Why Romney lost in Michigan – Blame the Democrats

Will he lose Michigan? We’ll know in 24 hours but with Santorum running ads hitting the ‘workers’ hot button and calling on Democrats to vote for Santorum, Romney may well lose.

And a defeat here, even a close one, will make a much, much bigger splash then Romneys big victory in Arizona.

So what does Romney do?

Well he could stop talking –

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2012_02/mitt_keeps_digging_in_michigan035674.php

Describing an event he was at that occured before he was born is kinda weird………

Maybe that’s why he doesn’t excite his base.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/02/28/romney_quickly_losing_conservative_vote.html

Or more accurately he doesn’t have a base to excite. 

But instead he’ll blame the Democrats.

Michigan is an ‘open primary’ State so anyone can vote for any candidate.

And if I lived in Michigan, I’d vote for Santorum. Why?

Something HAS to wake up the Republican party. The party of Eisenhower and Reagan.

So if the Republicans won’t wake up, discipline themselves, maybe the Democrats should step up and do it for them.

It’s not just the Republicans losing the Presidential election, it’s America losing what should be the real and intelligent debate between two differing opinions as to the economy and the  direction of our Nation.

And instead, we’re getting ideological crap from the fringe of the Republican party. A fringe that with each passing day, is gaining credibility because no one in the Republican party will (or can) stop it and redirect the energy of the Republican party back to the real issues of ALL Americans – the economy.

Not going to college.

Not contraception.

Not seperation of church and State.

Not name calling.

But – ‘It’s the economy stupid’.

So why is this happening? How could a moderate Conservative like Romney lose to a biblicial Constitutionalists like Santorum?

Go back to 1970 –

http://gawker.com/5814150/roger-ailes-secret-nixon+era-blueprint-for-fox-news

Roger ailes proposes a National news network for the GOP to Nixon.

In 1996, Roger Ailes launches Fox.

To boost ratings (for profit) Fox attaches and promotes a small political movement called the Tea party beginning in 2009.

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2011/12/21/the-fox-in-the-tea-party/

From the beginning, Fox was the ‘dog wagging the the Tea party tail’.

Fox gave the Tea party ‘credibility’ even thosugh there was very little credibility.

The Tea party took the lead in the 2010 Midterm elections and Republicans soared. Then it fell flat on it’s face.

Good rhetoric does not equal good policy.

But the toothpaste was already out of the tube.

Fox is now toning down it’s rhetoric but the tea party which proved to be a failure, has been taken over by the fringe religious right that has waited oh so long for this opportunity.

And that’s why Romney lost in Michigan (maybe).

The Republican party embraced the popularity of the Tea party (profit for Fox) over the practicality of policies giving credibility to now fringe religious right.

But blame the Democrats.

So while Romney lost in Michigan (maybe), Americans are the real losers.

We’ve lost the needed debate about the economy for our future to the need to go back to our religious foundings.

The new Republican party song :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He82NBjJqf8

A Rick-A-Day keeps the intelliegence at bay

“We went into a recession in 2008 because of gasoline prices,” Santorum told a packed hotel ballroom of supporters. “The bubble burst in housing because people couldn’t pay their mortgages because of $4 a gallon gasoline,” he added.
From : http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/santorum-gas-prices-caused-the-2008-recession

‘One Democratic economist points out four problems with Santorum’s argument’:

1) The NBER business cycle dating commission said the recession began in December of 2007 and he’s talking about prices in summer 2008.

2) Lehman fails in September 2008 and the economy collapses. That leads gasoline prices to plunge precipitously (check out the price series at http://gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx and click on the 5 year or 4 year graph) according to all analysts at the time because people understand output will be falling, not the other way around.

3) By Santorum’s reasoning, why didn’t the fall in gasoline prices from a record of 4.12 in summer 08 or from 3.75 in September 08 down to 1.61 in December 08 lead to a big recovery? Obviously the economy is driving the gasoline price not the other way around.

4) High gas prices hit consumers, no question, but the average person drives about 10k miles and gets 20 mpg so uses about 500 gallons. If gas prices go up a full $1 per gallon, that’s an extra $500 bucks a person or around $1000 per household. That’s a tough hit but compared to a 14.5 trillion economy, it’s hard to see that causing the recession.

 

Doomsday? Or maybe an idea who’s time is coming?

Is it that far fetched to make plans?

‘CHEYENNE — State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States’.

‘House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government’.

‘The task force would look at the feasibility of :

‘Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier’.

‘The bill must pass two more House votes before it would head to the Senate for consideration’.

‘University of Wyoming political science professor Jim King said the potential for a complete unraveling of the U.S. government and economy is “astronomically remote” in the foreseeable future’.

