Republican Primaries

[basimpson22]

How do you see the GOP primaries panning out? And who do you favor?

[Brant Gaede]

How do you see the GOP primaries panning out? And who do you favor?

Ho, hum. Perry will announce tomorrow. Win the nomination. Beat Obama. The country will go into the crapper. Perry may or may not win re-election but will lose Congress by 2014, time for another (real big) war, then third-world USA. Ultimately our standard of living will even out to the level of the standard of living of our major importer--China--urban China, not rural. This will resolve the import-export balance of trade issue. Note: when the standard of living evens out in a generation or two it may be higher or lower than the mean now, but probably lower for the Chinese have essentially our problem: mal-investments.

--Brant

[studiodekadent]

I have no idea who will win. However, the best candidate is clearly Gary Johnson (garyjohnson2012.com).

Ron Paul's Paleocon streak scares me (he doesn't believe in the incorporation doctrine even!), even if he's good on foreign and monetary policy.

Romney is a hypocrite. Palin (even if she's not technically running) and Bachmann's rural-Christian-soccer-mom-ness could make me go gay. Pawlenty is abominable on social issues. Texans like Rick Perry cannot be trusted in the White House (Dubya and LBJ, anyone?). Rudy Guiliani was a fame-seeking prosecutor that perp-walked those accused of Insider Trading and whored himself out to the media, got elected to Mayor of NYC, and is also a foreign policy hawk that wants to throw yet more American lives and money into overseas adventurism which won't actually improve American security.

Johnson is the only one with reasonable policies, he's socially to the left of Obama which gives him bipartisan appeal, he has fantastic economics advice from Jeffrey Miron (from Harvard), and he has actual executive experience.

But he probably won't win the nomination.

[BaalChatzaf]

Rudy Guiliani was a fame-seeking prosecutor that perp-walked those accused of Insider Trading and whored himself out to the media, got elected to Mayor of NYC, and is also a foreign policy hawk that wants to throw yet more American lives and money into overseas adventurism which won't actually improve American security.

Guilliani also made it possible for families with children to walk along Broadway and Seventh Avenue between the 40 block and the 50 block. You should have seen it before. Whores, pimps, junkies and scum lined the sidewalks.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[studiodekadent]

Guilliani also made it possible for families with children to walk along Broadway and Seventh Avenue between the 40 block and the 50 block. You should have seen it before. Whores, pimps, junkies and scum lined the sidewalks.

Ba'al Chatzaf

That's perfectly in his favor if we're talking about local government. But law-and-order-conservatism + White House = problems (of the War On Drugs, Screw The Fourth Ammendment, etc. variety). Its potentially problematic enough at a local level.

[Selene]

Rick Perry is considered differently by different power groups in and out of the Republican Party.

Here is his first ad:

The guy has a real interesting story. Also, ex-Air Force.

Not sure I agree with the "loser pays" as "the solution" to "frivolous" lawsuits. I have to look into the Texas legislation that he signed.

Adam

[Fred Cole]

I'll echo the Gary Johnson love.

I can't say who will win, but I'll say who won't.

T-Paw just dropped out, so it can't be him.

It won't be Bachman or Paul. Bachmann will peak early, like in Iowa, and stall out. Ron Paul says great things, but a septegenarian congressman from TX isn't going to get nominated and couldn't be Mr. Hope and Change. Also, there have only ever been two congressmen elected to the presidency, and it hasn't happened in 130 years.

It won't be Santorum, he's a loser. It won't be Cain, he's a nobody.

If history is a guide, it'll probably be Romney. But its too early to be certain.

It could be Johnson, I give him like a 5% chance. It could be Perry, I give him like a 25% chance. It'll probably be Romney, I'll give him a 60% chance.

Idk if Palin will get in. If she does, it might throw all my numbers off. I think with the entry of Perry, we've gotten everyone we're gonna get. I'm starting to feel that if Palin were to get in, she'd be in by now. But then again, Palin is a wild card who plays by her own rules, so who the hell knows.

Edited August 15, 2011 by Fred Cole

[Selene]

With sexist coverage like this, it might backfire on the media as it should!

Is This The Best Picture Of Rep. Bachmann Eating A Corn Dog The Telegraph Could Find? by Frances Martel | 12:29 pm, August 13th, 2011

The Sexist Media Here

[jriggenbach]

Ultimately our standard of living will even out to the level of the standard of living of our major importer--China--urban China, not rural. This will resolve the import-export balance of trade issue.

There is no "import-export balance of trade issue." Those who think there is do not understand economics.

