Haley Barbour

Conservatives Question Why Mitt Romney Refuses To Release Tax Returns: What Does He Have To Hide?

Mitt Romney is rapidly destroying any chance that he will be elected President by his refusal to release multiple years of his tax returns, which has become a common expectation for Presidential candidates.

It is not just Democrats or liberals and progressives who are demanding such information be provided, but also conservatives who hint that Romney MUST have something to hide!

This includes conservative pundits George Will and Bill Kristol; former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour; Alabama Governor Robert Bentley; former Republican National Chairman Michael Steele; and Republican strategist Michael Dowd.

Dowd called what Romney is doing as simple arrogance, a word that keeps on describing Romney, who seems to feel that he is “entitled” to tax breaks for a racing horse, and loves to brag that he has paid everything in taxes he has to, and not one penny more, as if it would be unpatriotic to avoid manipulating the tax law with accountants, as rich people tend to do with relish!

As Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former top adviser to Barack Obama said, the fact that John McCain saw 23 years of Romney tax returns and financial information, and chose to select Sarah Palin instead in 2008, is testimony as to time bombs ticking in his campaign, whether he ultimately releases the tax returns or not!

The Republican Party Establishment In Panic: Jeb Bush, George Will, Haley Barbour

The Republican Party Establishment is fully aware that the party is doomed if it follows the crazy path being tread by Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul.

These candidates are absolutely a calamity big time.

Mitt Romney spends time talking about the height of the trees in Michigan; the fact that his wife has two Cadillacs; the concept that he likes firing people; jokes about being “unemployed”; suggests a tax plan that would be worse than that under George W. Bush in cutting taxes on the wealthy; and continues to say that the auto industry bailout was a bad idea even though it saved between one and two million jobs.

Rick Santorum talks about Satan taking over America; attacks public education and higher education as promoting secular humanism; advocates the end of contraception availability to women; condemns homosexuality in the most extreme language; advocates religion in government; and calls for war on Iran immediately.

Newt Gingrich says that Barack Obama is dangerous to American security; calls for immediate action on Day One to wipe out everything Barack Obama has promoted; calls for a moon colony despite no funds available for it anytime soon; brags about his own brilliance and intellect and knowledge; has no shame about his moral lapses; and enjoys stirring a “hornet’s nest” and being a “flame thrower”.

Ron Paul calls for the elimination of the Federal Reserve; the immediate withdrawal of our troops from all nations overseas; the ending of five federal government agencies; is for massive immediate cuts in the federal budget;
believes in no regulation of corporations; and is a total advocate of libertarianism.

All four are a true disaster, and we have heard the lament from Establishment figures.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush deplores the promotion of fear and emotion; while George Will, of ABC’s THIS WEEK and also a Washington Post columnist, states that none of the candidates have made a good case for the nomination; and former Mississippi Governor and Republican National Chairman Haley Barbour also is critical of the performance of the candidates for the Republican nomination.

Whether anything can be done to avoid electoral disaster is very hard to predict at this point, but a sense of foreboding is clearly evident in Republican circles!

Bill Clinton Pardons vs. Mike Huckabee And Haley Barbour Pardons: Double Standard!

When Bill Clinton left the Presidency in 2001, he was embroiled in controversy over giving pardons to over two hundred individuals for drug offenses and white collar crimes, meaning financial violations. The turmoil went on for weeks, with Fox News Channel and conservative talk show hosts widely condemning his actions, and claiming he had committed insufferable harm.

But when Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee left office in 2007, he pardoned people who had committed heinous murders. And now, outgoing Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, supposedly a very bright and talented politician who had considered the Presidency, and had refused to pardon two African American sisters of a minor crime, but released them on condition that one sister would give a kidney donation to the other, which occurred after they were released, an ethical quandary medically. has gone beyond the pale completely!

Now, Barbour has given pardons to four people convicted of murder who had been allowed as inmates to work at the Governor’s mansion, along with at least 25 other people convicted of murder, manslaughter or homicide, a stunning development hard to explain.

And under the law, neither Huckabee back in 2007 nor Barbour today needs to do any explaining of the pardons, certainly far more heinous than any of the pardons Bill Clinton did in 2001!

