July 21, 2010, Conservatively Speaking
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- Democrats Join Fiorina Against Boxer
- Obama Approvals Hit New Lows
- Black USDA Director Resignation Scandal
- Will Obama Eviscerate U. S. Military?
- Is White House Anti-Israel?
- “Moonbeam” vs. Meg and Surrounds
- Is It 2012 Yet?
- Look What’s Buried In New Financial Regulation Bill?
Former Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra and her father, Pete Parra, have agreed to help lead efforts to elect Republican senatorial candidate Carly Fiorina.
The Parras will serve as volunteers spearheading the “Democrats and Independent Voters for Carly Coalition” in her bid to defeat Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer in the Nov. 2 election, Fiorina’s campaign said.
Parra, a longtime Central Valley resident who now lives in Fresno, re-registered as an independent voter last year. She told The Bee that “I’ll probably be hit” by political partisans for supporting Fiorina.
An average of five recent major polls has Boxer ahead by 3% with Fiorina ahead in one by 2%.
AT&T announced today that they are working on a new app for the iPhone. This one will allow you to make calls.– Leno
| A year after President Barack Obama’s political honeymoon ended, his job approval rating has dropped to a negative 44 - 48 percent, his worst net score ever, and American voters say by a narrow 39 - 36 percent margin that they would vote for an unnamed Republican rather than President Obama in 2012, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday. |
| This compares to a 48 - 43 percent approval for Obama in a May 26 national poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University and a 57 - 33 percent approval last July, just before the political firestorm created by opposition to his health care plan galvanized political opponents and turned independent voters against him. |
| In this latest survey of more than 2,000 voters, independent voters disapprove of Obama 52 - 38 percent and say 37 - 27 percent they would vote for a Republican contender in 2012. |
| American voters also say 48 - 40 percent Obama does not deserve reelection in 2012. |
| Anti-incumbent sentiment slams both parties as voters disapprove 59 - 31 percent of the job Democrats are doing, and disapprove 59 - 29 percent of Republicans in Congress. But voters say 43 - 38 percent they would vote for a Republican in a generic Congressional race. |
| American voters say 42 - 32 percent that Obama has been a better president than George W. Bush, similar to the 43 - 30 percent who felt that way in January of 2010. |
| “It was a year ago, during the summer of 2009 that America’s love affair with President Barack Obama began to wane. In July of 2009, the President had a 57 - 33 percent approval rating. Today, his support among Democrats remains strong, but the disillusionment among independent voters, who dropped from 52 - 37 percent approval to 52 - 38 percent disapproval in the last 12 months, is what leads to his weakness overall when voters start thinking about 2012,” said Peter A. Brown., assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. |
| “In politics a month is a lifetime and we have 28 months until November of 2012. But politicians with re-elect numbers at 40 percent bear watching,” Brown added. |
| American voters like Obama more than Sarah Palin, giving him a 49 - 45 percent favorability, while she gets a negative 35 - 49 percent. |
| Michelle Obama does much better, with a 55 - 19 percent favorability. |
| Twelve percent of voters say they are more likely to support a candidate for office, if Obama campaigns for the candidate, compared to 16 percent if Palin campaigns. |
| The country would be better off if John McCain had won the 2008 election, 37 percent of voters say, while 35 percent say the U.S. would be worse off. This compares to 37 - 35 percent who thought in January the U.S. would be worse off under McCain. |
| Asked to describe their feelings toward the President, 17 percent say they admire him; 33 percent are satisfied; 33 percent are dissatisfied and 15 percent are angry with him. |
| “The Republican tilt of the electorate little more than 100 days before the 2010 election is evident, but not overwhelming. Republicans hold a 43 - 38 percent lead on the ‘generic ballot,’ compared to a 42 - 34 percent Democratic lead in July 2009,” said Brown. “What a difference a year makes.” |
| Voter approval of the President’s handling of some of the nation’s problems shows: |
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| “The massive disapproval of his handling of illegal immigration stems from voter opposition to his decision to have the government ask the federal courts to throw out the Arizona law. They say 60 - 28 percent the lawsuit is a bad idea,” said Brown. |
| Support for the war in Afghanistan hit a new low with 48 percent saying it was the right thing to do and 43 percent saying America should not be involved. That’s not much different from May’s 49 - 42 percent support, but markedly down from 56 - 36 percent in April. |
| From July 13 - 19, Quinnipiac University surveyed 2,181 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.1 percentage points. |
| The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- |
A majority of Californians support giving same-sex couples the right to marry, according to Field Poll results released Tuesday. The survey found that Californians support the same-sex marriage 51-42 percent.
Days after the NAACP clashed with Tea Party members over allegations of racism, a video has surfaced showing an Agriculture Department official regaling an NAACP audience with a story about how she withheld help to a white farmer facing bankruptcy. But, it turns out that the video is bogus having been edited.