JR

[jriggenbach]

Guilliani also made it possible for families with children to walk along Broadway and Seventh Avenue between the 40 block and the 50 block. You should have seen it before. Whores, pimps, junkies and scum lined the sidewalks.

Yes, I remember it well. It was a terrible problem. You see, if there's a "whore" or a "junkie" on the sidewalk, then children can't walk on that sidewalk. (I've forgotten just why, exactly, but I'm confident there's an explanation. If they try to walk on that sidewalk, their legs give out and they collapse to the ground.)

I assume by "scum," you mean "police officers."

JR

Edited August 17, 2011 by Jeff Riggenbach

[BaalChatzaf]

I assume by "scum," you mean "police officers."

JR

No. Bums and panhandlers.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[algernonsidney]

I have no idea who will win. However, the best candidate is clearly Gary Johnson (garyjohnson2012.com).

Ron Paul's Paleocon streak scares me (he doesn't believe in the incorporation doctrine even!), even if he's good on foreign and monetary policy.

Romney is a hypocrite. Palin (even if she's not technically running) and Bachmann's rural-Christian-soccer-mom-ness could make me go gay. Pawlenty is abominable on social issues. Texans like Rick Perry cannot be trusted in the White House (Dubya and LBJ, anyone?). Rudy Guiliani was a fame-seeking prosecutor that perp-walked those accused of Insider Trading and whored himself out to the media, got elected to Mayor of NYC, and is also a foreign policy hawk that wants to throw yet more American lives and money into overseas adventurism which won't actually improve American security.

Johnson is the only one with reasonable policies, he's socially to the left of Obama which gives him bipartisan appeal, he has fantastic economics advice from Jeffrey Miron (from Harvard), and he has actual executive experience.

But he probably won't win the nomination.

In a governor's race, I would vote for Johnson. Since it's a Presidential race, I am supporting Paul.

Bachmann spent a lot of her life working for the IRS. That alone is reason to throw her out.

[Brant Gaede]

Ultimately our standard of living will even out to the level of the standard of living of our major importer--China--urban China, not rural. This will resolve the import-export balance of trade issue.

There is no "import-export balance of trade issue." Those who think there is do not understand economics.

JR

Of course there is an "issue." It is commonly written of. I was speaking of politics more than economics and not economics per se.

--Brant

[Xray]

Guilliani also made it possible for families with children to walk along Broadway and Seventh Avenue between the 40 block and the 50 block. You should have seen it before. Whores, pimps, junkies and scum lined the sidewalks.

<...>

I assume by "scum," you mean "police officers."

JR

If JR had to work as the mayor of NYC for some time, I bet he'd be glad to have what he calls "scum" to help him do the job.

Edited August 18, 2011 by Xray

[jriggenbach]

Guilliani also made it possible for families with children to walk along Broadway and Seventh Avenue between the 40 block and the 50 block. You should have seen it before. Whores, pimps, junkies and scum lined the sidewalks.

<...>

I assume by "scum," you mean "police officers."

JR

If JR had to work as the mayor of NYC for some time, I bet he'd be glad to have what he calls "scum" to help him do the job.

JR wouldn't ever have to work as mayor of NYC or anywhere else. He wouldn't run for the office, and, if somehow "elected" to it anyway, would refuse to "serve." He gets no kicks out of telling other people how to run their lives, much less out of locking them in cages and seizing their property if they don't take his advice.

JR

[caroljane]

Guilliani also made it possible for families with children to walk along Broadway and Seventh Avenue between the 40 block and the 50 block. You should have seen it before. Whores, pimps, junkies and scum lined the sidewalks.

<...>

I assume by "scum," you mean "police officers."

JR

If JR had to work as the mayor of NYC for some time, I bet he'd be glad to have what he calls "scum" to help him do the job.

JR wouldn't ever have to work as mayor of NYC or anywhere else. He wouldn't run for the office, and, if somehow "elected" to it anyway, would refuse to "serve." He gets no kicks out of telling other people how to run their lives, much less out of locking them in cages and seizing their property if they don't take his advice.

JR

Yet you live, without consent, without approving, without the least commonality between you and the world beyond. How is that, JR? Is one man an island?

[Peter]

Primaries? Bachmann wins Iowa. Romney wins New Hampshire. Perry wins South Carolina.

Any comments or concerns 'bout "Pecos Bill" Perry?

Peter

Seven ways Rick Perry wants to change the Constitution

By Chris Moody

Rick Perry has many ideas about how to change the American government's founding document. From ending lifetime tenure for federal judges to completely scrapping two whole amendments, the Constitution would see a major overhaul if the Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate had his druthers.

