For days Mitt Romney has ducked and dodged the question of where he stands on Speaker of the House John Boehner's plan to do something to reign in the Obama regime and democrat spending that has run wild.
Well, praise Gaia, Romney FINALLY issues this .... well .... limp, lame, and rather embarrassing statement, via Facebook:
Despite President Obama's failure of leadership, House GOP took a strong stance to hold the line on spending & reject Obama’s tax hikes
Man that's some leadership right there! Can't you just feel the passion! Reminds me our the time our courageous boy wonder endorsed New Mexico's Governor Susana Martinez AFTER she won her election.
Remember, our betters in the Ruling Class tell us this jackwagon is the best and brightest they have to offer. According to them, Romney is the smartest guy in the room when it comes to all things economic.
This, dear readers, is why our nation is so messed up. Too many just like this clown already in Washington.
Thankfully someone is leading the debate and has been for about three years now. Been very consistent with her message.
If you took Obama’s plan and Romney’s plan, and just met in the middle, you’d be in the middle of nowhere
By Gary P Jackson
Blue on Blue violence!
Normally I couldn't care less about former Obama regime employee turned GOP presidential candidate, Jon Huntsman, but this is delicious.
As we noted earlier, Mitt Romney has refused to take a position in the debt debate. Evidently the human windsock can't figure out which way the prevailing winds are blowing, so this Profile in Courage is remaining silent. On a positive note, it'll save him the trouble of flip-flopping later.
Now Hunstsman, a liberal from Utah is calling out Romney, the liberal from Massachusetts.
From Jim Geraghty:
Two days ago, Jon Huntsman appeared on CBS’s "The Early Show" and mentioned his support for Speaker John Boehner’s debt limit plan. His campaign notes, "Jon was the first Republican presidential candidate to support the plan and is the only Republican candidate standing in support of Speaker Boehner’s plan."
This morning, Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller is taking some jabs at Mitt Romney. Romney’s communicators adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, Tweeted this morning, "Romney is a social media leader."
Miller responded, "Too bad he’s not willing to be a leader on debt ceiling debate."
Neither one of these two cats have a chance in hell at being the Republican nominee, let alone President, but it's entertaining to see Huntsman, who is wrong on his stance, call out his fellow traveler who won't even take a real stance at all!
This also underscores how this debate is separating the leaders from the followers, as well as those who show up, and those who hide out.
We've reported before that Cuba and China are teaming up to steal our oil. They look to "slant-drill [drill sideways] in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and tap into oil and natural gas reserves that belong to the United States. Thanks to Obama's war on energy production, these two communist nations are doing this unchecked and unchallenged.
Lefties are worried about the environment, but support Obama's moratorium on drilling. As the National Journal points out, this has dire consequences. No one has a better safety record than American drilling companies, and they are forbidden to do business with Cuba, so chances of a BP type oil spill, with disastrous results are almost a given. And unlike BP, the U.S., short of going to war, won't be able to hold Cuba, or China, responsible.
Sometime over the next three months, if all goes according to plan, Cuban workers on a Chinese-built, Spanish-owned rig will start drilling for oil in the mile-deep waters just off the north coast of Cuba, 70 miles from the Florida Keys.
If the drill hits a major oil deposit—and all geologic signs indicate it will—the discovery will unleash a cascade of developments with profound political, environmental, and economic consequences.
The Cuban government has long wanted to extract the rich reserves of oil and natural gas believed to lie off its shores. Estimates for oil range from 5 billion to 20 billion barrels, while the estimate for natural gas is 8.6 billion cubic feet. Unlocking that oil could jump-start a nascent Cuban offshore-oil industry—and free the island nation from its energy and political dependence on Venezuela, from which it imports 60 percent of its oil today. A newfound independence from its socialist neighbor and its mercurial president, Hugo Chavez—coming at a time when the Cuban leadership is facing change with the eventual demise of Fidel Castro—is an appealing prospect to the United States.
But the potential of a closer relationship with Cuba comes with a terrifying specter: An oil blowout in Cuban waters could reprise the nightmare that was last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and send crude spewing to the beaches of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. And the likelihood for such a disaster is very real, say oil industry experts, thanks in part to Washington’s 49-year-old embargo on Cuba.
Because of the embargo, U.S. companies cannot drill in Cuba, supply equipment to Cuba, have any say over safety regulations in Cuba, or even take part in helping control a blowout and spill in Cuba. As the island prepares to begin offshore drilling, it has signed contracts with oil companies from Brazil, India, Italy, Russia, and Spain—and is in talks to lease major portions of its coastal water to Chinese companies (continuing China’s pattern of pursuing oil exploration in countries where U.S. drillers aren’t welcome).
Under the embargo’s terms, the oil drilling and safety equipment used by those companies must be less than 10 percent U.S.-made. But all of the most technologically advanced equipment for drilling and preventing or stopping oil spills is made in the United States or by U.S. companies.
Read more here.
It's incredible to me that we, as a sovereign nation, would allow this to happen, but it underscores why Barrack Obama and every democrat up for re-election must be defeat soundly in 2012. Though a lot of what they stand for harms America and her people, the left's hard line stance against energy development is evil, and immoral.
We've mentioned this numerous times, but it bears repeating: We have over 300 years worth of recoverable oil and natural gas right here in this country. Chad Stafko wrote The President's Oil Reserves Lie for the American Thinker and spells it all out. Read it here.
If all of the areas were opened up, a million jobs would be created in very short order and gasoline prices would drop significantly. Most importantly though, our national security would be enhanced. Being energy secure means we would never again be held hostage by international affairs that threaten supply or production.
There is only one person with the will to make this happen, and that's Sarah Palin. There are many reasons why it is essential that she become our next President, but energy security and national security is the most important. With Sarah Palin leading the charge from the Oval Office, the United States can become the most prosperous and secure nation in history. That would be her lasting legacy, as well as America's.
Meanwhile, we all have to stand by as foreign governments steal our resources and our feckless president and the losers in Congress allow it to happen, without the slightest word of protest. This is the Obama legacy, and the legacy of the Ruling Class.
It seems human windsock Mitt Romney can't figure out which way the political winds are blowing in the heated debate over what to do regarding our unsustainable debt, so rather than take a stand, he does what he always does when the going gets tough, he hides out.
Emphasis mine:
Romney still hasn’t taken a position on Boehner’s bill: NBC’s Garrett Haake reported that Mitt Romney told reporters in Ohio yesterday that he would not comment on the debt negotiations in Washington. And so far, he has refused to either endorse Boehner’s legislation (as Huntsman has done) or oppose it (as Pawlenty and Bachman have done).
Our question: How does someone who wants to be the leader of the Republican Party not have a position on one of the biggest issues facing Washington, especially after the dueling primetime speeches by Obama and Boehner? It's actually quite surprising; this isn't just another Washington fight. Is the lack of a position proof of how fragile Team Romney believes its front-runner status is right now?
Leaders lead and Romney is no leader. For years we have been told that Romney is the "money guy." The one that understands business and the economy. This situation is the one Romney supporters would have you believe is tailor made for their boy, and yet, when asked about his position, he punts. A real Profile in Courage this Mitt Romney is.
This is the time for leaders to stand up and be heard. Romney's silence is deafening.
The on-going debate in Washington over the debit, is the fight of our lifetime. Though a few of the GOP presidential candidates have weighed in, no one has been more consistent and spoken more forcefully about all of this than Sarah Palin. Sarah is a fiscal hawk. Has been since her earliest days in politics.
