Ahmadinejad Predicts Downfall Of America Because Of $16 Trillion Debt…

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted the impending downfall of the "US empire," blaming the collapse on a combination of the country's massive debt and its loss of legitimacy within the international community, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported Thursday.

“How long can a government with a $16 trillion foreign debt remain a world power?” he asked at a press conference with Kuwaiti media personnel. "The Americans have injected their paper wealth into the world economy and today the aftermaths and negative effects of their pseudo-wealth have plagued them.”

He added: “An empire, or a government, remains in power so long as the people under its power support it, but today the Americans have acted in a way that the world nations do not like them at all, and therefore, their international legitimacy is annihilated.”

Ahmadinejad also predicted that the West would soon drop their alliance with the "Zionist regime," saying that Westerners and US politicians are increasingly "at a loss" as to why Israel exists.

Downplaying the effect of Western sanctions on the Iranian economy, Ahmadinejad said that the Islamic Republic would persevere. "The hegemonic powers have no way [forward], but to change the conditions.” Earlier this month, riots broke out in Tehran in protest of the collapse of the rial currency, which has lost some two-thirds of its value against the dollar in the past 15 months, stoking inflation that is now running at around 25 percent.

Via: JPost

Continue Reading...

Liberal Paper Endorses Romney: Time For Another Change

TENNESSEAN ENDORSEMENT

This has been a presidential election that should be held up as a cautionary lesson for the future.

The lesson? How low American politics can stoop, and how to avoid it ever happening again.

The 2012 presidential race is fraught with confusion and failed expectations, so much so that it is surprising that any reasonable voter would feel comfortable pressing the button for either President Barack Obama or Gov. Mitt Romney. What is downright infuriating is that, after four years of an Obama presidency and two years of campaigning and 22 televised debates by Romney, so many questions remain and it is difficult to discern what the next four years would look like with either man in charge.

Aside from 1860, when Abraham Lincoln took charge of the nation on the brink of civil war, and 1932, when Americans devastated by the Great Depression turned to Franklin Roosevelt for hope, few elections have been so critical to the country. In 2012, the United States faces crippling debt; seemingly endless military conflicts and terror threats; an aging population; and sweeping workforce and geopolitical changes that threaten to turn our society upside down.

America needs strong leadership; yet, our leaders in Washington have seldom looked more impotent. The Democratic Obama administration and Republican leaders in Congress have butted heads for four years, and the American people have little to show for it. In that period, only two major initiatives, the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank financial reform, have passed, and Gov. Romney promises to roll back both if elected.

And we look for a signal from either of the candidates that he will be the one who leads red and blue states into to an honest dialogue that will move America forward with its founding principles intact.

On issue after issue, however, Obama’s and Romney’s positions shift or lack assuring specificity:

Via: The Tennessean

Continue Reading...

Issa To Issue Subpoena Over ObamaCare Docs

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa plans to press ahead with a subpoena for health department documents on a program he claims is being used to "buy" the election by hiding the effects of ObamaCare. 

The Department of Health and Human Services handed over reams of material just minutes before a 5 p.m. ET deadline Thursday in response to Issa's demand 24 hours earlier. However, Issa's office called the cache "embarrassing," insufficient and not responsive to the congressman's request. 

The subpoena is expected to go out Friday morning. 

"Basically somebody hit a button and said print out a bunch of spreadsheets in an illegible format," Issa told Fox News. "So we will be issuing the subpoena." 

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee effectively is accusing the department of stringing them along for months in their request for documents about an $8 billion program that pays bonuses to Medicare Advantage plans. 

Issa claims the bonus program is being used to mask the first round of Medicare Advantage cuts in connection with the health care overhaul -- in order to win favor with seniors. 

"It's an unbelievable abuse of power," he said Thursday. Issa said the program basically funds "what ObamaCare took away." 

The program in question is called a "demonstration" project. But Issa complains the project is far more sweeping than a run-of-the-mill test program, and conveniently lasts until 2014. 

"This is larger than every test they've ever done at HHS combined," Issa said. Issa's committee put out a video Thursday explaining its allegations. 

The congressman further says the effects of ObamaCare's $200 billion in Medicare Advantage cuts over the next decade would have been felt starting this week -- if not for the bonus payments. Thanks to them, he wrote in an August letter, the project offsets 71 percent of the cuts this year. 

But the department portrayed the program differently. 

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading...

