Marco Rubio "Our problem is [Obama's] a bad president"

Tampa -- On the last night of the convention, Marco Rubio gave another glimpse as of why he is considered the future of the Republican Party.  Rubio is a talented Speaker, and one that should not be taken lightly.  

Rubio's speach was so dangerous to the Democrats, that their personal broadcast network went out of its way to make sure their viewers missed the first two minutes.

NBC Ignores Another Minority Speaker at RNC: Marco Rubio

Geoffrey Dickens over at News Busters as a post about NBC's coverage of the RNC.  For Rubio, NBC skipped the first two-minutes and 50 seconds of the speech, which is less than they skipped of other minority speakers at the RNC.

T-Bladels Republican National Convention Page: RNC Speeches: Clint Eastwood, Mystery Speaker, Sla...

T-Bladels Republican National Convention Page: RNC Speeches: Clint Eastwood, Mystery Speaker, Sla...: Many people, especially those on the left, did not like Clint Eastwood's speech tonight at the Republican National Convention.  I thought ...

Chris Matthews: Saying Chicago is Racism

I've heard MSNBC's Chris Matthews say some stupid things, and that has been happening more and more often lately.  He says that Romney calling Obama out on his policy to allow states to stop using work requirements is racism. He says calling Obama the food stamp president is racism, even though more white folks are on food stamps.

What is Romney's Speech going to be About, Here is a Clue

No one really knows for sure what Mitt Romney is going to say tonight when he accepts the nomination for Republican Party tonight at the Republican National Convention.  However, a email that I just received from the Romney campaign may give us a clue.  If the email is any clue to what we will see tonight, then the theme will be about believing in America.

The emails says this "We believe in America" on four different occasions. Romney is likely to touch on this theme tonight, telling American that we believe in America even if President Obama has not gotten the job done.

RNC Speeches: Paul Ryan, One Awesome Speech

Last night Paul Ryan gave a fiery speech to the delegates at the RNC Convention.  I was absolutely happy with this speech. Normally for the Prime Time speeches, I will point out each important point that was made throughout the speech, but this speech has to many of them. You must watch this to get the full effect. Ryan gave the speech of a life time, and I will judge it against every future VP candidate speech.  Ryan told his story, and then told the audience that Obama’s presidency is “adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed.”

T-Bladels Republican National Convention Page: RNC Speeches: Secretary Condoleezza Rice

T-Bladels Republican National Convention Page: RNC Speeches: Secretary Condoleezza Rice: For me, this speech was one of the highlights of my night.  I've always respected Rice, she has done great things in her life, and she kn...

Last Night, Did Ann Romney get it done

The first day of the Republican National Convention is over, and some important questions remain.  I would have had this out much earlier today if not for the fact I am feeling under the weather.  However, it needs to be done, so I am going to fight through it.

I will start by going in the order the speeches were given, first being Ann Romney.

MSNBC Cuts Minority Speeches During RNC Convention

I've seen MSNBC do some low things in the past, in fact that is what they do best.  However, they "conveniently cut every speech given by a minority from their RNC coverage tonight" according to Francesca Chambers at Red Alert.

This from Red Alert:

MSNBC wants you to think the Republican Party hates minorities. So much so that the liberal news network cut minority speeches from it’s convention coverage.

When popular Tea Party candidate Ted Cruz, the GOP nominee for Senate, took the stage, MSNBC cut away from the Republican National Convention and the Hispanic Republican from Texas’ speech.

MSNBC stayed on commercial through former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis’ speech, as well. Davis, who recently became a Republican, is black.

Mia Love's Pre-Convention Speech Video

 

The first video comes from Mia Love.  She is the daughter of Haitian immigrants who worked incredibly send her to college, She settled in Saratoga Springs, Utah, with her husband Jason and then she was elected mayor. Mia told delegates, “This is the America we know, because we built it!”  That is the theme for tonight. I hope you enjoy Mia's speech.

She’s running to represent Utah in the House of Representatives. Check out her video that was played prior to her speech: http://youtu.be/htoMk-GxOTc

For the next three days, I have opened up another page called T-Bladel RNC Convention Page, main body post will be stationed over there.  This way it does not clutter up the front page with a bunch of stuff that is small, and in great numbers can become annoying. 

Here is the link to the new page.

Michael Jordan v. Kobe Bryant: who is G.O.A.T.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on whether Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant is the greatest basketball player to ever play.  We all know Jordan was great, but to truly judge these two great players career, we have to wait until Kobe retires.

