Wall Street Journal

No Love Affair Between Mitt Romney And Conservative Leaders! Major Obstacle To Reaching The White House!

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Mitt Romney has a major problem we have long been aware of!

Conservative leadership is NOT in love with the former Massachusetts Governor!

The Wall Street Journal, Fox News Channel, and other conservative media owned by Rupert Murdoch, has major problems with Romney.

So does Bill Kristol of the WEEKLY STANDARD, the major conservative weekly journal of opinion, and the center of neoconservatives, who brought us into the Iraq War under George W. Bush, and still believe in an aggressive, muscular, foreign policy.

Additionally, evangelical Christians have a major problem with Romney being a Mormon, and the Tea Party Movement is not happy about Romney’s promotion of RomneyCare in Massachusetts, and Romney’s fidgeting about the Supreme Court backing of ObamaCare, which is seen as too similar to RomneyCare, although Romney has now repudiated it for the nation!

So Romney already is behind in electoral votes on the Electoral College map of states, and even with loads of money raised by billionaires and political action committees, and the attempt to disfranchise millions of voters in many states, a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it will be extremely difficult for him to win the White House!

Ranking Presidents Affected By Being A One Term Or Two Term President?

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The game of ranking Presidents is a continuous topic among historians, political scientists, journalists, and ordinary citizens.

In the upcoming June issue of Presidential Studies Quarterly, Professor Curt Nichols, an assistant professor of political science at Baylor University in Texas, comes up with a new theory and premise about how Presidents are ultimately ranked in history.

Nichols used a statistical method known as regression analysis, utilizing Presidential ranking polls conducted by C Span, the Wall Street Journal, and the Siena Research Institute.

Each poll has different factors in judging Presidential leadership, with C Span having ten.

But Nichols says the rating score of Presidents is ultimately raised if the following six factors are considered:

Number of years served
Wartime leadership
If transformation of political landscape occurs in their term
If they are part of the Founding Fathers group
If they are considered “progressive” and pursue “equal justice for all”
If they are assassinated progressives

At the same time, two factors will decrease the rating scores of Presidents:

If the President is impeached, resigns, or has major political scandals during his administration
If they push the nation into political crisis or are unable to lift the country out of a political crisis

Going by this discussion, Nichols believes that IF Barack Obama is defeated for re-election, he will rank only as “average”, as number 22, between William McKinley and George H. W. Bush.

But Nichols also believes that If Barack Obama is re-elected to the Presidency, he could end up as high as number FOUR, behind Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George Washington, and ahead of Thomas Jefferson!

There is lots of room for debate on the Nichols viewpoint, but it certainly will cause much more discussion and analysis of the men who have been President of the United States.

A few observations here:

If wartime Presidents have an edge, then why is James Madison, William McKinley, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush rated quite low on the rankings list generally accepted?

One term Presidencies that stick out as better include James K. Polk and John F. Kennedy.

Two term Presidencies that are seen negatively include James Madison, Ulysses Grant, Grover Cleveland, and George W. Bush.

So whether having a second term really helps raise the stature of a President is still very debatable.

And whether Barack Obama could end up ranked ahead of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton is something that will be hotly debated into the long term future.

Mitt Romney The 3,140th Wealthiest Person In America: Does He Understand Average Americans?

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney turns out to be the 3,140th wealthiest person in America, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Unlike his dad, former Michigan Governor George Romney, who was born poor, Mitt Romney was born into a family of great wealth, and never had to struggle for anything.

His public postures have shown that he does not understand what it is to be poor or middle class, and he seems awkward when dealing with ordinary citizens, and very uptight about his wealth.

Face the facts: Just about all American politicians have wealth, whether gained in one’s lifetime or inherited. It is NOT an issue of how much wealth one has, but his or her attitude toward the 99 plus percent who are not as fortunate as he or she is!

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Senator Ted Kennedy were very rich people, as examples, but they truly CARED about the average American, and pursued goals and legislation to make life better for the common man and woman.

On the other hand, MOST Republicans who are wealthy, including Mitt Romney but not exclusively him, do not give a damn about average Americans and pursue goals and legislation to protect their own privileged class, without any regard for the plight of the poor and the middle class.

This is the ultimate test of CHARACTER and MORALS, and Mitt Romney, no matter how religious he is, no matter how good a family man he is, no matter how pleasant a person he may seem to be, is NOT interested in helping anyone other than his own aristocratic class, and therefore, does not deserve to be elected our President in 2012!

Barack Obama And The American People Given A Christmas Gift By The Caving Of The House Republicans And Speaker John Boehner!