Though she's been consistently talking about the economy, debt, and how to get our nation back on track, as things heat up, I thought it was a good time to do a little round-up of recent interviews and notes from Sarah, regarding the debate, as a handy reference.
She's been the one consistent voice of reason in all of this.
Below are links to her most recent, dating back to June:
I’m very excited to join grassroots Iowans at the ‘Restoring America’ event over Labor Day Weekend. Gatherings like this of independent liberty-loving Americans from every walk of life exemplify our commitment to come together to seek solutions to the problems confronting our nation. As I’ve said many times, including at Pella during my last visit to Iowa: We don’t need a ‘fundamental transformation’ of America. We need a restoration of all that is good and strong and free.
The 2012 election will be a great debate between those two conflicting visions for our country.
~ Sarah Palin
By Gary P Jackson
Below is the official press release from Tea Party of America. As we reported on Wednesday, Sarah Palin is keynoting the Tea Party rally Labor Day weekend. We are already hearing that Organize4Palin groups from Texas, and other states, are planning to attend this historic event. If you're not already a member of O4P, join up here to get involved.
The 2012 election is the most critical in our nation's history. It will determine whether we allow a little group of radicals to "fundamentally change America" or if We, The People regain control, and Fundamentally Restore our Republic to it's greatness. In other words 2012 determines whether our nation collapses or survives and thrives.
TEA PARTY OF AMERICA
Contacts:
Ken Crow -Founder FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Charlie Gruschow – Co-Founder
515-229-9924
Susan Geddes – Event Coordinator
515-202-3733
07-26-2011. Des Moines, Iowa. – Tea Party of America is pleased to announce that Governor Sarah Palin will be the Keynote Speaker at our upcoming "Restoring America" event on Saturday, September 3, 2011.
The "Restoring America" event will focus on what’s at stake at this pivotal moment in our nation’s history and how concerned "grassroots" – We the People – can have a dramatic effect on our nation’s future. The event will also include various speakers on patriotic subjects and honorable recognition of our men and women in the military.
"I’m very excited to join grassroots Iowans at the ‘Restoring America’ event over Labor Day Weekend," Governor Palin said. "Gatherings like this of independent liberty-loving Americans from every walk of life exemplify our commitment to come together to seek solutions to the problems confronting our nation. As I’ve said many times, including at Pella during my last visit to Iowa: We don’t need a ‘fundamental transformation’ of America. We need a restoration of all that is good and strong and free. The 2012 election will be a great debate between those two conflicting visions for our country."
"Governor Palin embodies the spirit of public service that our founders believed was essential to the survival of our liberties and our republic itself," said Charlie Gruschow, Co-Founder of Tea Party of America. "We couldn’t be more delighted to have this citizen leader who represents the values that Iowans and Americans hold so dear headline our event on September 3."
The Tea Party of America’s "Restoring America" event will be held at Hawkeye Antique Acres in Waukee, Iowa from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm. Parking for the event is $3.00, entrance fee-free. Please bring your lawn chairs. Food/drink will be available to purchase. Visit our website at www.teapartyofamerica.org for more information.
Out here in proverbial politico flyover country, we little folk are watching the debt ceiling debate with great interest and concern. Today I re-read the open letter I wrote to Republican Freshman Members of Congress in November 2010, just days after they were ushered into office in an historic landslide victory due in large part to the activism of commonsense patriots who are considered part of the Tea Party movement. I respectfully ask these GOP Freshman to re-read this letter and remember us "little people" who believed in them, donated to their campaigns, spent hours tirelessly volunteering for them, and trusted them with our votes. This new wave of public servants may recall that they were sent to D.C. for such a time as this.
The original letter is pasted below, with added emphasis to certain passages that I feel are especially relevant to the current discussion.
All my best to you, GOP Freshmen, from up here in the Last Frontier.
Sincerely,
Sarah Palin
P.S. Everyone I talk to still believes in contested primaries.
******
November 13, 2010
Welcome to all Republican Freshmen and congratulations!
Congratulations to all of you for your contribution to this historic election, and for the contributions I am certain you will make to our country in the next two years. Your victory was hard fought, and the success belongs entirely to you and the staff and volunteers who spent countless hours working for this chance to put government back on the side of the people. Now you will come to Washington to serve your nation and leave your mark on history by reining in government spending, preserving our freedoms at home, and restoring America’s leadership abroad. Some of you have asked for my thoughts on how best to proceed in the weeks and months ahead and how best to advance an agenda that can move our country forward. I have a simple answer: stick to the principles that propelled your campaigns. When you take your oath to support and defend our Constitution and to faithfully discharge the duties of your office, remember that present and future generations of "We the People" are counting on you to stand by that oath. Never forget the people who sent you to Washington. Never forget the trust they placed in you to do the right thing.
The task before you is daunting because so much damage has been done in the last two years, but I believe you have the chance to achieve great things.
Republicans campaigned on a promise to rein in out-of-control government spending and to repeal and replace the massive, burdensome, and unwanted health care law President Obama and the Democrat Congress passed earlier this year in defiance of the will of the majority of the American people. These are promises that you must keep. Obamacare is a job-killer, a regulatory nightmare, and an enormous unfunded mandate. The American people don’t want it and we can’t afford it. We ask, with all due respect, that you remember your job will be to work to replace this legislation with real reform that relies on free market principles and patient-centered policies. The first step is, of course, to defund Obamacare.
You’ve also got to be deadly serious about cutting the deficit. Despite what some would like us to believe, tax cuts didn’t get us into the mess we’re in. Government spending did. Tough decisions need to be made about reducing government spending. The longer we put them off, the worse it will get. We need to start by cutting non-essential spending. That includes stopping earmarks (because abuse of the earmark process created the "gateway-drug" that allowed backroom deals and bloated budgets), canceling all further spending on the failed Stimulus program, and rolling back non-discretionary spending to 2008 levels. You can do more, but this would be a good start.
In order to avert a fiscal disaster, we will also need to check the growth of spending on our entitlement programs. That will be a huge challenge, but it must be confronted head on. We must do it in a humane way that honors the government’s current commitments to our fellow Americans while also keeping faith with future generations. We cannot rob from our children and grandchildren’s tomorrow to pay for our unchecked spending today. Beyond that, we need to reform the way Congress conducts business in order to make it procedurally easier to cut spending than to increase it. We need to encourage zero-based budgeting practices in D.C. like the kind fiscally conservative mayors and governors utilize to balance their budgets and reduce unnecessary spending.
There in the insulated and isolated Beltway you will be far removed from the economic pain felt by so many Americans who are out of work. Please remember that if we want real job growth, we must create a stable investment climate by ending the tidal wave of overly burdensome regulations coming out of Washington. Businesses need certainty – and freedom that incentivizes competition – to grow and expand our workforce.
The last thing our small businesses need is tax hikes. It falls to the current Democrat-controlled Congress to decide on the future of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. If it does not permanently renew all of them, you should move quickly to do so in the new Congress. It would remove from households and businesses the threat of a possible $3.8 trillion tax hike hitting all Americans at the worst possible moment, with our economy struggling to recover from a deep recession! You must continue to remind Democrats that the people they are dismissing as "rich" are the small business owners who create up to 70% of all jobs in this country!
Another issue of vital importance is border security. Americans expect our leadership in Washington to act now to secure our borders. Don’t fall for the claims of those who suggest that we can’t secure our borders until we simultaneously deal with the illegal immigrants already here. Let’s deal with securing the border first. That alone is a huge challenge that has been ignored for far too long.
