Donald Trump’s endorsement: Who cares?

Donald Trump with his wife, Melania Knauss Trump

Today, Donald Trump announced that he will be endorsing Mitt Romney for President. Some were surprised that Trump didn’t choose Gingrich, and right up until the announcement, there was suspense over what he would announce. For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would care who Trump endorsed.

Donald Trump is little more than a reality star. Does anyone care what the cast members of Survivor, Big Brother, or American Idol think about the election?
» read more

Mitt Romney’s comment concerning the poor was on the mark

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney

“I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling, and I’ll continue to take that message across the nation.”

I’m not a Mitt Romney supporter, but I can’t believe anyone with common sense would be bothered by this comment. Sure, progressive Democrats are going to seize upon it, but the last time I checked, they lacked any semblance of common sense. Let’s take a look at what Romney was saying, shall we?

First, the wealthy don’t need any help. They have all the money they need. That’s simple enough. As for the poor, that’s going to take some explaining, especially for those who are accustomed to government sponsored hand-outs.

If you’re poor, you’re eligible for welfare payments, subsidized rent, childcare, heat, utilities, food stamps, free college, free healthcare, and lots of other breaks. These programs are all established at the state or federal level, and are (overly) generous. How many more handouts and programs should be created for those who have a track record of bad decisions? We have a safety net, and Romney said he would fix it if need be.
» read more

Mitt Romney won Florida, not the country

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich Debate

Mitt Romney has won the Florida Primary by a wide margin over Newt Gingrich, but the race for the Republican nomination is far from over.

The media has been portraying each win or loss as a make or break moment, but the truth is that four states have voted, and 46 remain. Florida Senator Marco Rubio seems to think that the winner of Florida will win the nomination, but I’m not so sure. If Newt Gingrich can pick up some wins, along with some strong second place finishes in states which assign delegates proportionally, we might be looking at a nominating convention that is very much up in the air. Is it likely that Republicans are heading toward a brokered convention? No. Is it possible? You bet!
» read more

On the Couch with Newt and Nancy

Nancy Pelosi keeps hinting that she knows something that will derail Newt Gingrich’s Presidential run. I doubt she knows anything of any substance, but if she does, I’d expect it to become known in October. That would be the worst possible timing if Gingrich were to become the nominee.

As for Newt, a picture says a thousand words. This one speaks volumes.

Memo to Republican Candidates: You are no Ronald Reagan

Over the last few years, we’ve seen more and more candidates invoke the memory of President Ronald Reagan. I don’t blame them for admiring Reagan’s accomplishments, but I do often question their sincerity. Are these candidates simply sharing thoughts about their fondness for Reagan, or is it solely a transparent method of trying to ride the coattails of a man they may not really identify with?

This has been going on a while, but it has been Newt Gingrich’s frequent mentions of Reagan during debates that have annoyed me. To hear Gingrich tell it, he and Reagan were rather close, and shared credit for some of the accomplishments of the Reagan Presidency.

» read more

The Republican rollercoaster continues

The Republican Presidential candidates after a debate. Who will be the next media darling?

Once the field of Republican Presidential candidates began to settle, Mitt Romney was anointed as the front-runner and favorite. While he has consistently led the field with support of 20% to 25% in most polls, that means there are 75% to 80% who are supporting someone else. There’s a desire to find the anti-Romney, but so far, none has been able to pull away.

This past summer, Michele Bachmann seemed to quickly gain headlines and support. Of course, this ended when Rick Perry entered the fray and instantly rocketed to the top of the field. Since then, Perry has shown that he’s ill-prepared for the national spotlight. After some strong debate performances, Herman Cain vaulted into the top-tier, but he’s seen his support erode a bit since sexual harassment accusations have come to light. » read more

Tim Pawlenty’s criticism misses the mark

Tim Pawlenty can wave good-bye to the Presidency if he loses Iowa, which he probably will.

Tim Pawlenty finally showed some signs of life, when he criticized Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s record as “non-existent.” It’s nice that he’s showing some signs of life, but I have a feeling that his criticism might not resonate with voters.

Think about this: Voters elected Barack Obama as President after only a few years in the U.S. Senate. Although, he was also a state senator (wow!). On the other end of the ideological spectrum, Sarah Palin has a massive number of supporters, even though she had less than two years experience as Governor of Alaska. Of course, in Palin’s defense, she was the mayor of Wasilla, which is a Metropolitan powerhouse.

Michele Bachmann has support of labor unions?

Does anyone know if Michele Bachmann is being supported by the major labor unions? I wouldn’t have thought so, but according to actor Alec Baldwin, it appears that way. Here are some quotes from his Twitter feed:

“Fear Bachman bc she is raising so much money,” Baldwin tweeted. “Anyone that inarticulate and full of shit who is raising money that fast…is beholden to some mighty thuggish interests.”

