Monday, January 31, 2011

US Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman resigns. Preparing for 2012?

Politico: Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the U.S. ambassador to China, sent a resignation letter to President Barack Obama on Monday and now is likely to explore a Republican presidential bid, a close associate told POLITICO.
In a letter hand-delivered to the White House, the former Utah governor said that he wants to return to the United States by May, the associate said.

GOP allies of Huntsman have already begun laying plans for a quick-start campaign should the former Utah governor decide to enter the ill-defined Republican field.
While Huntsman has no direct involvement in it, a group of operatives that could eventually comprise his strategy team has set up an entity called “Horizon PAC” to serve as a placeholder for his political apparatus. [MORE]
Needless to say the administration is already sounding rather snarky about the whole thing.  They appointed Huntsman to take him out of the running in 2012.  Instead they ended up giving him massive foreign policy experience.  How does that old saying go; "one good screw deserves another"?
Jon Huntsman is the perfect Romney clone.  

  • Moderate RINO - check.
  • Mormon - check.
  • Good Hair and presidential looks - check.
  • Very wealthy - check.
I for one am glad Huntsman may run.  This is because so many conservatives are still looking for  "The One". The risk here is that conservatives could end up casting their votes all over the place, while the establishment and moderate Republicans quickly coalesce around Mitt Romney and give him the nomination. With Huntsman (and hopefully other RINOs) running, the establishment and moderates will face the same dilemma as conservatives.  This will make the chance of a true conservative winning the nomination more equal.


I think Huntsman stands a good chance of raining on Mitt's parade.  Surely, moderates and establishment Republicans must be worried that Mitt is going to struggle mightily at the hands of conservatives.  Perhaps, they will look at Huntsman as a less caustic option.


At any rate, I say, bring on the RINOs!


Via: Memeorandum
Via: Politico

Strike Two: Florida judge rules ObamaCare unconstitutional

Today Justice Roger Vinson of the U.S. District Court in Pensacola ruled that the individual mandate clause of ObamaCare is unconstitutional. Furthermore, Justice Vinson notes that since the mandates are so integral to ObamaCare, the entire 2,700 page nightmare is unconstitutional.


You can read Justice Vinson's entire ruling below (h/t: Michelle Malkin)




For an extra nice touch, Justice Vinson uses Obama's own words against him.


The Washington Times:In ruling against President Obama‘s health care law, federal JudgeRoger Vinson used Mr. Obama‘s own position from the 2008 campaign against him, when the then-Illinois senator argued there were other ways to achieve reform short of requiring every American to purchase insurance.

“I note that in 2008, then-Senator Obama supported a health care reform proposal that did not include an individual mandate because he was at that time strongly opposed to the idea, stating that, ‘If a mandate was the solution, we can try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody to buy a house,’” Judge Vinson wrote in a footnote toward the end of his 78-page ruling Monday.[...]


The footnote was attached to the most critical part of Judge Vinson‘s ruling, in which he said the “principal dispute” in the case was not whether Congress has the power to tackle health care, but rather whether it has the power to compel individual citizens to purchase insurance.
Judge Vinson cited Mr. Obama‘s campaign words from an interview with CNN to show that there are other options that could pass constitutional muster including then-candidate Obama‘s plan.
The only thing Justice Vinson did not deliver on was an injunction stopping the immediate implementation of ObamaCare.
The New York Times: [...]The judge declined to immediately enjoin, or suspend, the law pending appeals, a process that could last two years. But he wrote that the federal government should adhere to his declaratory judgment as the functional equivalent of an injunction. That left confusion about how the ruling might be interpreted in the 26 states that are parties to the legal challenge.
The insurance mandate does not take effect until 2014. But many new regulations are already operating, like requirements that insurers cover children with pre-existing health conditions and eliminate lifetime caps on benefits. States are also preparing for a major expansion of Medicaideligibility and the introduction of health insurance 
Even though this ruling doesn't stop ObamaCare in its tracks, the left isn't happy.  On Memeorandum, you can hear them screaming "judicial activism".  The White House even had the gall to call this ruling an overreach!  That is comical seeing how the Democrats overreached all over the place to pass ObamaCare!
What this ruling does is to help advance the battle to repeal ObamaCare to the Supreme Court.  There if all goes well, ObamaCare will meet its demise.  Fingers crossed!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Mike Pence will not run for President in 2012


It is official; Rep. Mike Pence will not seek the Republican nomination for President in 2012
Mike Pence’s Facebook page: Friends and Supporters, 
Over the past few months, my family and I have been grateful for the encouragement we have received to consider other opportunities to serve our state and our nation in the years ahead. 
We have been especially humbled by the confidence and support of those who believe we should pursue the presidency, but after much deliberation and prayer, we believe our calling is closer to home. 
The highest office I will ever hold is husband and father. As a family, we feel led to devote this time in our lives to continuing to serve the people of Indiana in some way. 
In the choice between seeking national office and serving Indiana in some capacity, we choose Indiana. We will not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012. [MORE]
On the down side, this means one less true conservative candidate to choose from in 2012.  On the up side, in the event Obama is reelected, Mike Pence will be an even stronger candidate in 2016.

