Neal Boortz: An America divided

Neal Boortz  ..."Let’s take a look at some of the divisions among us that politicians in Washington seem intent on expanding or making permanent for the purposes of their own political pursuits."
.... "But for those of you who believe that our country cannot survive at this current pace and that we need to scale back to a more limited government, you might describe our situation as “grave.”  That’s the word Mitch Daniels used in his GOP response to Ceasar Obammus’ campaign speech.  Then in response to this description of “grave,” Democrat hack Chuckie Schumer comes along and says “we think we are in great shape. We are in good shape.” "

...."Schumer and these Democrats like Debbie Wasserman Shultz are pandering to the lowest common denominator of voter who is completely incapable of discerning basic facts from tall tales."
Mr Boortz then discusses each of these points of division in turn and we have pasted in a brief excerpt from each: 

• Rich versus Poor  "The more accurate heading should read: Rich versus people who want... the government to redistribute the wealth."
• Perception versus Reality   "A study by Spectrem Group found that among today’s millionaires, inherited wealth accounted for just 2% of their total sources of wealth."
• Small Business versus Big Government  "Add ObamaCare into the mix and a host of other regulations and soon the cost of doing businesses just isn’t worth it."
• Americans versus Big Anything  "They are so unsatisfied with big entities like our federal government, and yet they hand their children over to our government every day to be educated."
• Black Voters versus Rational Thought  In 2008, Obama "enjoyed a 96% approval rating among black Americans.  That figure is embarrassing.  That figure has now dropped to an all-time low of 79% approval.  But still … 79%?  Gimme a break, folks." 
• Americans versus the Tax Code "First, many taxpayers abroad say they are confused “by the complex legal and reporting requirements they face and are overwhelmed by the prospect of having to comply with them.” "

http://conservativedailynews.com/2012/01/2012-obama-platform/

A case for Mitt Romney

Ann Coulter:  Strongest Case Against Romney a Few Sheets Short of a Ream  "Among Romney's thousands of business decisions, the one I gather his opponents consider his absolute worst was the decision to close a paper plant in Marion, Ind. Which wasn't his decision at all.
"It was labor trouble at the Marion plant of a Bain-acquired company, Ampad, that formed the basis of Teddy Kennedy's desperate 11th-hour attack on Romney in their 1994 Senate competition.....
"It is beyond journalistic malpractice for media outlets showcasing the bitter and lying Johnson to neglect to mention that he was the union president who led the strike that forced Ampad to close the plant.

"And yet The New York Times, MSNBC and others who have publicized Johnson's sob story regularly refuse to convey that crucial fact. This would be as if a judge excluded the fact that the defense's principal witness is the defendant's mother."  (Emphasis added)

Bain helped make the turnaround in Domino's Pizza


The Hill:  The case for Mitt Romney is actually pretty strong.  "Romney needs to build a better case for his election, a narrative that is more authentic, more revealing of the real Mitt Romney and more convincing to the voters.
"The narrative must fit into this time we live in." 


Someone wrote, "McCain wanted to be nice; Obama wanted to be president". Please, no more timid, McCain-type campaigners!  That Someone wrote the following about the Republican's opponent in this election:

My opinion was gradually set in steel as I read and studied and pored over Obama’s own books. The incongruous details of his race-obsessed memoir — the invented episodes, the composite characters, the utter lack of humility and true introspection — all bespoke a man of innate dishonesty and a lack of healthy shame. His audacious book on politics did nothing but hammer home his lack of principles and values, as he equivocated every single position, until the reader could determine absolutely nothing coherent about the writer.

donkeyhotey

Romney MUST overcome that "timid" label;  I'm an evangelical, but Romney's Mormonism is no  factor to me at all. While many of us would take issue with Romney's biblical beliefs- a non-issue in this case- we must appreciate that Mormons generally love this country and are patriotic people. 
I only question Mr. Romney's political convictions and his ability to confront Democrats with a solid defense of free markets and capitalism. It seems that Romney exemplifies the good things in capitalism, but apparently educating the ignorant masses will take Newt Gingrich.
Romney? Santorum? Gingrich? I have not a clue, yet. Do you?  TD

SOTU as commented upon by Terrell the Terrible

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Cartoonist's takes on the State of the Union

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/

http://conservativedailynews.com/2012/01/decline-of-the-union-address/

Government’s Proper Role in Creating Jobs: Top Five Actions to Take

Heritage  "Abstract: America needs jobs. A government committed to free enterprise, limited government, and individual freedom, and not to more borrowing and spending, can properly help. To help unleash the private sector to invest and create jobs, Congress should promptly take five specific actions: enact the New Flat Tax, free America's energy resources, grant effective free trade negotiating authority, stop excessive government regulation, and end the artificially high pricing of labor for federal construction projects under the Davis-Bacon Act and government-mandated project labor agreements."

http://theweek.com/section/cartoon/0/222164/all-cartoons

Pelosi knows Gingrich's secrets

Does this say anything about the Democrat's desire to run against Romney?