Perry laid out these proposed innovations to the founding document in his book, Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington. He has occasionally mentioned them on the campaign trail. Several of his ideas fall within the realm of mainstream conservative thinking today, but, as you will see, there are also a few surprises.

1. Abolish lifetime tenure for federal judges by amending Article III, Section I of the Constitution.

The nation's framers established a federal court system whereby judges with "good behavior" would be secure in their job for life. Perry believes that provision is ready for an overhaul.

"The Judges," reads Article III, "both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office."

Perry makes it no secret that he believes the judges on the bench over the past century have acted beyond their constitutional bounds. The problem, Perry reasons, is that members of the judiciary are "unaccountable" to the people, and their lifetime tenure gives them free license to act however they want. In his book, the governor speaks highly of plans to limit their tenure and offers proposals about how to accomplish it.

"'[W]e should take steps to restrict the unlimited power of the courts to rule over us with no accountability," he writes in Fed Up! "There are a number of ideas about how to do this . . . . One such reform would be to institute term limits on what are now lifetime appointments for federal judges, particularly those on the Supreme Court or the circuit courts, which have so much power. One proposal, for example, would have judges roll off every two years based on seniority."

2. Congress should have the power to override Supreme Court decisions with a two-thirds vote.

Ending lifetime tenure for federal justices isn't the only way Perry has proposed suppressing the power of the courts. His book excoriates at length what he sees as overreach from the judicial branch. (The title of Chapter Six is "Nine Unelected Judges Tell Us How to Live.")

Giving Congress the ability to veto their decisions would be another way to take the Court down a notch, Perry says.

"[A]llow Congress to override the Supreme Court with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate, which risks increased politicization of judicial decisions, but also has the benefit of letting the people stop the Court from unilaterally deciding policy," he writes.

3. Scrap the federal income tax by repealing the Sixteenth Amendment.

The Sixteenth Amendment gives Congress the "power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration." It should be abolished immediately, Perry says.

Calling the Sixteenth Amendment "the great milestone on the road to serfdom," Perry's writes that it provides a virtually blank check to the federal government to use for projects with little or no consultation from the states.

4. End the direct election of senators by repealing the Seventeenth Amendment.

Overturning this amendment would restore the original language of the Constitution, which gave state legislators the power to appoint the members of the Senate.

Ratified during the Progressive Era in 1913 , the same year as the Sixteenth Amendment, the Seventeenth Amendment gives citizens the ability to elect senators on their own. Perry writes that supporters of the amendment at the time were "mistakenly" propelled by "a fit of populist rage."

"The American people mistakenly empowered the federal government during a fit of populist rage in the early twentieth century by giving it an unlimited source of income (the Sixteenth Amendment) and by changing the way senators are elected (the Seventeenth Amendment)," he writes.

5. Require the federal government to balance its budget every year.

Of all his proposed ideas, Perry calls this one "the most important," and of all the plans, a balanced budget amendment likely has the best chance of passage.

"The most important thing we could do is amend the Constitution--now--to restrict federal spending," Perry writes in his book. "There are generally thought to be two options: the traditional 'balanced budget amendment' or a straightforward 'spending limit amendment,' either of which would be a significant improvement. I prefer the latter . . . . Let's use the people's document--the Constitution--to put an actual spending limit in place to control the beast in Washington."

A campaign to pass a balanced budget amendment through Congress fell short by just one vote in the Senate in the 1990s.

Last year, House Republicans proposed a spending-limit amendment that would limit federal spending to 20 percent of the economy. According to the amendment's language, the restriction could be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both Houses of Congress or by a declaration of war.

6. The federal Constitution should define marriage as between one man and one woman in all 50 states.

Despite saying last month that he was "fine with" states like New York allowing gay marriage, Perry has now said he supports a constitutional amendment that would permanently ban gay marriage throughout the country and overturn any state laws that define marriage beyond a relationship between one man and one woman.

"I do respect a state's right to have a different opinion and take a different tack if you will, California did that," Perry told the Christian Broadcasting Network in August. "I respect that right, but our founding fathers also said, 'Listen, if you all in the future think things are so important that you need to change the Constitution here's the way you do it'.

In an interview with The Ticket earlier this month, Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said that even though it would overturn laws in several states, the amendment still fits into Perry's broader philosophy because amendments require the ratification of three-fourths of the states to be added to the Constitution.

7. Abortion should be made illegal throughout the country.

Like the gay marriage issue, Perry at one time believed that abortion policy should be left to the states, as was the case before the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. But in the same Christian Broadcasting Network interview, Perry said that he would support a federal amendment outlawing abortion because it was "so important...to the soul of this country and to the traditional values [of] our founding fathers."