The 7-Eleven Presidency

In the wake of the Treasury Department’s newly released summary of federal spending for 2012, it’s now possible to detail just how profligate the Obama years have been.  Here’s the upshot:  Under Obama, for every $7 we’ve had, we’ve spent nearly $11 (or, to be more exact, $10.95).  That’s like a family that makes $70,000 a year — and is already knee-deep in debt — blowing nearly $110,000 a year.

To illustrate this a bit differently, for every Jackson ($20) we’ve had available to spend under Obama, we’ve also borrowed a Hamilton ($10) and a Washington ($1) and spent those too.  The only thing is that, under Obama, we’ve (literally) spent the equivalent of 342 billion Jacksons, 342 billion Hamiltons, and 342 billion Washingtons — borrowing all of the Hamiltons and Washingtons.

Let’s take a look at the scorecard, based on official government figures.  In fiscal year 2012 (which ended on September 30), the federal government acquired $2.449 trillion in tax revenue and other receipts.  It spent $3.538 trillion — 44 percent more than it had available to spend.  The resulting deficit was $1.089 trillion.

In fiscal year 2011 (see table S-1), the federal government acquired $2.303 trillion in tax revenues and other receipts.  It spent $3.603 trillion — 56 percent more than it had available to spend.  The resulting deficit was $1.3 trillion. 

Via: Weekly Standard

Continue Reading...

Weekly Jobless Claims Drop Proves to Be Short-Lived

Weekly applications for U.S. unemployment benefits jumped 46,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, the highest in four months. The increase represents a rebound from the previous week's sharp drop. Both swings were largely due to technical factors.

Mark Ralston | AFP | Getty Images Unemployed Americans attend a National Career Fair

The Labor Department says the four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, fell slightly to 365,500, a level consistent with modest hiring.

Last week, California reported a large drop in applications, pushing down the overall figure to the lowest since February 2008.

This week, it reported a significant increase as it processed applications delayed from the previous week. (Read More: Why Jobless Claims May Not Be as Good as Market Thinks.)

A department spokesman says the seasonally adjusted numbers "are being distorted ... by an issue of timing."

Many economists believe a reading below 400,000 points to an improving labor market. The four-week moving average of new claims, which smoothes out volatility and is considered a better measure of labor market trends, rose just 750 last week to 365,500.

"Improvement in the labor market will continue to be fitful and slow," said Joseph Trevisani, a market strategist at Worldwide Markets in Woodcliff Lake, N.J.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. When they decline, it suggests hiring is improving.

Via : CNBC

Continue Reading...

Report: Welfare government’s single largest budget item in FY 2011 at approx. $1.03 trillion

The government spent approximately $1.03 trillion on 83 means-tested federal welfare programs in fiscal year 2011 alone — a price tag that makes welfare that year the government’s largest expenditure, according to new data released by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee.

The total sum taxpayers spent on federal welfare programs was derived from a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on federal welfare spending — which topped out at $745.84 billion for fiscal year 2011 — combined with an analysis from the Republican Senate Budget Committee staff of state spending on federal welfare programs (based on “The Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government Finance”), which reached $282.7 billion in fiscal year 2011.

The data excludes spending on Social Security, Medicare, means-tested health care for veterans without service-connected disabilities, and the means-tested veterans pension program.

Via: The Daily Caller

Continue Reading...

Welfare spending jumps 32% during Obama’s presidency

Federal welfare spending has grown by 32 percent over the past four years, fattened by President Obama’s stimulus spending and swelled by a growing number of Americans whose recession-depleted incomes now qualify them for public assistance, according to numbers released Thursday.

Federal spending on more than 80 low-income assistance programs reached $746 billion in 2011, and state spending on those programs brought the total to $1.03 trillion, according to figures from the Congressional Research Service and the Senate Budget Committee.

That makes welfare the single biggest chunk of federal spending — topping Social Security and basic defense spending.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee who requested the Congressional Research Service report, said the numbers underscore a fundamental shift in welfare, which he said has moved from being a Band-Aid and toward a more permanent crutch.

“No longer should we measure compassion by how much money the government spends but by how many people we help to rise out of poverty,” the Alabama conservative said. “Welfare assistance should be seen as temporary whenever possible, and the goal must be to help more of our fellow citizens attain gainful employment and financial independence.”

Via: Washington Times

Continue Reading...

Poll shows Romney leading in blue Pennsylvania

A  new poll shows Republican Mitt Romney leading in Pennsylvania, a state that Republicans had all but written off just weeks ago but which is now listed as a toss up by the Real Clear Politics website.