On foreign policy and national security, I urge you to stick to our principles: strong defense, free trade, nurturing allies, and steadfast opposition to America’s enemies. We are the most powerful country on earth and the world is better off because of it. Our president does not seem to understand this. If we withdraw from the world, the world will become a much more dangerous place. You must push President Obama to finish the job right in Iraq and get the job done in Afghanistan, otherwise we who are war-weary will forever question why America’s finest are sent overseas to make the ultimate sacrifice with no clear commitment to victory from those who send them. You should be prepared to stand with the President against Iran’s nuclear aspirations using whatever means necessary to ensure the mullahs in Tehran do not get their hands on nuclear weapons. And you can stand with the Iranian people who oppose the tyrannical rule of the clerics and concretely support their efforts to win their freedom – even if the President does not.
You need to say no to cutting the necessities in our defense budget when we are engaged in two wars and face so many threats – from Islamic extremists to a nuclear Iran to a rising China. As Ronald Reagan said, "We will always be prepared, so we may always be free." You will also have the opportunity to push job-creating free trade agreements with allies like Colombia and South Korea. You can stand with allies like Israel, not criticize them. You can let the President know what you believe – Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, not a settlement. And for those of you joining the United States Senate, don’t listen to desperate politically-motivated arguments about the need for hasty consideration of the "New START" treaty. Insist on your right to patient and careful deliberation of New START to address very real concerns about verification, missile defense, and modernization of our nuclear infrastructure. No New START in the lame duck!
You can stand against misguided proposals to try dangerous, evil terrorists in the US; precipitously close the Guantanamo prison; and a return to the failed policies of the past in treating the war on terror as a law enforcement problem. Finally, you have a platform to express the support of the American people for all those around the world seeking their freedom that God has bestowed within all mankind’s being – from Burma and Egypt to Russia and Venezuela – because the spread of liberty increases our own security. You, freshmen lawmakers, can and will be powerful voices in support of foreign policies that protect our interests and promote our values! Thank you for being willing to fight for our values and our freedom!
In all this, you should extend a hand to President Obama and Democrats in Congress. After this election, they may finally be prepared to work with Republicans on some of these issues for the good of the country. And if not, we will all be looking forward to 2012.
Remember that some in the media will love you when you stray from the time-tested truths that built America into the most exceptional nation on earth. When the Left in the media pat you on the back, quickly reassess where you are and readjust, for the liberals’ praise is a warning bell you must heed. Trust me on that.
I and most Americans are so excited for you. Working together, we have every right to be optimistic about our future. We can be hopeful because real hope lies in the ingenuity, generosity, and boundless courage of the everyday Americans who make our country exceptional. These are the men and women who sent you to Washington. May your work and leadership honor their faith in you.
With sincere congratulations and a big Alaskan heart,
Radical Islam never sleeps. The Killeen, Texas Police Department has apprehended an AWOL soldier from Ft Campbell, Kentucky. Three soldiers in all have been caught. From the Killeen Daily Herald:
Federal charges are expected to be filed against an AWOL Fort Campbell soldier today in connection with possession of bomb-making material following his arrest in Killeen Wednesday.
Pfc. Nassar Jason Abdo, 21, was apprehended by the Killeen Police Department, according to federal investigators, who became involved after his arrest.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Erik Vasys said he anticipates Abdo will be charged with possession of bomb-making materials later today.
Vasys said gunpowder was one of the components found in Abdo's possession.
Abdo went AWOL on July 4 from Fort Campbell, Ky. after facing trial by general court-martial on child pornography charges.
Troy Roland, an Army spokesperson at the Pentagon, said Abdo submitted a conscientious objector packet but his discharge request had been put on hold.
An Article 32 hearing was held on June 15 and the investigating officers recommended Abdo face general court-martial.
Roland did not know when the court-martial was scheduled.
A tip from a Killeen dealer may have led to Abdo's arrest. Greg Ebert, a Guns Galore clerk and retired sergeant with the Killeen Police Department, said Thursday he reported a suspicious customer to the department Tuesday evening.
A 21-year-old customer arrived at the shop in a taxi at 1 p.m. Tuesday and purchased an unusually large amount of smokeless gunpowder, Ebert said, which can be used as an explosive.
Ebert said the young man was rude to staff and through a series of questions led them to believe that he was largely unfamiliar with what he was buying.
"He randomly selected six canisters of smokeless powder, a mix of fast and slow," Ebert said. Combined powders with different burning rates "can be highly volatile," he said.
In addition to the six pounds of smokeless powder, Ebert said, the customer also purchased three boxes of shotgun shells and an extra magazine for a pistol.
Thursday morning, U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, released a statement commending Guns Galore for its assistance in apprehending the suspect.
"Thanks to quick action by a Texas gun dealer in alerting local police to a suspicious character, and a prompt and vigorous response by the Killeen Police Department, we may well have averted a repeat of the tragic 2009 radical Islamic terror attack on our nation's largest military installation."
Abdo enlisted in the Army in March 2009. He was an infantryman assigned in June to 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell.
Roland said Abdo is from Garland but was not aware of any ties to Fort Hood. He did not have information regarding previous disciplinary records for Abdo.
What is it with these jihadis and their sexual perversions?
CNN actually interviewed this terrorist in August of 2010 as a "conscientious objector" because he refused to deploy to Afghanistan. CNN also reports this little darling had all sorts of jihadi material in his back pack.
Pamela Geller [Atlas Shrugs and the authority on all things jihadi] has even more details:
Three US soldiers were arrested for allegedly plotting a new attack on Fort Hood, the Texas base where a former Army psychiatrist went on a deadly rampage in 2009, a report said Thursday.
One of those arrested was Pvt. Nasser Abdo. Abdo had applied for conscientious objector status, and has refused to deploy to Afghanistan claiming that Islamic law prevented him from killing other Muslims. Authorities found explosives in the car of one of the US soldiers who was arrested for planning the attack on Ft. Hood.
According to FOX news, Muslim soldier Abdo had jihadi materials with him and had made a large purchase at Guns Galore in Killeen, Texas, the same ammunition store where Maj. Nidal Hasan purchased the weapons he allegedly used to gun down 13 people and wound 30 others on Nov. 5, 2009.
I anxiously await the same intense and extensive mainstream media coverage and obsession that we witnessed immediately after and in the ensuing days of the Norway massacre to determine the motivation behind this explosive plot at Fort Hood. I expect extremists Brian Williams, Anderson Cooper, the NY Times, LA Times, IHT, CNN, BBC, et al, to be just as rabidly obsessed and consumed with investigating what ideology incited this Muslim to recruit for jihad.
Was it Major Hasan's devotion and adherence to Islam that inspired these servicemen to jihad? Or was it Islamic teachings and the jihadic doctrine? Were the violent teachings and command for jihad in the Quran to blame for this thwarted plot that could have slaughtered hundreds? Is the media all over this act of Muslim terrorism, pursuing blame as vigorously and as maniacally as they did in the Breivik act of barbarity?
This was good work by the authorities and a very alert gun shop. Everyone was on their toes. I'm no Islamophobe, but it's high time the military re-think it's policy on Muslims serving in our armed forces. It's disturbing that we are allowing guys like Abdo to join. Here is a guy who refuses to fight against fellow Muslims, who are at war with us. He puts them above our Republic. Maybe the first question asked by the recruiters should be: "Do you have a problem killing the enemy, no matter who they are?"
We train these people to be soldiers. Basically we are training our own assassins.
We are very lucky the gun shop people and the Killeen Police Department were wide awake, or this attack could have killed more of our brave servicemen and women.
Like Pamela, I am curious to see how the usual suspects spin all of this to hide the fact the soldiers caught are Radical Muslim terrorists.
