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20 Dec 2011 20:23

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Politics: Gary Johnson: Exclude me GOP?!? I’m gonna run as a Libertarian, jerks!

After showing up in a grand total of one major debate (in which he made a dog poo joke), the former New Mexico governor will take a stab at running on a third-party ticket. Think he might have a shot? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Dec 2011 11:20

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Politics: So … who’s paying for the payroll tax cut, anyway? Homeowners

  • $17 per month charges on new homeowners’ mortgages source
  • » Those who refinance will feel the pinch, too: To help pay for the $33 billion cost of the extended-by-two-months payroll tax cut, the federal government will increase the cost for homeowners to get their homes insured by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who currently back nine out of ten home mortgages in the U.S. The fee, currently around 0.3 percentage points, would jump by 0.1 percentage points, which translates to roughly $17 per month for most homeowners. However, this fee would not affect current homeowners unless they refinance starting next year. Is this the best way to handle the extension?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Dec 2011 01:29

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Politics: Unlikely pensioner of the week: Rick Perry is “retired” … kinda

  • $150k the amount in salary Rick Perry has made from being governor in 2011
  • $7,698 the amount perry has made monthly since his pension kicked in
  • $240kthe amount he bumped his income to with the maneuver source
  • » All the benefits of retirement and working! Rick Perry is 61 years old, and for most people, that’s closing in on retirement age. However, Perry is running for president, and could still be the guy to beat (you never know). But with his military and government service, he was able to score his pension now, according to the state’s Employee Retirement System. He has no regrets: “That’s been in place for decades. … I don’t find that to be out of the ordinary,” Perry said. “ERS called me and said, ‘Listen, you’re eligible to access your retirement now with your military time and your time and service, and I think you would be rather foolish to not access what you’ve earned.’” Is the move off-key considering the fact that he’s a noted critic of entitlement programs?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Dec 2011 21:13

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Politics: Worst compromise ever: Democrats get slight payroll tax cut extension

  • deal The Democrats, after much pushing, got through a modest two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts which Republicans had long fought against. This sounds like a pretty crappy victory.
  • compromise However … it came at a cost: Democrats had to give up on their plan to tax millionaires, and Obama has to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline. Wow, they sure twisted the GOP’s arm! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Dec 2011 14:23

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Politics: Three major cuts in the shutdown-avoiding omnibus spending bill

  • one In the biggest change, the popular Pell Grant program for low-income students could run dry for as many as 100,000 students, as eligibility standards tighten.
  • two Foreign aid will decline, with a 17 percent drop in the operating budget coming to USAID. It’s part of a larger $6 billion cut coming to the State Department.
  • three The GOP won a health care victory, blocking the IRS’ ability to implement the Affordable Care Act’s provisions in 2012. The individual mandate hits in 2014. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Dec 2011 20:43

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Politics: Three things we’re watching for during tonight’s debate

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Dec 2011 11:01

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Politics: Tea Party groups gain increasing sophistication ahead of election

  • The Tea Party movement is more organized, more focused and more potent. What happened in 2010 was not the end. It was just the beginning.
  • Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) • Discussing the growing sophistication of the Tea Party, which has helped him personally. As an example, the leader of the Myrtle Beach, S.C.-area Tea Party, Joe Dugan, has been statistically tracking each vote politicians have been making, and based on those numbers, his group will choose to support or turn their back on a candidate. It worked very effectively in South Carolina, where each of the ten candidates Dugan’s group supported won their elections — from dog catcher on up. Dugan’s group is far from the exception, Reuters found that Tea Party groups are increasingly becoming far more sophisticated in their approaches to supporting candidates, which could prove important in 2012. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Dec 2011 09:59

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Politics: Romney heavily attacks Newt Gingrich over Palestine comments

  • [Gingrich] shows a level of erratic outspokenness which may be great in a campaign but not great for someone running for president.
  • Mitt Romney • Getting in a solid blow at Newt Gingrich on Fox News this morning, in reaction to the whole Palestine “invented people” thing that became an issue during Saturday’s debate — and which Gingrich defended under heavy pressure. Romney’s trying to lob whatever bombs he has at Gingrich, who is suddenly ahead of him in a number of important polls. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Dec 2011 10:11

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Politics: Could Herman Cain’s next stop be Fox News commentator?

  • What might be next for Herman Cain? Because I have no doubt that there is a TV-radio future if you wanted one.
  • Sean Hannity • Discussing what Herman Cain should do next, now that he’s suspended his presidential campaign. Hannity had Cain on his show Thursday night, his first TV appearance since he suspended his campaign amidst allegations of a long-term sexual affair about a week ago. He has since endorsed Newt Gingrich. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Dec 2011 15:10

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Politics: Senate GOP blocks vote on Cordray CFPB nomination

  • It’s not about Richard Cordray. That has become abundantly clear in the recent political jockeying over President Obama’s efforts to appoint a head to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which came into existence via the Dodd-Frank financial reform law from 2010. Republicans have made it clear their reason for this blockage isn’t so much Cordray himself, who was a quite popular Attorney General in Ohio, but rather the structure of the bureau itself; they want a board to be in charge, as opposed to a single director, which many Democrats have dismissed as a means of muddying or weakening the bureau’s regulatory ability. In any event, the final vote tally was 53 yeas, 45 nays, which due to the Republican vow to filibuster the nomination is insufficient (a 60 vote super-majority is required to override the filibuster process). source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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