Exchange of the Day

Pelosi: "There is something I know. The Republicans, if they choose to nominate him that's their prerogative. I don't even think that's going to happen."

Nancy Pelosi’s evil mind games  "This is the ultimate mind game, trying to pick our nominee without actually having to put up any information.

"Would Nancy Pelosi lie for political gain?  You betcha.  She accused the CIA of lying to Congress about waterboarding, even though the records showed she was briefed and her prior public statements contradicted her.  She also is a malicious person who led the charge to demean the Tea Party movement as un-American." "

cartoonfactory

Byron York:  What really happened in the Gingrich ethics case?  "Given all the attention to the ethics matter, it's worth asking what actually happened back in 1995, 1996, and 1997.  The Gingrich case was extraordinarily complex, intensely partisan, and driven in no small way by a personal vendetta on the part of one of Gingrich's former political opponents."

Mr. York includes links to the following:

Newt to Pelosi - 'Put up or shut up...bring it on'  " "My life has been looked at by lots of people and I've been around a long time. And I just think that when you are a left-wing Democrat, the prospect of a Gingrich presidency is really sort of like a nightmare," Mr. Gingrich added."

donkeyhotey

Pelosi's office says she has no new dirt on Newt Gingrich  "Pelosi has suggested in two interviews that she knows something that could prevent Gingrich from becoming president, but her office said the California Democrat doesn’t have any secrets about Gingrich, who has shot to the top of national Republican polls after winning the South Carolina primary."

NY Daily News: Gingrich as GOP winner might be a good Newt/bad Newt situation for Obama   ..."Fourth, Gingrich has an amazing ability to rile up the Republican grass-roots against the financial, intellectual and political elites they believe are responsible for destroying America. Romney, who looks and talks and pays taxes like a privileged person, simply can’t do that. Nor can Obama, since many think he and the mainstream/elite media, whatever that is, are in lockstep."

Assessments of the SOTU (Updated)

Heritage Reaction Roundup "The President must not understand that an economy based on free-enterprise with limited government involvement will, in fact, work for and benefit more than just the wealthy. His administration’s idea of an economy that works involves imposing heavy-handed government regulations and threatening tax increases at every turn. Right now, the country is experiencing the tremendous uncertainty that such policies breed. It is the bad kind of uncertainty, the kind that keeps employers from hiring and entrepreneurs from launching new businesses. It keeps the economy stuck in slow, instead of revving it up. In place of more regulation, higher taxes, and increased government spending, the President should propose to take the country in a new direction in tonight’s speech. A direction that leads to less onerous government regulation, fundamental tax reform, and a government that spends taxpayer dollars responsibly."

Here is just one of numerous assessments contained in this column:

Want to Bring Back Jobs? Avoid Overcriminalization - Joe Luppino-Esposito  "He can start by avoiding the criminalization of American businesses by means of outrageous statutes such as the Lacey Act.  Just ask the workers at the Gibson Guitar plant in Tennessee, who were confronted by armed federal agents because of allegations that they imported wood from India that wasn’t properly finished with Indian labor."....

 So if Obama wants to encourage American jobs, he would do well to stop making it a crime to engage in business here.

WSJ: Obama has done nearly everything he wanted. That's the problem.
"So last night he took credit for the shale gas revolution he had nothing to do with and proposed new policies to "spread the wealth around," as he famously told Joe the Plumber in 2008 before he took the words back."....
"Perhaps this will work if Republicans nominate a standard-bearer who is damaged, or too cautious or guilty to challenge this politics of envy."


UPDATE:  RNC Video: Familiar Rhetoric, Failed Record



This guy grades the SOTU on its punctuation  He's reaching for it here.