People have stopped trusting the Gray Lady: Progressive New York Times Credibility in Decline

Many of you likely already know that I am double majoring in Journalism & Mass Communication and Political Science.  Throughout my time taking various J classes, most of my textbooks grant that the New York Times is the pinnacle of Journalism and is often referred to as the record newspaper.

It is Time to Nominate Mitt Romney

Construction Time-Lapse Video Republican National Convention

Throughout the primary, there was a split in the Republican Party.  Would a more conservative candidate be nominated: Newt Gingirch, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, {Sic} Michelle Bachman, Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, or even John Huntsman?  It became clear quickly that this primary would be a battle between Mitt Romney and a group of uber conservative insurgents.  We all know that Romney won.  The media will tell you this was a weak field, but the truth is that at one point, many of these people had made it to the top of the polls.

How Obama and Romney differ on what makes America Great

Of Course, Obama Believes in America, its ability to transform into something different.  This does not mean he hates his country, only that he believes his idea of what America should be is the right way to go. 

Mitt Romney has a different view on America's greatness.

I Keep Getting Pathetic Emails from the Obama Campaign [Updated with Joe Biden Email]

Being a political blogger, I try to stay ahead of each story and sign up to receive emails from both major presidential candidates.

This year, the ones coming from president Obama are almost always geared towards gaining by money.  President Obama and his surrogates have taken a desperate tone in their emails.

John Hinderaker said " a campaign that thought it was doing well would not address its supporters in such humiliating fashion."

Hinderaker is correct, this is not emails coming from a confident campaign.  He post this email that came from President Obama's campaign:

"When I’m out there talking to voters, we talk about what we’ve done, what we plan to do over the next four years, and why the other guys have dangerous plans to go back to the policies that failed America for almost a decade." 

"But there is another question that keeps coming up, and you need to know about it: 'Why do I see so many more ads for the other guys?” 

"You don’t need me to tell you that the Romney campaign is outraising us — that billionaire ideologues and corporate interests are piling on tens of millions more in negative ads trashing us, and that all of it means that undecided voters in battleground states like Iowa could be seeing false, misleading, negative attacks at a rate almost twice as often as they hear from us." 

"Last week, when I was in Iowa, voters told me they were feeling it. The numbers back it up: Our side is getting outspent 2-to-1 on the air there."

"But the folks asking me about this don’t want an explanation — they want to know what I’m going to do about it." 

Americans for Prosperity puts out Damning Anti-Obama Ad

The conservative advocacy organization Americans for Prosperity has just released one of the most effective ads of this cycle.  Earlier this year, I thought one of President Obama's ads was very effective, because whether it was true or not, it showed people that had a past with working for companies that were taken over by a Romney run Bain capital - at least that is what it said, fact checkers disputed the details of that ad and found that it was not telling the truth, but that is besides the point.

That is what makes this ad so damning for President Obama, there is little that can be done to dispute the ad.

If you watch the ad, you will understand why it is so effective.  And it is not just me that is saying this.

According to a focus group run by Frank Luntz, most of the participants said they voted for Obama in 2008, but said they were evenly split on who to vote for this time.  Then Luntz showed the group more than a dozen different negative ads run this cycle by both sides and their outside groups.  A majority of those people chose the above ad as most effective ad they watched.

Bush is to Blame, because he advanced the Liberal Agenda of Home Ownership

Mitt Romney, and Republicans in general need to Place the Blame on Bush, and point out he was advancing Democratic Policy positions, and explain how they will do it different.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, George W. Bush should no longer take any responsibility for the nation’s economic situation, which is just flat out ridiculous.

In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's, Meet The Press, Jeb Bush said that "I think it's time for him [President Obama] to move on,” and then he stated "I mean, look” President Obama “was dealt a difficult hand, no question about it.  But he's had three years, his policies have failed.  Rather than blame others, and I know that we were taught that that was kind of unbecoming, over time, you just can't keep doing that, maybe offer some fresh solutions to the problems that we face. But that's not going to happen between now and election day."

 

We all know that President Obama was dealing with some harsh economic problems when he came to office; however, it is his policies that have not gotten things back to where they need to be.  You cannot come back from one of the worse liberal policy proscriptions by advancing more. 

However, again Bush is to blame for some of the problems, and certainly for some of the spending that happened under his watch. 

In the 1990’s, Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress cooperatively deregulated the banking business.  It all started when Democrat Jimmy Carter signed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) into law in 1977.