Shirley Sherrod, 61, the department’s Georgia director of Rural Development, is shown in the clip describing “the first time I was faced with having to help a white farmer save his farm.” Sherrod, who is black, claimed the farmer took a long time trying to show he was “superior” to her. The audience laughed as she described how she determined his fate. Sherrod’s father was murdered by a white man in a racist murder.
But, what wasn’t shown was her revelation that what she was doing was wrong and in fact she helped the farmer. Plus the whole thing happened over 20 years ago.
The Agriculture Department announced Monday, shortly after FoxNews.com published its initial report on the video, that Sherrod had resigned. She says the White House forced her to resign calling her three time while she was driving and finally ordering her to pull over and text her resignation.
“There is zero tolerance for discrimination at USDA, and I strongly condemn any act of discrimination against any person,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a written statement. “We have been working hard through the past 18 months to reverse the checkered civil rights history at the department and take the issue of fairness and equality very seriously.
Within a day the White House and USDA looking stupid for the combined cruxifiction of Sherrod. The white farmer and his wife, both in the 80s, credits Sherrod with saving their farm.
It appears that some of the reaction involved her being scheduled on the Glenn Beck Show Tuesday. But, that impact - if any — is still unclear. Sherrod in fact was on CNN Wednesday claiming redemption and having accepted an apology. The NAACP is involved to its detriment and in fact had a copy of the unedited videotape and knew the problems but did nothing for Sherrod.
The White House and USDA say they have been aunable to reach her even though CNN and others could and she says she has her cellular phone and would like a call from Obama.
Rasmussen find overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president’s performance. Fifty-three percent (53%) disapprove.
Obama chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel’s admonition that no crisis should go to waste, the Obama Administration is preparing to exploit the massive debt and deficits to push for drastic cuts in our national U.S. military budget. The proposed cuts, which total $960 billion, could leave the U.S. as a second-rate military power.
Obama’s cuts when compared to the ravages of the Clinton years will be dangerously devastating.
Playing a critical role in the effort is Rep. Ron Paul, who is generally considered by his followers to be an opponent of Obama’s liberal agenda. His son Rand Paul is running for the Senate in Kentucky as a libertarian Republican who believes in a strong national defense.
President Obama has already appointed a National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to look at long-term budgetary trends and vote on a final report no later than December 1. The proposals are likely to include massive tax increases, some minor spending cuts in domestic spending programs, and major reductions to the U.S. national defense budget. The plan is being presented by the media as a bipartisan effort to make “substantial cuts” to the national defense budget.
Under the “Sustainable Defense Task Force” plan advanced by the so-called “odd couple” of Reps. Ron Paul (R-Tx.) and Barney Frank (D-Ma.), the U.S. Navy would be cut to 230 combat ships (from a planned number of 313). Under President Reagan, the U.S. had come close to achieving a 600-ship Navy.
Other proposals include:
- Reduce the U.S. nuclear arsenal - which is underway unilaterally,.
- Slash spending on missile defense and space.
- Retire two Navy aircraft carriers and two naval air wings.
- Reduce F-35 fighter procurement by 220 aircraft.
- Cancel or delay the Joint Strike Fighter.
- End procurement of the MV-22 Osprey.
Rep. Frank, one of the most left-wing members of Congress, created the “Sustainable Defense Task Force” that came up with the cuts and worked in cooperation with Reps. Paul, Walter Jones (R-N.C.), and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Their plan is designed to serve as a model for Obama’s proposed cuts.
The “left-right coalition” making up the membership of the group included people from the Center for American Progress and the Cato Institute, both of them funded by George Soros. Another member came from the pro-Marxist Institute for Policy Studies.
Obama had already cancelled the F-22 Raptor, the most advanced air superiority fighter in the U.S. inventory, at a time when the Russians are developing their own version of a fifth generation fighter.
The Cato Institute favored the Obama policy of killing the F-22.
On top of this cut, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates pledged on June 28 to cut $100 billion from the military budget over the next five years.
Saturday Iran blamed the West and Israel for twin suicide bombings which killed at least 27 people, despite condemnation of the attack by the European Union, United Nations and United States. Parliament speaker Ali Larijani directly accused the United States for the bombings.
The Middle East Review of International Affairs says Obama could sever its strategic alliance with Israel should it strike Iran. The report by said Obama appeared to be “resetting” the Israeli-U.S. relationship amid the emergence of a nuclear Iran.
The report said Obama has focused greater attention to Israeli construction in the West Bank than to North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs or Iran’s massive crackdown on the opposition and Obama has demonstrated little regard for Israel’s strategic position.
The report says Obama would end U.S. military and security relations with Israel should it strike Iran.
The report said Israel has become aware of Obama’s strategy to impose a solution with the Palestinians. Ehrenkranz said that unlike his predecessors, Obama has no “personal affinity” toward Israel and his demands have exceeded those of the PA.
