Archive for the 'Presidential politics' category

Most ridiculous debate of the month: Obama’s vacation time

Aug 16 2010 Published by Dr. Havel under Good government, Presidential politics

President Obama is going on another vacation.  Oh my!  Some Republicans are up in arms over the amount of vacation time Obama has been taking recently.  Given that we have two wars ongoing, an economy in perpetual crisis, and an environmental disaster that hasn’t been resolved, the criticism is resonating with some voters.

It’s fair game, too.  Democrats idiotically criticized President Bush for taking several vacations to his ranch in Texas throughout his eight years in office.  Now that the shoe is on the other foot, they’re shocked–SHOCKED– that anyone possess the audacity to criticize the president’s vacationing ways.

Though it is fair game because Democrats indulged in this bit of stupidity, that doesn’t make the criticism not stupid when Republicans do it.  The criticism doesn’t even make sense.  Why would Republicans want Obama back in Washington doing, as we see it, more damage to the country?  Let the man take a vacation 364 days out of the year.  The country would be much better off for it.

Washington needs to do less, not more.  Obama taking vacations only helps.

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Picture of the Day: Expectations

Jul 20 2010 Published by Dr. Havel under Presidential politics

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Oklahoma gives Obama third lowest marks in nation

Jul 19 2010 Published by Dr. Havel under Presidential politics

President Barack Obama’s approval rating in Oklahoma is a staggering 37%, according to Gallup.  That’s the third lowest rating in the entire nation.  Residents of Wyoming give Obama the lowest marks with a 29% approval rating.  The highest?  Washington D.C. (85%) and Hawaii (68%).  Coincidentally, Washington and Hawaii are the two areas of the United States most disconnected from the reality of America.

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Confidence in Obama Plummets

Jul 13 2010 Published by Dr. Havel under Presidential politics

The rest of the nation is now finding out what Oklahomans knew a long time ago: President Obama lacks the ability to lead our nation in the right direction.

“Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term, nearly six in 10 voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country, and a clear majority once again disapproves of how he is dealing with the economy.”

A surprisingly large percentage of Americans–36 percent–say they have no or little confidence in the federal government.  Fifty-four percent of voters disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy and only 38% of independents approve of his overall job performance–the lowest of any president since Jimmy Carter.

Congress fares even worse.  Nearly 70% lack confidence in the job Congress is doing.

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President Mitch Daniels?

Jul 06 2010 Published by Dr. Havel under Presidential politics

Could Mitch Daniels be the one Republican that’s able to beat President Obama in 2012? Who knows? Speculating this far in advance of the 2012 election is like trying to predict who will win the Superbowl in 2012.  Still, Daniels has received a lot of attention recently from all quarters of the conservative (and liberal) gossip circles as the anti-Obama: no charisma, but strong on policy details and management experience, with a penchant for penny pinching.

Here’s Russ Smith of Splice Today, contemplating a President Mitch Daniels:

It wasn’t until I read Andrew Ferguson’s lengthy Weekly Standard article, “Ride Along With Mitch,” an engaging (and eye-opening) account of his recent tag-a-long with the hyper, motorcycle-riding Daniels as he made his rounds at the coffee shops, awful-sounding restaurants, chain stores, county fairs and VFW meetings all over Indiana, that his nomination actually seemed possible. (Daniels, like Thune, has issued the standard denial of interest in Obama’s job, giving a pat I’m-Just-Concentrating-On-Serving-My-State answer to inquisitive political reporters.) Ferguson’s piece was captivating, and not just because he’s among the three or four wittiest working journalists today; it was Daniels himself, a self-proclaimed penny-pincher, who did the heavy lifting, articulating exactly the kind of fiscal severity that’s necessary for the country right now, the kind of mindset that gives liberal Democrats a bad case of shingles.