That was the first real action that led to the current crisis we have.  The problem got even worse when in 1990’s when Bill Clinton changed the intent behind CRA forcing banks to meet quotas in low-income neighborhoods. Of course, it was not only the policies that contributed to the mess that we are in – other erroneous practices contributed – but it played a huge part.  People were trying to buy houses they could not afford now on the promise that they would be able to in the future when they had better jobs, so the thinking went.    

It would seem by what I am saying that the blame is squarely on Clinton, and that is not it, although he is partly to blame.

 “We can put light where there’s darkness, and hope where there’s despondency in this country. And part of it is working together as a nation to encourage folks to own their own home.” — President Bush, Oct. 15, 2002

How well did this work out for America? Exactly like most policies that come from the Federal government when it attempts to force equality initiatives without much thought on the real world effects.  Once Lehman Brothers went belly-up, because they were trounced by harmful mortgages, it had begun to roll downhill form there. Bank of America had to absorb Merrill Lynch.  According the a New York Times article written by Jo Becker, Sheryl Gaystolberg and Stephen Labaton, at the time Ben Bernanke had just said that credit markets had been frozen overnight, and banks had suddenly started to hold their money.  Henry M Paulson Jr. told Bush that he would have to sign off on the largest government bailout in history (until after Obama was elected).

The part of that story that is most relevant is what was written next.

“Mr. Bush, according to several people in the room, paused for a single, stunned moment to take it all in. ‘How,”’ he wondered aloud, ‘did we get here?’
 “[Bush] pushed hard to expand homeownership, especially among minorities, an initiative that dovetailed with his ambition to expand the Republican tent — and with the business interests of some of his biggest donors.  But his housing policies and hands-off approach to regulation encouraged lax lending standards.” 

 “Mr. Bush did foresee the danger posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage finance giants.  The president spent years pushing a recalcitrant Congress to toughen regulation of the companies, but was unwilling to compromise when his former Treasury secretary wanted to cut a deal.  And the regulator Mr. Bush chose to oversee them — an old prep school buddy — pronounced the companies sound even as they headed toward insolvency.”

It is here that Bush deserves the blame. As noble as something like this sounds, it was a disaster for the American people in the long run.  Bush had not only pushed the same policies that helped crash the economy, but he was wholly unprepared to do anything about it when it started to become clear that something bad was coming. 

Toby Toons:Tranquility Base II - The Eagle Has Finally Landed

After NASA, Neil Armstrong taught engineering at the University of Cincinnati, my alma mater.  I started in Engineering more than 10 years after he left there, and was not even in the Aerospace Engineering program, but he was still a legend around campus and especially in the hallways of Baldwin Hall.

Everyone I knew in the Engineering school would puff there chest out a little when mentioning that they were engineering students at UC, "where Neil Armstrong used to teach."

Rest In Peace Neil Armstrong.

Obama says Romney is Extreme, but look at Liberal views on our most sacred Institution, the Constitution

President Obama has recently said that he feels that Mitt Romney holds extreme views.

What the president is hoping to do is use Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate to say that the Republican nominee is extreme.  The funny aspect of this premise is that not too long ago Obama was saying that Romney was a flip flopper, who would say anything to become president.  This coming from a person who had for a long time been saying that he was still not sure whether he was in favor of legalizing gay marriage.  Gay marriage is likely not something that you view as a obscure issue that can wait to decide the value you want to have and portray.

The President only decided to come out in favor of gay marriage when it became clear that he would need his base to come out for him, plus considering that much of the middle and center right has already concluded that he was a left wing zealot, it was a necessary thing to do for the damaged president.

Kathleen Geier has summed up the liberal argument against Republicans by writing that “Mitt Romney is a rotten enough candidate, the racial demographics of the country are continuing to change in a way that favor Democrats, and Barack Obama is a decent campaigner. All those factors seem to augur a Democatic win.”

If this were true, then certainly the polls would not be so close, so consistently.  It is true, Romney is doing badly in some of the important demographics, but there is a reason for this.

As I mentioned earlier in this post, Obama has recently endorsed gay marriage to woo gay voters.  He used an executive order to push through a mini version of the Dream Act to woo Hispanic voters.  The Democrats have done everything they can to talk about issues like abortion to scare women into not voting their pocket book and to perceive Republicans as threats to their bodies – I am not kidding, they are doing this.

Despite this sine qua non of a Democratic strategy , and despite Obama huge advantages with minorities and woman voters, Romney is still running even in the polls.  Democrats have been attacking Romney even before it was clear he was going to be the Republican Nominee.  Mike Allen wrote this not long ago: Obama and his allies have spent over $500 million, while Romney and his allies have spent $350 million.  At first that does not seem like much (although $150 million is a lot), but when it comes down to how much has been spent by Obama on negative ads, these ads should have been able to expose Romney's foibles.