Edited August 20, 2011 by Peter Taylor

[Xray]

Yet you live, without consent, without approving, without the least commonality between you and the world beyond. How is that, JR? Is one man an island?

Good question, Carol.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Xray

[Selene]

Primaries? Bachmann wins Iowa. Romney wins New Hampshire. Perry wins South Carolina.

Any comments or concerns 'bout "Pecos Bill" Perry?

Peter

Peter:

Way too early to make any predictions because if those three (3) primaries were held today, Perry would take Iowa and South Carolina. New Hampshire would be too close to call.

O'biwan, the boy Prince dictator in waiting just hit his lowest point in Rasmussen's daily tracking poll at minus twenty-four (-24). He was plus thirty-eight (+38) on January 21st, 2010. In other words, he has blown a net number of 62 in approval rating.

See his slogan was Yes, he can! And he did!

Time left for the incompetent's term

Edited August 22, 2011 by Selene

[Selene]

PRINCETON, NJ -- President Barack Obama is closely matched against each of four possible Republican opponents when registered voters are asked whom they would support if the 2012 presidential election were held today. Mitt Romney leads Obama by two percentage points, 48% to 46%, Rick Perry and Obama are tied at 47%, and Obama edges out Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann by two and four points, respectively.

[Selene]

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 19% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-five percent (45%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -26 (see trends).

This is the lowest Approval Index rating yet measured for President Obama. The previous low was -24 reached yesterday and also in September 2010. Additionally, the level of Strong Approval matches the lowest yet recorded. By way of comparison, President Bush had ratings near the end of his second term in the minus 30s.

-26 it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

As tension continues in Libya, just 12% think the United States should get more involved in Syria.<<<<this is promising - maybe we can begin bringing our troops home...

[PDS]

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 19% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-five percent (45%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -26 (see trends).

This is the lowest Approval Index rating yet measured for President Obama. The previous low was -24 reached yesterday and also in September 2010. Additionally, the level of Strong Approval matches the lowest yet recorded. By way of comparison, President Bush had ratings near the end of his second term in the minus 30s.

-26 it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

As tension continues in Libya, just 12% think the United States should get more involved in Syria.<<<<this is promising - maybe we can begin bringing our troops home...

His penchant for golfing and hob nobbing doesn't help.

Perry depresses me. Romney reminds me of every weenie-boy class president we all have ever endured. Bachman is nuts--and her husband is worse. Huntsman reminds me of every weenie-boy class president we all have ever endured, too. Palen has a brain the size of a grape, and a voice that grates. The others have no chance.

I would prefer a Christie run, given Ryan's rational unwillingness to enter the fray.

[Selene]

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 19% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-five percent (45%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -26 (see trends).

This is the lowest Approval Index rating yet measured for President Obama. The previous low was -24 reached yesterday and also in September 2010. Additionally, the level of Strong Approval matches the lowest yet recorded. By way of comparison, President Bush had ratings near the end of his second term in the minus 30s.

-26 it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

As tension continues in Libya, just 12% think the United States should get more involved in Syria.<<<<this is promising - maybe we can begin bringing our troops home...

His penchant for golfing and hob nobbing doesn't help.

Perry depresses me. Romney reminds me of every weenie-boy class president we all have ever endured. Bachman is nuts--and her husband is worse. Huntsman reminds me of every weenie-boy class president we all have ever endured, too. Palen has a brain the size of a grape, and a voice that grates. The others have no chance.

I would prefer a Christie run, given Ryan's rational unwillingness to enter the fray.

PDS:

Out of curiosity, why Christie?

Adam

I backed him and he has done a competent job here in NJ

[Peter]

Now that Christi has endorsed Mitt, has anyone changed their mind about Romney?

Now that Cain has changed his 9-9-9 plan to 9-0-9 for people below the poverty level does anyone have any change of opinion about Herman? I sent him my opinion about the abortion issue after he was accused of foot in mouth syndrome. No response.

I am eagerly awaiting the first few primaries. If Mitt wins, oy vey.

Peter

[BaalChatzaf]

Now that Christi has endorsed Mitt, has anyone changed their mind about Romney?

Now that Cain has changed his 9-9-9 plan to 9-0-9 for people below the poverty level does anyone have any change of opinion about Herman? I sent him my opinion about the abortion issue after he was accused of foot in mouth syndrome. No response.

I am eagerly awaiting the first few primaries. If Mitt wins, oy vey.

Peter

If Herman Cain runs Obama will win. He will be the HNIC twice in a row.

Ba'al Chatzaf