has solved problems that people said were nearly impossible."
Yet Romney's ads do not mention what is arguably his most impressive accomplishment as governor: pushing through universal health care for state residents.
He does talk about his health care success when asked in debates and town hall meetings. But he hasn't highlighted it in his ad campaign and doesn't even come close to suggesting that he would do for the country what he did for Massachusetts.
That he doesn't push the plan says something about both policy and politics:
_Aides say the Massachusetts plan wouldn't work nationally, and Romney has no plans to propose a nationwide version.
_The plan's centerpiece _ a requirement that all people get health insurance similar to state laws that require drivers to get auto insurance _ is unpopular with the conservative Republican primary voters that Romney needs to win his party's presidential nomination.
The dream of health care for all has stirred Democrats from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton to this year's crop of Democratic presidential contenders.
Yet of all the people seeking the White House, the only one who has negotiated and signed into law a plan to provide health care to all of the uninsured is Romney.
The plan went into effect in Massachusetts on July 1, and, despite some startup problems, is popular in the state and has become a model for as many as 26 other states.
"It's the only plan in the country that's trying to actually get close to universal coverage," said Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy at Harvard University. "I believe two years from now they will have the bulk of the uninsured signed up."
Where others have tinkered around the edges by expanding programs, Romney and the Democratic Massachusetts Legislature took the bold step of ordering everyone in the state to get insurance.
To help, the state will offer subsidies to many uninsured. The state also negotiated new policies with lower premiums.
Much of the money comes from a fund already used to finance emergency room care for the uninsured. More comes from a federal grant, and the rest from the state.
Despite complaints about confusion and kinks in the system, the people of Massachusetts like it even more than they did a year ago. Governors and legislators from other states are calling to find out more.
Yet voters in the early caucus and primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida hear nothing about it in Romney's ads, which have aired more than all the ads combined from all the other campaigns in both parties.
One reason could be that Republicans don't like the idea of the government ordering people to buy insurance.
"He doesn't talk about it because that feature is not that appealing to Republican voters," said Blendon, noting a poll on the subject conducted by Harvard and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The ISI is riddled with AQ. If Osama is in Waziristan and Peshwar, we call Musharraf and tell him that Waziristan and Peshwar are now United States Military ordnance testing grounds. They are pure military targets, start testing weaponry on them.
If there is a populated area in the region, hit that first. They are supporting AQ so they are no better than the people of Dresden and they deserve the same fate.
What are your school boards doing this year to improve the teaching of our kids? Here's what Des Moines is going to promote doing.
What do teachers learn in college? Do they not learn how to teach reading? How many ways are there to learn how to read? Why must this profession and no other profession have to re-learn how to do the job they supposedly learned how to do in college?
So, teachers need 6 days of precious class time to learn how to read so they can teach little kids how to read. This is pathetic and ought to embarrass them.
The NEA must go. This is nothing more than reducing work and increasing pay. This has nothing to do with "the Kids".
OUT EARLY: Elementary students not at schools with intensive federal reading programs would get six additional early dismissal days so teachers can be trained for a new reading curriculum.
Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007
Posted on Tue, Aug. 07, 2007
Why I see John Edwards as a big phony
By BRAD WARTHEN
Editorial Page Editor Of South Carolina's TheState.Com
MONTHS ago, I observed on my blog that I think John Edwards is a phony — a make-believe Man of The People.
It’s not so much that he’s lying when he says he wants to help One America — the Deserving Poor, whom he wants to vote for him — get what it has coming to it from the Other America (that of the Really Rich, to which he disarmingly admits he belongs). I think he believes it. But I don’t, and here’s why:
Strike One: Sept. 16, 2003. ....... Then I saw Mr. Edwards step to an offstage position just behind the bleachers to my left. None of the folks in the “good” seats could see him.
His face was impassive, slack, bored: Another crowd, another show. Nothing wrong with that — just a professional at work.
But then, I saw the thing that stuck with me: As his introduction reached its climax, he straightened, and turned on a thousand-watt smile as easily and artificially as flipping a switch. He assumed the look of a man who had just, quite unexpectedly, run into a long-lost best friend. He stepped into view of the crowd at large, and worked his way, Bill Clinton-like, from the back of the crowd toward the stage — a man of the people, coming out from among the people — shaking hands with the humble, grateful enthusiasm of a poor soul who had just won the Irish Sweepstakes.
It was so well done, but so obviously a thing of art, that I was taken aback despite three decades of seeing politicians at work.