Thuggish interests? Unions were the first ones who came to my mind. Although, it could be another group of formerly liberal constituents. What about the New Black Panther Party? They’re pretty Thuggish.

At any rate, if Bachmann begins appealing to the natural thug base of the Democrats and Barack Obama, she could end up walking away with the Presidency. » read more

Michele Bachman’s poll results in Iowa aren’t ‘shocking’

Michele Bachmann's campaign is starting to gain momentum.

I found an article on the Drudge Report, with the headline “Shock Poll: Bachmann Tied With Romney in Iowa.” I don’t know what’s so shocking about that. Romney is a plastic candidate who always seems willing to say what people want to hear. The reason why he had such a commanding lead in the polls was due to the popularity of his highly unsuccessful 2008 campaign.

Let’s remember that a lot of people still aren’t paying much attention to the 2012 Presidential Race, so they probably haven’t tuned in to find out much about the candidates. Once people hear more about candidates like Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, and Tim Pawlenty, voters will begin to peel away from the familiar name (Mitt Romney). » read more

Raising the debt ceiling: Look at the big picture

Rep. Eric Cantor leads talks to raise the debt ceiling.

Republican negotiators have walked out of talks to increase the debt ceiling. Why? Let me summarize: Democrats don’t want to cut spending, and Republicans don’t want to raise taxes. To this point, some cuts have been agreed on, but no tax increases are being considered by the Republicans.

These talks are taking place because the debt ceiling needs to be raised in order to avoid a bond default on August 2nd. Ideally, both sides would develop some common sense and use this as an opportunity to set the budget straight, to truly fix it, rather than just make temporary repairs. » read more

Do you like Jon Huntsman? Harry Reid does!

Nevada Senator Harry Reid would support Jon Huntsman over Mitt Romney.

Former Ambassador Jon Huntsman has made it official: He’s running for President. I know some people are excited by his candidacy, but I think I’ll pass. After all, I don’t want to be on the same side as Harry Reid. In case you missed it, Huntsman received Reid’s stamp of approval. “If I had a choice in that race, I’d choose Huntsman over Romney,” said Reid. On top of that, Huntsman’s family members are big Reid supporters.

In addition to the Reid endorsement, Huntsman doesn’t have much room to criticize Barack Obama, since he accepted an appointment as ambassador to China. Of course, you could argue that his appointment could cause a problem for Obama during a campaign against Huntsman, but I doubt it will get that far anyway. Think about it: If someone is absolutely terrible at what they do (like the GOP will argue), do you really have credibility if you agree to work for them? I don’t think so. » read more

The United States should make Hamid Karzai’s wish come true

Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, has been critical of the United States.

Barack Obama wants to bring 30,000 soldiers home by November 2012, while the Pentagon thinks he should hold off until 2013. My guess is that Obama wants to make it look like he’s serious about removing soldiers from Afghanistan leading up to the Presidential Election. Unfortunately, this isn’t good enough.

I’d like to see all of our soldiers come home in a matter of a couple of months. Some would say that this is unreasonable, and that it would jeopardized alleged gains we’ve made in the region. I say that’s nonsense. We’ve spent hundreds of billions of dollars on military spending and public works projects in Afghanistan. That’s bad, but the worst part are the soldiers who were injured or killed. Afghanistan is benefiting from out presence much more than the United States. We need to leave. » read more

John McCain is right about wildfires

Arizona Senator John McCain gets criticized for speaking the truth

Recently, Arizona senator John McCain mentioned that illegal aliens who traveled over our porous border might have been responsible for recent wildfires out west. Once the liberal activists and apologists for the illegal aliens heard this, they were all over his remarks. Congressman Raul Grijava had this to say:

Late Monday, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said that his state’s culture is “as toxic as I have ever seen it,” as “every misfortune is blamed on undocumented immigrants.” McCain’s comments, he said, continue to provoke an extreme anti-immigrant and anti-Latino atmosphere in Arizona. This level of intolerance has reached a new low.”

Of course, McCain’s critics seem to ignore one very important fact: He’s merely repeating what the Forest Service has said. Essentially, they have seen evidence that people crossing the border have started campfires that weren’t properly extinguished, leading to fires. That’s it. » read more

Bristol Palin’s book: Do publishers have standards any more?