This is another example of the double standard that exists, which allows Republicans a “free pass”, while Democrats are under constant attack by conservatives in radio and on Fox News Channel!

The Long List Of Republican Presidential Dropouts: Why If 2012 Is Such A Great Year For The GOP?

Common belief is that 2012 will see the defeat of President Barack Obama, and recent polls seem to indicate such, except, of course, for the fact that polls in the summer and fall of the year BEFORE the national elections are notoriously misleading!

But with such predictions and prognostications, why is it that a long list of Republicans, some of them very attractive possibilities, have decided NOT to seek the Presidency?

First the list of candidates in no special order:

Jeb Bush
Haley Barbour
John Bolton
Mitch Daniels
Jim DeMint
Mike Huckabee
Bobby Jindal
Mike Pence
David Petraeus
Paul Ryan
John Thune
Donald Trump
Rudy Guiliani
Sarah Palin
Chris Christie

That is a list of FIFTEEN people, some of them very appealing in different ways, who have decided NOT to run!

But why?

1. It is an arduous chore, costly, dominating, stressful to run for President, and becomes all encompassing to the candidate and his or her family.
2. It requires tremendous financial and organizational support to make a serious run for President, not easily achieved.
3. It requires a “thick skin” with the strong criticisms and investigations of one’s record, of everything ever said or done, that is automatic when one runs for President.
4. It requires a candidate to be knowledgeable, informed, and to have good debate skills against potential opponents.
5. It is required that a candidate have the “fire in the belly” that he or she is meant to run, and willingness to sacrifice his or her life for a year or more.

With all of the above, one other point should be made in conclusion: The candidate has to believe that Barack Obama can be defeated in 2012, or else it is better to wait to 2016!

The author would contend that many on this list, maybe all of them, see the chore of dislodging Barack Obama from the Presidency to be a very difficult job, no matter what is uttered publicly!

The President will have a billion dollar campaign fund; a record of major accomplishments rivaling the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson domestically, certainly the most since the first term of Richard Nixon, the most in FORTY YEARS, that he can be proud of; PLUS exceptional achievements in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and general respect around the world! His record on defense and foreign policy is outstanding, with his ONLY major failure being the economy, one that he inherited and has been unable to overcome due to the total intransigence of the opposition party, which now controls the House of Representatives, and is doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to create jobs, build infrastructure, promote education and innovation, and will go down as the worst Congress in decades!

Barack Obama will be able to call them the “do nothing” Congress as Harry Truman did when he ran for election in 1948. The difference is that even the GOP Congress of 1947-1948, the 80th Congress, DID support the President on foreign policy initiatives, while the Republicans today ignore or dismiss accomplishments of the President in that area! So this is actually a far worse Congress, the 112th Congress, than the 80th Congress was!

So the ultimate conclusion is that the Republicans who decided not to run assume that Obama will win, and are holding their future to 2016, when it is likely MANY of the above will be running for President in a year they project as a year when the incumbent President will NOT be able to run, an open year which maximizes their opportunities for the White House!

Finally, the reception that those candidates for President who are running are receiving is NOT a good sign for any of them, that they will somehow unite the Republican Party and defeat Barack Obama in 2012! There is great discontent over the choices, and that is the reason why there has been a clamor, unsuccessful, to get others in the race. And of course, the Tea Party Movement is also destroying any chance for GOP unity, so if the Republicans want a future, they must divorce the Tea Party Movement after what will be a likely debacle in 2012, if they wish to succeed Barack Obama in the White House in the Presidential Election Of 2016!

Is Rick Perry The Savior Of The Republican Party?

Texas Governor Rick Perry, a strong social conservative, has not been willing to enter the Republican Presidential race before now, but with the decision of Mike Pence, John Thune, Haley Barbour, Mike Huckabee, Mitch Daniels, and Donald Trump to avoid the race, and with Newt Gingrich disintegrating and Sarah Palin flirting with, but unlikely to enter the race, he is being courted to run.

Perry has been the longest serving Governor of Texas in history, having served more than ten years, after succeeding George W. Bush in December 2000.

Perry is Governor of the second largest state in population, but his position is also the weakest Governor constitutionally in the nation, although that did not hurt George W. Bush.