In July, AP wrote, “President Barack Obama's campaign has spent nearly $100 million on television commercials in selected battleground states so far, unleashing a sustained early barrage designed to create lasting, negative impressions of Republican Mitt Romney before he and his allies ramp up for the fall.”

The spending has not let up since then; however, Obama's ads have done little to move the needle.  The race is about where it was before Obama spent all that money.  Additionally, Romney will only be able to spend once he is nominated, and Republicans will outspend Democrats for the rest of the campaign.  Spending on ads should help move the needle, if they are done with the right mixture of positive and negative branding.

Kid Rock & Mitt Romney: Not as Weird as it Sounds

Kid Rock is supposed to play at the Republican National Convention this year.  He also is the artist that sings the song – Born Free – that is played at Romney’s campaign rallies.

At first, I thought this sounded weird, Rock looks like your average progressive; although I look anything but like a conservative.

Recently, Kid Rock –name is Robert Ritchie – introduced Ryan at the fundraiser, held at the Oakland Hills Country Club.

According to Juana Summers over at Politico, Kid Rock said that “[he]was going to be a little weisenheimer and say, ‘Which one is running for vice president?'" Kid Rock told attendees. “Then they would introduce Paul and I would walk out and say hello.''

Summers the wrote “That didn't happen.  Upon taking the stage, Ryan remarked, ‘So one of us is running for vice president, but only one of us was listening to ‘Bawitdaba’  in the motorcade on the way over here.”

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense that Kid Rock is a Romney supporter.  There both from Michigan, they both have a genuine love for the hard working spirit that greases America’s economic powerhouse.  The real question should be why Kid Rock would not support Romney.

 With Hollywood overwhelmingly supporting Obama, and other progressive causes, it is nice to see someone of Kid Rocks stature supporting America’s Comeback Team.  In fact, Kid Rock has done a lot to try to help the city of Detroit come back from being one of the country’s most downtrodden city.   He has donated money to Detroit Historical Museum, and recently helped a wounded veteran and his wife get a brand new home.

Romney has given a lot of money to various charities.  Kid Rock and Mitt Romney, it is not that weird when you think about it. This is coming from someone that thinks President Obama has taken this country backwards.    

Even Obama sees Debate as a Turning Point, Romney better be ready

President Obama gave an interview to the Associated Press in which he contends that voters do not look at Mitt Romney as a man with solutions to offer to fix the economy.  Obama Points to the debates as a turning point in this race.

President Obama contends that Romney’s ideas are far outside the mainstream, and he has no room to turn back.  Obama does not see voters turning to Romney over him, which is a narcissistic thing to say.

President Obama said that, “If they saw Gov. Romney offering serious proposals that offered some sort of concrete ways in which middle-class families would be helped, then I could understand them thinking about that choice," and "But that's not what's happening."

According to a Ben Feller, the author of the AP article “The moment that could finally shake up a close race could come in the three debates Obama and Romney hold in October.  The president said Romney could run into trouble because of arguments that are not backed up by facts, citing a widely debunked television ad campaign in which Romney accuses Obama of gutting the work requirement in the federal welfare law.”

"It will be a little tougher to defend face-to-face,” is what Obama said to Feller.

I find this funny coming from a man, whose campaign has all but called Romney a felon and said he caused a man wife to die.  Of course, liberal will say it was a Super Pac (Priorities USA Action), that supports Obama that said Romney had killed a man’s wife.   However, Democrats (Harry Reid) have also tried to say Romney has gone a decade without paying taxes, even though that defies logic. The IRS would have gone after Romney is that was the case.  Romney has paid a low rate on his investment income, but that is only because the country wants investors to have money to make more investments.

President Obama believes that the debates will be the turning point, and I agree with him on this point.

Romney will have to define himself at the convention next week, and make sure that he does well in the debates.  I am sure Romney’s campaign team understands this, and they are doing all they can to have him prepared for the debates.

Rubio Switched Prime Time Speaking Spot to Allow Ann Romney to speak

Ann Romney is going to speak at the Republican National Convention after all.  News Max is reporting that Marco Rubio has given up his spot on Tuesday night to allow Mrs. Romney to speak.  Mrs. Romney was scheduled to speak Monday, when the broadcast television networks had not been planning to cover the convention.

Rubio with get to speak, and the spot is not really a downgrade.  He will speak just before Mitt Romney closes the convention with his acceptance speech. 