In the latest indication that her sights are still set on a presidential run, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has accepted an invitation to keynote a Tea Party rally in Waukee, Iowa, on Sept. 3, RealClearPolitics has learned.
The Labor Day weekend visit to the nation's first voting state comes after Palin indicated during an appearance on Fox News earlier this month that she would make her decision about whether to launch a campaign in August or September.
All signs now point to September as the month when Palin would throw her hat into the ring, as logistical concerns ranging from fundraising to getting her name on the ballot in various states would likely preclude further delay.
Many prominent political analysts and Republican operatives have expressed skepticism that Palin is seriously considering a presidential bid, since she has not taken many of the steps that candidates traditionally take before jumping into the race, such as signing early-state consultants, contacting key powerbrokers and boosting their travel schedules.
But Palin has a long history of shunning the Republican Party machinery and taking an unconventional approach to campaigns -- a mind-set that appears to have been in play throughout the past several months.
Palin's latest appearance in Iowa will come just two days after "The Undefeated," a documentary film spotlighting her accomplishments in Alaska, will be released on Pay-Per-View and video-on-demand. In the film, Palin is portrayed as a continual thorn in the Republican establishment's side. And it is the GOP, rather than the Democratic Party, that garners the better part of the movie's scorn.
If Palin were to announce a White House run, the theme of her campaign would almost certainly focus on resisting the ingrained political culture and what she sees as being wrong with the status quo, and much of the Republican Party itself, in addition to continuing to offer one of the most strident contrasts to President Obama's policies.
The outdoor rally on the first Saturday in September will take place at a field in Waukee, located just outside of Des Moines, and will be hosted by the Tea Party of America -- an Iowa-based political action committee that was founded in May.
The midday affair will be the new group's kickoff event and is sure to generate a large crowd and massive media attention.
One of the Tea Party of America's co-founders, Charlie Gruschow, had previously founded the Des Moines Tea Party before splintering off to start a new group with some like-minded colleagues.
Gruschow praised the work of a highly motivated group of volunteers who have been setting the groundwork in Iowa for a Palin campaign, which almost all of them deem to be inevitable.
"I can only surmise that she's very, very popular here," Gruschow said of Palin's level of support among Republican caucus-goers in Iowa. "And it didn't hurt at all when she introduced her movie in Pella. The feedback I've gotten was it was an awesome movie, and there are more people becoming more endeared to her."
Palin has been relatively quiet over the past month, as she has retreated to Alaska to immerse herself in policy and to strategize with her husband, Todd, and top advisers about how a potential campaign would work.
SarahPAC, Palin's political action committee, has not hired a pollster or a media consultant, and Palin appears to have little interest in doing so, although the addition of a national press secretary may soon be on the horizon.
The 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee will not be on the ballot at next month's Ames Straw Poll, which could winnow the GOP field just as Texas Gov. Rick Perry is expected to enter the race sometime in August.
We've been saying for some time that after Labor Day is the ideal time to get serious about this thing. That's when the majority of the American people will start paying attention to presidential politics. Right now the only ones really paying attention are the political junkies and the media, who are desperate for anything to fill the 24 hour a day news cycle.
We know Organize4Palin has put together a ground game in Iowa that is miles ahead of anyone else. These volunteers have been in Iowa for almost a year now.
As Conroy points out, Sarah Palin has never run a conventional campaign. She is one of the best retail politicians she is, and loves taking her case directly to the people. She turned the Ruling Class on it's head in Alaska by doing this.
We're looking at new polls that show once Sarah Palin enters the race, she will be in a dead heat with Mitt Romney and Rick Perry for the nomination. The rest of the field becomes quite irrelevant. We are confident Sarah will be able to show that her record is superior to the rest, and that she has the right plan to get America back on track.
As director Stephen Bannon pointed out in an interview we covered here: "What Sarah Palin did as Governor in Alaska is a Harvard Business School case study in turnarounds"
The rest will have a hard time measuring up to this standard, that's for certain.
Not long after I hit "publish" on the story about Citizens United's attempt to pump up Michele Bachmann in Iowa by repackaging the movie Fire From The Heartland, from a movie about conservative women, to a movie about [and "starring"] Michele Bachmann, I got a couple of notes reminding me about the original interviews with the film's creator Stephen Bannon.
At the time, Bannon was quite clear Sarah Palin was the inspiration for the movie. In hindsight, it seems making this movie is what lit a fire in Bannon's belly to create The Undefeated, a movie that is causing quite a stir nationwide.In fact, Bannon credits Sarah Palin for igniting this fire and inspiring women to get involved.
Documentarian Stephen Bannon has made a film called "Fire From the Heartland" which chronicles the stories of several women important to the conservative movement.
"No one had ever touched the topic, and in addition, we did it in a way that let the women speak for themselves," Bannon told Pop Tarts. "I wanted to pick a cross-section of women who would be emblematic – congresswomen, known commentators, and a cross section of Tea Party activists."
The inspiration for the film came to Bannon, who previously produced "Generation Zero," when Sarah Palin emerged on the national political scene as John McCain's vice presidential running mate scene in 2008.
"I noticed there is a new generation of young, female activists who are at the forefront of this rebellion who are inspired by Sarah Palin. I wanted to tell their stories and I wanted to do it in a way that could be linked back to the founders of the country – Abigail Adams, the pioneer women, the frontier women, Clare Boothe Luce, Phyllis Schlafly," Bannon said. "If you look at the conservative rebellion, it is women that are at the vanguard – not men, and that has never happened before in this country."
"Fire From the Heartland" features several key female Republican figures, from congresswoman Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Jean Schmidt of Ohio, to prominent political voices Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin. But Bannon credits Palin for "re-awakening" the conservative female movement in the United States, and standing tall against what he calls personal attacks brought on by the entertainment community and liberal media.
"Hollywood does not understand Middle America and it certainly does not understand, and in fact, despises, the core values of the country. The elite of Hollywood hold it in tremendous disregard. I could not think higher Governor Palin, she is a force of nature and has inspired a generation of women to really get actively involved in politics and more importantly, take their culture back and take their country back," he said. "I’ve seen it across the country. These women are incredibly inspired, and were not really politically engaged until Sarah Palin came on the scene."
"Fire From the Heartland" was made without Palin’s involvement, but Bannon hopes she makes her way to a screening over the coming weeks.
"We made this totally independently of any influence so we could tell our story, but I think Governor Palin would love the film, hopefully we’ll get to show it to her," Bannon said.
Looking at this year's midterm elections, Bannon predicted Republican gains, but said no real change can come until the Presidential election of 2012.
"I think (Obama) is going down the path of destroying the Democratic Party because he has driven out the moderates, and we're going to have a huge wave of enthusiasm that brings conservatives back in to at least share power," he said. "But if anybody thinks that November 2nd is going to change things, they're fooling themselves. It's going to be a nasty, nasty two years until the Presidential election of 2012, because right now, all we're trying to do is really stop his administration in its tracks. We haven't even begun the types of cuts we have to make in federal spending, the types of restructuring we have to do with the federal budget, what we have to do to rebuild our manufacturing base, are so large that people don't realize what's in front of them."
From Bannon's interview it's clear who inspired him to make this film, and who, in Bannon's opinion, has awakened Conservative women, and inspired them to get involved.
Now I know to some all of this may seem petty, and let me once again state that we haven't found evidence of Bachmann or her team promoting this as a film about her, but what Citizen's United is doing is not only dishonest, it's a slap in the face to everyone featured in this great film.
Citizens United is trying to create the impression this is a brand new film about Bachmann, when in fact, it was created last year. We're not sure if their motivation is to help Bachmann win Iowa, or simply latch on to her as a way of raising money for their own cause, but does it matter?