Susquehanna Polling and Research provided The Washington Examiner with a poll it conducted for state party officials that shows Romney with a 49 percent to 45 percent lead over President Obama.

It's the first poll to show Romney leading among likely voters in the Keystone State.

"The polling is very clear that the race is certainly up for grabs and Republicans have a tendency to never believe it," Susquehanna President James Lee told The Examiner.

Romney isn't spending much time or money in Pennsylvania, which hasn't backed a Republican presidential candidate since 1988.

Every other Pennsylvania poll shows Obama ahead, though by a narrowing margin. A Quinnipiac University poll taken around the same time as the Susquehanna poll shows Obama leading Romney 50 percent to 46 percent.

Susquehanna's automated poll of 1,376 likely voters was taken between Oct. 11 and 13, before the second presidential debate Tuesday that many saw as a comeback for Obama since his Oct. 3 showdown with Romney.

Lee said Romney has made significant gains in the all-important suburbs of Philadelphia, a ring of counties that helped push Obama to victory in 2008.

"Republicans haven't been able to do that in 20 years," Lee said. "Romney has made some major inroads."

Lee said Romney also gained ground in western Pennsylvania, where socially conservative, blue-collar Democrats have turned their backs on Obama.

Via: Washington Examiner

Continue Reading...

FBI STING THWARTS NY TERROR PLOT TO 'DESTROY AMERICA'S ECONOMY'

A deadly terror plot to detonate a bomb on the New York Federal Reserve Bank building Wednesday morning was thwarted, thanks to a several months’ long sting operation conducted on behalf of the FBI New York Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). Detectives from the New York Police Department, working with the JTTF, also closely monitored the would-be bomber’s activities.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, a 21 year old Bangladeshi man who entered the United States on a student visa in January 2012, is alleged to have attempted to provide material support and resources to Al Qaeda and to use a bomb to cause damage to persons and property within the United States.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York, Nafis had come to the United States specifically for the purpose of recruiting individuals for a terror cell and carrying out an attack on American soil. Unbeknownst to Nafis, one of the individuals he attempted to recruit turned out to be a confidential human source (CHS) for the FBI.

In early July of this year, the complaint alleges, Nafis told the CHS that he intended to wage “jihad” in the US, advising that “all Muslims and Muslim sheikhs in the United States are "Talafi," meaning not true Muslims.” Nafis indicated that he was in touch with another co-conspirator in New York and a contact in Bangladesh.

Between the months of July and October, numerous meetings and consensually recorded conversations occurred between Nafis and the FBI source, wherein plans progressed for an attack on potential targets in New York’s financial district. Claiming to have Al Qaeda contacts overseas, Nafis indicated that he intended to return to Bangladesh to obtain training from the terrorist organization, and he planned on executing an attack on a high-ranking official in the US.

Nafis expressed an eagerness to commit the act on behalf of Al Qaeda, and an undercover FBI agent joined the operation, posing as an Al Qaeda facilitator responsible for overseeing the plans.  Nafis told the undercover agent:

What I really mean, is that I don’t want something that’s like, small. I just want something big. Something very big. Very very very very big, that will shake the whole country, that will make America, not one step ahead, change of policy, and make one step ahead, for the Muslims… that will make us one step closer to run the whole world…

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading... 

Another DOE-Backed Solar Company Goes Bankrupt

A solar company that got a multi-million-dollar grant from the Department of Energy earlier this year announced Wednesday that it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, making it the second taxpayer-backed green energy company to file for bankruptcy this week.

Satcon Technology Corp. announced the decision in a Wednesday news release. “This has been a difficult time for Satcon,” president and CEO Steve Rhoades said. “After careful consideration of available alternatives, the Company’s Board of Directors determined that the Chapter 11 filings were a necessary and prudent step, allowing the Company to continue to operate while giving us the opportunity to reorganize with a stronger balance sheet and capital structure.”

Satcon received a $3 million DOE grant in January to develop “a compact, lightweight power conversion device that is capable of taking utility-scale solar power and outputting it directly into the electric utility grid at distribution voltage levels—eliminating the need for large transformers.”

“If successful,” noted DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) at the time, “Satcon would simplify the solar power conversion process and significantly reduce the cost of operating, installing, and siting a PV power system—helping to facilitate their widespread use.”

ARPA-E also stated that the grant “could create jobs for system installers, technicians, and salespeople.”