It seems to me that many people would not be watching the whole convention, but many will turn it on the last day before Romney speaks.  I suspect that more people will be watching when Rubio speaks that would have watched on Monday.  This is probably a good thing too, because now more people will also tune in to see Mrs. Romney speak.

The convention is going to be vital for Romney’s presidential hopes.  Many people know little about the real Mitt Romney.  Therefore, the event is going to serve as an actual introduction to the Republican Nominee.

Additionally, when Romney is officially nominated, he can start spending the general election money that he has worked so hard to raise.  The Romney camp has so far been outspent by President Obama.  The second half of this cycle will favor Romney spending more that President Obama.  Expect to hear Democrats complain about this, but Republicans will just point out that Obama who opted out of public financing in 2008, so he could outspend McCain.   

You Got to Love the Nerds: Cops in Skyrim

I'm sure most of you have heard of the OG reality show COPS.  Well the geeks over at Nerdist put this video together showing what it would be like if the show COPS went to Skyrim. COPS was one of the first reality tv shows, long before everyone got on board with showing real life people in real life situations. The real life cops and crooks on TV had been one of my favorite shows for awhile.  It is always fun watching crooks and drunks trying to get out of what illegal thing they did.

If you have not heard of Skyrim, it is the fifth game in the Elder Scroll series.  It is one of the best game around, or will be around for a while.  I hope you enjoy this video, it is good for a few good laughs, especially if you have played the game before.

Is the Press Finally doing its Job: Hardly, but it is Starting to get Better at it

Everyone knows that the media has been in the tank for Barack Obama since the first day he announced he was running for president.  

In 2008, President Obama was elected with barley any real vetting from the media.  The idea of the first black president had moved many people towards the Obama team.  Lets be honest, it was a exciting time for the country.  I did not vote for him for ideological reasons, but I was glad that the historic time had happened. However, there are real issues that people have with the press favoring one candidate over another, not only is it unprofessional, it is unfair to the half of the country that had not wanted the president to win. 

Many people in the press are center left, there is little doubt this is true.  Polls have been done that show a left leaning tilt in the press.  Look, everyone has beliefs, and for media personalities, they are going to show up in the form of story selection, interviews, and sometimes in how they treat the candidates.  This is just a fact of life.  It is one of the reasons I decided to go to school to be a journalist, to help even the scales.  There are people who believe that work place pressure often helps tilt the media to the left, this is likely true. I do not think that I would feel that pressure.  I would strive to get the truth out, no matter how it affects my ideology.  I suspect this is what is missing for many so-called journalist. 

Recently, we have been hearing about media complaints about how this election is being covered.

In a interview with Laura Ingraham, ABC's News' White House correspondent Jake Tapper spoke about how the media covers the election.

Tapper offered this: “I have said before… [that I] thought the media helped tip the scales. I didn’t think the coverage in 2008 was especially fair to either Hilary Clinton or John McCain,” and that “Sometimes I saw with story selection, magazine covers, photos picked, [the] campaign narrative, that it wasn’t always the fairest coverage.”

While on the Today Show this morning, Mark Halperin, who is a senior political analyst for Time magazine, Time.com, and MSNBC, answered Lester Holt's Question about the media and Romney tax returns.

Holt said "The Obama folks clearly know they've found some traction on this tax return issue with Romney," and added "And then of course late in the week comes this challenge--'give us a little more and we won't complain anymore.' Has this issue come to the point it's jumped the shark?"

Halperin answered that "[he] thinks the press still likes this story a lot, the media is very susceptible to doing what the Obama campaign wants, which is to focus on this."

Tapper and MSNBC's Chuck Todd were not happy about a report from Politico that said that staffers for Joe Biden had attempted to edit some unpleasant sections of a press pool report, which is said to be "unheard of."  

While speaking to Jonathan Martin, who authored the Politico article , Chuck Todd said that the idea that Biden's staffers are doing this is "ridiculous" and that it is was a "outrage." On the practice of running press reports through the White House, Todd said that "we're going to have to change this system." 

Tapper added in another post on ABC's blog that "President Obama Takes Questions from People Mag, Entertainment Tonight, Disses White House Press Corps." 

And just recently, we have another media person going at a Democrat for misquoting people.

Paul Ryan v. Joe Biden: Unusual Punishment

I have a feeling the debate between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden is going to be considered unusual punishment for the current Vice President.  This video contrast these two men well, and it is worth watching it. The video is from Cape Pac and its called Paul Ryan vs Joe Biden: Fact or Fiction.  To be honest, I am not even sure how I came across this Pac, but to heck with it, it is still a good video. 