Even though Sarah Palin was the inspiration, I'm sure she would be the first to say she wasn't the "star" of this movie at all. Instead she's point to the strong women featured in the movie: Ann Coulter, Michelle Easton, Michelle Malkin, Deneen Borelli, Janine Turner, Dana Loesch, S.E Cupp, Jenny Beth Martin, Jamie Radtke, Sonnie Johnson, Jean Schmidt, Cynthia Lummis, and Michelle Moore.
Sarah Palin would be celebrating all of the strong Conservative women who are making a difference on a daily basis.
In 2010 Stephen Bannon and Citizens United Productions released a great movie about Conservative women. While the film certainly mentions Michele Bachmann, and obviously Sarah Palin, the film also features Ann Coulter, Michelle Easton, Michelle Malkin, Deneen Borelli, Janine Turner, Dana Loesch, S.E Cupp, Jenny Beth Martin, Jamie Radtke, Sonnie Johnson and Michelle Moore. And even though more time is spent on Sarah Palin than Michele Bachmann, it would be just as erroneous to call Sarah the "star" of the movie as it is to call Bachmann the "star."
Still, this isn't stopping Citizens United from repackaging the doccumentary and promoting it in Iowa as a film "starring" Bachmann. In fact, they are spending $100,000 dollars promoting this thing.
From Jennifer Jackobs at the Des Moines Register:
A special-interest group is putting up television, billboard and Internet advertisements in Iowa promoting a film about Republican Michele Bachmann.
The ads will give the conservative presidential candidate’s campaign some free exposure during the three weeks before the Iowa straw poll on Aug. 13.
Citizens United – the group that was behind the U.S. Supreme Court case that opened the door for unlimited spending on election ads by corporations, unions and other interest groups – will spend nearly $100,000 on the ad campaign in Iowa, according to a news release.
The ads promote its documentary film "Fire from the Heartland: The Awakening of the Conservative Woman."
The movie was written and directed by Stephen Bannon, who wrote and directed the Sarah Palin documentary "The Undefeated."
Starting Monday, the Citizens United TV ads will run on Fox News and other cable channels in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.
"The ad campaign will culminate with a booth at the Ames straw poll on August 13th," the news release says.
Now to be fair, we don't see Bachmann promoting this DVD, or claiming to be the star on her website, or Twitter, however, this is obviously a ploy to pump her up after her record has come under increasing scrutiny. It's also a cheep stunt by Citizens United to sell some DVDs.
Here is Stephen Kruiser's original write on the movie from premier night, September, 2010:
Filmmaker Steve Bannon and Citizens United Productions are following up "Generation Zero," their film about the financial meltdown, with a powerful movie about the ascendancy of women in the conservative movement. "Fire From The Heartland" features the distinct and diverse voices of fifteen women who have had an ever-growing impact in government, social media and the Tea Party movement since the 2008 election.
[ .... ]
I saw the movie with a large group of people at last week’s Red State Gathering in Austin, TX. The screening took place only a few hours after I’d gotten to meet and interview Nikki Haley, the mercurial candidate for governor from South Carolina. As we settled in to watch the movie, I looked around to see how many women were in the room. Let’s just say that under-representation wasn’t a problem.
Female voters have long been a demographic that’s been treated like a group-think voting bloc by the Left, with any woman who doesn’t fit the mold (see: Sarah Palin) getting roundly excoriated. As the movie begins with the women describing their backgrounds, a rich variety of experiences and influences emerges immediately.
What unites the distinct voices and personalities becomes apparent when they all begin talking about the Founding Fathers, the Constitution and their views on the role of the federal government in the lives of everyday Americans. The hallmarks of identity politics melt away and it’s clear that these women are all fiercely individual but share a common vision of what this country was intended, and no longer seems, to be.
Having grown up in the supposed age of feminism, I couldn’t help but think that this is probably what it was supposed to look like: strong, independent and successful women who have no interest in hand-wringing victimhood. The Left has Hillary Clinton, a woman who rode her husband’s coattails for a couple of decades before trading her Aggrieved Wife Victim Card for elective office. The Right has Phyllis Schlafly, who still commands attention in the way few men can.
It also has Reps. Michele Bachmann, Jean Schmidt, and Cynthia Lummis working hard within the system. Bachmann’s famous grilling of Timothy Geithner is one of the highlights of the film (and featured in the trailer on the website). The film also features Ann Coulter, Michelle Easton, Michelle Malkin, Deneen Borelli, Janine Turner, Dana Loesch, S.E Cupp, Jenny Beth Martin, Jamie Radtke, Sonnie Johnson and Michelle Moore. These women represent old and new media and a cross-section of the Tea Party movement. In short, they’re everywhere.
I experienced a quiet mix of embarrassment and gratitude during the screening. It occurred to me that one of the reasons these women have taken such a prominent role in recent years is that so many of the men who were left in charge of the conservative movement failed it and us miserably. Many readers will no doubt say "Conservative men didn’t fail us, Republicans failed us." The simple fact is that many elected Republican conservatives have been screwing things up since the late 1990s. Now we’re faced with the prospect of having a great November but keeping the good ol’ boy network intact and basically suffering through the same congressional leadership that drove Barack Obama and this Democratic congress into power.
My gratitude is due to the fact that I know so many of these women who are out there having the guts to change the GOP from within and remake it into a conservative party once again. They don’t have the time for third party nonsense and aren’t interested in just sitting around and complaining about the Republicans, like so many men I know on the Right these days. They just want to get something done.
It's a real insult to all of the strong women celebrated in this movie for Citizens United to use them and their legacy to promote the candidacy of one of them over any of the others. Especially when it's the one candidate who is so magnificently not qualified to be president.
For many Americans, Sarah Palin was "picked out of obscurity" to become John McCain's running mate in 2008. Many mistakenly think choosing her was some sort of last minute "Hail Mary" attempt to counteract Obama's "historic" status. These folks would be wrong.
Among Conservatives who were paying attention, Sarah Palin was already seen as a rising star, the likes of which we hadn't seen since Ronald Reagan was in his prime. A lot of us learned of Sarah not long after she was elected Alaska's governor. The first reports on her no-nonsense style of governing, and her ability to get big things done caught our attention, as did the fact she had no problem going to war with corrupt Republicans up there.
By early to mid 2007 many of us realized Sarah Palin definitely had what it took to be President of the United States. As time grew on, it only became more apparent. Though 2008 was too early for that, and indeed Sarah wasn't known to most Americans, there was a dedicated group of people looking to change that.
The media worked hard to build the narrative that McCain choosing Sarah was a "last minute act of desperation," but nothing could be further from the truth. There was a intense effort to "Draft Sarah Palin" for the VP's job. Some of this effort was public, with petitions and such, but there was a big story happening behind the scenes as well. This book is about that story.
Frank Aquila was John McCain's campaign chairman from San Joaquin County, California. Frank was a peace officer from liberal San Francisco, a single father raising two boys, and a political outsider. He was also one of the driving forces behind the decision to choose Sarah Palin to be the Republican Party's nominee for Vice President. Adam Brickley, who started the "Draft Sarah " effort was the public face, and Frank's inspiration, if you will.
In his book, Sarah Palin Out Of Nowhere Frank Aquila takes us through his own process of coming to choose Sarah, his doubts, his revelations, and his successes.
In Chapter One, Franks tells of championing Sarah for the job of Vice President.Frank also points out what we all later learned, that Sarah Palin was already secretly being vetted by A.B.Culvahouse, the former Reagan adviser, and D.C. attorney who headed McCain's veep search. Still, few knew anything about her.