Liberal economists agree: Obama agenda will fail

Another look at the SOTU

Paul Ryan previews the SOTU

"Well, no kidding.  Obama has already signaled that he plans to play the class-warfare card in tonight’s speech by inviting a special guest:"


To know what the president plans to say tonight, take a look at the guest list   "That’s not unusual; every president since Reagan has used guests to illustrate important points in his addresses. Personal anecdotes are always an effective way of touting a particular stance on an issue. Plus, they serve as an important reminder that policy matters because persons matter. Mentions of these guests — even if they’re misleading about the overall effects of Obama’s policies — will at least enliven a speech that otherwise promises to be dully divisive."

barkingcrayon

Beltway Confidential: State of the Union: Populist-corporatist stew


Doug Ross Journal: President Barack Obama's Complete List of Historic Firsts [Updated]  "But remember: he will not rest until all Americans have jobs, affordable homes, green-energy vehicles, and the environment is repaired, etc., etc., etc."


The State of Union Paybacks   "What Obama won’t tell the nation is that he has served as the most pro-labor president in American history. He has delivered a series of giveaways to union bosses that should make even labor’s most enthusiastic supporters blush. And in the process of giving away the store to his top campaign contributor, Obama has hung workers out to dry, placed unnecessary job-killing burdens on employers and sent a message to the business community that it can go to hell."

Bruins goalie Thomas declines White House visit for political reasons; gets blasted by most all PC sources

Fox News  "I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People," Thomas said in a statement.

Getty Images

"This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government," he wrote.

"Because I believe this, today (Monday) I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL."

"You can look at Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas’ decision to snub a White House visit one of two ways:  a profound American statement of freedom of speech, or a show of selfishness for making a team event about himself."
"NHL goalies can decorate their masks in individualistic ways and Thomas hasn’t been shy about politics, putting the Tea Party slogan “Don’t Tread on Me” on his mask." (Photo above)

Tim Thomas: Liberty’s Most Valuable Player


Fill the Stanley Cup With Tea!  "In addition to displaying his support for the Tea Party on the ice, Thomas is a FreedomWorks donor, giving generously right before the historic November 2010 elections, according to the FEC."

A Thousand Days of Failure; Senate Democrats have refused to propose a budget for three years.

PJ Media  "The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) is quite clear that passing a budget is not optional. It states, “On or before April 15 of each year, the Congress shall complete action on a concurrent resolution on the budget for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of such year.” "
....

Harry Reid, donkeyhotey

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) gives a standard answer that Republicans have obstructed the ability of the Senate to act. He apparently is hoping that Americans forget the fact that Democrats had a 60-vote majority until 2011 and could have passed anything over the objections of Senate Republicans.

....

"The real reason for not producing a budget is that the Senate Democrats are terrified of letting the public know what they stand for.  They want to only agree to a compromise that Republicans agree to also.  That way the blame can be shared for the pain that will result from only spending money that we can afford."


Pissing Away the War on Terror  "Barack Obama’s people keep telling us that he has fulfilled his promises. He has. We used to be the freest, wealthiest, strongest nation in the history of the world. He promised to fundamentally transform us into something else. Good job, Barack." Andrew Klavan

Joe Wilson's kind of night tonight

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/politicalcartoons/ig/Political-Cartoons/Tough-Room.htm

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/newt-337095-mitt-gop.html?pic=1

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/walt-handelsman-1.812005

http://www.sodahead.com/entertainment/just-some-cartoons-and-images-anti-liberalobamaetc/blog-144395/

WHO'S GREEDY? Obama Gave 1% to Charity, Romney Gave 15%

Fox News  "Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle gave $10,772 of the $1.2 million they earned from 2000 through 2004 to charities, or less than 1 percent, according to tax returns for those years released today by his campaign."
....

Romney charitable contributions 

Tax year    Taxable income          Charitable donations Donations as % of income
2010           $21.7 million                 $2.98 million                13.73%
2011 (est)   $20.9 million                $4 million                     19.14%

Just sayin'.

Jennifer Rubin: Romney paid 42 percent of 2011 income in taxes and charity  "The media is obsessed with Romney’s wealth, taking the amount earned as a sign of some moral failing in the U.S. economic system. But in fact what we see is that the income tax code is already very progressive (the rich pay a higher percentage than less-rich taxpayers). And in Romney’s case, the amount of his income given (or taken) away suggests that at least this particular wealthy American does more than his fair share for society."


UK Mail: Mitt Romney gave millions to charity. Joe Biden gave $369.  But that's OK because Joe cares and Mitt doesn't.