Bristol Palin and her partner Mark Bellas from Dancing With the Stars

I just found out that Bristol Palin, daughter of potential Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, wrote a book. I was a bit surprised, since there doesn’t seem to be much reason for someone like her to write one. She’s 20 years old, and she hasn’t done anything of note besides passing through Sarah Palin’s birth canal two decades ago. Despite this, at least one publisher thought people would care about what she had to say. So what does she have to say? Not much. » read more

Eric Holder protects civil rights…for some people

Eric Holder supports civil rights...for some people.

Eric Holder says he has “reinvigorated” the Department of Justice’s civil rights division. Acording to holder:

“We’ve also expanded enforcement efforts to guarantee that in our work places, our military bases, in our housing and lending markets, in our voting booths in our border areas, in our schools and places of worship. And I mean all places of worship,”

That’s right. Holder’s DOJ protects the civil rights of everyone…except for white guys who are threatened by club-wielding members of the New Black Panther Party. If you think I’m wrong, think about how quickly Eric Holder would have acted if black voters were intimidated by armed members of the Ku Klux Klan. If that’s not a case ofreverse discrimination, I don’t know what is. » read more

It’s time to put country before party

President George W. Bush spent, and spent, and spent...

Politico has an interesting article titled, “GOP Magic Trick: Making George W. Bush Vanish.” To sum it up, Republicans are starting to embrace the fiscal conservatism that was the bedrock of the party’s platform, while moving away from George W. Bush’s reckless spending.

Thankfully, many Republicans are moving away from the neoconservative philosophy that has resulted in never-ending wars, expanded government, and a ballooning national debt. I’m glad to see this philosophical change break into the Republican mainstream, but why did it take so long? There are Republicans who are (rightly) criticizing attempts by the Obama administration to raise the debt ceiling. Where were they when George W. Bush made similar requests? Why did they support increases then? » read more

Michele Bachmann supports limited government…sometimes

Presidential Candidate Michele Bachman

If Michele Bachman were to win the Republican nomination, I would definitely vote for her rather than Barack Obama. With that said, I hope Bachmann doesn’t win the nomination. There are certainly worse choices, such as Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich, but ideally you would get to vote for someone you like rather than the lesser of all evils.

Here’s one of my problems with Michele Bachmann: She criticized Mitt Romney for not signing the Susan B. Anthony List’s anti-abortion pledge. Here’s her rationale for the criticism:

“It is distressing that Governor Romney refuses to sign the SBA Pledge, even while claiming to be pro-life. The excuses for not signing clearly continue the doubts about his leadership and commitment to ending the practice of abortion – particularly for a candidate who ran as pro-choice for the Senate and Governorship of Massachusetts. Any Presidential candidate seeking our party’s nomination should sign the SBA Pledge and vow to protect life from conception to natural death. Governor Romney should reconsider his decision not to sign the Pledge just as he reconsidered his position on the life issue during the last campaign.”

» read more

Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize winner, fights to continue Libya mission

Barack Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, ignores legal advice and chooses to continue the mission in Libya

It looks like Barack Obama has over-ruled the legal advice of lawyers from the Pentagon and Justice Department who believe military action against Libya should have stopped or slowed as of May 20th. Basically, it comes down to whether the actions of the United States can be defined as “hostilities.” Maybe it’s me, but I think sending the military to a foreign country with the hope of toppling its leader is rather hostile.

So, we’re still in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we’re also involved in Libya. If this is a deserving Nobel Peace Prize winner, I’d hate to see what a war monger looks like!

Ron Paul wins Republican Leadership Council’s straw poll

Ron Paul wins the Republican Leadership Council's Presidential straw poll.

It appears that Jon Hunstman paid for his votes. Check this out:

Rumors circulated here that Huntsman campaign had paid for supporters to attend the conference and a spokesman for the candidate, Tim Miller, didn’t deny that they had.

“Not commenting on internal strategy,” said Miller, adding: “The result demonstrates that young conservatives are responding to his record of success in Utah, willingness to take the debt problem seriously, and foreign policy message,”

Now, were these Huntsman supporters impressed with him, or were they just pleased with the free ride they were receiving? This looks like a rather desperate attempt to buy votes, which shows that these straw polls are a valuable source of media coverage. Remember this when Paul’s opponents try to down-play the results.

Former ambassador Jon Huntsman brought in many of his own supporters and still lost convincingly.

Anthony Weiner medicalizes stupidity

New York Representative Anthony Weiner will seel treatment for e-mailing women. I kid you not.

I don’t like Anthony Weiner, but I thought the attention and calls for his resignation were ridiculous. As I stated before, the only person who should be upset or appalled is his wife.

Let’s step back for a moment: He texted, e-mailed, and sent pictures of himself to adult women. He didn’t assault anyone, steal, or commit any crimes as far as anyone can tell. There are reports that he sent a few messages to a 17 year-old girl, but those messages weren’t graphic at all. » read more