Franks shares some of the emails sent back and forth and gives us a real feel for how things went, right up to the day he got the call from McCain's California chairman Bob Pacheco, just before McCain announced Sarah as his choice, saying: "I just want to be the first to say congratulations! You got your girl!"
Then Frank takes us through the GOP convention, and gives us some history about Reagan, his supporters, and his detractors.
In Chapter Two, entitled Grassroots Politics, Frank tells us his own interesting story growing up Conservative in a Hispanic family that always voted democrat because their ancestors did. We learn how he was frustrated with the Republican "machine" and how he thought he could make a difference. Frank takes us on his journey from just someone who was concerned, to someone who was participating in the process, a story Tea Party members will know by heart, and appreciate greatly.
We learn of the frustration involved when you deal with the party establishment, but we also learn Frank is a creative, and determined man!
Frank provides things like "letters to the editor" and correspondence that not only give the reader a behind the scenes look, but also provide great ideas that can be used by anyone trying to get involved and make a difference. And make a difference Frank did. He became quite successful at rallying the troops in his precinct.
This is essential reading, not only for it's inspiration, but to get a look at the back room dealings that go on, including the selling of endorsements by some Republican groups. I'm sure the democrats do the same, by the way.
Frank also talks about the experience of meeting President George W. Bush, as one of his state's leaders.
Frank also goes into the nuts and bolts of it all, what worked and what didn't. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book for anyone who wants to seriously make a difference.
Chapters One and Two are just the warm-up though. In Sarah Palin Out Of Nowhere Frank Aquila gives us an incredible behind the scenes look at the 2008 election, the process of selecting Sarah Palin, Sarah on the issues of the day, and much more.
Frank gives us a first-hand look at what it's like working with the Republican establishment, as well as grass roots groups. He also takes on the communist infiltration of our country, and the democrat party. He takes on the corrupt media and how it has been used to shape the false narratives in support of the democrat party and liberalism. Frank also speaks to the failures of liberalism, and how people's lives have been negatively affected.
Frank doesn't complain about all of this evil, he offers up strong insight, and solutions to these problems. He offers up his predictions for 2012 as well.
Reading the book is a joy. I found myself inspired by Frank's personal story. Here's a man, like many of us, who was concerned about the situation around him and took time to get involved. His story relates well to any Tea Party member. Frank is living proof that anyone and everyone can make a real difference, if they just get up and do it!
Throughout the book Frank lets us in on the conversations he had with various officials, complete with e-mail exchanges and more. The book is well referenced and well written.
Frankly, if this book was only about Frank Aquila, and had nothing to do with Sarah Palin, I'd recommend everyone read it. It's that interesting and that inspirational. The story of Sarah Palin from Frank's unique perspective from within the McCain campaign is icing on the cake.
I strongly recommend Sarah Palin Out Of Nowhere. It really is a must read for any patriot who wants to get involved, but isn't sure how, or if they even matter. As a reader, you will quickly realize that you most certainly do matter. You will be inspired, I guarantee that!
Sarah Palin Out Of Nowhere is due in book stores and online at Amazon mid-August. Meanwhile, you can stay up to date by checking out the book's official website here and following Frank on Twitter.
After listening to the President’s press conference today, let’s keep in mind the following:
This is the same president who proposed an absurdly irresponsible budget that would increase our debt by trillions of dollars, and whose party failed to even put forward a budget in over 800 days! This is the same president who is pushing our country to the brink because of his reckless spending on things like the nearly trillion dollar "stimulus" boondoggle. This is the same president who ignored his own debt commission’s recommendations and demonized the voices of fiscal sanity who proposed responsible plans to reform our entitlement programs and rein in our dangerous debt trajectory.
This is the same president who wanted to push through an increase in the debt ceiling that didn’t include any cuts in government spending! This is the same president who wants to slam Americans with tax hikes to cover his reckless spending, but has threatened to veto a bill proposing a balanced budget amendment. This is the same president who hasn’t put forward a responsible plan himself, but has rejected reasonable proposals that would tackle our debt. This is the same president who still refuses to understand that the American electorate rejected his big government agenda last November. As I said in Madison, Wisconsin, at the Tax Day Tea Party rally, "We don’t want it. We can’t afford it. And we are unwilling to pay for it."
Now the President is outraged because the GOP House leadership called his bluff and ended discussions with him because they deemed him an obstruction to any real solution to the debt crisis.
He has been deemed a lame duck president. And he is angry now because he is being treated as such.
His foreign policy strategy has been described as "leading from behind." Well, that’s his domestic policy strategy as well. Why should he be surprised that he’s been left behind in the negotiations when he’s been leading from behind on this debt crisis?
Thank you, GOP House leaders. Please don’t get wobbly on us now.
2012 can’t come soon enough.
~ Sarah Palin
That's gonna leave a mark.
Obama is purposely trying to destroy the Republic. He wants to create an unsustainable situation that will lead to the nation's collapse. We're now hearing that no matter what happens, our AAA bond rating is likely to be taken away, which will cost us even more money. Obama's real boss, George Soros, has made vast fortunes in situations just like this.
Sarah is right, 2012 can't come soon enough. Neither can January 20, 2013. That's when we can see this strong woman sworn in as our 45th President of the United States.
When I first learned of this, late Thursday, I was so angered I couldn't even put it into words. Even now I'm really doing all I can to measure and moderate my tone. One thing about it, now we know why so many were adamantly opposed to auditing the Fed!
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders [Socialist-VT] reports the first ever top-to-bottom audit of The Fed shows $16 TRILLION in secret "emergency" loans to American and foreign banks and other businesses. All sympathetic to the democrat party.
Last year, the gross domestic product of the entire U.S. economy was only $14.5 trillion!
These secret loans started during President George W Bush's last month in office, December 2007, but it was all orchestrated by the Fed. In fact, many of the people who work for the Fed also have ties to the banks and corporations who got this money.
Here's what Senator Sanders posted on his website:
The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed one year ago this week directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study. "As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world," said Sanders. "This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you're-on-your-own individualism for everyone else."
Among the investigation's key findings is that the Fed unilaterally provided trillions of dollars in financial assistance to foreign banks and corporations from South Korea to Scotland, according to the GAO report. "No agency of the United States government should be allowed to bailout a foreign bank or corporation without the direct approval of Congress and the president," Sanders said.
The non-partisan, investigative arm of Congress also determined that the Fed lacks a comprehensive system to deal with conflicts of interest, despite the serious potential for abuse. In fact, according to the report, the Fed provided conflict of interest waivers to employees and private contractors so they could keep investments in the same financial institutions and corporations that were given emergency loans.
For example, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase served on the New York Fed's board of directors at the same time that his bank received more than $390 billion in financial assistance from the Fed. Moreover, JP Morgan Chase served as one of the clearing banks for the Fed's emergency lending programs.
In another disturbing finding, the GAO said that on Sept. 19, 2008, William Dudley, who is now the New York Fed president, was granted a waiver to let him keep investments in AIG and General Electric at the same time AIG and GE were given bailout funds. One reason the Fed did not make Dudley sell his holdings, according to the audit, was that it might have created the appearance of a conflict of interest.
To Sanders, the conclusion is simple. "No one who works for a firm receiving direct financial assistance from the Fed should be allowed to sit on the Fed's board of directors or be employed by the Fed," he said.
The investigation also revealed that the Fed outsourced most of its emergency lending programs to private contractors, many of which also were recipients of extremely low-interest and then-secret loans.