In short, Daniels is small business champion, anti-tax, immigrant-friendly, no friend of unions, a budget-cutter, an advocate of massive entitlement reform (he thinks that Bush’s attempt at partial Social Security privatization was too meek) and a fervent foe of the public education bureaucracy. He’s pro-life but sensibly—at least to economic conservatives, libertarians and independents—puts that on the back burner. He won’t appeal to the left, as this remark to Ferguson on climate change (he’s “agnostic” on the issue) demonstrates: “I don’t know if the CO2 zealots are right. But I don’t care, because we can’t afford to do what they want to do. Unless you want to go broke, in which case the world isn’t going to be any greener. Poor nations are never green.”

Read the entire thing here.

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Obama’s America

Mar 22 2010 Published by Dr. Havel under Presidential politics

The quality of the movie is about as high as the quality of the health care reform bill.

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Majority of Democrats View Socialism Positively

Feb 05 2010 Published by Dr. Havel under Political Ideology, Presidential politics

Remember when Democrats and defenders of President Obama flipped out when Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives claimed Obama was a socialist?  They said it was “hate speech” and motivated by racism. They and media outlets like MSNBC and CNN scoffed at the notion and ridiculed those who said it.   Personally, I was glad to finally see so many liberals repulsed by the accusation of being associated with socialism–something they were full, proud defenders of not too long ago.

Well, without expounding on the veracity of the socialist claims against Mr. Obama, we now have information from Gallup that perhaps Obama’s defenders were protesting a little too much.  Indeed, they were probably just recoiling because their messiah was under attack and felt the need to defend him, rather than because the accusations were false or disgraceful.

Yesterday Gallup Poll reported that a majority (53%) of Democrats have a “positive” view of socialism and 61% of liberals viewed socialism positively.  This isn’t really a surprise to those of us who know the Democrat Party’s past, but it does make us wonder why they were so offended when their party’s leader was accused of holding views a majority of them view positively.

On a separate note, the poll showed 17% of Republicans viewed socialism positively, including 20% of conservatives.  Who are these people? We’re willing to bet that those 17 and 20% don’t even know what Republicanism, conservatism, or socialism is.  In all likelihood they’re probably just–to be blunt– idiots.  How else to explain the contradiction?  This just proves there is always a set number of fools in any ideology or party who will believe or say anything.

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Obama’s Record of Accomplishment

Jan 13 2010 Published by Dr. Havel under Budget and taxes, Good government, Presidential politics

Remember the good ol’ days when Barack Obama promised the nation that he’d close Guantanamo Bay, end the wars, enact no new taxes for the middle class, and cut net spending rather than raise it?  I was reminiscing about those days when I read the following news that Obama is seeking a record amount of cash from Congress to pay for the wars:

“President Barack Obama will ask Congress for an additional $33 billion to fight unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on top of a record $708 billion for the Defense Department next year, The Associated Press has learned…

The extra $33 billion in 2010 would mostly go toward the expansion of the war in Afghanistan. Obama ordered an extra 30,000 troops for that war as part of an overhaul of the war strategy late last year.”

We’re not making any judgment as to the wisdom of the request or the overall policy.  No, we’re just laughing at all those doe-eyed liberals who believed this man was their savior-in-chief. They believed every word he said, no matter how incredible, as if it was the word of God.  Many of us knew better.  We knew he was just another typical politician who would offer nothing but the incompetence born from his ego and inexperience.  And now the disappointment descends on those who didn’t know better, but should have.

Remember the woman who, upon voting for Obama, said she no longer had to worry about paying her mortgage or gas for her car?  Embarrassing. Remember all those naive college students who fawned over him as if they were teenage girls witnessing The Beetles debut on the Ed Sullivan Show?  Embarrassing and sad.

And it isn’t just the wars. It’s the Guantanamo promise being broken; it’s raising taxes on the middle class; and it’s massively increasing spending, deficits as far as the eye can see, and exploding debt.

Who can question this record of accomplishment?