Via: The Foundry

Continue Reading...

Fear, Anxiety, and Anticipation

I will watch the next and last presidential debate, but only reluctantly. It is the job of pundits to keep informed, but I have been suffering from an overload of information about Barack Obama since before he was elected and all of it suggested he would do a lot of damage before he left office.

The fact is we are all stuck with him through January 20, 2013 when—and if—Mitt Romney takes the oath of office. One can only ponder how much more damage Obama could do between November 7, the day after the election and then?

I will watch the next and last presidential debate, but only reluctantly. It is the job of pundits to keep informed, but I have been suffering from an overload of information about Barack Obama since before he was elected and all of it suggested he would do a lot of damage before he left office.

The fact is we are all stuck with him through January 20, 2013 when—and if—Mitt Romney takes the oath of office. One can only ponder how much more damage Obama could do between November 7, the day after the election and then?

Via: Canada Free Press

Continue Reading...

IOWA, VIRGINIA GOVS: OBAMA OFFERED NO VISION FOR SECOND TERM IN DEBATE

Republican governors in Iowa and Virginia said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama failed to present his vision for a second term in his debate against Mitt Romney, echoing the concerns of undecided voters who thought the same after the debate. 

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad said Romney “explained with crystal clarity the difference between him and the President, and nowhere was that difference more stark than on the issue of the national debt.” Branstad noted that Obama “has racked up $5.5 trillion in national debt that will take years to pay off.”

“At the debate, the President reiterated that nothing will change about his policies in the next four years, ensuring that the debt will pile higher and generations to come will pay the price,” Branstad asserted. “That’s a legacy we don’t want to leave.”

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell stated Romney “reinforced the clear choice facing the American people” on jobs, taxes, debt, healthcare or foreign policy. 

He lamented Obama’s “tax-hiking, government-growing record” has “failed to turn around our economy or increase our nation’s influence around the world.”

“Americans know that we can’t afford another four years like the last four years, and tonight’s debate confirmed that Mitt Romney is the leader we need to deliver the change that Americans expect and deserve,” McDonnell continued. 

After Obama’s lackluster first debate against Romney, even progressive journalists said it was not not just good enough for Obama to attempt to tear down Romney. Those like NBC’s David Gregory and Chuck Todd said Obama now needed to present a clear vision for what his second term would be. 

And according to Messrs. Branstand and McDonnell, Obama did not even come close to reassuring the country that he had a vision to turn the country's economy around if he wins a second term. 

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading...

Catholic Archdiocese: No More Money to Komen Because It Supports Planned Parenthood

(CNSNews.com) – The Catholic Church’s Atlanta archdiocese said that Catholic parishes, missions, and schools that support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure should no longer do so because of the group’s reestablished partnership with the country’s largest abortion-provider, Planned Parenthood, “a group whose goals and activities are in direct opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church on the sanctity of human life.”

In an Oct. 1 “Statement on Non-Support for Komen Foundation” to priests, deacons, sisters, brothers, principals, business managers, parish secretaries and chancery staff, the archdiocese said: “Until recently, donations to the greater Atlanta affiliate of the Komen fund did not constitute a direct cooperation with evil, because none of the money they raised went to Planned Parenthood. However, the local affiliate was involved in recent events which had the Komen fund initially ceasing all assistance to Planned Parenthood and then reversing itself.”

“According to news reports and Facebook postings by Komen Atlanta, they worked behind the scenes to encourage the national Komen office to resume funding for Planned Parenthood – this public declaration of support for Planned Parenthood is an occasion for scandal,” reads the statement.

“In light of these actions by both the national and the local Komen fund, the Archdiocese of Atlanta has reached the conclusion that support for Susan G. Komen for the Cure by Catholic parishes/missions/schools should be brought to an end,” says the statement.  “We no longer support the Komen fund in any manner because of this very public display of pro-abortion conformity. We found the action of the Komen fund disappointing, discouraging, and we do not see how continued support is possible at this time.

Via: CNS News

Continue Reading...

Candy Crowley Let Obama Have Last Word 8 Out Of 11 Times…

What are the odds for getting the last word in a debate with Barack Obama? If the moderator is Obama-sycophant Candy Crowley, the odds are 8 to 3 against you.

That’s what happened to Mitt Romney in the second presidential debate. Of the eleven questions Crowley allowed to be asked, eight times Obama got the last word, while Crowley deigned to give Romney only three.

