THE BIG FAIL: Fact Checking Obama At Debate #2: 13 Lies And Counting…

An Assortment Of Obama’s Lies During The Second Presidential Debate

 

LIE #1: OBAMA MISCHARACTERIZED HIS RESPONSE ON LIBYA

THE CLAIM: Obama: “The Day After The Attack, Governor, I Stood In The Rose Garden, And I Told The American People And The World That We Are Going To Find Out Exactly What Happened, That This Was An Act Of Terror.” OBAMA: “Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she works for me. I’m the president. And I’m always responsible. And that’s why nobody is more interested in finding out exactly what happened than I did (sic). The day after the attack, Governor, I stood in the Rose Garden, and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror. And I also said that we’re going to hunt down those who committed this crime. And then a few days later, I was there greeting the caskets coming into Andrews Air Force Base and grieving with the families.” (President Barack Obama, Presidential Debate, Hempstead, N.Y., 10/16/12)

THE FACTS: The Washington Post ‘s Fact Checker: Obama Did Not Say “Terrorism” In The Rose Garden And “It Took The Administration Days To Concede That That It Was An ‘Act Of Terrorism’” Unrelated To The Video. “What did Obama say in the Rose Garden a day after the attack in Libya? ‘No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this nation,’ he said. But he did not say ‘terrorism’-and it took the administration days to concede that that it was an ‘act of terrorism’ that appears unrelated to initial reports of anger at a video that defamed the prophet Muhammad.” (Glenn Kessler, “Fact Check: Libya Attack,” The Washington Post’s The Fact Checker, 10/16/12)

THE FACTS: Politico ‘s Mike Allen: In The Rose Garden, Obama Said “Very Generally, We Will Not Let Acts Of Terror Go Unpunished.” POLITICO’s MIKE ALLEN: “There’s going to be a bunch of fact checks, but just to do a fact check here. When Governor Romney said that Obama had been slow in calling the Libya attack terrorism and the President said ‘oh wait a minute, in the Rose Garden, the day after, I referred to an act of terror’, Candy Crowley stepped in and said that he was right. It’s actually arguable. And I’m looking at the transcript of that White House event the day after and he started by referring to them as selfless acts, which is casted very differently than the sort of very planned action that we now have. Later toward the end, he makes a reference to 9/11 and he says, very generally, we will not let acts of terror go unpunished. So that’s going to be an arguable point.” (Presidential Debate Wrap-Up, Politico Live, 10/16/12)

Via: GOP.com

Continue Reading...

[VIDEO] Obama's Planned Parenthood Claim Destroyed...By Planned Parenthood

Fire it up

61

Share

Published on Oct 20, 2012 by BlackAndRight

Despite the fact the Department of Health and Human Services says there are NO Planned Parenthood clinics in the United States licensed to offer mammograms, President Obama and his surrogates continue to claim a defunding of Planned Parenthood will deny women of services they don't offer.

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading...

IPT: Scores of Radical Islamists Made Hundreds of Visits to the Obama White House

A year-long investigation by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) has found that scores of known radical Islamists made hundreds of visits to the Obama White House, meeting with top administration officials.

Court documents and other records have identified many of these visitors as belonging to groups serving as fronts for the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and other Islamic militant organizations.

The IPT made the discovery combing through millions of White House visitor log entries. IPT compared the visitors' names with lists of known radical Islamists. Among the visitors were officials representing groups which have:

• Been designated by the Department of Justice as unindicted co-conspirators in terrorist trials; Extolled Islamic terrorist groups including Hamas and Hizballah;
• Obstructed terrorist investigations by instructing their followers not to cooperate with law enforcement;
• Promoted the incendiary conspiratorial allegation that the United States is engaged in a "war against Islam"— a leading tool in recruiting Muslims to carry out acts of terror;
• Repeatedly claimed that many of the Islamic terrorists convicted since 9-11 were framed by the U.S government as part of an anti-Muslim profiling campaign.