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Fruits of the Stimulus: 85,000 more jobs lost in December

Jan 08 2010 Published by Dr. Havel under Economy, Presidential politics

Remember, friends, Barack Obama and his esteemed economic advisers promised us unemployment would stay below 8% and that 3.5 million jobs would be “created or saved” (an unintentionally hilarious metric) if we passed the Democrats’ economic stimulus package.  Well, we all now know that all it stimulated was more government debt, more foreign financial obligations, and more government bureaucracy.  Sorry, U.S. economy: you just got served.

That was almost a year ago.  Today, the job figures for December came out and showed that the economy lost another 85,000 jobs and the unemployment rates stayed at 10%, well above the president’s promised ceiling.  The only reason the unemployment rate stayed at 10% rather than shooting up again can be found in another discouraging fact from the jobs report: 661,000 people gave up looking for work and dropped out of the workforce.  If you count discouraged workers and those who are employed part-time, but want a full-time job, then the so-called underemployment rate rose to 17.3%.

We have now lost nearly 3,5 million jobs since Obama became president and nearly 3 million since the stimulus passed.  Unless economic growth picks up considerably and soon, Obama will become the first president since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs.

Perhaps that “stimulus” money could have been better spent after all.

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Count the Lies

Jan 06 2010 Published by Dr. Havel under Health Care, Presidential politics

Via Drudge:

Count the Lies: Obama Promised Eight Times to Televise Health Care Negotiations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: Obama promised a lot of things on the campaign trail and I have no intention of making the negotiations open to the public.

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Pawlenty Challenges Romney for 2012 GOP Nomination

Oct 01 2009 Published by admin under Presidential politics

pawlenty

Tim Pawlenty, Republican Governor of Minnesota, is challenging Mitt Romnney for the GOP’s front runner status as the 2012 race for the White House begins to rev up. As part of his strategy to make inroads with Republicans and insert himself as a real contender for the Republican nomination, Pawlenty is already setting his sights on Romney – he’s recruiting former Romney aides and using public appearances and op-eds to criticize the health care plan Romney put in place in Massachusetts.

Politico reporter Jonathan Martin, reports on these and other actions by Governor Pawlenty as he prepares for the 2012 campaign in today’s Politico.

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Cambridge Cop on Obama: ‘I Voted for Him. I Will Not Again’

Jul 28 2009 Published by admin under Presidential politics

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Romney Leads Among GOP Voters With Fiscal Concerns

Jul 08 2009 Published by admin under Budget and taxes, Presidential politics

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Rasmussen Reports that Mitt Romney is the early leader among Republican Voters.  From the Rasmussen Report published  Wednesday, July 08, 2009:
Those who say economic and fiscal issues are their biggest concerns make up the majority of Republican voters, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney runs best among those voters if the 2012 GOP Presidential Primary in their state was held today.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is the top choice for those Republicans who put national security first and ties Romney for first among voters who list economic issues alone as the priority. She runs second in nearly every other case with voters from all camps.

Palin, who stunned the political world by announcing her intention to step down as governor by the end of this month, is second only to Romney among all GOP voters as the candidate they’d vote for if the primaries were held today. But she’s also one of two candidates Republican voters least hope ultimately wins the party’s nomination.

Right now, would-be primary voters, choosing among six prominent Republicans, go 25% for Romney, 24% for Palin and 22% for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. But it’s important to remember that the first primary is over 18 months away.

Thirty-three percent (33%) of GOP voters list economic issues such as jobs and economic growth as most important, followed by 27% who rate fiscal issues such as taxes and government spending that way. For 15%, national security issues are the priority, while 10% list domestic issues such as Social Security and health care as most important. Five percent (5%) say cultural issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion are number one.

Among those Republicans who put economic issues first, Romney and Palin are tied with 24% support if the state primaries were held today. Huckabee is backed by 20%, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets 15% of their vote.