Not only did Obama receive three more minutes to speak, he was also given the gift of ending the discussion. Here’s how it played out:

1. Employment on graduation: Romney then Obama; followup: Romney then Obama

2. Secretary Chu and Gas Prices: Obama then Romney; followup: Obama then Romney; 2nd followup: Obama

3. Romney’s tax plans, deductions & credits: Romney then Obama then Romney; followup to Obama; 2nd followup to Romney

4. Female wages: Obama then Romney then Obama

5. Romney like Bush: Romney then Obama

6. Not optimistic, expensive prices: Obama then Romney

7. Immigration: Romney then Obama

8. Benghazi: Obama then Romney; followup: Obama then Romney

9. Assault weapons: Obama then Romney; followup: Romney then Obama

10. Outsourcing: Romney then Obama; followup: Romney then Obama

11. Misperception about candidate: Romney then Obama

The only reason the number favors Obama 8 to 3 and not 9 to 2 is that on question 8, Obama made the last speech, but Romney had the floor at the end, when he bantered with Obama.

Not only did Crowley interrupt Romney far more times than Obama, 28 to 9, and treat Romney with great disrespect, she was determined to obstruct him from having the last word. She was in league with Obama from the start.

But in the end, the last word will rest with the American people, and they know a rat when they see one. Or, in this case, two.

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading...

Romney: Obama ‘Running on Fumes'

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — Fresh off his more animated debate performance, President Obama joked Wednesday that he is still trying to get the hang of the face-to-face showdowns with Mitt Romney, even as the Republican nominee said Mr. Obama appears to be “running on fumes” in the run-up to Nov. 6.

Continuing the fierce line of attack he began Tuesday night, Mr. Obama told a rally in Iowa that Mr. Romney’s tax plans for the country are too “sketchy” for voters to risk putting him in the White House.

“Gov. Romney has been running around talking about his five-point plan for the economy for quite some time. And as I pointed out last night, and you guys heard yourselves, it’s really a one-point plan. … It says folks at the very top can play by their own set of rules,” Mr. Obama said, playing to big crowds in Iowa and later in Ohio, where 14,000 turned out to see him.

He and Mr. Romney picked up right where they left off in Tuesday’s town-hall-style debate, trading barbs on who would be worse for women over the next four years — Mr. Obama said the Republican would threaten access to contraception, abortion and women’s health care, while Mr. Romney said the president has ruined women’s economic prospects — and on energy and taxes.

Instant polls suggested Mr. Obama won Tuesday’s debate, though not by the overwhelming margins Mr. Romney notched in their Oct. 3 debate in Denver, which helped reset the race and propel the Republican to a lead in national polling.

Enlarge Photo

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney walks Oct. 17, 2012, with comedian Dennis ... more >

Democrats were energized by the president’s debate performance, praising him for finally taking a hard line against Mr. Romney.

But the Obama campaign is still struggling to reset the post-Oct. 3 debate storyline that it is struggling in some of the key states.

Via: Washington Times

Continue Reading...

Sen. Lindsey Graham on the Real Truth Behind the Benghazi Attack ...

It's a story about al Qaeda coming back, Libya going south, and it destroys the narrative that by killing bin Laden, al Qaeda's been dismantled. And it also destroys the narrative you can lead from behind in Libya and everything's fine. I hold the president personally accountable for knowing the security situation in the world.

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," October 17, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, the controversy over Libya leading to fireworks at last night's debate. Since the day after this year's September 11 attack, the Obama administration has been dishing out different versions of what happened. Here's a look at their ever-changing stories.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we're seeing on social media, what we're seeing in some of the local commentary is largely related to this reprehensible video.

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We've seen rage and violence directed at American embassies over an awful Internet video that we had nothing to do with.

SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: This was not a pre-planned, pre-meditated attack.

OBAMA: It is an extremely offensive video directed at Mohammed and Islam. Extremists and terrorists used this as an excuse to attack a variety of our embassies, including the one -- the consulate in Libya.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were killed in the course of a terrorist attack on our embassy.

CLINTON: What happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack.

OBAMA: We're still doing an investigation. There's no doubt that the kind of weapons that were used, the ongoing assault, that it wasn't just a mob action.

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It was a group of terrorists obviously conducted that attack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN SUSTEREN: And now is President Obama changing his tune again? For weeks, the president's been saying al Qaeda is on the run and on its heels, but today -- and everyone was listening for this -- the president specifically removed those words from his campaign speech.