“It is just now beginning to dawn on Israel that it is facing an administration that may well be unsympathetic to Israel’s national interests,” the report said. “As a result, the Netanyahu government unveiled a plan to explain more aggressively its positions to foreign audiences, as it suspects that it may not now have an ally in the U.S. president.”
Obama’s polling shows that independent men don’t respond to his blame Bush strategy. So, he’s going to adopt a go forward with me versus a go back with them approach.
Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown will be outspent in this Fall race for California Governor 10 to 1 by billionaire Meg Whitman who is gaining and squeaking ahead in some polls. Brown remains largely invisible surrendering advertising media almost entirely to Whitman. Reportedly he won’t open fire until Labor Day.
By then the advertising market will be crowded and those unable or unwilling to buy at non-preemptable rates early will face escalating costs later. Some of that will be the inevitable media buyers flim-flam since they pocket 15% so, higher prices benefit them.
The battle for Congress will drive a lot of the spending because Republicans need 39 of the 60 seats judged competitive. In 2006 Democrats gained 30 seats to take control of the House and in 1994 the Newt Gingrich ‘contract with America’ bagged 54 seats
In a stunner Congresswoman Lois Capps (D) CA-23 polling shows just 41% of voters saying they will vote for her and 43% say they will not. The 23rd is labeled the “ribbon of shame” running 170 miles often only 6″ wide along the tide line and is the most gerrymandered district in the nation designed to ensure her reelection.
Leading Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg remains confident about President Barack Obama’s chances for re-election in 2012, but admits there is one potential Republican candidate who scares him: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Sinking poll numbers and policy setbacks “have done little to dissuade” the rosy predictions of Rosenberg, who has said Obama’s election gave Democrats a chance for a 30-to-40-year era of dominance, Sam Stein notes on the Huffington Post website, adding, “There’s only one thing that makes Rosenberg nervous: another Bush.”
At a recent lunch at the headquarters of the New Democrat Network, a non-profit group founded by Rosenberg, the former Bill Clinton adviser said, “Jeb is married to a Latina, is fluent in Spanish, speaks on Univision as a commentator - his Spanish is that good.
“And if you look at the electoral map in 2012, you have to assume that Obama is going to have a very hard time in holding North Carolina and Virginia. The industrial Midwest, where the auto decline has been huge, has weakened Obama’s numbers . . . a great deal. So Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin become a bit more wobbly.
“So if you’re Barack Obama, the firewall is the Latin belt from Florida to southwestern California. And there is only one Republican who can break through that firewall. And it is Jeb.”
Following the George W. Bush presidency, the vast majority of voters yearn for someone other than a Bush, said Democratic strategist Donna Brazille. But she acknowledged: “Jeb has the talent, the experience, and the ability to rebuild the GOP’s tent.”
And longtime Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg told Stein: “I believe Jeb Bush could run. He is more of a genuine conservative than [Mitt] Romney. Bush is a big hangover, but not impossible.”
Bush was elected governor in 1998 and served two terms during a period of great economic growth in Florida, keeping taxes low and holding down spending. He won high praise for handling natural disasters - six major hurricanes struck Florida’s coastlines during his tenure - and he also spearheaded reforms that have led to improvements in the state’s education system.
Today, Bush is in private business and works with several charities and foundations. But he has not kept out of the public eye, becoming a vocal critic of the Obama administration. He told Newsmax in an exclusive interview that the administration is charting a “dangerous course” as it pushes for a dramatic expansion of government that “imperils our future.”
Longtime Republican consultant John Feehery told Stein: “I think that Bushism is still alive. There is, however, an anti-Bushism in the party associated with the Rand Paul crowd. They don’t like neocons and government. And Sarah Palin could be seen as part of that group.
“What people like about Jeb Bush is that he is smart and conservative and well-liked by the base . . . If there is going to be a Bush revival, Jeb is going to be the leader of that revival.”
All of Mel Gibson’s troubles could have been avoided if he’d just made those calls with the iPhone 4. None of them would have gone through.- Leno
Buried in the new financial regulation bill’s 2,300-pages under “Miscellaneous Provisions,” are requirements that thousands of U.S. companies must disclose what steps they are taking to ensure that their products, including laptops, cellphones and medical devices, don’t contain “conflict minerals” from the Congo. I’ve already discussed the racial and gender provisions for hiring hidden away in the bill.
The issue of “conflict minerals” was barely mentioned during congressional debate. But, it has attracted growing concern from an unlikely alliance of conservatives and liberals activists hoping to ultimately see an international system for curbing the trade, such as the one that has slowed the sale of “blood diamonds” from West Africa.
Although little noticed by the public, the provision in the regulatory bill could have a broad impact. It applies not only to electronics companies, which are major users of Congolese tantalum, but also to all publicly traded U.S. firms that use tin and gold.
“This is a law that is going to affect virtually the entire U.S. manufacturing sector,” said Rick Goss, vice president of environment at the Information Technology Industry Council.
Bank of America has already said the regulations will cost it billions of dollars and others are now fretting about its other obscure provisions like this one.