Individuals from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) visited the White House at least 20 times starting in 2009. In 2008, CAIR was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorist money laundering case in U.S. history – the trial of the Holy Land Foundation in which five HLF officials were convicted of funneling money to Hamas.

U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Solis later ruled that, "The Government has produced ample evidence to establish the association" of CAIR to Hamas, upholding their designations as unindicted co-conspirators. In 2008, the FBI formally ended all contact with CAIR because of its ties to Hamas.

Via: IPT

Continue Reading...

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Calls Elizabeth Warren ‘Catastrophically Antibusiness’

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday launched a new get-out-the-vote effort, sending a video to members and dropping its first piece of direct-mail in the general election, attacking Democratic Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren.

The chamber emailed the following video message from Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue to member businesses:

The chamber says it will reach 7 million members, distributing payroll stuffers, posters, and postcards for businesses to turn out employees and sway their votes.

On top of TV and radio ads already airing, the chamber today issued its first attack mailer of the 2012 general election, the group told ABC News. The chamber had already sent a mailer in support of Sen. Dick Lugar’s losing effort in his Indiana Senate primary; but today it sent this direct-mail piece to targeted registered voters in Massachusetts, where Warren is challenging incumbent GOP Sen. Scott Brown.

The mailer calls Warren “catastrophically antibusiness”:

 Via: ABC News

Continue Reading...

University of Michigan uses school funds — against rules — to promote left-wing event

The University of Michigan used school resources and state tax dollars to advertise a partisan event entitled “The Republican War on Women,” according to the Michigan Capitol Confidential website. Such paid advertising violates the school’s own policies charges a candidate for the University’s Board of Regents, Robert Steele.

According to the University of Michigan’s own website, Michigan law prohibits “using an official University e-mail list or listserv to campaign for or against a ballot initiative or candidate running for office.” Michigan law also prohibits “purporting to speak on behalf of the University when supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot initiative.”

The event, sponsored by the Communications Studies Department, is scheduled to occur tonight on Michigan’s hallowed Ann Arbor campus.

Steele has charged that the “Republican War on Women” was listed as a factual statement for the event and that the University used its email system to advertise the event.

After Steele raised a ruckus about the event, the University of Michigan website quickly changed the title by adding a question mark. However, Michigan Capitol Confidential preserved the original image.

“The question mark came on only after people started complaining,” Steele said, according to Michigan Capitol Confidential. “Because they are so liberal in their mindset, it never occurs to them that they violate their own rules.”

The school also changed the graphic associated with the event. The original graphic prominently included a red shooting target eerily similar to the one for which Sarah Palin was so roundly criticized after Arizona Democrat Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot. In the aftermath of that shooting, many on the left called for a “return to civility.”

Each speaker at the event is a severe critic of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and a left winger straight out of central casting.

Via: The Daily Caller

Continue Reading...

THE BIG FAIL: Obama Claims To Have Made College More Affordable, ButStudent Loan Debt Continues To Burden Grads Under His Watch

ACCORDING TO A NEW REPORT, THE AVERAGE STUDENT LOAN DEBT FOR THE CLASS OF 2011 HAS INCREASED YET AGAIN TO $26,600

Two-Thirds Of Graduates From The Class Of 2011 Have Student Loan Debt, With An Average Of $26,600, An Increase Of Five Percent From Last Year. “We estimate that two-thirds (66%) of college seniors who graduated in 2011 had student loan debt, with an average of $26,600 for those with loans. The five percent increase in average debt at the national level is similar to the average annual increase over the past few years. (“Student Debt And The Class Of 2011,” The Institute For College & Success, 10/12)

