One man cannot be this incompetent. I think Rick Perry is now dumber than even Michele Bachmann, and she took dumb to a level we hadn’t seen, even in the era of Sarah Palin.
So Perry is trying to win the Republican nomination to go against President Obama in the 2012 presidential election. In order to get the nomination, Perry must compete. His campaign tried to beat Thursday’s deadline in Virginia by claiming to have successfully submitted 11,911 signatures to get Perry’s name on Virginia’s ballot, but this is where Perry had the second “oops” moment of his campaign.
This doesn’t bode well for Rick Perry: the GOP presidential candidate will not appear in the Virginia primary ballot after failing to submit enough valid signatures, Republican officials announced Friday evening. Perry’s campaign told state election officials that it had submitted 11,911 signatures, but the Republican Party of Virginia confirmed on Twitter that Perry didn’t submit the 10,000 signatures required to qualify.
“Hopefully, he will do better in other states,” a chairman of Perry’s campaign in Virginia told the Washington Post on Friday night. Perry was one of four GOP candidates who submitted ballot petitions on Thursday, along with Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Newt Gingrich. Romney and Paul have both been confirmed, and the Virginia GOP is expected to announce whether Gingrich will qualify later tonight.
In a statement, the President praised the “good news” that Boehner and House Republicans caved on extending the Payroll tax cuts for the middle class.
“For the past several weeks, I’ve stated consistently that it was critical that Congress not go home without preventing a tax increase on 160 million working Americans. Today, I congratulate members of Congress for ending the partisan stalemate by reaching an agreement that meets that test.
Because of this agreement, every working American will keep his or her tax cut – about $1,000 for the average family. That’s about $40 in every paycheck. Vital unemployment insurance will continue for millions of Americans who are looking for work. And when Congress returns, I urge them to keep working to reach an agreement that will extend this tax cut and unemployment insurance for all of 2012 without drama or delay.
This is good news, just in time for the holidays. This is the right thing to do to strengthen our families, grow our economy, and create new jobs. This is real money that will make a real difference in people’s lives. And I want to thank every American who raised your voice to remind folks in this town what this debate was all about. It was about you. And today, your voices made all the difference.”
The writing is on the wall. The only question is, can anyone in their already failed campaigns read? And if they can read what is written, do they understand?
Along with Mr. Gingrich, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas were able to get signatures to the State Board of Elections in time to qualify for the primary, which will be held on March 6.
Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania failed to turn in the necessary signatures by the deadline and won’t be competing for the Old Dominion’s delegates to the nominating convention.
Virginia’s stringent standards require candidates to amass at least 10,000 signatures of registered voters statewide and at least 400 from each congressional district to qualify for the ballot.
Sorry Virginia, you won’t get your chance to vote for any of these three losers. You’re stuck with the other four.
We all know that Mitt Romney is a ga-zillionaire trying to convince Americans that he is just an average Joe, someone you can sit and have a beer with. His financial deals at Bain Capital – where he mainly bought smaller business, fired the employees and shipped those jobs overseas because of cheap labor markets – are no secret.
Yes, his record is clear. So why not release his tax returns?
Mr. Romney made the statement in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday, but the network did not show that part of the interview. Mr. Romney, a multimillionaire who made his fortune running a private equity firm, was asked whether he planned to release his tax return.
“I doubt it,” Mr. Romney said, according to a transcript of the interview provided by NBC News. “I will provide all the financial info, which is an extraordinary pile of documents which show investments and so forth.”
“But you won’t do the tax returns?” asked Chuck Todd, host of “The Daily Rundown.”
“I don’t intend to release the tax returns. I don’t.”, Mr. Romney responded.
Chalk this one up as a win for the hard-working middle class families. Earlier today, John Boehner, under excruciating pressure from members of his own party, caved and agreed to the payroll tax cut bill the Senate passed last week – a move that would save American families $1000.00 a year.
It was the kind of pressure that could make one appear red in the face!
Under a deal reached between House and Senate leaders — which Speaker John A. Boehner was presenting to the rank and file in an evening conference call — House members would accept the two-month extension of a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits approved by the Senate last Saturday, while the Senate would appoint members of a House-Senate conference committee to negotiate legislation to extend both benefits through 2012.
House Republicans — who rejected an almost identical deal on Tuesday on the House floor — caved in under the political rubble that accumulated over the week, much of it from members of their own party, who worried the blockade would do serious damage to the party brand heading into an election year. The new deal makes minor adjustments to make it easier for small businesses with temporary new caps on the wages that are subject to the tax relief.
On news of Boehner’s reversal, President Obama issued a statement, saying “Because of this agreement, every working American will keep his or her tax cut – about $1,000 for the average family. That’s about $40 in every paycheck. And when Congress returns, I urge them to keep working to reach an agreement that will extend this tax cut and unemployment insurance for all of 2012 without drama or delay.”