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The House Republicans, led by Speaker of the House John Boehner, caved in this afternoon, under pressure from the Wall Street Journal, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Karl Rove, and numerous Senate Republicans including a new convert, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and agreed to the two month temporary extension of the payroll tax cut, unemployment compensation, and delay in Medicare cuts to doctors.

The House Republicans were pushed into a corner, and this is a major victory for the American people, the Democrats, and President Barack Obama, who finally took a no negotiation stand and forced the hand of Boehner, Eric Cantor, and the Tea Party radicals.

The effect of this victory is that Boehner has been weakened as Speaker; the Tea Party radicals have been shown to be destructive to the nation at large; Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, the chief deputies to Boehner, have been shown for the deceit they practiced on Boehner in their mad rush to seize power from him; and this event has likely assured a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress!

The Republicans have, symbolically, shot themselves in the foot, and will have trouble convincing the American people that they care about the middle class, and that they are not beholden to the corporations and the top one percent wealthy in this country!

Barack Obama looks a lot stronger and more assertive as a result of this confrontation, and with Ron Paul rising in Iowa, and being exposed for his racist and anti Semitic past, and with the GOP in total disarray, the odds of Obama winning reelection have improved tremendously!

Speaker John Boehner Under Attack From Senate Republicans And The Wall Street Journal

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Speaker of the House John Boehner is rapidly losing respect and support, as many Senate Republicans have condemned him and the Tea Party radicals for holding up the payroll tax cut, continuation of unemployment compensation, and delay in Medicare payment cuts to doctors.

Along with Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Richard Lugar of Indiana, Dean Heller of Nevada, and Olympia Snowe of Maine, we have now seen Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi also condemning the House Republican leadership.

And imagine, the Wall Street Journal, a loyal conservative and Republican newspaper, has also called for immediate action on the legislation, so that taxes do not go up on January 1, as that would be a winning proposition for Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress!

Indications are that Boehner might lose his Speakership sooner rather than later, and that Eric Cantor is salivating at the thought of becoming Speaker sooner rather than later.

In any case, it seems less likely now that the GOP will hold on to the House, and that Mitch McConnell will NOT be as likely to become Senate Majority Leader in 2013!

Why The Best Presidential Race In 2012 Would Be Barack Obama Vs. Jon Huntsman

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A person reading this blog might wonder why the author would write an entry with the above title!

After all, it is clear the the author prefers the reelection of Barack Obama over any Republican opponent!

However, in the tough economic times we have now in this country, it is also important that IF, by some bad luck, Barack Obama does not win reelection, that we have the absolutely best opponent winning the White House, for the good of the nation!

There is no question that former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman is easily the BEST candidate in the GOP race, and would be best for the nation!

Why is this so? In no special order, the factors to consider are :

1. Huntsman is the most moderate conservative in the race for the Presidential nomination in the Republican Party, with the most potential to win over Independents and centrists, and even some Democrats, all necessary if the Republicans are to have a good chance of winning.

2. Huntsman comes across as genuine, which fellow moderate conservative Mitt Romney does not, but rather as a person who will say what his audience wants to hear.

3. Huntsman has the best record on job creation, while Governor of Utah, far better than Mitt Romney, who was 47th in job creation, and Rick Perry, creating mostly minimum wage jobs in larger numbers, who trail way behind.

4. Huntsman has come up with a jobs plan hailed by the conservative Wall Street Journal, which has criticized Mitt Romney’s plan, and no one else in the race has even attempted a jobs plan.

5. Huntsman has an enviable foreign policy record as Ambassador to Singapore, US Trade Representative, and Ambassador to China, the only Republican with real experience in foreign affairs.

6. Huntsman was more popular as Governor of Utah, with up to 80 percent support, far outdistancing any of his opponents, meaning Romney and Perry, in that regard.

7. Huntsman has never pandered to anyone, unlike Romney, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, and even Ron Paul. He does not insult anyone’s intelligence with ridiculous, unsubstantiated statements!

8. Huntsman, with his foreign language ability, and in so many other ways, comes across as extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, someone anyone could respect intellectually in the White House. We don’t need someone in office who comes across as reckless, irresponsible, or even someone you could have a beer with, as for instance, George W. Bush! We need someone totally rational and reasonable, and Huntsman fills the bill.

9. Debates between Obama and Huntsman would be a great experience, and we could feel comfortable that if Huntsman won the election, the country would be in good hands, and not go off on a right wing tangent!

This nation cannot afford anyone but the best as our President, and both Barack Obama and Jon Huntsman fill the bill!