• “It’s The Latest Snapshot Of The Growing Burden Of Student Debt And It’s Another Discouraging One.” It’s the latest snapshot of the growing burden of student debt and it’s another discouraging one: Two-thirds of the national college class of 2011 finished school with loan debt, and those who borrowed walked off the graduation stage owing on average $26,600 – up about 5 percent from the class before.” (Justin Pope, “Average Debt Up Again For New College Grads,” The Associated Press, 10/18/12)

“Ohio Students Who Borrowed For College And Earned A Bachelor’s Degree In 2011 Graduated With An Average Of $28,683 In Student-Loan Debt.” “Ohio students who borrowed for college and earned a bachelor’s degree in 2011 graduated with an average of $28,683 in student-loan debt, which ranked seventh highest in the nation for the second year in a row, a new report finds.” (Encarnacion Pyle, “College Debt Of New Ohio Graduates Rises 3.5%,” Columbus Dispatch, 10/18/12)

• That’s “8 Percent Higher Than The National Average Of $26,600 And A 3.5 Percent Increase Over What Ohio Students Who Graduated In 2010 Owed.”“That’s nearly 8 percent higher than the national average of $26,600 and a 3.5 percent increase over what Ohio students who graduated in 2010 owed on average, according to the report by the Project on Student Debt.” (Encarnacion Pyle, “College Debt Of New Ohio Graduates Rises 3.5%,” Columbus Dispatch, 10/18/12)

• “And Like The Previous Year, 68 Percent Of The State’s 2011 Graduates Left School With At Least Some Student-Loan Debt.” (Encarnacion Pyle, “College Debt Of New Ohio Graduates Rises 3.5%,” Columbus Dispatch, 10/18/12)

New Hampshire Has The Highest Student Loan Debt, With An Average Of More Than $32,000 Per Student, While Pennsylvania Is Second With An Average Of $30,000 Per Student. CNBC’s SCOTT COHN: “Much of the debt is concentrated here in the northeast. Connecticut is the fifth highest debt totaling nearly $28,000. Rhode Island is fourth at just over $28,000 per graduate. Number three is Minnesota with more than 70% of the graduates there in debt, averaging just under $29,000 and Pennsylvania average student debt is just under $30,000, and the most indebted state is New Hampshire, with more than $32,000 in average student debt. Three-quarters of the graduates in New Hampshire have student loans.” (CNBC, 10/18/12)

Via: GOP.com

Continue Reading...

THE BIG FAIL: Even Democrats Oppose Obama’s EPA Regulations AgainstCoal In Pennsylvania - Obama’s Energy Bust

After Four Years Of Broken Promises And Higher Energy Costs, America Has Been Left With No Real Energy Policy

OBAMA HAS NO ENERGY POLICY

NBC News’ Chuck Todd Said There’s “No Issue That Has Been … A Bigger Bust For The President Than Energy Policy In General.” MSNBC’s CHUCK TODD: “Very quickly, president’s going down to Miami to give an energy speech. Nia, you’ve been with me, I feel like, on the front lines covering the president from the day he took office. There is no issue that has been a, I guess, a bigger bust for the president than energy policy in general. There’s a lot of, we can come up with a lot of excuses as to why, but boy, it’s just like you can’t – he’s made no progress.” THE WASHINGTON POST’s NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON: “No, he’s made no progress. I remember covering him on the campaign and he would talk about, you know, turning these manufacturing plants into wind turbine plants and it seemed to work then, but, you know, in terms of the reality and on the ground actually success during his presidency, absolutely none.” (MSNBC’s  “The Daily Rundown,”  2/23/12)

In June 2011, Obama Said He’s Failed On Energy, Saying His Energy Policy Is Just A “Hodgepodge.” OBAMA: “Our energy policy still is just a hodgepodge, and for all the progress we’ve made, we’re not where we need to be in making sure that this is an energy-efficient economy that is running on all cylinders.”(President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President At A DNC Event, Miami, FL, 6/13/11)

• Obama: “We Haven’t Had An Energy Policy In This Country That Makes Sense And Frees Ourselves From Dependence On Foreign Oil.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President On The American Jobs Act, Millers Creek, NC, 10/17/11)