Jobless Claims in U.S. Climb for Second Week and Reached One-Month High

The number of people filing applications for unemployment benefits climbed last week to and reached a one-month high.

The number of people looking for unemployment benefits rose again this week by four thousand for the second week, which added up to 372,000 for the period that ended Aug. 18.  

Yelena Shulyatyeva, a U.S. economist at BNP Paribas in New York states that the economy is “still very sluggish, and growth itself is implying we should not see any acceleration in hiring at this point.”

This new set of data will keep pressure on President President Obama ahead of his his reelection bid. Mitt Romney is trying to focus voters' attention on the unemployment rate which is still above 8%.

It would seem like any economic news that comes out is bad news for Obama.  I suspect that when each deadline draws nearer, we will see more focus placed on things like Romney's taxes or Akin's stupid comments.  Whatever it takes to not talk about the economy is seemingly the presidents plan for reelection.  So far they have done a good job of this, with the help of the press of course.

However, unless some drastic improvement is seen by the voters, it will not matter what the media wants to focus on, people will want change.    

According to a new Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll, Ryan is helping Romney in Wisconsin & Florida, but not Oiho (Ohio)

I do not usually write about polls, I figure there are enough people out there doing that. However, I do write about them when something in them interest me, and can tell the readers where the race is.  According to a new Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New YorkTimes poll, the selection of Paul Ryan by Mitt Romney is helping the team in Wisconsin.

Ryan joining Romney's campaign, they have gained ground in Wisconsin, with President Obama now leading by just two points, 49% to 47%.  On 8/8/12, the poll had Obama with 51% to Romney’s 45%.  It is important to take this poll with a grain of salt; PPP had Romney up by 1 on 8/16, CNN had Romney up by 1, however, on the same day Marquette University had Obama up by 3 in Wisconsin. 

The race is also tightening in Florida, with Obama leading Romney by three in the same poll – 49%to 46%.  On 8/1/12, Obama had 51% to 45%.  On 8/15 CBS/NYT/Quinnipiac had Obama up by 3.  The same day Rasmussen Reports had Romney by 2.

In Oiho, oops, I mean Ohio, Obama has 50% to Romney 44%, with is the same as it was at the start of the month in this poll.  Recently in Ohio, it seems that Obama has had a steady lead for the last three polls to come out.  However, on 8/13, Rasmussen Reports had the candidates tied, and Purple Strategies had Romney up by two.

What this all mean is  that this race is very close, and there has been movement back and forth but nothing that should alarm either campaign, causing them to do something stupid.   I suspect that we will have a better understanding of how this race stands after the conventions.  That is when the voters will really start to pay attention. 

Will the Election Impact Future Projects like the James Webb Space Telescope?

Every once in a while I enjoy posting something that deals with science.  Usually it will pertain to something that is important, such as the retirement of the shuttle program, but it does not always deal with politics.  This time it does.  The new Jame Webb Telescope is getting closer to being finished.  It should usher in a new understanding of the Universe around us.

However, the future of such projects is jeopardized by the debt that has accumulated over the years.  


Truly most political junkies are nerds, I know I am.  My friends used to think I was a nerd just because I followed politics.  Of course I've always seen it as a duty to be involved in the future of my nation.  So I personally enjoy when two of my favorite subjects collide. Space and Politics are becoming increasingly intertwined.  First, lets take a look at what the James Webb Telescope is.   

space.com has posted a article about the mirrors for the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).   

Leonard David writes that "One of the most challenging parts of NASA’s huge new space telescope, the building of its ultrasophisticated mirror system, is now finished, and the mirrors are ready for delivery." 

The  JWST  is going to replace Hubble as the U.S. premier telescope.  

Ball Aerospace is the one that built the mirror, as well as for building the secondary and tertiary mirrors.  

"Ball is the principal subcontractor to manufacturer Northrop Grumman for the JWST optical technologyand lightweight mirror system at the heart of the telescope — an astronomical project that is now pegged to cost roughly $8.7 billion and to be lofted in the fall of 2018" wrote David.

According to NASA, the  JWST is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope, and will study every phase in the history of our Universe, from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planers like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.

The Jame Webb Telescope is named after the NASA administrator who crafted the Apollo Program, and who was a staunch supporter of space science. 

The JWST has four main science themes: "The End of the Dark Ages: First Light and Reionization, The Assembly of Galaxies, The Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems, and Planetary Systems and the Origins of Life."