But Romney at 34% is far and away the favorite among those who say fiscal issues are most important, followed by Palin (24%), Huckabee (17%) and Gingrich (14%).

Palin is first with 29% support among voters for whom national security is most important. Romney runs a close second at 26%, with Huckabee at 19% and Gingrich at 16%.

Forty percent (40%) of Republican voters believe Palin has hurt her chances of winning the nomination in 2012 by resigning as governor of Alaska. Twenty-four percent (24%) say the resignation helps her chances, and 28% say it will have no impact on the race.

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Thank You George W. Bush

Jul 04 2009 Published by admin under Presidential politics

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Today, our 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, visits Woodward Oklahoma.  In honor of President Bush’s visit to our state on this Independence Day, okiepundit salutes our past Commander in Chief and on behalf of fellow conservatives, thanks Bush for a job well done.  Okiepundit points to two major accomplishments of President Bush that Oklahomans and all Americans should be thankful for.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, President Bush launched a global War on Terrorism that toppled regimes sympathetic to terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq, and prevented another terrorist attack on American soil.

And perhaps Bush’s longest lasting legacy are his appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court.  Both of these appointments strengthen the Court’s conservative tilt and should keep the Court from overreaching its Constitutionally designated power to interpret, not expand government’s role under the Constitution.

While much of America may not be very sympathetic to Bush 43, okiepundit and Oklahomans still love you and thank you for your service to our nation.

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Romney rumblings

Jun 29 2009 Published by admin under Presidential politics

dont_blame_me_voted_romney

Jay Evensen, editorial page editor of the Deseret News weighs in with his perspective on Mitt Romney’s surging political stock.

An excerpt:

Mitt Romney made a sudden splash over the weekend, appearing on “Meet the Press” and getting coverage on Politico.com, in the L.A. Times and elsewhere.

The basic story line for pundits is that the moral meltdown of Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford put the squeaky-clean Romney in a sweet spot. He can carry the Republican “family values” banner with some credibility. . .

My take? It’s way too early to be talking about Republican standard-bearers in 2012. But Romney wouldn’t be on “Meet the Press” if he wasn’t interested in building toward that end.

If the economy remains the main issue in 2012, I do think it could be kismet for him to rise as the only credible GOP candidate.
Read the entire posting at http://www.deseretnews.com/blogs/1,5322,5000022,00.html

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Obama Unites Oklahoma D’s and R’s

Jun 27 2009 Published by admin under Congress, Energy & Environment, Presidential politics

cap-and-tax

As a candidate, Barack Obama frequently told voters that he would usher in a new era of bipartisanship. Well, President Obama is keeping his promise, only it’s a bipartisanship defined by opposition to the president’s environmental agenda – specifically the 1,200 plus page, “Cap and Trade” bill that narrowly passed the House yesterday.

Oklahoma’s five Congressional leaders are all adamantly opposed to the legislation.

“Frankly, since I’ve been in Congress, this is one of the worse pieces of legislation I’ve ever seen,” said Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, one of forty-four Democrats who voted against the bill.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, said the bill would have a “minimal effect” on global climate change but a huge impact on consumers and manufacturers. Cole called it a carbon tax that would cost American jobs.

“Big mistake, bad bill,” he said.

Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Oklahoma City, said Thursday the bill was “particularly unfair to Oklahoma.”

“Our state is a large producer of both oil and natural gas, and the restrictions this legislation places on the production and exploration of these resources will devastate our energy producers,” Fallin said.

Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, the top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, said the bill “remains the single, largest economic threat to farmers and rural Americans in decades.”

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Mike Huckabee to Visit OKC for PAC Event

Jun 15 2009 Published by admin under Presidential politics

Mike Huckabee will be in Oklahoma City Sunday, July 12th for a Huck PAC event in conjunction with a RedHawks baseball game. General Managing Partner to the Oklahoma City RedHawks and former State Senator Scott Pruitt is hosting the Huck PAC event.