Not enough for you? OK.
Strike Two: Jan. 23, 2004. Seeking our support in the primary he would win 11 days later, he came to an interview with The State’s editorial board.
He was all ersatz-cracker bonhomie, beginning by swinging his salt-encrusted left snowboot onto the polished boardroom table, booming, “How do y’all like my boots?” He had not, it seemed, had time to change footwear since leaving New Hampshire.
The interview proceeded according to script, a lot of aw-shucking, smiling, showing of genuine concern, and warm expressions of determination to close the gap between the Two Americas. Then he left, and I didn’t think much more about it, until a week later.
On the 30th, Howard Dean came in to see us for the second time. Again, I was struck by how personable he was, so unlike his screamer image. I rode down on the elevator with him afterward, along with my administrative assistant and another staffer who was a real Dean fan (but, worse luck for Gov. Dean, not a member of our board). I paused to watch him take his time to greet everyone in our foyer — treating each person who wanted to shake his hand as every bit as important as any editorial board member, if not more so. I remarked upon it.
“Isn’t he a nice man?” said our copy editor (the fan). I agreed. Then came the revelation: “Unlike John Edwards,” observed the administrative assistant. What’s that? It seems that when she alone had met then-Sen. Edwards at the reception desk, she had been struck by the way he utterly ignored the folks in our customer service department and others who had hoped for a handshake or a word from the Great Man. He had saved all his amiability, all his professionally entertaining energy and talent, for the folks upstairs who would have a say in the paper’s endorsement.
At that moment, my impression acquired stony bulwarks of Gothic dimensions.
Strike Three: Sept. 22, 2004. I dropped by a reception held for then-vice-presidential nominee Edwards at the Capital City Club that afternoon.
I had stuffed my press credentials into my pocket after arrival so as to mix freely with the high-rollers and hear what they had to say. (They knew who I was, but the stuffy types who want writers to stand like cattle behind barriers did not.)
It was well past the candidate’s alleged time of arrival, but no one seemed to mind.
Then a prominent Democrat who lives in a fashionable downtown neighborhood confided we’d be waiting even longer.
We all knew the candidate had a more public appearance at Martin Luther King Park before this one, and no one begrudged him such face time with real voters.
But this particular insider knew something else: He had bided his own time because he had seen Sen. Edwards go jogging in front of his house, along with his security detail, after the time that the MLK event was to have started.
As reported in The State the next day: “Edwards was running late, and the throng waiting to rally with him at Martin Luther King Jr.
Park took notice. They sat for two hours in the sweltering heat inside the community center, a block off Five Points.”
We were cool at the club, drinking, schmoozing, snacking. So he’s late? What are these folks going to do — write checks for the Republicans?
But my impression had been reinforced with steel girders: John Edwards, Man of The People, is a phony.
And until I see an awful lot of stunning evidence to the contrary, that impression is not likely to change.
Visit http://blogs.thestate.com/bradwarthensblog/.
.....In some ways, it's the way we have to go," Elizabeth Edwards says. "We can't make John black, we can't make him a woman. Those things get you a lot of press, worth a certain amount of fundraising dollars.
Now it's nice to get on the news, but not the be all and end all."
Wow! I’m in agreement with our friend Mcquisling.
So R’s have now decided to grant amnesty to Osama bin Laden? I thought you guys weren’t for the amnesty stuff. And in 2004 R’s seemed to be all upset about any hint of letting foreigners have any say in our national security decisions. Now, we are all concerned about the feelings of our military dictator buddy. Funny how things change.
I, on the other hand, have not forgotten about 9/11. Of course there would be risk in an operation to get bin Laden in Pakistan. But I’m willing to take that risk. I want the bastard dead. Anyone who supported W’s Iraq debacle will have real credibility issues when expressing concern about potential destabilization. Plus, when someone cites an instance of acting based on “actionable intelligence,” we will likely be talking about a very limited, yet surely aggressive, operation. It could be one airstrike.
I’m a D, but I want a president with some balls.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution as Congress prepared to break for the August recess Saturday, urging President Bush to boycott the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Waters and others involved in the effort to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, where an estimated 200,000 people have died and millions more are homeless, want to pressure China to curtail its support of the Sudanese government.
Rf is the great white hope for his party. He's reasonable.
We agree we need to get Osama. We are just very surprised to hear a democrat advocate going after the bad guys. You guys scream about Iraq, where we have permission to be, yet will attack an ally...the criteria for action isn't consistent.