I personally am very excited about this project, and wish it would launch much sooner than it does.  It is sad that the country has gone broke, because projects like these are so important to the understanding of the world around us.  I wonder if there is a system that can be developed that allows for private entities to do most of the heavy lifting.  We see it happening in the development of commercial space flight, however, it is not clear exactly how it would be done.

This is not to say that it will not happen.  Many people that went to the Frontier Foundation's annual conference said they believe that commercial firms would play an increasingly important role in the U.S. Space Program.

Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said that "NASA officials are working diligently "on evolving the way we work with the private sector."  

David writes that "While the overall percentage of NASA's budget going to the private sector is likely to remain at the current level of approximately 85 percent, the space agency is changing the way it spends that money in an effort to help private companies "leverage that money to bring in more private investment, more innovation, open new markets, reduce costs and provide economic gain." 

This seems to be a fair assessment of the situation.  If the United States wants to stay competitive in the space race, it is going to have to leverage the free market, which by the way has always helped us be at the forefront of most industries.  Our institutions can have a part to play, but likely it is going to have to be in conjunction with private entities.

President Obama recently called the Mars Science Laboratory team at NASA's Jet Propulsion  Laboratory that just landed the Mars rover Curiosity on the red planet.  What Obama said was "[those guys] are examples of American know-how and ingenuity, and it’s really an amazing accomplishment,” and he added that he was "going to give [those guys] a personal commitment to protect these critical investments in science and technology.” 

What had gone unmentioned was the fact that there was a 20% cut in NASA'S planetary sciences program in the presidents fiscal year 2013 budget proposal, also that the president had backed out the joint ExoMars program with Europe.

CBO Warns that Deep Recession will Result from Fiscal Cliff: and Were Talking about Romney's Taxes and Abortion

The CBO is warning that a deep recession will be the result if Congress fails to avert fiscal cliff'.

“The stakes of fiscal policy are very high right now,” CBO Director Doug Elmendorf said.

This should seem obvious to most people, but Congress and President Obama agreed to this nonsense, so now here we are.  President Obama should have extended the Bush tax cuts until the recession was over, and worked out a deal on spending issues.  I suspect his administration was looking towards the next election, knowing that his base did not turn out in the 2010 midterms.

The CBO estimates that unemployment would rise from 8.2 percent in 2012 to 9.1 percent next year.  This is a horrible outcome coming from the CBO.

The Obama administrations fallible record on the economy explains why they want to talk about anything but the economy.

We have been hearing from Republicans all over the country that the uncertainty that has been created by Obamacare and the debt is causing the economy to move towards recession.  That seems to be what the CBO is saying as well.

“The sooner that that uncertainty is resolved, the stronger the economy would be in the second halfof this year,” Elmendorf said. “Economic growth right now is being held back bythe anticipation of this fiscal tightening.”

House Speaker John Boehner has said that “Instead of threatening to drive us off the fiscal cliff and tank oureconomy in their quest for higher taxes, I would urge President Obama and congressional Democrats to work with us to stop the coming tax hike thatthreatens our economy and replace the looming defense cuts with common sensereforms.”

Erik Wasson of thehill.com website has noted that “The CBO report puts the focus back on President Obama’s economic policies and the fiscal issues that the Republican presidential ticket of Mitt Romney and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) considers its strength.”

Wasson also noted that “TheWhite House argued the new report reinforced the president's argument that House Republicans should approve his plan to extend low tax rates for families with annual income above $250,000 while raising taxes on higher annual income.White House press secretary Jay Carney said the GOP was instead choosing to ‘double down on the same failed policies that led to the economic crisis in the firstplace.’”

A report like this should induce the government into actions, but as it sits, a divided government cannot agree on what to do.  For the most part, it is going to be up to the electorate to decide these matters, and hopefully it is not too late by then to turn the tide towards another recession.

We Could All Use Some R&R by Toby Toons

America needs some R&R, but there will be no time to rest if we are going to fix the mistakes of the last three and a half years.  To see more go to http://www.tobytoons.com

For Ed Schultz, Conservative Woman have no Accomplishments

Noel Sheppard of New Busters points out that MSNBC’s Ed Schultz whined on his program that it should not have African-American Condoleezza Rice that the Augusta National Golf Club admitted as a member, making her one of the two first woman to be allowed as members of this club.  Apparently Shultz believes that only Democrats should get this honor.  Why couldn't he just be happy this happened, instead of saying that it should have been Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton that got the honor.  Rice's color of skin does not outweigh her beliefs I guess.

