The Bipartisan Social Security Demagoguery Must End Now

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  September 22nd at 01:02 PM  | 

The recent Social Security demagoguery that has been propagated by Mitt Romney and other big-government apologists is truly repugnant.  Accusing those who desire to preserve and expand personal retirement – of eliminating Social Security for seniors is akin to an arsonist blaming firefighters for fanning the flames.  It was the very big-government statists like Romney who obfuscated and corrupted the original intent of Social Security; | Read More »

Romney running away with New Hampshire

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  September 22nd at 09:30 AM  | 

Last time around, Mitt Romney took a blow when he took ‘silver’ in his neighboring state New Hampshire, losing to the man who’d been plotting to win the state since the last contested primary there, John McCain. This time it looks like Romney is going to repeat the McCain strategy. By never having given up on the state since November 2008, Romney looks set to | Read More »

Isn’t This a Relevant Connection?

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  September 21st at 02:00 PM  | 

Nicole Gelinas is over at National Review joining in questioning Rick Perry about his “ponzi” rhetoric on social security. I’ve read that post twice and really don’t see the point of it, even with the previous points. But what is relevant to me is that Ms. Gelinas is a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal. The Chairman of the Manhattan Institute is Paul | Read More »

Mitt Romney and John F. Kerry – Parallel Lives?

By: Repair_Man_Jack (Diary)  |  September 21st at 11:00 AM  | 

It is not histories I am writing, but lives; and in the most glorious deeds there is not always an indication of virtue of vice, indeed a small thing like a phrase or a jest often makes a greater revelation of a character than battles where thousands die. – Plutarch (HT: Livius.org) History doesn’t tend to repeat itself in completely sinusoidal fashion. It does, however | Read More »

Gallup: Romney gaining from Bachmann?

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  September 19th at 07:00 PM  | 

The new Gallup poll of the Republican contenders is out, this time with USA TODAY branding. Just looking at the frontrunners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney in isolation, it looks like Romney is gaining. What I find interesting though is where that support appears to be coming from. Romney’s support may be coming from Michele Bachmann.

Michele Bachmann’s Crazy Claims and the Developing Solyndra Scandal

By: Brad Jackson (Diary)  |  September 15th at 10:46 AM  | 

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Elizabeth Blackney discuss the latest Solyndra developments, the scandal that gets juicier by the day and how it may impact Obama’s 2012 chances. Then Elizabeth gives us her take on Michele Bachmann’s claim that vaccinations are anti-liberty, and that the HPV vaccination caused mental retardation in the daughter | Read More »

A Tempest in a Tea Party Debate: Cuckoo Pants, Demagoguery and Jenny McCarthyism

By: Lori Ziganto (Diary)  |  September 13th at 08:30 PM  | 

After busily spending an exhausting morning protecting my only child from nefarious, profiteering ‘crony capitalists’ bent on forcibly vaccinating her, I figured I could take a quick breather to discuss the CNN/Tea Party Express debate last night. In fact, I think I owe it to myself, since it made me all shake fist-y and scowling, which causes wrinkles and does not suit. For that alone, | Read More »

No Girls Were Harmed During the Production of This Executive Order

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  September 13th at 11:23 AM  | 

From Ben Domenech’s most excellent Transom comes this, backing up what I think ends this as an issue for Perry: The attacks on Perry’s HPV vaccine actions five years ago have now taken up roughly 15 minutes in both the MSNBC debate and the CNN debate. Perry’s message on this has been straightforward: that he made a mistake on the way he did the approach, | Read More »

Truth, BS, SS And Ponzi Schemes

By: Repair_Man_Jack (Diary)  |  September 13th at 11:07 AM  | 

“It is a Ponzi scheme for these young people. The idea that they’re working and paying into Social Security today, that the current program is going to be there for them, is a lie,” Perry said. “It is a monstrous lie on this generation, and we can’t do that to them.” (HT: Houston Chronicle) Governor Rick Perry has been known to unleash some fairly flamboyant | Read More »

Obama vs. AT&T on T-Mobile, and Bachmann vs. Perry on HPV

By: Ben Domenech (Diary)  |  September 13th at 10:28 AM  | 

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Bruce Walker talks about the government’s attempt to stop the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, and Elizabeth Blackney and Benjamin Domenech walk through the HPV vaccine issue in response to Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, | Read More »

HPV and Why It Matters

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  September 13th at 08:43 AM  | 

UPDATE: I think it is worth pointing out that as I wake up today Michele Bachmann is overplaying her hand on this issue and it is probably going to go away. The mother-daughter story sounds sympathetic, but it will force the media to delve into the story more and I don’t think the outcome will be favorable to the anti-gardasil side, thus rendering the issue | Read More »

The state of the race before the Debate

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  September 13th at 06:00 AM  | 

Last night CNN hosted a key Republican Presidential debate, in which Rick Perry took a variety of attacks. This is critical because going into Rick Perry’s first debate, his favorability ratings were great, and his unfavorables were miniscule compared with the field. Let’s see where CNN had the state of the race going into last night.

The Headline Goes Here

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  September 13th at 04:45 AM  | 

No, that title is not a placeholder or an error. “What’s your headline,” so many people came up to me and asked last night after the CNN Tea Party Debate. There are so many headlines about the debate. You all, I’m sure, want the quick and dirty scoop. The short answer is Rick Perry won, but only by default. He had a stellar one hour | Read More »

Punch Counter Punch

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  September 12th at 03:01 PM  | 

This morning, Mitt Romney surprised a lot of people by announcing Tim Pawlenty’s endorsement of his campaign. One former Pawlenty staffer emailed me lamenting that they’d run against “Obameycare” and then this? That’s politics. Pawlenty will be in Florida tonight for the CNN-Tea Party Express debate. And so will Governor Bobby Jindal. This afternoon the Perry campaign announced their counter punch to the Pawlenty news. | Read More »

Perry now perceived as most electable

By: Dan Spencer (Diary)  |  September 12th at 01:30 PM  | 

In the latest CNN poll Governor Perry maintains his lead over the rest of the Republican presidential contenders at 30%. But the big take away from the new poll is that  Perry is now perceived as the most electable, with 42% saying he has the best chance of beating Obama next year. Only 26% say Romney has the best chance of defeating the president. Perry | Read More »