Senator Lindsey Graham is demanding answers from the president. He joins us. Nice to see you, Mr. -- nice to see you, Senator.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: Thank you. I'm from Wisconsin, believe it or not,.

Via: Fox News

Continue Reading...

Coulter: Obama at Hofstra: Relatively Alert, Ergo Big Winner

The best question at the second presidential debate came from Michael Jones, an African-American who said: "Mr. President, I voted for you in 2008. What have you done or accomplished to earn my vote in 2012? I'm not that optimistic, as I was in 2008. Most things I need for everyday living are very expensive."

To which Obama said: "Are you my half-brother?"

Actually, all Obama could say was that he had ended the war in Iraq (while pointlessly escalating the war in Afghanistan) and that Osama bin Laden is dead (and so is our ambassador). Both of which must be a great comfort to Mr. Jones as he tries to pay his bills every month.

Jones was right: Since Obama has been president, everything you own -- your home, pension, savings accounts, weekly paychecks -- are all worth less.

Meanwhile, everything you need -- gas, food, and anything else that requires fuel to be transported to you -- costs more.

Obama can't talk his way out of his record. As Romney said in response to the president's allegation that he is gung-ho about drilling for oil to lower fuel prices: "But that's not what you've done in the last four years. That's the problem."

Obama also suddenly announced: "I'm all for pipelines. I'm all for oil production." But he vetoed the Keystone pipeline.

He explained that the price of gasoline was $1.80 when he took office because the economy was in the toilet. Apparently, prices have spiked to more than $4 a gallon because all Americans are back at work now and making big bucks!

Obama said the "most important thing we can do is to make sure that we are creating jobs in this country."

So now he's going to create jobs? Because, nearly four years into his presidency, 23 million Americans are out of work and more than half of recent college graduates can't find a job.

Video: Full Town Hall Debate Between Barack Obama And Mitt Romney…

Via: Weasel Zippers

ROMNEY'S SECRET BLOWOUT

While the left cheers President Obama’s second debate performance with the excitement of Chris Matthews on a prom date with The One, the fact remains that this was not just a bad debate for President Obama. It was a disastrous debate for President Obama. He may have achieved firing up the base, but the base had already been fired up by Vice President Joe Biden’s bizarre performance in the vice presidential debate. He may have achieved not looking comatose, but instead he looked angry and puerile.

Actually, Obama lost in three major ways.

Economy. The first loss is the most obvious. Mitt Romney absolutely dismembered Obama on economics. Obama wasn’t merely outclassed. He was out-leagued. Take, for example, the Romney-Obama exchange on gas drilling. After Obama blathered on about how he’d been great for oil supply (false), Romney gutted him with a single line:

The proof of whether a strategy is working or not is what the price is that you're paying at the pump. If you're paying less than you paid a year or two ago, why, then, the strategy is working. But you're paying more. When the president took office, the price of gasoline here in Nassau County was about $1.86 a gallon. Now, it's $4.00 a gallon.

Obama’s response was perhaps the worst economic gaffe in modern debate history:

Well, think about what the governor -- think about what the governor just said. He said when I took office, the price of gasoline was $1.80, $1.86. Why is that? Because the economy was on the verge of collapse, because we were about to go through the worst recession since the Great Depression, as a consequence of some of the same policies that Governor Romney's now promoting. So, it's conceivable that Governor Romney could bring down gas prices because with his policies, we might be back in that same mess.

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading...

Former Aide On Obama: ‘It’s Stunning That He’s In Politics, Because He Really Doesn’t Like People’

Neera Tanden, a former aide to both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, had this to say about the relationship of the two presidents:

Clinton, being Clinton, had plenty of advice in mind and was desperate to impart it. But for the first two years of Obama’s term, the phone calls Clinton kept expecting rarely came. “People say the reason Obama wouldn’t call Clinton is because he doesn’t like him,” observes Tanden. “The truth is, Obama doesn’t call anyone, and he’s not close to almost anyone. It’s stunning that he’s in politics, because he really doesn’t like people. My analogy is that it’s like becoming Bill Gates without liking computers.”

It's a revealing statement from Tanden, who "served as senior advisor for health reform at the Department of Health and Human Services, advising Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and working on President Barack Obama’s health reform team in the White House to pass the bill," according to her bio at the Center for American Progress. She is currently president and CEO of the liberal organization.

Via: Weekly Standard

Continue Reading...