After all, Maxine Watters thinks she can fix Darfur on the backs of our Olympic Athletes, as if anyone would care if we didn't go.
It just means more gold medals for them and our athletes have their lifelong dreams and ambitions ruined....for her political gain.
You guys don't have any credibility on national security and Maxine leads the way with proof.
...Clinton saying to Obama, "You should not always say everything you think when you are running for president, because it can have consequences."
The wildest cheers were for Rep. Dennis Kucinich's applause lines aimed at the union crowd.
While all the candidates leveled criticism at the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, which was enacted by former President Clinton, Kucinich said repeatedly he would withdraw from it and the World Trade Organization.
"No one on stage could give you a straight answer, because they don't intend to scrap it," he said.
Unions are important for the money and the foot soldiers they can provide candidates.
In the 2004 elections, organized labor gave $53.6 million to Democratic candidates and party committees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That amount increased to $66 million for the 2006 elections and is expected to increase again for 2008.
The AFL-CIO - which has 55 member unions and represents 10 million workers - said in 2006 that it knocked on 8.25 million doors for union candidates, made 30 million telephone calls, distributed 14 million fliers and sent out 20 million pieces of mail in its successful efforts to help Democrats take the House and Senate.
The d'a are totally beholden to BIG UNION - which includes the BIG NEA, which is the BIGGEST UNION OF ALL and represents 1 out of 12 delegates to their national convention.
They are beholden to, bought and paid for by BIG TRIAL LAWYERS too.
They are beholden to, bought and paid for by George Soros, who owns Moveon.org and the DailyKos.
I was disppointed in you today Ted. I don't necessarily agree with Ron Paul on every issue, but he is a Republican and deserves to be heard not jeered. I thought you should have toned it down on the radio this morning.
ANON 10:08AM
Did you listen to the JM Show from 9:07 until "THE REAL SPORER" began to speak??????????????????????????
If you DID you CANNOT cite Ron Paul being a Republican as any sort of criteria by which to chastise the Chairman of the Organization Committee of the State Central Committe of the Republican Party of Iowa. If you DID NOT hear the first 2/3 of the hour, you are being judgmental without having the facts.
Other than I do NOT believe that the USA was responsible for the 911 attacks, the only problem I have with Ron Paul, the candidate, is he does not wish to participate in events by particpating in pre-event meetings,returning requested mailing reponses, etc. This is a pattern that rings true of the 6/30/07 IFTR/ICA forum and now our Straw Poll.
Now as far as Ron Paul, the campaign, I have major problems!!!
These two "supporters" (I wore a BIKE supporter in High School) want to sue in federal court to stop our straw poll. They want 60 tubs used instead of 60 voting machines. The Republican Party of Iowa is being accused of "fixing" the election before a single vote has been cast.
The Ron Paul campaign and its supporters sent some of the most vile and obscene emails (by the thousands)to the folks at the ICA and IFTR - as recently as last Friday. I have read some of them.
Your speaking for their right to demolish our Straw Poll, defame our leadership and generally resemble the south end of a horse facing north is totally off base in my opinion.
All Iowa Republicans will benefit from a successful straw poll: County Central Committee's, Local candidates and state wide candidates.
All of the other campaigns are fine with what is going on, but then they DID PARTICIPATE in the pre-event planning meetings etc.
Ron Paul needs to travel the state like the other candidates have and earn the right to be "heard not jeered". He needs to speak for himself at county meeting, fund-raisers and events he sets up to promote his candidacy. Other than a meeting in early March that I had to miss because of a blizzard, I have heard of no Ron Paul event to attend. I have attended probably 55 county meetings in the last 6-7 months and I have not seen Ron Paul at any of them. Until about 2-3 weeks ago I had seen no surrogate speakers supporting Ron Paul.
If Ron Paul the candidate wants respect ... wants to be "heard not jeered" ... he needs to very publicly denounce the tone and tenor of his supporter's words and actions and apologize to RPI leadership for the unfounded charges leveled this morning.
Karl Gilbertson,
State Central Committee
1st District
Anon 10:08 AM,
The only thing Ron Paul "deserves" is a swift kick in the ass out the door of the GOP .... I sincerely hope that someone, ANYONE in his heavily conservative Texas Congressional district can primary this jack-ass out of office and into the retirement that the GOP, as a whole, are anxious for him to begin.
8:21
Thanks for the compliment.
I assume you do realize Obama did not say he would "attack Pakistan." He said he would attack bin Laden. Big difference.