The chief executive experience gained by being a governor is nothing to sneeze at.  For the last two years we have witness firsthand what happens when someone tries to run this nation without it.  The GOP has some great new faces (e.g. Allen West, Marco Rubio, Michele Bachmann, Paul Ryan, etc) but they too could benefit from a stint as governor before seeking the Big Chair.

Sarah Palin on Obama’s State of the Union Speech: WTF?

Gateway Pundit: “Well, speaking of last night, that was a tough speech to sit through and try to stomach because the president is so off base in his ideas in how it is he believes government is going to create jobs. Obviously, government growth won’t create any jobs. It’s the private sector that can create the jobs. His theme last night in the State of the Union was the WTF, you know, “Winning the Future,” and I thought OK, that acronym, spot on. There were a lot of WTF moments throughout that speech.”
Sarah Palin must have read several million minds last night with that line. 
The left is trying to make February “a Palin Free Month”. Um, good luck with that one.  The time for them to have ignored Palin came and went two years ago. The left is seriously addicted to Palin and trying to ignore her now is like a hardcore crackhead trying to go cold turkey.

The second Sarah Palin makes a comment like this one next month, the left will abandon their Palin embargo and go right back to spewing their bile all over the place.  Oh well, at least they were smart enough to pick the shortest month out of the year to attempt their hopeless endeavor.

To see Palin’s full interview with Greta head on over to The Right Scoop.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Just words just speeches: Harry Reid calls Obama’s bluff on earmarks

It looks like Harry Reid is throwing Obama under the bus over earmarks.  During the SOTU Obama vowed not to sign any bills with earmarks in them. Now most of us realize that Obama’s vow is just another steaming pile of BS, but for Harry Reid to straight up admit it is rather interesting.
ABC News: In an interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl, Reid launched a vigorous defense of pork, the pet projects that members of Congress insert into bills to benefit their home states.
"I think it's taking power away from the legislative branch of government and giving it to the executive branch of government," Reid said of the president's plan. "The executive branch of government is powerful enough and I think that I know more about what Nevada needs than some bureaucrat down on K Street."
"So you think the president is wrong about this?" Karl asked.
"Without any question," Reid replied.
 "I understand it's great for an applause line, but it's really not solving anything to do with the deficit. It's only for show."
"So you're saying that earmarks will be back?" said Karl.
"Of course they'll be back," said Reid. 
I think Harry’s harsh words is just a set up for Obama to knock him down,  thus providing Obama with another opportunity to employ smoke and mirrors in order to look centrist again for 2012. 

In the video below, Harry Reid goes into detail about his defense of earmarks.


If Reid was even remotely serious about ceding power to the Executive Branch, he would have squawked about the explosive number of czars, or the EPA doing end runs around Congress, or ObamaCare which leaves huge chunks to be written by bureaucrats. Sorry, I am not buying this excuse.

Time will tell, but I think I will be right and Harry is just playing strawman for Obama to knock down.

CBO rains on Obama’s parade: $1.5 Trillion deficit for 2011


Last night Obama gave his second State of the Union address chock full of new “investment” [spending] ideas.  Today the CBO is raining all over that parade with some very sobering news.
For 2011, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that if current laws remain unchanged, the federal budget will show a deficit of close to $1.5 trillion, or 9.8 percent of GDP. The deficits in CBO's baseline projections drop markedly over the next few years as a share of output and average 3.1 percent of GDP from 2014 to 2021. Those projections, however, are based on the assumption that tax and spending policies unfold as specified in current law. Consequently, they understate the budget deficits that would occur if many policies currently in place were continued, rather than allowed to expire as scheduled under current law.
We hear it every day from both sides of the political spectrum that the current deficits we are running are unsustainable. This is why the spending freeze Obama announced last night seems so reckless and irresponsible.   


I have little doubt that this sobering bit of news from the CBO will not be heeded by the Obama administration.  As Nile Gardnier from The Telegraph puts it, [t]he Obama Presidency remains in a dangerous state of denial. God help us.