OBAMA WAS WRONG TO REJECT THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE

“In A Politically Explosive Decision,” Obama Rejected The Keystone Pipeline, Delaying A Tough Choice Until After The November Elections. “In a politically explosive decision, President Barack Obama on Wednesday rejected plans for a massive oil pipeline through the heart of the United States, ruling there was not enough time for a fair review before a looming deadline forced on him by Republicans. His move did not kill the project but could again delay a tough choice for him until after the November elections.” (Ben Feller and Matthew Daly, “Obama Rejects Canada-Texas Oil Pipeline-For Now,” The Associated Press, 1/18/12)

Via: GOP.com

Continue Reading...

THE BIG FAIL: Obama’s Boasting Of A Manufacturing Resurgence On TheCampaign Trail Doesn’t Match The Facts On The Ground

OBAMA TOUTS A MANUFACTURING COMEBACK THAT DOESN’T EXIST IN THE STATES

The Latest Bureau Of Labor Statistics Report Shows Manufacturing Jobs Declined In September In 31 States. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, 10/19/12)

Colorado

In September, Colorado Lost 1000 Manufacturing Jobs. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/19/12)

• Since Obama Took Office, Colorado Has Lost 5,000 Manufacturing Jobs. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/19/12)

Iowa

In September, Iowa Lost 600 Manufacturing Jobs. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/19/12)

Michigan

In September, Michigan Lost 900 Manufacturing Jobs. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/19/12)

Nevada

In September, Nevada Lost 100 Manufacturing Jobs. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/19/12)

• Since Obama Took Office, Nevada Has Lost 6,900 Manufacturing Jobs. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/19/12)

New Hampshire

In September, New Hampshire Lost 100 Manufacturing Jobs. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/19/12)

• Since Obama Took Office, New Hampshire Has Lost 6,800 Manufacturing Jobs.(Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/19/12)

Via: GOP.Com

Continue Reading...

Politics: Terrific: More Americans are getting government health care than are working

When you really think about it, it’s a stunning fact. There are now more people in America receiving government health care benefits – Medicare and Medicaid – than there are full-time workers in the economy.

It’s an eye-opener, but it’s more than that. It’s also evidence that we have a system that, by definition, cannot be sustained.

Medicaid and Medicare had a gross combined enrollment of 119,249,000 in 2011. At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said that 112,556,000 people worked full-time in the United States in 2011, including 17,806,000 who worked for all levels of government and 94,750,000 who worked for the private sector.

Who do you think pays for the benefits enjoyed by Medicare and Medicaid recipients? Private-sector workers, of course. Now of course, government workers pay taxes too. But where do you think the money comes from to the pay the salaries of government workers at every level of government? From private-sector workers! Without private-sector workers first paying taxes, there would be no government salaries from which to withhold taxes.

The bottom line is that private-sector producers ultimately must generate all the wealth that’s needed to support government at every level. We already know that the federal government is spending 25 percent of the nation’s entire $14 trillion economy, but when you include state, county and local governments, then add in local school districts all across the country, government is actually spending more than 40 percent of GDP.

President Obama likes to say that we have such a large deficit because the rich don’t pay enough taxes. No. The reason we have such a large deficit is that there are not enough people producing in the private-sector to pay for the size of government, and one of the biggest costs in government is the health care benefits we’re paying to 119 million people – more than a third of the entire population. It’s true that many of the current recipients have paid into the system during their lives, some for many years. But the bottom line remains that such a system is unsustainable.

Via: CainTV

Continue Reading...

Los Angeles Times Endorses Obama for president

When he was elected president in 2008, Barack Obama was untried and untested. Just four years out of the Illinois state Senate, he had not yet proved himself as either a manager or a leader. He had emerged from relative obscurity as the result of a single convention speech and was voted into office only a few years later on a tidal wave of hope, breezing past several opponents with far more experience and far clearer claims on the job.

