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23 May 2011 10:33

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Politics: Shocker: Scott Brown doesn’t support the Paul Ryan Medicare plan

  • Thumbs-up to photo ops, thumbs-down to the Ryan plan. Sen. Scott Brown got into office largely on the promise he’d vote against the health care bill. Since then, he’s followed a strongly moderate path, reaching out to the other side of the aisle more than any other GOP senator. So, it’s with that in mind that you should read the op-ed Brown wrote for Politico, which claims that Medicare has already been weakened by Obamacare, and that at large, the focus should be on removing waste in Medicare. “While I applaud Ryan for getting the conversation started,” he said, “I cannot support his specific plan — and therefore will vote ‘no’ on his budget.” If only Newt Gingrich had this script to read from a week ago. (photo via Flickr user dianezink1021) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 May 2011 11:28

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Politics: Herman Cain: National security’s off my agenda … until I’m elected

  • Herman Cain doesn’t want to talk national security. At least not until after he’s elected. “The right approach is that the day I’m elected, I would start on that plan. I think it is disingenuous to tell the American people what I would do,” he told Fox News Sunday this morning. OK … so, we understand that he might not be privy to the documents that Obama has at his disposal, but seriously? National security isn’t something you, as a presidential candidate, are allowed to ignore. This is one of the reasons people will want to vote for you. Waiting to explain your national security plan until after people have put you into office — forcing people to go in blind on one of the key things a president does — is a dangerous stance that will not fly with mainstream voters, Herman. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 May 2011 02:14

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U.S.: GOP field narrows further: Mitch Daniels won’t run for president

Another high-profile contender in 2012 is out — because his family said no. “Simply put, I find myself caught between two duties,” the Indiana governor said. “I love my country; I love my family more.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 May 2011 15:06

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Politics: Jon Huntsman seriously pitches for more civility in politics

  • After the shooting in Tucson when Representative Giffords was injured, we talked seriously as a nation about civility. Many Republicans and Democrats even sat together at the State of the Union. Remember that? Now, if we can just sit together and solve our problems. Civility acts as a lubricant to make the system work.
  • Former U.S. Ambassador to China (and potential presidential candidate) Jon Huntsman • Making his latest commencement speech at a university — he made one just recently at the University of South Carolina while ignoring a nearby GOP convention. Today’s speech, at Southern New Hampshire University, continued in the same kind of vein, though it focused more on politics this time. (Last time, Huntsman name-dropped Ben Folds Five, which fits in with his history as an indie rocker.) His style of campaigning is interesting — and it’s one that’s lacking from the overall playing field right now. To put it simply, why are all the good GOP candidates this time around the minor ones who may not even make a decent showing next year? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 May 2011 14:19

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Politics: Herman Cain: Nobody knows him, but those who do like him

  • “I once Ate a pizza, and it was this big. That’s why they called me the Godfather.” (OK, he didn’t say that; we just love the photo.) Herman Cain, who we’ve covered before on numerous occasions, is the latest guy to drop his hat into the presidential ring. “Let me tell you some of the reasons why I’m running for president of the United States.We have become a nation of crises,” he said when making his announcement today. He’s a bit of a wildcard — he doesn’t have strong name recognition, but he does have the kind of business acumen which makes him pretty desirable. His polling shows a pretty interesting trend — not many people know him, but those who do freaking love him. More:
  • 29% of self-described GOP voters know who Herman Cain even is, according to a May 17 Gallup poll
  • <0.5% of voters in that poll picked the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO as their first choice for president in 2012
  • 71% of people who did know anything about the Herminator, however, had positive feelings about him source
  • » Can he make a run? As we noted in a Webdoc we made a couple weeks back, he kinda killed it at the Fox News presidential debate — which didn’t feature any major candidates, to Cain’s benefit. With big-name establishment Republicans failing to wow the field and loaded with reasons to nick their reputation (looking at you Newt), folks like Cain and Ron Paul have a good chance of doing well this time around. We expect his name recognition to go way up. (photo from Gage Skidmore‘s Flickr page)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 May 2011 17:18

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U.S.: Senate bill to expand offshore oil leasing fails

  • 42 “yes” votes in Senate vote to start offshore oil lease sales again source
  • » And 42 votes is, obviously, not enough. The Senate GOP brought this vote to the floor, and as it lost comfortably by eight votes, they probably considered it doomed to fail from the get-go. As such, this looks like a show vote, less designed to impact policy (though I’m sure the GOP wouldn’t have minded getting it through) than to court political favor. As increased offshore oil drilling would have minor if any effect on the domestic gas prices (global market and all that), this bill serves two goals: make people think Democrats are keeping gas prices high, and remind big oil that despite recent talk of stripping industry subsidies, the Republican Party still has their back.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2011 10:35

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Politics: GOP infighting: Paul Ryan, Newt Gingrich argue over Medicare

  • I just think he’s missing the mark on what our plan actually does. Our plan is one of the most gradual things one could do.
  • Paul Ryan • Taking issue with Newt Gingrich’s representation of his Medicare plan, which he notes will not kick in for over a decade and won’t affect anyone over age 55. Ryan had reason to harp on this (rather than focusing on talk of his possible discarded Senate run) — Newt made his plan sound dangerous. “I don’t think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering,” Newt said on Sunday. “I don’t think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate.” (He also called the plan “too big a jump,” inferring it was radical change.) Oh, GOP infighting. Why do you never get old? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 May 2011 11:51

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U.S.: John Boehner: Obama isn’t serious about cutting the deficit

“He’s talking about [the deficit],” Boehner says. “But I’m not seeing real action here.” Obama put the Bush tax cuts on the cutting board. You won’t. Who’s serious again? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 May 2011 16:58

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Politics: Speaker Boehner wants it both ways on debt ceiling debate

  • That would be a financial disaster, not only for us, but for the worldwide economy. I don’t think it’s a question that’s even on the table.
  • Speaker Of The House John Boehner • Commenting on the looming necessity to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, all the way back in late January. See how quickly things change? Seriously, though, the above statement is almost certainly Speaker Boehner’s true opinion on this issue. The fact that he’s now trying to game some more political leverage out of it is unsurprising, as it’s very similar to the way he handled last month’s budget battle. Greg Sargent has a pretty astute take on this — that Boehner knows failure to raise the limit is unthinkable, but wants to push this debate as close to the eleventh hour as possible, hoping that will make it easier to convince members of his own party that he got all he could out of the White House. Sounds about right to us. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2011 23:41

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Politics: Newt’s Pre-Announcement Announcement Fail

  • A two-day advance warning that Newt Gingrich will announce [a presidential run] on social networks demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of the modern media landscape.
  • Republican Strategist Mindy Finn • On the Newt’s pre-announcement announcement. Funny, we were thinking the same thing. We’ll never quite understand why the modern Republican party is unable to grasp the nuances of social networking, but it’s sure fun to watch (Note: Finn advises Tim Pawlenty on digital outreach, so perhaps hope remains for the GOP’s new media skills). source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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