The Gingrich flirtation lasted only as long as voters knew little about what he might do in office. His tirades against the federal judiciary might play well with the ultra-conservatives, but they seem to be non-starters among the more moderate voters who will come out in later primary states. Also, his lack of organization is showing, but that shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. Gingrich never seemed to be in the race for anything other than to get his ideas in the marketplace. He succeeded. Now there’s a 50% off sticker on them and they’re not long for the discontinued bin.
Republican voters have sampled all of the candidates over the course of the last few months and they seem to be coalescing around Romney, despite conservative suspicion that he’s not fully committed to their causes. There’s a good reason for this; he’s not, but he’s the only electable candidate in the field. So that leaves us with a volatile race in Iowa with Romney, Paul (my favorite to pull out a win), Bachmann and Perry able to cobble together enough caucus voters to move on to the next set of states. Rick Santorum is getting a little love this week from evangelicals, but that will all come to naught after Iowa.
Then the serious race will begin in earnest. Depending upon what happens in the next few days, Romney will have to defend Republican obstruction that led to the end of the payroll tax cut, or he’ll have to run against it as flawed policy, despite the cut being popular among voters and economists. He’ll also have to harness the Tea Party faction that doesn’t want to compromise on anything, and is losing support, even with Republicans. Add on the fact that President Obama’s poll numbers are improving, and Mitt suddenly has a more daunting task ahead of him than he did in October (did he just announce his first major policy decision?).
But that’s all in the future. Right now, we should be thanking Newt Gingrich for a spirited campaign that ultimately showed his best days to be behind him. His rise and fall was swifter than Herman Cain’s and the reality of a Gingrich presidency was always going to present problems in a world that’s moved beyond the 1990s. Perhaps Romney can find room for Newt in his administration as, say, ambassador to Libya?
“I’ll tell you what,” Newt Gingrich said when responding to a question posed at an NBC interview, “if he wants to test the heat, I’ll meet him anywhere in Iowa next week, one-on-one, 90 minutes no moderator, just a timekeeper. He wants to try out the kitchen? I’ll debate him anywhere. We’ll bring his ads, and he can defend [them].”
The question Gingrich was responding to, was in reference to a previous statement made by Mitt Romney, that suggested Gingrich couldn’t stand the “heat” of negative ads. Romney told NBC’s Chuck Todd, “If you can’t handle the heat in this little kitchen, the heat that’s going to come from Obama’s Hell’s Kitchen is going to be a heck of a lot hotter.”
Gingrich continued;
“And we can bring the Washington Post indication that his ad is filled with lies and he can defend it. So let’s test this kitchen. I’m happy [to]. I’ll go in this kitchen. Go back and ask Gov. Romney, would he like to come and play in the kitchen? I don’t think so. I don’t think he wants to do anything except hide over here and pretend it’s not his fault that he is flooding the people of Iowa with falsehoods.
“That’s his money and his staff. And it’s his responsibility. I can take the heat plenty well. There were 121,000 ads run against me in 1995 and 1996. I went through two government shutdowns. I actually stuck to my word. I opposed Republican tax increases in 1982 and 1980. I think I’ll do just fine with the heat from Barack Obama because frankly, it’ll be a fair exchange. He’ll get a fair amount of heat in the process.”
Like the others before him who once led the group of Republican misfits charge up the hill to become president of the United States, Newt Gingrich has fallen by the wayside. Recent polls now have him in third position behind Ron Paul and Mitt Romney.
We may be down, and at times, we may be out. But never bet against the resilience of the American people and our never-say-die attitude!
And unless you’re a Republican, in which case your main objective is to do everything and anything possible to make sure the poor and middle class suffer, this should be some pretty good news!
Unemployment rates fell in 43 states in November, the most number of states to report such declines in eight years.
The falling state rates reflect the brightening jobs picture nationally. The U.S. unemployment rate fell sharply in November to 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009. The economy has generated 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row — the first time that’s happened since 2006, before the Great Recession.
Only three states reported higher unemployment rates in November, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Four states showed no change.
Things are getting better Republicans. Your efforts to keep the people down are not working.
After a bipartisan effort in the Senate where both Democrats and Republicans voted to approve a payroll tax cut for hard-working Americans, House Republicans led by John Boehner voted to raise those taxes. A move that would result in a $1,000 tax bill for every working poor and middle class American.
January 1st is right around the corner, and for many hard-working Americans struggling to make ends meet, what may happen on that day, may be the last thing you want to hear about.
The same Republicans who, time and time again, put the necks of the middle class on the chopping block to protect tax cuts for the rich, voted today to raise taxes on the poor and middle class Americans, beginning the first day in January.
After seeing how House Republicans are so blatantly against the hard workers of this country, an obviously upset President, Mr. Obama, interrupted a press briefing to deliver this statement.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. It is no secret that there hasn’t been an abundance of partisanship in Washington this year. And that’s why what happened on Saturday was such a big deal.