Today, Obama is a very different candidate. He has confronted two inherited wars and the deepest recession since the Great Depression. He brought America's misguided adventure in Iraq to an end and arrested the economic downturn (though he did not fully reverse it) with the 2009 fiscal stimulus and a high-risk strategy to save the U.S. automobile industry. He secured passage of a historic healthcare reform law — the most important social legislation since Medicare.

Just as important, Obama brought a certain levelheadedness to the White House that had been in short supply during the previous eight years. While his opponents assailed him as a socialist and a Muslim and repeatedly challenged the location of his birthplace in an effort to call into question his legitimacy as president, he showed himself to be an adult, less an ideologue than a pragmatist, more cautious than cocky. Despite Republicans' persistent obstructionism, he pushed for — and enacted — stronger safeguards against another Wall Street meltdown and abusive financial industry practices. He cut the cost of student loans, persuaded auto manufacturers to take an almost unimaginable leap in fuel efficiency by 2025 and offered a temporary reprieve from deportation to young immigrants brought into the country illegally by their parents. He ended the morally bankrupt "don't ask, don't tell" policy that had institutionalized discrimination against gays in the military.

ENDORSEMENTS: The Times' recommendations for Nov. 6

The nation has been well served by President Obama's steady leadership. He deserves a second term.

His record is by no means perfect. His expansive use of executive power is troubling, as is his continuation of some of the indefensible national security policies of the George W. Bush administration. This page has faulted him for not pushing harder for a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws. Obama swept into office as a transformative figure, but the expectations built up by the long campaign thudded back to earth amid an unexpectedly steep recession and hyperbolic opposition from the right. That the GOP has sought to block his agenda wherever possible is undeniable, but truly great leaders find ways to bring opposing factions together when the times demand it; Obama has not yet been able to do so.

Via: Los Angeles Times

Continue Reading...

OBAMACARE'S HEAVY TOLL ON MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS

President Obama likes to say his campaign is about building up the middle class, but his signature initiative in office — ObamaCare — will pile thousands of dollars in new taxes and higher health costs on top of America’s middle class.

How so? Through redistribution, of course. The president has made no secret of his fondness for using the government’s tax and spending powers to spread our diminished wealth around from one group of Americans to another. And ObamaCare is nothing if not a massive redistribution machine. It places huge new financial burdens on some Americans — primarily those who already have health insurance, including the vast majority of middle-class families — in order to extend new federal entitlement commitments to other households, primarily the uninsured.

In broad terms, the amount of redistribution is easily ascertained form the aggregate expenditures and taxes contained in ObamaCare. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in 2020, ObamaCare will spend $229 billion on a Medicaid expansion and a new subsidy program for health insurance. These expenditures will primarily benefit 29 million people newly enrolled in Medicaid and the insurance subsidy program. That works out to nearly $8,000 for every newly insured American, or about $21,000 per newly insured household.

Much of the rest of the legislation is devoted to extracting these resources from everyone else in the country — about 290 million people — who won’t benefit from the new spending programs, and doing so in way that obscures what’s taking place. For these Americans who already have insurance, the law contains nothing but new financial burdens, in the form of higher taxes, higher premiums for their existing plans, and lower benefits, particularly for those on Medicare.

The sum total of the new taxes and Medicare and Medicaid cuts is about $278 billion in 2020. That’s nearly $1,000 in costs on average for most of the country, or $2,500 per household.

ObamaCare’s apologists say that these costs will primarily affect the rich, but that is not true. ObamaCare’s taxes and benefit cuts will directly increase burdens on middle class families. Among the most burdensome provisions are the following.