Perry has spoken up for the concept of secession; has flirted with religious leaders of the far right, and condemned abortion and gay rights; has a tremendous state debt which he is solving by ruthless cutting of spending, and refusing to raise taxes; and has seen his aides who went to Gingrich a few month ago decide to abandon the former Speaker and make themselves available to Perry for a Presidential run.

Perry is seen by many as a lightweight intellectually, but that is not necessarily a bad thing for the Republican Party.

Many think that if he enters the race later this month, that he will automatically become the major challenger to Mitt Romney, and surpass Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman.

He would be likely to win support away from Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain, and Rick Santorum, and could become the surprise candidate who becomes a major threat, not only to Romney, but also to Barack Obama.

No one should underestimate his appeal to the caucus voters in Iowa and the primary voters in New Hampshire@

Tim Pawlenty Panned By Former Republican Minnesota Governor On Day Of Presidential Announcement!

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced his Presidential candidacy today in Iowa. Seen by many as having the fewest shortcomings, he has avoided major controversy by his words and actions, as compared to all other GOP candidates.

And yet, he could not fully enjoy his opening day as former Republican Governor Arne Carlson, who had supported Pawlenty for Governor, and appointed his wife to a state job, came out on Ed Schultze’s show on MSNBC tonight to criticize Pawlenty, and say the party could do a lot better for its Presidential nominee.

Carlson’s major complaint was that Pawlenty’s claim of balanced budgets in Minnesota over eight years is a fabrication, according to the former Governor.

Carlson complained that property taxes had skyrocketed, and that the state had put the burden on homeowners in an unjust way, but that Pawlenty had made it seem as if Minnesota’s state government was doing a good job, which according to Carlson, is the farthest thing from the truth.

So Pawlenty is discovering quickly that entering the Presidential race will be a long, grueling campaign, something Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour, Mike Pence, John Thune, Mike Huckabee, and Donald Trump were unwilling to put themselves through!

The Silly Season Is Here: Republicans Look To Michele Bachmann And Rick Perry? Give Us A Break!

With the withdrawal of Mike Huckabee and Haley Barbour, the implosion of Newt Gingrich, the fake campaign of Donald Trump, and the decision of Mike Pence and John Thune to stay out of the Republican Presidential campaign, the GOP is running scared, that they feel as if they have no roots or substantial possibility of challenging President Barack Obama in 2012.

So, grasping at straws, attention is being paid to Michele Bachmann, the loony Congresswoman from Minnesota, and Rick Perry, the secessionist oriented Governor of Texas, as people to flirt with and encourage to enter the race.

The fact is though, whether Bachmann or Perry enter the race, neither has the slightest chance to win the GOP Presidential nomination. Were either to actually win the nomination, the result would be such a landslide defeat for the Republicans, that it would match the 1964 Barry Goldwater candidacy.

As reiterated constantly by this author, the only reasonable candidates left are Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, and Tim Pawlenty, as Mitch Daniels, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie are not going to enter the race by any estimation. When one hears Republicans act as if Obama is an easy challenge to defeat, one has to wonder at the hallucinations going on in GOP circles!

The Republican Sense Of Desperation As Fox News Channel Debate Occurs In Five Days!

The Republican Party, the Grand Old Party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Reagan, is facing a sense of desperation as the first scheduled debate among GOP Presidential candidates is only five days away, due on May 5 on Fox News Channel.

No one has really emerged from the pack, and those who have been noticed–Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump–have embarrassed themselves as well as the party. If this is the best the GOP can do, they may as well concede the election for President next year to President Obama!

Of course, no such thing will happen, but the mainstream candidates–Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman–have not excited the party, and Mike Huckabee seems unlikely to run, and in any case, has put his foot in his mouth too many times already to be the ideal candidate.

With the decision of Haley Barbour to drop out of the race, attention is being drawn again to Mitch Daniels, Governor of Indiana, and former budget director under George W. Bush, but he has alienated social conservatives by emphasizing economic and budget issues, and suggesting there be a truce on social matters, such as gay rights, abortion, and school prayer. He also lacks charisma and presence, and since the budget debt doubled under George W. Bush, one wonders if his so called “magic” abilities with budgets, plus his strong anti labor stand in Indiana, ahead of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Florida, is to be seen as a plus.