The Fed outsourced virtually all of the operations of their emergency lending programs to private contractors like JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo. The same firms also received trillions of dollars in Fed loans at near-zero interest rates. Altogether some two-thirds of the contracts that the Fed awarded to manage its emergency lending programs were no-bid contracts. Morgan Stanley was given the largest no-bid contract worth $108.4 million to help manage the Fed bailout of AIG.
A more detailed GAO investigation into potential conflicts of interest at the Fed is due on Oct. 18, but Sanders said one thing already is abundantly clear. "The Federal Reserve must be reformed to serve the needs of working families, not just CEOs on Wall Street."
This is simply incredible. It's crony capitalism at it's worst, and the numbers are so large they are almost incomprehensible. We're talking about more money than our yearly GDP, trillions more. It's frightening enough to know our debt is equal to 100% of our GDP, and totally unsustainable, this puts us in a whole other world.
What's more incredible is there have been numerous reports of bailout money going to foreign banks, a separate situation, and yet, Congress has done nothing.
Astute readers have heard of the Cloward-Piven Strategy. It was developed by a couple of radical, socialist Columbia University professors, Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. both Cloward and Piven have been big players in the democrat party for decades, and have even been photographed at the White House with President Bill Clinton at official ceremonies.
Cloward-Piven is a strategy to overwhelm the system with debt, demand, and confusion, in order to cause the collapse the entire system of capitalism, and bring about a Marxist state. This is why you see the democrats wanting to add MORE debt, and spend MORE money, at a time we are beyond broke. It's a deliberate, calculated strategy to destroy America as we know it, and bring about a command-and-control form of government .... Not that we aren't almost there now!
In September of 2008 James Simpson wrote an great article: Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis for the American Thinker. Simpson laid out the strategy Obama would use, as well as giving readers a nice history lesson of Cloward-Piven and the art of "manufactured crisis." It's a must read if you want to understand where we are at right now, and what is actually going on.
It's a damned shame our "betters" in the GOP didn't take time to learn about all of this BEFORE Obama was elected. Had the feckless Republican establishment learned what many of us already knew about Obama, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!
Besides the banks, you'll notice General Electric is involved in all of this. GE's CEO Jeffery Immelt is attached to Barack Obama at the hip. GE has received all sorts of special treatment, because Immelt has supported Obama so strongly, and is even on many regime advisory committees. He even turned the TV networks the company owns, most notably NBC and MSNBC, into propaganda channels for Obama and the DNC.
It's crony capitalism. It reminds me of how socialist and communist states operate. The fat cats, as long as they support the regime, are allowed to not only make money, but actually raid the public coffers.
While these $16 TRILLION in secret loans are so over the top it's almost hard top comprehend, they are no different to the Obama regime's handouts to the labor unions, and other special interests who have the regime's back. History tells us that it's a good bet most of these loans will never be repaid.
It's quite telling that at a time Obama is threatening to stop sending seniors and the disabled the monthly checks they have EARNED, as well as gutting the military, [while we are in three wars and terrorism is high] that he has plenty of party favors for his buddies.
The Fed is a bad situation all unto itself. That said, there is congressional oversight of the agency. That the agency has been allowed to run wild, while Congress did nothing, is criminal. Every single member of Congress charged with overseeing the agency must be fired. They also must be investigated. We should be filling our prisons with the corrupt bastards who allowed all of this to happen.
It's quite obvious the Obama regime has purposely enriched it's friends through all of this corruption.
We've never put a United States President in prison. Obama wants to be "historic" I say we need to make a little history. Obama, Fed chair Ben Bernanke, and an entire cast of characters have created a situation that will most certainly cause the Republic to collapse, if something radical isn't done.
If the United States collapses, the entire world will collapse. Liberty and Freedom will be things we'll read about in books. [if books aren't outlawed] We'll all be living in a very dark time.
I have no faith in Congress. Even though Senator Sanders has exposed this massive corruption, you can bet this will be swept under the rug.
We, the people, must rise up and DEMAND satisfaction.
We must DEMAND that any member of Congress charged with keeping an eye on the Fed resign immediately, pending criminal investigation.
We must DEMAND Ben Bernanke resign immediately, pending criminal investigation.
We must DEMAND members of the Fed involved in this scheme resign immediately, pending criminal investigation.
We must DEMAND any bank officer, corporation management, absolutely anyone involved with any company that received these secret loans, and was involved in the process, should be investigated for criminal activity.
We must DEMAND the resignation of Barack Obama, and anyone else connected to this in his regime, pending criminal investigation.
We also MUST DEMAND a our next elected President have a record of successfully going after corruption, even in her own party. [I just happen to have someone in mind]
Never in the history of our nation has corruption been so rampant in government. We need a top to bottom overhaul. We MUST cut spending and get government out of our lives so we can grow jobs and create opportunities.
The only way we'll even come close to surviving as a nation is to make the U.S. the most business friendly place on earth.
It's going to take something radical. It's going to take our government going back to First Principles, back to the Constitutional Republic our founders created. It's going to take the federal government realizing what they can and cannot, and should not, interfere with. They need to realize most things, constitutionally, are left to the states to sort out and control.
We need new leadership. We need people who understand reality. We need people who understand they work for us, the people. That WE are their employers, their bosses.
We need people who are mindful of how hard it is to earn a living, and how precious those tax dollars that flow into D.C. are. We need people who will treat those dollars with respect, and spend them wisely.
We also need to send a message to the corrupt bastards in Washington now, by sending the guilty to prison [and throwing away the key] and the inept packing!
With all of the insanity we are seeing from Washington, we can no longer sit by and tolerate it. We must take action and we must be successful. The very existence of our Republic depends on us all standing up and being heard.
In the latest Economist/YouGov polling Governor Sarah Palin finds herself in a dead heat with Texas Governor Rick Perry, and liberal Governor Mitt Romney. This polling falls in line with others that tell us the Republican field isn't set and Sarah Palin, who hasn't declared or done any campaigning of any kind, is already well positioned to become the Republican nominee for President.
This also tells us the American people prefer a Governor, someone with solid chief executive experience, as President, rather than someone from Congress with no experience in leadership or running a government.
In raw numbers, Mitt Romney places first with 14% of the vote, Sarah comes in second with 13% and Rick Perry third with 12%. A statistical tie.
This poll should really worry Romney more than anyone though. The polling firm breaks down votes from Tea Party members and non-Tea Party members.
Now Romney crushes all comers among non-Tea Party members with 18% of the vote, tying him with "No preference." Everyone else is in single digits. However, Romney is crushed among Tea Party voters by Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, and even Michele Bachmann, all of whom have strong double digit support.
Romney only garners 7% support from the Tea Party. This is bad for Mitt because the Tea Party, though filled with independents, and even democrats, is the base of the Republican Party. If you can't even come close to winning the Republican base in the primaries, you will never be the nominee. We predict Romney will do far worse in 2012 than he did in 2008, which wasn't good at all. The next election is about turning the nation away from liberalism, and a liberal Republican like Romney isn't going to cut it.
The pollster offers this:
More than half of Republicans are enthusiastic about at least one of the candidates, though there is a chasm in enthusiasm between Republicans who identify with the Tea Party (76% of whom are enthusiastic) and those who do not (39% of them are enthusiastic). And a third of Republicans (compared with not quite a quarter of the nation overall) are following the campaign very closely.
Among the Tea Partiers — 36% of all Republicans — Perry, Bachmann, businessman Herman Cain and Palin all score in the high double digits. Romney trails. But Romney leads among non-Tea Partying Republicans, who make up 64% of the party.