• The “Mandate” Tax. The Supreme Court officially designated ObamaCare’s individual mandate as a new “tax” on persons who don’t enroll in government-sanctioned insurance. CBO recently indicated that about 11 or 12 million uninsured people will have to pay this tax, but only about 6 million will do so (the others will successfully evade it). The total tax payment for these individuals will reach $8 billion in 2020, or an average of about $1,400 per person. Almost all of these taxpayers will be middle-class Americans, as the poor are exempt and there are very few rich people who are uninsured. According to CBO, 80 percent of those paying the tax will have incomes below five times the poverty rate, or about $115,000 in income for a family of four in 2012.\

Via: E21

Continue Reading...

When desperation strikes incumbents

It’s been a while since we’ve had an incumbent President lose an election.  In fact, it was 20 years ago, when George H. W. Bush lost in a three-way fight to Bill Clinton.  What made that election remarkable was that Bush had enjoyed some of the best-ever job approval ratings of any modern American President just a little over a year earlier, into the 80s — unthinkable these days for anyone, Republican or Democrat.  Bush, a decorated veteran of World War II and a longtime player in diplomacy and national security, lost the election to an upstart Governor when the economy turned somewhat sour.

I recall the moment when I realized for the first time — not feared, but realized — that Bush would lose the election.  Bush was campaigning in Michigan at the end of October, trying to whip some energy back into his campaign in the home stretch, a task that would fall far short just a few days later.  Then-Governor John Engler told the Warren, MI crowd that the Bush campaign was “hot” and the Democrats “dead in the water,” which was merely the kind of fantasy all campaigns spin toward the end.

Bush then spoke, and went after Clinton and Al Gore in a personal, demeaning wayI’d not heard from the President before then:

At a midday GOP rally at Macomb Community College, the president unleashed a rhetorical fusillade on Bill Clinton and running mate Sen. Albert Gore Jr., attacking their fitness for office, their character and charging, “My dog Millie knows more about foreign policy than these two bozos.”

In particular, Bush targeted Gore, whom he now calls “Ozone Man,” or just plain “Ozone.” “You know why I call him Ozone Man?” Bush said. “This guy is so far out in the environmental extreme, we’ll be up to our neck in owls and outta work for every American. He is way out, far out, man.”

When I heard that, I thought to myself, “What President talks like that?”  Part of the advantage the office gives an incumbent is its gravitas.  Bush’s own history as a diplomat, intelligence executive, and war hero gave him plenty more of that.  Bush abandoned that in the final week in schoolyard name-calling. That’s not why Bush lost the election, of course.  It was, however, the moment that I knew he’d lost it — and was pretty sure he knew he was losing, too.

Via: Hot Air

Continue Reading...

Obamacare Mandate: Anyone Who Works 30Hr Week Is Now 'Full-Time'

(CNSNews.com) – A little-known section in the ObamaCare health reform law defines “full-time” work as averaging only 30 hours per week, a definition that will affect some employers who utilize part-time workers to trim the cost of complying with the ObamaCare rule that says businesses with 50 or more workers must provide health insurance or pay a fine.

“The term ‘full-time employee’ means, with respect to any month, an employee who is employed on average at least 30 hours of service per week,” section 1513 of the lawreads.  (Scroll down to section 4, paragraph A.)

That section, known as the employer mandate, requires any business with 50 or more full-time employees to provide at least the minimum level of government-defined health coverage to those employees.

In other words, a business must provide insurance if it has 50 or more employees working an average of just 30 hours per week, which is 10 hours per week fewer than the traditional 40-hour work week.

If an employer meets the requirements and does not offer health insurance, it must pay a penalty per employee for each month it does not offer coverage – not exceeding $750 per employee over the course of a year.

The obscure provision recently reemerged in regulations issued by the IRS for how employers must account for which workers are full-time and which ones are not.

Via: CNS News

Continue Reading...

What If Crowley and Her Accomplices Succeed?

Such an outcome would be worse than a scandal, it would be downright dangerous.