Nearly the entire Senate — including almost all of the Republicans — voted to prevent 160 million working Americans from receiving a tax increase on January 1st. Nearly the entire Senate voted to make sure that nearly 2.5 million Americans who are out there looking for a job don’t lose their unemployment insurance in the first two months of next year. And just about everybody –Democrats and Republicans — committed to making sure that early next year we find a way to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance through the end of 2012.
But now, even though Republicans and Democrats in the Senate were willing to compromise for the good of the country, a faction of Republicans in the House are refusing to even vote on the Senate bill — a bill that cuts taxes for 160 million Americans. And because of their refusal to cooperate, all those Americans could face a tax hike in just 11 days, and millions of Americans who are out there looking for work could find their unemployment insurance expired.
Now, let’s be clear: Right now, the bipartisan compromise that was reached on Saturday is the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on January 1st. It’s the only one. All of the leaders in Congress — Democrats and Republicans — say they are committed to making sure we extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance for the entire year. And by the way, this is something I called for months ago.
The issue is, is that the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate worked on a one-year deal, made good progress, but determined that they needed more time to reach an agreement. And that’s why they passed an insurance policy — to make sure that taxes don’t go up on January 1st.
In fact, the House Republicans say they don’t dispute the need for a payroll tax cut. What they’re really trying to do, what they’re holding out for, is to wring concessions from Democrats on issues that have nothing to do with the payroll tax cut — issues where the parties fundamentally disagree. So a one-year deal is not the issue; we can and we will come to that agreement, as long as it’s focused on the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance and not focused on extraneous issues.
The issue right now is this: The clock is ticking; time is running out. And if the House Republicans refuse to vote for the Senate bill, or even allow it to come up for a vote, taxes will go up in 11 days. I saw today that one of the House Republicans referred to what they’re doing as, “high-stakes poker.” He’s right about the stakes, but this is not poker, this is not a game — this shouldn’t be politics as usual. Right now, the recovery is fragile, but it is moving in the right direction. Our failure to do this could have effects not just on families but on the economy as a whole. It’s not a game for the average family, who doesn’t have an extra 1,000 bucks to lose. It’s not a game for somebody who’s out there looking for work right now, and might lose his house if unemployment insurance doesn’t come through. It’s not a game for the millions of Americans who will take a hit when the entire economy grows more slowly because these proposals aren’t extended.
I just got back from a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, where we received the flag and the colors that our troops fought under in Iraq, and I met with some of the last men and women to return home from that war. And these Americans, and all Americans who serve, are the embodiment of courage and selflessness and patriotism, and when they fight together, and sometimes die together, they don’t know and they certainly don’t care who’s a Democrat and who’s a Republican and how somebody is doing in the polls and how this might play in the spin room. They work as a team, and they do their job. And they do it for something bigger than themselves.
The people in this town need to learn something from them. We have more important things to worry about than politics right now. We have more important things to worry about than saving face, or figuring out internal caucus politics. We have people who are counting on us to make their lives just a little bit easier, to build an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded. And we owe it to them to come together right now and do the right thing. That’s what the Senate did. Democrats and Republicans in the Senate said, we’re going to put our fights on other issues aside and go ahead and do what’s right on something we all agree to. Let’s go ahead and do it. We’ll have time later for the politics; we’ll have time later to have fights around a whole bunch of other issues. Right now, though, we know this is good for the economy — and they went ahead and did the right thing.
I need the Speaker and House Republicans to do the same: Put politics aside, put aside issues where there are fundamental disagreements, and come together on something we agree on. And let’s not play brinksmanship. The American people are weary of it; they’re tired of it. They expect better. I’m calling on the Speaker and the House Republican leadership to bring up the Senate bill for a vote. Give the American people the assurance they need in this holiday season.
A new report issued last week by the CDC contained some very good news – young Americans are taking advantage of a provision in the health care reform, signed into law by President Obama.
Before President Obama’s historic health care reform law was passed, young people were generally dropped from their parents plan when they turned 18 or left college. Obtaining coverage through an individual plan could be cost-prohibitive for young adults, especially those with pre-existing conditions, so many went without health insurance altogether.
The Affordable Care Act includes a provision that allows young adults to stay on their parent’s health insurance until their 26th birthday. When that provision went into effect in September of 2010, about 64 percent of 19 to 25 year olds had health insurance. By June of 2011, that number jumped to nearly 73 percent.
This is good news in more ways than one.
Providing medical insurance for young people encourages a more progressive attitude in regards to looking after one’s own health. Individuals can easily see the importance of maintaining good health – eating right, proper medication, getting exercise, early diagnosis’ for disease, birth control, as well as having regular check-ups with a doctor.
And although a more health conscious mentality will be a good improvement for anyone, it also benefits the nation as a whole, for the health of a nation greatly depends on the health and wellbeing of its citizens.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s mercurial and enigmatic leader, has died. He was 69.
Kim’s death was announced Monday by state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media.
The leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.
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