But once you go past Mitch Daniels, the others being promoted are even less thrilling!

To suggest “Bully” Governors, including Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin seems suicidal, as neither has high public opinion ratings, has declared war on labor, and has an aggressive public personality that turns many people off!

And to suggest Texas Governor Rick Perry is really to promote desperation, as Perry is not too bright, and has advocated secession of his state in past political rhetoric! What the Democrats could do with that–wow!

But then, those who suggest Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the author of the GOP budget bill that wishes to make Medicare privatized in ten years, but admits no balanced budget for thirty years, are even more crazy. Not only is Ryan seen as a “wise guy” arrogant person, but also he has received many attacks at Town Halls in his own district, and his plan has been attacked bitterly by people of all age groups, and become cannon fodder for the Democrats, which they will be able to use next year in the Presidential Election of 2012.

The way things look, the best bet for the Republican Party is to turn toward Mitt Romney, as the most “mainstream” they can get to run against Barack Obama, but will the Tea Party activists and the evangelical Christians allow a Mormon, who was once a liberal to moderate in the party, to be its nominee? Stay tuned!

Haley Barbour’s Explanation Of Why He Is Not Running For President!

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour surprised a lot of political observers by announcing he would not run for the Republican Presidential nomination today, but his reason for not running is somewhat unique in being stated openly.

It is not because of his insensitivity to the issue of race in Mississippi!

It is not because he has the image of being too close to powerful lobbyists.

It is not because he recognizes that the country is not about to elect a Mississippian to the White House, because of the terrible image that state has in the national mind.

It is not because he is willing to admit that it will be difficult to defeat President Obama in 2012.

No, it is none of the above! Rather, it is because he is unwilling to give a TEN YEAR commitment to the venture of running for and winning the Presidency for two terms, which is indeed a ten year commitment!

This is a refreshing way of someone saying why he will not be a candidate, totally true but unusual, as no one to the author’s knowledge has ever used that as the reason not to run!

Barbour is smart enough to realize that it just might not be worth it to sacrifice a decade of one’s life to run for a job that is a massive headache, ages the person, and often shortens his life span, with the level of stress and tension he has to deal with for a salary that, compared to corporate leaders, athletes, and entertainers, is quite inadequate!

And to run for the glory and historical reputation that the position represents just might not be enough of an appeal for many to sacrifice their time and their health!

Haley Barbour And Ron Paul: One Out Of GOP Race, And The Other In!

Republican politics is more amazing by the day!

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a power player in the party apparatus as head of the Republican Governors Association, has decided NOT to run for President, although many thought of him as a “heavy hitter”! Barbour was liked by lobbyists in the party, but that was precisely why he looked undesirable to others, along with his insensitive comments about African Americans in Mississippi fifty years ago, which made him radioactive, as we are not about to elect an old Southern type to the White House in 2012. But many thought he would run, so his decision not to run is a big surprise!

Does this benefit anyone? YES, probably former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who continues to look like the “dark horse” who might emerge from the pack, with similar views to Barbour, but a much better public image and presentation than Barbour was capable of demonstrating. Barbour has a lot of friends and associates who could be valuable to anyone he might endorse, and it is highly unlikely he would back either Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman!

At the same time, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas is forming an exploratory committee to run again for President, despite the fact that he has absolutely no chance to be the nominee!

Paul’s libertarianism on domestic policy and his opposition to America’s role in overseas military adventures can appeal to many, but even with Tea Party backing, there is no possibility to believe that he could, at age 77, win the nomination or the Presidency. He is a gadfly who is more annoying to the GOP than anything else, and has already been ridiculed in the past when he ran in the 2008 primary season!

The only good thing about Ron Paul running is that it prevents his son, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, from entering the race, as he could be more of an annoyance and potential threat than his father! But we must realize that Rand Paul will certainly run in future campaigns, a highly regrettable situation!

So the Republican Party wends its way toward total disaster in the Presidential race, while at the same time committing suicide politically with its”bully” Governors and the Paul Ryan plan to eliminate Medicare, both developments causing major headaches for the Republican Party in polls all across the country!