Shortly after Obamacare was passed and signed by the President, Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute noted a sudden plethora of articles that had begun to appear in a wide variety of MSM outlets about the probable ill-effects of "reform." This prompted him to ask, "Where were these reporters before the passage of the health care bill?" The answer to this question is now pretty obvious. They were colluding, via Journo List and other such forums that we don't know about, to make sure that no one screwed up and told the truth before that morass of taxes and regulations became the law of the land. To the nation's cost, their self-censorship succeeded.

Today, we face a similar but much more dangerous situation. The "reporters" of the establishment news media are engaged in a concerted campaign of misinformation to get Barack Obama re-elected. This has been evident for some time, but the breathtaking mendacity of this effort was writ large by Candy Crowley during last Tuesday's presidential debate. Everyone has by now seen the video clip: the President made the preposterous claim that he had identified the attack on our Benghazi consulate as an act of terrorism as early as September 12. Then, when Romney called him on this egregious whopper, Crowley repeated the lie.

This was no misbegotten attempt at instant "fact checking." It was a deliberately disingenuous attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the debate's 65 million viewers. Crowley herself admitted that she had reviewed the transcript of Obama's September 12 Rose Garden remarks in advance of the debate, and she is not dumb enough to believe Obama's characterization of his boilerplate comment about "acts of terror" in general. This tag-team prevarication may well backfire. Jeffrey Lord suggests, in Thursday's American Spectator, that it may turn out to be the "tipping point that makes Mitt Romney the 45th President of the United States."

That would certainly constitute a splendid example of poetic justice. But what if Lord is wrong? What if Obama's MSM pimps succeed in getting him re-elected? As we saw with Obamacare, these people wield a great deal of power and they are obviously willing to abuse it. Moreover, despite the increasing distrust with which the public regards the effusions of the Fourth Estate, nearly half of the nation's adults still believe what they see and hear in the media. Gallup released a survey last month showing that 40 percent of the electorate still has some measure of confidence that the MSM reports the news "fairly, accurately and fully."

Via: American Spectator

Continue Reading...

VP hopeful Paul Ryan energizes Moon crowd with campaign appearance

Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan attacked President Obama’s policies on jobs and energy on Saturday morning during a quick stop near Pittsburgh International Airport.

The rally between appearances in the election battlegrounds of Florida and Ohio highlights what analysts consider a renewed emphasis on Pennsylvania as polls show the gap narrowing between Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

Ryan made a dramatic entry, walking on stage right off the plane at Atlantic Aviation in Moon and saying: “We are going to win Pennsylvania, and we are going to win this election.” Supporters twirled yellow Romney-Ryan towels in Terrible Towel fashion. The Secret Service estimated the crowd at 1,000.

The seven-term congressman from Wisconsin warned that Obama’s energy policies were hurting Americans, telling supporters to look no further than the gas pump for evidence.

“Look, gas prices are more than double what they were four years ago. Who knows what they’re going to be if he got four more years,” Ryan said.

“Not only are these policies wrong, not only do these policies cost us jobs, not only do they mean that American energy dollars go to the Middle East; they are keeping us from having a boon,” he said. “They are keeping us from having jobs. They are keeping us from making our paychecks stretch farther.”

Democrats responded before Ryan even landed.

“If we’ve learned anything over the last few weeks, we have learned that Mitt Romney will say anything to get elected,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said as he stood with fellow Democrats at a small rally in the Airside Business Park. About 20 people attended the rally 90 minutes before Ryan spoke.

“Trying to cover up his own record, because over the last six years, he ran as a severely conservative candidate, and now just a few weeks before the election, he’s trying to turn himself into ‘Moderate Mitt.’ ”

Via: Trib Live

Continue Reading...

Eight states hold key to White House

Sorry, Florida. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney may be ardently courting America's biggest battleground state, but their real passion is for Ohio. Because as un-American as it sounds, all votes are not created equal in a presidential election. Don't be offended. With barely two weeks before Nov. 6, it's all about the electoral math. And as uncertain and unpredictable as the campaign looks heading into the final stretch, Ohio remains President Obama's best opportunity to block a Romney win — and Romney's biggest hurdle.