Sheppard adds "And there you have it. Because Augusta didn't let in liberal women that Schultz admires, this decision wasn’t good enough."  Honestly this is typical for liberals, they have no desire to see good things happen for women if they belong to the Republican Party, or believe in conservative causes.  Think of Palin, Christine O'Donnell, or any other recent conservative woman to push on a glass ceiling. 

It is widely know that if you are a woman, and conservative, your achievements are somehow tainted, or less than it would be if you were a liberal thinker.   

Mitt Romney Gets Trashed By ... Mitt Romney? BY Hugh Atkin

Look, I support Mitt Romney for President.  This country is in need of new leadership, and Romney has shown he is willing to be bold by picking Paul Ryan for VP.  Now that does not mean that I am blind to some of his former policy positions.  Politics is sum-zero game, and sometimes that involves moving towards the voters you need to win a race.  I suspect very few people have not done this.  I know that it ticks people off, but we all know people move towards the center when the primary is over.  The above video by Hugh Atkins is just funny, and I see no reason not to laugh at it.  So, go ahead, laugh already.

Akin Pulls the Establishment Card and does not succumb to Call for Him to Leave

 Missouri Rep. Todd Akin has said he will not drop out of the race for Sen. Claire McCaskill’s seat.  Announcing he decision on Mike Huckabee’s radio show, Akin stated, “We are going to continue this race for the U.S. Senate.”

According to Scott Conroy and Caitlin Huey-Burns, a Akin ally says that “Todd Akin is not going to be pushed out of this race and give up a 30-year stellar career as a conservative leader in Congress overnight because the Washington establishment, who didn’t want him to be the nominee to begin with, wants him out,” and “He may ultimately decide the best decision for him and America is to step aside, but he’s not going to rush to the judgment of the D.C. establishment.”

Jeffrey Smith over at Salon outlined some other reasons why he thinks Akin is not stepping out of the race: he is 65 and does not have another shot at this, his opponent is weakened, he does not ever cut deal and won’t do it now, his social conservative base is as nuts as he is, he has never outspent his opponents, the establishment has never liked him, he will get support because the senate needs him to win, McCaskill is not well liked in Missouri, he has a shot at being in the Senate still, John Brunner pissed him off and he does not want him to get the job, and since God told him to run, only God can tell him to quit.

OK Now, well that should about sum up why Akin is staying in despite the fact he is hurting his own party.  Look, this establishment is doing this to me crap is bull.  Akin made a stupid statement, and it is not the establishments fault.  I wonder, did he not want the establishments help before he had made the gaffe of the year for Senate Candidates. 

Akin Should Not Delay any Longer, and Step Down!

It is time to talk about the Rep. Todd Akin, who recently made what Charles Krauthammer called a “offensive and toxic; it was unbelievably stupid” statement to a local news show saying that women"rarely" become pregnant through "legitimate rape."  Legitimate Rape, what is wrong with this dude.  I am in agreement with Krauthammer; this was a stupid statement, and one that warrants all the pressure Akin is getting to drop out by Senate Republicans, Hannity, RNC chairperson Reince Priebus, even Tea Party groups, and a slew of other people.  Mitt Romney said that he could not stick up for Akin, or what he said.

"Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin’s statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape," in a statement from Andrea Saul, a Romney spokesperson.

Hannity added that “I was put in that position, I would at least be thinking about what is in the best interest of the party. hat is in the best interest of, you know, Mitt Romney in this case. What is in the best interest of the people of Missouri,are they going to be able to hear a campaign about issues or is this going tobe the distraction of the campaign. Are you -- you're not even considering that?"

Until Akin made this unbelievably stupid statement, his opponent, Sen. Claire McCaskill had been in position to lose her reelection bid, but now Akin’s statement handed Democrats more dirt to turn off woman voters, which are a key constituency that could swing many congressional and presidential battleground states.  Sen. McCaskill could have been beat, bring Republicans closer to controlling the senate.  This seat is largely considered a must if Republicans are to win the Senate back, and have full control of the national government.

McCaskill was down to Akin in recent polls, and her only path to coming back was to do what national Democrats have attempted to do this whole cycle, paint Republicans out to be extreme on issues that matter to people.  This statement does nothing for Republicans to help this situation.

To be fair, Akin likely did misspeak about the whole issue.  The point he was making was that forced rape does not often lead to pregnancy.  However, that is by itself a silly statement.  The debate is about whether rape victims who get pregnant, should they have the right to abort the pregnancy.  The exact number of instances should have little bearing on this debate.

Akin is going to have a uphill battle if he decides to stay in this race; which it seems like he is going to unless something changes his mind.  This is possible though, just about everyone seems to be calling on Akin to step out of the race.