We both agree and disagree with this statement. We agree the Tea Party Republicans are more enthusiastic than non-members, mainly because Tea Party people are already incredibly engaged in the process, where as the general public is paying little, or no attention at all, at this point in time.
This, by the way, is why it's way too early for anyone to have even announced their candidacy, as only hard core politicos are paying a lot of attention.
While the numbers found in this poll, Tea Party vs non-Tea Party members in the Republican Party, may be correct, the base of the GOP, even those who don't self identify as Tea Party people, definitely agree with the philosophy and values of the Tea Party, and will not vote for someone who doesn't fit that criteria.
Our prediction on Romney stands, for a whole lot of reasons, besides the fact that the base of the party can't stand him.
CBN News Chief Political Correspondent David Brody released some never before seen video outtakes from an interview he had with Sarah Palin a few months back. Nothing earth shattering, just some fun back and forth. Sarah does call out the corrupt media and how important a free[and honest] press is to maintain our Liberty and Freedom.
On his show The Brody File David and his guests discuss the 2012 field, Sarah Palin, and more, before going into a series of outtakes from interviews. Check out the entire episode here.
This is actually the secondHot Air straw poll this month. The first one showed virtually the same results as this one, Sarah Palin crushing all comers, but the increasingly anti-conservative, anti-Palin website chose to spin some of her best results ever, as somehow a bad thing, and I was laughing so hard I simply couldn't type a response to Patrick Ishmael's drivel, and didn't publish the results.
Here's a link to that survey, you compare it with the latest, and find that Sarah's support is once again stronger than ever. And, once again, Ishmael looked for an angle, so we get this nonsense in the new poll results:
The Approval results are in. Leading the pack when Presidential supporters are removed is Paul Ryan, followed by Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, John Bolton and Herman Cain.
Now Paul Ryan, whose budget plan is supported by Sarah .... she was the first to get on board .... is not a candidate for President, and has said in no uncertain terms that he will not be a candidate, and yet ....
Ishmael uses a plot device known as "average without presidential support" to create his little narrative. In other words, he bounces those who approve of a candidate, but do not support them for president, vs the ratings for the same candidates among those who do support them as a presidential candidate. This is how he is able to show someone who isn't a candidate and will not be a candidate leading all comers, or so he CLAIMS, thus getting the headline he wants. This is a rather meaningless number though.
Either way, among actual and prospective candidates, Sarah Palin is the strongest, and getting stronger. In the presidential vote, out of a long list of 15 candidates [plus "other"] Sarah gets 38% of the vote, with Rick Perry, like Sarah, an undeclared candidate getting 23% of the vote.
Out of actual declared candidates, only Michele Bachmann breaks into double digits with 10% of the vote. Mitt Romney gets a whopping 7% of the vote.
The survey also looks at overall approval. They use a sliding scale 1-7, with 1 being the worst, and 7 being the best or "highly approve."
Again, Sarah Palin is far and beyond the leader here with 49% rating her a 7 a "highly approve" rating. By contrast, out of potential or announced candidates, Rick Perry comes in second with 25%, and Bachmann 22%. The non-candidate, never will be candidate, Paul Ryan has a 30% "highly approve" rating. So much for Ishmael's meme du jour.
Hot Air also has a couple of individual match-ups.
The most telling is the Palin/Bachmann contest. In the survey taken over the Fouth of July weekend it was Palin 52.18% Bachmann 47.82%. Now that folks have had almost a month of watching Bachmann, being Bachmann, the results are quite different. It's now Palin 62% Bachmann 38%. It seems the more people see of Bachmann, the less inclined they are to support her, at least among Hot Air's readership, 49% of which call themselves conservative with another 32% calling themselves "very conservative."
HA also matches Rick Perry up with Tim Pawlenty, with Perry getting 78% over Pawlenty's 22%. No surprise there.
In a Palin vs Perry match-up Sarah beats Rick 52% to 48% Which is the exact number Sarah was beating Bachmann by at the first of the month. I can't quite bring myself to call my own governor a "flavor of the month" but once people see Rick Perry in action, and look into his record, look for his numbers to go down, though not as bad as Bachmann's. [if he actually runs]
As always, straw polls are what they are, and any poll this early is little more than interesting entertainment. But they do show trends, and Sarah Palin has crushed all comers in these Hot Air polls since last November. In fact, her support only gets stronger. Hot Air has taken a leftward lurch, and become more of a GOP establishment house organ, since it's founder Michelle Malkin sold the blog to the Salem group, but their readers are politically savvy and conservative. They are a very good representation of the base of the Republican Party.
The take away from the latest poll is no one is excited about the current Republican field. It's very weak and has no one that can rally the troops to fight the Obama regime. None of the current declared candidates can beat Barack Obama. Rick Perry will definitely make a splash should he join the fray, but as people realize he is more of an establishment candidate, Donald Rumsfeld has been advising him, and Karl Rove is downright giddy at the prospect of Perry running, the bloom will come off the rose.
Sarah Palin is the only person who can rally the base and reach out to independents. Her record of governing in Alaska shows she knows how to work with a very diverse group to get incredible things done. As this latest polling shows once again, Sarah Palin has a base of support that would follow her through hell with a bucket of gasoline in each hand if that's what it took. While it's likely conservatives will hold their nose and vote for whoever the nominee is, should it not be Sarah, or even Rick Perry, folks will actually get out and campaign, knock doors, make phone calls, and so on, for Sarah Palin!
Before we go further, here are the results:
Ishmael also said this over the Fourth:
Whoever emerges between Perry and Bachmann will have the electoral advantage on Palin, who it appears has serious electoral maneuvering problems even among the base. Palin’s strength is the excitement of her supporters and the high commitment of those supporters to her. Her weakness is, simply, that there won’t be enough of them to carry her through the current field of primary candidates. I wrote back in 2009 that Palin’s most likely role in the 2012 cycle would be as a coronator. I still believe that’s basically right.
Ahh, the old "Sarah Palin should be a cheerleader and drag someone else's sorry ass across the finish line" ploy. If you are so weak you need a kingmaker to get you through a campaign, you are too weak to be a king. Anyone who can be a kingmaker, can damned sure be the king.[or QUEEN]
From his ramblings, it's obvious Ishmael doesn't even read his own polls! Though he stopped asking the question once he learned the answer [over and over] his polling found that Palin supporters are strong and unwavering. Recent Gallup polling shows 52% Of Sarah Palin’s Supporters Certain "No Chance They’ll Change" Romney? Only 30% which backs up the results of earlier HA polls.
It seems not to matter to Ishmael that Palin has convincingly won every poll he's taken as well. Ishmael requires all participants to include their zip code, and was publishing a nifty map that shows where a candidate's support came from. It always showed Sarah's support strong nationwide. This is likely why he no longer publishes the map, since his own research destroys the meme he's trying to create.
Oh, and back to the cheerleader thing. You know who the cheerleaders are out of this bunch, actual cheerleaders?
Michele Bachman:
Rick Perry:
(THE AGGIELAND)
Rick Perry, far right, in the 1971 Texas A&M yearbook, The Aggieland. This is a photo of the Aggie Yell Leaders.
By contrast, Sarah Palin was point guard and co-captain of her team, and took the team to the state championship, scoring the winning shot. [on a broken foot no less] She's number 22 in the photo:
Can we finally put this "cheerleader" nonsense to bed? Sarah Palin is a born leader. She successfully led a ball team, a city, and a state. She's a real winner, and a champion. Winners become champions because they know how to win. Sarah Palin knows exactly how to beat Barack Obama and win the 2012 election. Better still, she has the skill to govern the nation once she gets there.