That's why in the past week, four of the top 10 TV markets for campaign ads were in Ohio, and only one was in Florida (Orlando), according to NBC. That's why, since September, Romney and Paul Ryan have done 34 Ohio campaign events and 20 Florida events, while Obama and Joe Biden have done 11 campaign events in Florida and 18 in Ohio.

"If you take Ohio off the board for the Romney campaign they basically have to win seven of the remaining eight battleground states," said Robert Gibbs, a senior Obama campaign adviser.

A president is not elected by the popular vote, but by the electoral votes of each state, and most states are so solidly Democratic or Republican that modern presidential campaigns are waged in eight to 12 states that can swing to one side or another. A resident of deep-red Utah, say, or deep-blue New York, won't see any campaign activity except for fundraising because the candidates need not worry about carrying them.

It takes 270 electoral votes to win. Based on polling and political trends Obama has 191 electoral votes solidly in his corner and Romney 169. Throw in the states that are leaning toward Obama or Romney, and it brings Obama to 237 electoral votes and Romney to 206.

Still up for grabs are eight states with a combined 95 electoral votes: Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia, New Hampshire and Florida.

With the right combination, either candidate can win.

Obama's paths

For all the ups and downs of the 2012 campaign, the map has remained remarkably static through much of the past year. North Carolina, which Obama barely won in 2008, now appears to be leaning Romney, but overall the map still offers Obama more plausible paths to victory.

The president's campaign long ago spelled out four basic routes to a second term, and there also are multiple combinations of those paths. Assume he wins the same states John Kerry won in 2004, a total of 246 electoral votes.

• The Western path gives Obama New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Iowa, and brings him to 272 electoral votes.

• The Southern path, looking less likely based on recent North Carolina polling, gets him to 274 with wins in Virginia and North Carolina.

• The Midwest path involves winning Ohio and Iowa, giving Obama 270 votes.

• The simplest of all paths is through Florida. Win the Sunshine State's 29 electoral votes and Obama is re-elected with 275 electoral votes.

Via: Tampa Bay Times

Continue Reading...

October Surprise: Gas prices could soon drop 50 cents a gallon

USA TODAY - Autumn gasoline prices are about to drop faster than fall foliage.

With inventories rising and demand waning, gasoline prices could plunge 50 cents a gallon from October's $3.86 peak average over the next few weeks, providing a lift for the economy and possibly becoming a factor in next month's presidential election.

Gasoline, now averaging $3.69 a gallon, is expected to fall to $3.35 or lower by late November. In some regions, prices have already sunk below $3.

"Most of the country is heading appreciably lower the next few weeks,'' says Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service, who notes wholesale prices in some key markets have dropped from as high as $4.35 a gallon to $2.71. Pump prices typically lag big wholesale drops. But Kloza expects retail prices to sink five to 15 cents a gallon over each of the next three weeks.

The drop could provide a boost to consumer spending and influence next month's presidential race, where gas prices have been a hot-button issue for much of the campaign. Several battleground states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, are enjoying big price drops.

"Certainly, lower gas prices are helpful in terms of consumer spending by increasing disposable income,'' says Brian Bethune, chief economist at Alpha Economic Foresights. "And if prices come down at a rapid rate in the next three weeks, that would tend to help the incumbent. It may not be logical, but if people see problems with the high cost of food or gas, it's the president who tends to get the blame."

Gas prices have remained stubbornly high well past their traditional Memorial Day weekend peak, due largely to supply shortages and refinery woes on the West Coast and Midwest. But with oil inventories rising and production issues ebbing, prices have been easing the past week, a trend likely to accelerate. "This is very much gravity at work,'' Kloza says. "The faster prices soar, the more prone they are to panic sell-offs."