Huckabee, a Republican Presidential candidate in 2008, is currently a commentator on the Fox News network and is rumored to be a candidate for President again in 2012. Earlier this year, Huckabee organized Huck PAC to “elect strong, principled conservatives around the nation. Men and women who aren’t afraid to stand up for smaller government, lower taxes, a strong national defense, life and traditional marriage.” So far, Huckabee has attended Huck PAC events in Iowa, home to the nation’s first Presidential Primary in 2012.

Click here for more information about the event.

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Obama Nominates Activist to SCOTUS

May 26 2009 Published by admin under Judiciary and Law, Presidential politics

justice-not-blind

President Barack Obama introduced his nomination for the Supreme Court of the United States this morning, Second Circuit Appellate Judge Sonia Sotomayor.  Judge Sotomayor is a noted liberal, activist judge who has made some off the wall statements like, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.  And has suggested that the“court of appeals is where policy is made.”   See the video here.

Our Founding Fathers must be rolling over in the graves.  Conservatives can only hope that Republicans in the Senate will follow President Obama’s own actions when he was a Senator and be willing to filibuster this nomination.

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OK House Dems Stand With Obama on Gitmo

May 22 2009 Published by admin under Presidential politics, State Legislature

okdems3barack-obama-yawning1Reeling from his own party’s rejection of his plan to move terrorists out of Gitmo and bring them to the United States, perhaps President Obama can find some allies in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

Earlier this week Obama suffered a striking blow when most Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined Republicans in voting 90-6 to strip from a spending measure the $80 million Obama requested to fulfill his promise to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by the end of the year.

Earlier this year, Rep. TW Shannon authored House Resolution 1008 urging President Obama and the U.S. Congress to refrain from relocating Guantanamo Bay terrorist detainees to Oklahoma prison facilities. His resolution passed 81-12. Shannon said he decided to file the resolution after hearing that Fort Sill, which lies on the northern boundary of his district, was mentioned as a possible point for relocation.

But a handful of Democrats cried foul, and did their best to thwart Shannon’s effort. House Democrat Floor Leader, Mike Brown of Tahlequah attempted to amend the resolution to change all references from “terrorist” to “detainee”. Only 28 members, all Democrats voted for his amendment.

Among the more telling comments made by the Democrats were Rep. Terry Harrison’s (D-McAlester) comment comparing German and Japanese war criminals to modern day terrorists and suggesting that opposing the relocation of terrorists to Oklahoma would be “un-American”. And this from Rep. Ed Cannaday (D-Porum): “I believe that when our commander-in-chief asks us to serve, we serve – regardless of whether we agree with his politics.

In a state where Presdient Obama didn’t win a single county and where his popularity is still low, perhaps Obama’s only real supporters are found at 23rd in Lincoln on the south side of the aisle in the House.

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W in Woodward to Celebrate Fourth of July

May 07 2009 Published by admin under Oklahoma, Presidential politics

bush_cowboy

The Woodward Tourism and Convention Bureau announced yesterday that former President George W. Bush is speaking at the Northwest Oklahoma town’s Fourth of July celebration this summer. The President’s visit and speech at the city’s celebration is an attempt to fill a void and step up the size and flare of the event, according to Landon Laubhan, the concert promoter who arranged for Bush’s appearance. Reports say that the price tag for the President to speak at the event is $150,000. This will be Bush’s first appearance in Oklahoma since he left the White House. An official announcement is set for next Monday.

The fact that Woodward, Oklahoma is willing to pay a significant fee for President Bush to headline its Fourth of July celebration is another testament to Oklahoma’s conservative tilt, where in the Presidential race last year, all 77 counties went for Republican candidate John McCain. Oklahomans in Woodward and in surrounding communities who attend are sure to be treated to an inspiring and patriotic speech from the President whose leadership was instrumental in keeping America safe from terrorists after 9-11 and who leaves a legacy of establishing freedom and democracy in Iraq.

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