This would be, arguably, the BEST combination of candidates for the Presidency since the Presidential Election of 1916, with President Woodrow Wilson opposed by Supreme Court Associate Justice Charles Evan Hughes, with the race barely won by Wilson!

The Twists, Turns, And Contortions Of Mitt Romney On Health Care!

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If one looks at the background of Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, it is clear that he is a moderate Republican, both in his statements from years past and his actions as Governor from 2003-2007.

He brought about the first mandated health care, and Massachusetts has benefited greatly from it, but yet Romney desperately wants the Republican nomination for President, which escaped his father’s grasp in 1968, so has decided to “sell his soul” to become President.

So as early as 2007, out of office, he was claiming he was a conservative, but it was clear he was a chameleon, willing to change his views to fit the audience, so he came across to many people in the past Presidential race as phony and self serving.

Now he has, in a speech at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in the state in which his father was Governor in the 1960s, repudiated his own Massachusetts “RomneyCare” as a plan unacceptable beyond the Bay state, without explaining why except to invoke states rights, a weird thing for a Northern Republican to use as an excuse.

He was basically apologizing for his own health care plan, and his body language showed how awkward the situation was, and it indicates that he senses that it is an albatross around his neck, which he is trying to overcome. But meanwhile, the conservative Wall Street Journal made it clear that any kind of health care plan along the lines of the Romney Massachusetts plan is totally unacceptable for the Republican Party nominee in 2012.

So Romney is between “the devil and the deep blue sea”, in the sense that by repudiating his own health care plan he looks inconsistent and self indulging, but even by doing this does not make his quest for the nomination any the easier in a race where his opponents can use that plan as a weapon against him!

Celebration Of Two Years Of Barack Obama: Public Opinion Ratings Soar! :)

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Today marks two years of the Obama Presidency, and an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll shows his rating with the public has soared from 45 to 53 percent in the past month, the highest it has been since July 2009! 🙂

Why has this happened? Apparently, his handling of the Lame Duck Session, demonstrating willingness to work with the opposition Republicans, is a major factor.

Also, his handling of the Tucson tragedy was overwhelmingly popular, as he showed empathy and ability to speak to the country in a soothing manner in the midst of a major crisis and depressing moment for the nation.

Also, there is growing optimism long term and short term about the economy, and Obama comes across as a reasonable person, rather than as an extremist, as so many Republicans present themselves.

The pressure is not on the President, as many thought after the midterm losses in Congress, but rather with the Republicans to show reasonableness and desire to work with the President for the good of the country.

But don’t hold your breath on such cooperation, as every evidence is just the opposite.

Speaker John Boehner failed to attend the State Dinner for the Chinese President, something totally inappropriate, considering that Boehner is second in line for the Presidency, and yet has no interest in interacting with the leader of the second largest economy.

Almost no Republicans attended the State Dinner, with the major exception of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who seemed somewhat embarrassed, when asked about it, that he was the rare Republican to be at the banquet.

The Republican party, with the battle beginning among probably more than a dozen individuals to be the GOP nominee for President in 2012, and with their ties to the Right Wing talk show hosts, including Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity, among others, gives the advantage clearly to the camp of Barack Obama! 🙂

Congratulations, President Obama, on an outstanding first two years of your administration, and the growing likelihood that you will have the great advantage for a second term as President, because of your accomplishments and principles, and the growing image of the GOP as out of step with the American people, as evidenced by the Health Care repeal vote yesterday in the House of Representatives!

Dick Cheney For President In 2012?

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Hard to believe, but a Wall Street Journal editorial today suggests that former Vice President Dick Cheney might run for President in 2012, to vindicate the Bush Administration and defeat the Obama Administration, which in the mind of those who have this view, has weakened American security and moved the country toward “socialism”.

It is not that Cheney himself has actually said this or hinted at it, but rather that many conservatives and Republicans see him as their “savior” from the “extremist” Barack Obama!

Of course, a joke comes to mind: Can Cheney run for President after having served two terms already? LOL

But more seriously, this man has had four heart attacks and five heart surgeries and will be 71 in 2012. Is he healthy enough physically AND mentally to serve our country in the White House?

There are many who would clearly say NO WAY, and that includes the author.

If we thought George W. Bush was in many ways a nightmare, what are we to say about a Dick Cheney Presidency, which would engage us in more foreign wars, promote more loss of privacy rights, and would domestically take us back to the times of the Gilded Age, not even just back to Calvin Coolidge.

The whole concept is terrifying, and we can hope it is just a suggestion, not a serious possibility.