‘But King noted that the federal government set up a Continuity of Government Commission in 2002, of which former U.S. Sen. Al Simpson, R-Wyo., was co-chairman.
From : http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-house-advances-doomsday-bill/article_af6e1b2b-0ca4-553f-85e9-92c0f58c00bd.html

Continuity of Government Commission

http://continuityofgovernment.org/index.html

The ‘Faith’ of the coming Culture Wars

I found this great piece (and site)
http://www.philipvickersfithian.com/2012/02/culture-wars-are-real.html

In it he asks –

‘How can democracy flourish without civility, respect for those with whom we differ, and a sense of mutual understanding’?

And that is and will be the bottom line if you will.

Respect for those with whom we differ.

We are a diverse Nation of people. It is not MY Country – it is OUR Country.

And this is why we are failing.

Rick Santorum on education

“I understand why Barack Obama wants to send every kid to college, because of their indoctrination mills, absolutely … The indoctrination that is going on at the university level is a harm to our country.”

‘He claimed that “62 percent of kids who go into college with a faith commitment leave without it,” but declined to cite a source for the figure’.
From : http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2012_02/satans_indoctrination_camps035619.php

 

The Three Card Monte of gasoline prices

Three Card Monte is a bait and switch game. A ‘shill’ pretends to play along with the ‘mark’ to cheat the ‘dealer’.

The ‘mark’ in our case is the American consumer.

The ‘shill’ is the oil industry.

And the ‘dealer’? The Future Contracts of oil. The ‘speculators’.

The oil industry says it needs to explore and open new markets and all the while getting Billions of dollars from the Government – i.e. the taxpayer – i.e. the consumer in subsidies to help pay for that exploration.

The speculator moves paper (literally) around and makes Million and Millions of dollars and as this is ‘capital gains’, gets taxed at a flat 15% rate.

The consumer, having paid taxes that go to the oil industry as subsidies and actually working for a living ‘gets’ to pay a higher rate of taxes then the speculators.

There is an old saying ‘Defication rolls down hill.

Three guesses and the first two are wrong as to who out of the oil industry, the speculators or the consumer is at the bottom of the hill.

See : http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/02/21/139521/once-again-speculators-behind.html

 

 

Huge Kudos to Crooks and Liars

http://crooksandliars.com/kenneth-quinnell/50-state-blog-round-2

As I wander around the web, I like coming across blogs from other States as it give me some perspective on their thought on issues and how it affects them.

C & L lists Horses Ass for Washington State and a blog I’ve read for a long time.

So again a big THANKS to Crooks and Liars for putting all 50 States in one place.

Caturday At The Kane’s

The Weekly 2012

Three ‘fronts’ for President Obama this week.

1. Gas prices. How high and how long. $4.50 and above and 3 months and he will have problems. $4.00 and 60 days and not so much as it won’t extend into the election and Americans have extremely short attention spans.
But for the time being, get use to the lumping of ‘failed policies’ mantra.

http://www.jammiewf.com/2012/pelosi-2008-bush-to-blame-for-high-gas-prices-pelosi-2012-wall-street-to-blame-for-high-gas-prices/

2. Still running against Congress is his best bet. The Superme Court may actually put off a decision of the AHCA. Start Googling Anti-Injunction Act :

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73111.html

 (I can’t see them actually do that but…….) and that would be the only high profile news that would shake the Republican House. But here the President again can continue to campaign against them as they, Congress, would call for the repeal and replace and still have no plan for replacement.
Actually they do have a ‘replace’ plan. They call it ‘options’. Most of us would call it being handed the phone book turned to the ‘I’s’. Pick and insurnace company.

3. Staying above the Republican Presidential candidates ‘fray’.
The raise, mostly from Gingrich and Santorum of the ‘Obama is anti’American’.
The voters that do have an attention span, and mostly moderates at this stage of the election process, have the intelligence to know that Obama isn”t anti-American.
They also understand that THAT line of campaiging is used to replace a lack of policy proposals.
Republicnas –

It’s almost like a portion of the Republican Party has decided that since women have gotten the ‘right’ to vote, they’ve gotten kind of ‘uppity’. So men will have to step in and decide for them re:their reproduction and basicly sex practices in general.

You have to start asking yourself – are there Republicans in high positions that are directing this? Or is it a case of the tail wagging the dog?

The President and Democrats in general, are going to ‘lose’ 2-5 Million votes due to the tightening of voting laws in a dozen States.

See : http://americancityandcounty.com/new-laws/states-and-local-governments-face-new-voting-laws-2012
A good article and also the link to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law’s article “Voting Law Changes in 2012”.

Is it possible that the Republicans felt bad about that so are going to (pardon my ‘french’) piss off women?

Mitt Romney – It’s trending that Mitt will win in Michigan and Arizona on Tuesday. But at this stage and in a State that he has family ties to, it should have been an easy victory.

In fact at this point, he should be racking up victories and stock piliung cash to use in the general Election.

Instead he’s having to campaign had and spend big.

Romney simply put, does not enthuse, excite the Republicans.

A loss in Michigan and the general lack of enthusiasm would mean an end to the Romney campaign. He’d stay in as he DOES have the money and organization but the State’s going into the loss column will greatly out number the winning States.

