August 18, 2012

Paul Ryan as Running Mate, Mistake or Deceptively Clever?

Paul RyanIt’s been a week since Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate, and in this past week we’ve seen Ryan running away from the two big things that he is known for. If it wasn’t for the “Ryan budget” or his love-affair with Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan would just be another congressman. And if that was the case, it’s probably safe to say he would not have been on Romney’s VP short-list. So why is Paul Ryan running away from the very things that got him on that list to begin with? Did Mitt Romney make a mistake or is this a deceptively clever plan to win the White House?

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

August 17, 2012

6 Facts That Prove President Obama Did Not Go On A Spending Binge

President ObamaMitt Romney and the rest of the Republican Party love a good story. They don’t have much concern for facts and accuracy, they just like a good story. And a good story to them is one that paints President Obama as dangerous and reckless for America. And nothing could be more reckless than a spending binge with tax payer dollars, right? Well, maybe. But did President Obama really go on a spending binge? Unfortunately reality has a way of intruding on the colorful stories Republicans tell.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

August 16, 2012

There Are No Reasonable Republicans In Washington D.C.

Paul Krugman has a short piece titled “Reasonable Republicans?” where he makes a point that I’ve made in the past, that there are no reasonable Republicans serving in office. That’s not to say there are no reasonable Republicans at all, just that they all exist outside the beltway. They might be former aids to past Republican presidential administrations or they could be ex-congressman, but they all have one thing in common, they are no longer serving, and they are no longer considered part of the Republican establishment.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

August 13, 2012

Paul Ryan: Member of the Republican Obstructionist Party Controlling the House

Congress’ approval rating is lower than that of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and that’s really hard to pull off! Yet this didn’t stop Mitt Romney from choosing Paul Ryan, a member of congress, more specifically, a member of the majority obstructionist party controlling the House. In the era of the Obama administration, obstructionist is just another way of saying Republican. Mitt Romney didn’t have to choose a current member of congress, but that is exactly what he did, and so the low approval rating of congress will be part of the critique of the Romney-Ryan campaign. And President Obama wasted no time making this connection in a speech on Monday in Iowa:

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

August 13, 2012

The Republican Electoral College Math Challenge

20120812-234518.jpgIt will be interesting to see the result of the popular vote vs. electoral college in the upcoming election. Any path to victory for Mitt Romney will involve a close popular vote and close electoral college vote. For President Obama, he could win slim in the popular vote but still win fairly large in the electoral college. The problem for Republicans in this election and future elections is demographics. Many of the most populated states are solidly Democratic and they are also states that have large minority populations that are growing larger each year. As long as the Republican Party continues to be the party of old white guys (ok, Paul Ryan is only one of those things) they will find the electoral college math increasingly challenging.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

August 7, 2012

The Facts: Obama vs. Bush On Job Creation

First let’s get this out-of-the-way. Presidents are not job creators. They don’t wave a wand and poof, magically there are millions of new jobs. Presidents can set the tone for policy and they can have a major influence on congressional legislation that can lead to favorable economic conditions for job growth. But this is clearly a much more muddy process than we like to believe when we talk presidents and job creation.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •

August 6, 2012

Jay Carney: President Obama supports assault weapons ban

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Monday that President Obama supports renewing the assault weapons ban but “there has been reluctance by Congress to pass that renewal.” I’d say it’s a bit more severe than “reluctance.” I would characterize it more along the lines of: congress has sold out to the gun lobby. Or maybe: The NRA is holding congress and the country hostage. But I guess those two characterizations might be a bit too extreme for the White House, even if I think some in the White House might agree.

∼ Continue Reading ∼

• • •
1 … 18 19 20 21 22 … 27