 

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Congressional Budget Office

Via: The Telegraph

Notes on Obama’s SOTU and the responses from Ryan and Bachmann


I just finished watching Obama’s second State of the Union address, along with the GOP’s response by Rep. Paul Ryan and Rep. Michele Bachmann’s response to the Tea Party Express.  Of the three, Paul Ryan was clearly the best because it seemed like the one speech that addressed the true reality of the state of our union.  In short, we are broke and we need to address it now.

Obama’s speech

Obama’s speech sounded like it was best suited for the Clinton era when the nation was running surpluses. Obama’s call for investments seems so bizarre given that we are currently borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we are spending.  Furthermore, I found so much of Obama’s rhetoric not credible given his actions over the last two years.

Case in point, I laughed out loud over these lines.
For example, over the years, a parade of lobbyists has rigged the tax code to benefit particular companies and industries. Those with accountants or lawyers to work the system can end up paying no taxes at all. But all the rest are hit with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and it has to change. (Applause.)
So tonight, I’m asking Democrats and Republicans to simplify the system. Get rid of the loopholes. Level the playing field. And use the savings to lower the corporate tax rate for the first time in 25 years –- without adding to our deficit. It can be done. (Applause.)
This coming from a man and his party that promised repeatedly to go through the budget line by line to find savings, yet when given the chance he and his party never passed a budget at all.  Sorry Obama, fool us once ….

Since the Shellacking, Obama has been pulling out all the smoke and mirrors he can to cloak himself in centrist clothing.  This SOTU speech seems like it undid a lot of the cloaking.  All that talk of “investment” (i.e. spending) with little next to no realistic ideas on cutting spending, seems to have exposed big spending liberal Obama once again.

By the way, did you catch Obama’s TSA joke?
Within 25 years, our goal is to give 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail. (Applause.) This could allow you to go places in half the time it takes to travel by car. For some trips, it will be faster than flying –- without the pat-down. (Laughter and applause.) As we speak, routes in California and the Midwest are already underway.
I think this would have been a real knee slapper had the groping rule not have been passed under his administration.  However, seeing that it was, the joke came off like a real disconnect.

Paul Ryan’s Speech



Once again, I have to ask, are there any Republicans who know how to speak without that ding dong Happy Voice? So much of Ryan’s word would have been far more effective without the Happy Voice and the smile. 

A few years ago, reducing spending was important. Today, it’s imperative. Here’s why.
We face a crushing burden of debt. The debt will soon eclipse our entire economy, and grow to catastrophic levels in the years ahead.
On this current path, when my three children – who are now 6, 7, and 8 years old – are raising their own children, the Federal government will double in size, and so will the taxes they pay.
No economy can sustain such high levels of debt and taxation. The next generation will inherit a stagnant economy and a diminished country.
Frankly, it’s one of my greatest concerns as a parent – and I know many of you feel the same way.
Most people would be sad or angry at the thought of passing on a diminished America to their children, yet Ryan delivers this very serious line with his Happy Voice.  Memo to Republicans: forget all this foolishness about toned down rhetoric and let the emotions fly.

Happy Voice aside, Ryan’s speech captured the true state and concerns of the nation. The previous Congress spent like drunken sailors and now the nation is perilously close to going over the edge. These are the words that Obama should have spoken.
Speaking candidly, as one citizen to another: We still have time… but not much time. If we continue down our current path, we know what our future will be.
Just take a look at what’s happening to Greece, Ireland, the United Kingdom and other nations in Europe. They didn’t act soon enough; and now their governments have been forced to impose painful austerity measures: large benefit cuts to seniors and huge tax increases on everybody.
Their day of reckoning has arrived. Ours is around the corner. That is why we must act now.
Michele Bachmann’s Speech


Much media noise has been made about how Michele Bachmann was stepping on Paul Ryan and the GOP’s toes with her Tea Party response. After viewing it, that clearly was not the case. Bachmann’s speech seems more like a pep rally for Tea Party Americans than a rebuttal to Obama’s speech or a competing response to the GOP.

Bachmann does dovetail some of Ryan’s words with her recounting of the massive spending under Obama and the Democrats as well as the foolishness of ObamaCare.

Bachmann’s best moments are when she makes direct appeals to the people to be the solution of this problem.  This is something neither Obama nor Ryan did.
The perilous battle that was fought in the pacific, at Iwo Jima, was a battle against all odds, and yet the image of the young G.I.s in the incursion against the Japanese immortalizes their victory. These six young men raising the flag came to symbolize all of America coming together to beat back a totalitarian aggressor.
Our current debt crisis we face today is different, but we still need all of us to pull together. We can do this.

This kind of appeal is how you rouse the America spirit.  If Bachmann take a stab at running in 2012, talk like this will get her very far.

Via: CNN 
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