And after Tuesady? Even with at least one and maybe two wins, it doesn’t get any easier – Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, N. Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virgina.
At best, Romney is looking at a 50-50 split here.

http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-republican-primary-schedule/

Rick Santorum –

The opposite of Mitt is Rick. He DOES excite the minority base of the Republican party.

Unfortunately while he’s doing THAT, he’s scaring the crap out of moderate middle America.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/10790477-505/santorums-2008-satan-warning.html

http://www.indyposted.com/187099/santorum-attacks-education/

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/feb/22/santorum-stirs-up-anti-obama-rhetoric/

Santorum would represent a culture war. If you aren’t ‘Christian’ and we’ll decide who is and isn’t, then you are anti – American.

How sad is it that the seeming focus of a campaign is on religion and it’s roll in daily life and education instead of positive proposals to rebuild America and put it back to work?

Newt –

Well Newt got his Super Pac money :

http://swampland.time.com/2012/02/17/sheldon-adelson-swoops-in-to-rescue-gingrich-and-maybe-romney-too/

The problem of course is that it’s to be spent on stopping Santorum not Romney.

Adleson wants Obama out but not at the risk of Santorum in.

Ron Paul –

Yes he’s still running. The only question is how many delegates will he have and will they be of any use on the, what’s becoming more and more likely on a first ballot of what will be a ‘brokered’ Convention.

The Convention –

There are two people, Former Governor Jeb Bush and Governor Chris Christie that have the name recognition AND would excite the moderates both in the Republican Party and in general, that their nomination at the Republican Convention could and depending on the economy, would defeat President Obama.

More importantly and something that should be happening right now, is the intelligent debate on the real issues facing America we shoulld and could be having.

Either’s nomination, with or without a victory in November, would split the Republican Party and to the point where the minority of tea and religious right would have to form a 3rd National political party.

 

The Last Of The Millenniums – War! Yeah, (good God ya’ll)

What is it good for? Absolutely Nothing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX7V6FAoTLc

As it turns out war and depending on your scale of defining ‘good’, is ‘worth’ something.

From the ‘military-industrial complex of 1961

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=90

to the present day military-industrial-legislative complex.

‘In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist’.
President Eisenhower

Industries ‘unwarranted influence’ via the massive amounts of money in politics has given raise to the misplaced power’ but unlike what President Eisenhower spoke of, it is an ‘enemy’ from within, not from without.

The ‘good’  our Nation has found and promotes in ‘war’ or defense if you prefer, is for profit.

War in our free market system, is good for business.

So why make any effort to avoid it?

We as a species have advanced so far that we can or if given the need and opportunity, keep building better ‘mouse traps’.

We excell in our creativity. Necessity is indeed the ‘Mother Of Invention’ and we love Her!

We have, well most of us, gone from our primitive ancestor hunting and gathering to survive to, with the touch of a button, communicating with the World and all of it’s rich history.

Yet for all of that, for all of our vast technology, we are still the mirror image of our ancestors when it comes to survival.

The strong survive.

We use our advanced technology to simply build better sticks and stones.

As our population increases, rather then feed, shelter, educate and care for our fellow brethren, we spend Billions and Billions, 2, 3, 10, 20 times what we do on social programs, on ‘defending’ our vital interests.

And I’m not simply speaking of the United States. We are simply the World leader not just in the spending but in the leadership of where to spend our resources on.

War via NBC (not the biscuit or entertainment company but Nuclear, biological, chemical) will be one of the factors that will change the course of our future.

War(s) will change our course but it’s not the war(s) themselves but the evolution of working together as a species.

Take away the color of our skin, our ancestory and our religious beliefs and we are simply just human.

As we have evolved in our technology, we need to find a path to walk to take us from war(s) to understanding and acceptence of each other.

Just as one Nation or a small group of Nations can not control the availibility of fossil fuels, ores, food, medical supplies, one Nation or a small group should not, can not control or dominate in the use of weapons.

There will always be ‘rogues’ and the vigil must be constant. But if we do not use agencies such as the United Nations and modify or allow them to evolve to actually have credibility via enforcement, then a ‘rogue’ Nation is no different then a single supposedly benevolent Nation.

Both seek the stregnth of individual interest survival over the benefit of ‘humankind’.

The ‘need’ of the one, outweights’ the ‘need’ of the many.

So ‘war’. The question becomes can we, do we really want to stop and find the alternative?

Is the will to not just survive and not just for ourselves but our children and our childrens childrens greater then the allure of the profit?

Does the ‘good’ of the dollar in our hand today outweigh the hope of a future without war tomorrow?

I don’t think we can. I don’t think we can take that next step as we have in most aspects of our lives and say ‘I will fight no more forever’.

‘It is cold and we have no blankets.  The little children are freezing to death.  My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food.  No one knows where they are–perhaps freezing to death.  I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find.  Maybe I shall find them among the dead’.
‘Hear me, my chiefs.  I am tired.  My heart is sick and sad.  From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever’.
From : http://www2.gsu.edu/~eslmlm/chiefjoseph.html