DAILY KOS CO-AUTHOR FINED $30K FOR UNETHICAL STOCK TOUT
Wed Aug 08 2007 19:12:23 ET
Prominent liberal blogger Jerome Armstrong has agreed to pay nearly $30,000 in fines in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations that Armstrong touted the stock of a software company, without disclosing that he was being paid to do so, the NY TIMES reports.
Armstrong is the co-author of _Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics,_ with Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos. He is also the founder of the Democratic activist site MyDD.com.
Under the agreement, Armstrong neither denies nor admits to the allegations.
"It's good to see the matter finally end," Armstrong said in an e-mail message to the TIMES.
cut and paste some stupid article or something here.
Aug 9 01:52 PM US/Eastern
By BETH FOUHY
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, who chastised rival Barack Obama for ruling out the use of nuclear weapons in the war on terror, did just that when asked about Iran a year ago.
"I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table," she said in April 2006.
Her views expressed while she was gearing up for a presidential run stand in conflict with her comments this month regarding Obama, who faced heavy criticism from leaders of both parties, including Clinton, after saying it would be "a profound mistake" to deploy nuclear weapons in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"There's been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That's not on the table," he said.
Clinton, who has tried to cast her rival as too inexperienced for the job of commander in chief, said of Obama's stance on Pakistan: "I don't believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or non-use of nuclear weapons."
But that's exactly what she did in an interview with Bloomberg Television in April 2006.
The New York senator, a member of the Armed Services committee, was asked about reports that the Bush administration was considering military intervention—possibly even a nuclear strike—to prevent Iran from escalating its nuclear program.
"I have said publicly no option should be off the table, but I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table," Clinton said.
"This administration has been very willing to talk about using nuclear weapons in a way we haven't seen since the dawn of a nuclear age. I think that's a terrible mistake."
Clinton's views on the potential use of nuclear weapons appear to have changed since then.
In Tuesday's AFL-CIO debate, Edwards' voice rose as he pledged his solidarity with union workers, citing the 200 times he walked picket lines in the last two years and being with rank-and-file at "crunch time."
"That's the question you have to ask yourself. Who will stand with you when it really matters?" he asked.
Rival Joe Biden testily suggested Edwards was a Johnny-come-lately, who only embraced labor's cause recently for the political expediency of the presidential race.
"The question is, did you walk when it cost? Did you walk when you were from a state that is not a labor state?" Biden asked.
To make its point, the Biden campaign distributed a list of news stories from 1998, when Edwards ran for the Senate, showing that he supported a North Carolina law that prevented workers from being forced to join a union - an anti-union position.
"I think Senator Edwards, fairly or unfairly, has come across in this campaign to some as being less than authentic," said Andy Arnold, chairman of the Greenville, S.C., Democratic Party.
Anon 3:42,
Bend over and I'll show you a clever post.
Dipshit. Oh... I forgot to post some random article.... here you go:
Family Selling Jesus Stain On eBay Cleans Up
Garage Stain Fetches $1,500
POSTED: 8:35 am CDT August 10, 2007
FOREST, Va. -- Holy smudge!
A Virginia family has gotten more than $1,500 for a garage stain that looks like Jesus Christ.
High school teacher Deb Serio said she figured they won't get any bids for their slab of concrete on e-Bay.
The stain formed after driveway sealant was applied.
The Serios have paid a contractor to remove the chunk of cement for the winning bidder.
Serio said she's an active Lutheran and doesn't consider her holy smudge any sort of sign or miracle.
But, she added, it's fun to see how other people react to it.
Anybody know why the most liberal member of the state central committee Bill Vernon, has his wife running against Sarah Henderson for city council in Cedar Rapids? This makes no sense at all unless the country club republicrats like Vernon and the former Red Mayor Lee Clancey want to raise more taxes. Henderson is clearly a roadblock to tax hikes.
I say its time we stop electing folk from Cedar Rapids to the state central committee. That county party is messed up.
After 8 pm and still no straw poll results? This just goes further to display the incompetence of the GOP. They couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the directions were written on the heel.
Anon Friday Aug.10, 9:07
You poor, poor, poor soul. Anybody who knows Bill & Monica knows that Bill would never be able to "have" her do or not do anything. She is an independent personality who is very successful in her own right. If she is running for city council, it is by her own doing.
As for Bill being the most liberal member of the state central committee, who the hell knows! He has been a faithful, dedicated and loyal Republican for several decades! In any event, his political background and persuasion have nothing to do with his wife or her run for city council. It is an election! May the best woman win!
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