BULLETIN - off embargo at 7 a.m. -- "RNC: Voters see GOP as 'scary' and 'out of touch,'" by: Maggie Haberman : "The Republican National Committee concedes in a sprawling report Monday that the GOP is seen as the party of 'stuffy old men' and needs to change its ways. Among the RNC's proposed fixes: enacting comprehensive immigration reform, addressing middle-class economic anxieties head on and condensing a presidential primary process that saw Mitt Romney get battered for months ahead of the general election. ... 'There's no one reason we lost,' [chairman Reince] Priebus plans to say [in remarks at the National Press Club]. 'Our message was weak; our ground game was insufficient; we weren't inclusive; we were behind in both data and digital; our primary and debate process needed improvement. ... So, there's no one solution: There's a long list of them.'" http://politi.co/16E3L1f
I find it very interesting that current advisers of one Willard "Mitt" Romney keep their man, the keeper of binders full of women, far, far away from previous Republican icons such as former Presidents George "41" Bush, candidate Bob Dole, George W. Bush, candidate and current Arizona Senator John McCain, 2012 party candidates Newt Gingrich, Texas Governor Rick Perry, magnate Herman Cain, US Rep. Ron Paul, former veep Dick Cheney or, god forbid, former veep candidate Sarah Palin.
Hmm, wonder why?
Embarrassed by the past? Looking toward the future?
Never in a million years would I ever think Veep Joe Biden would be compared to a Musk Ox running across the Tundra?
Here is the esteemed 2008 GOP veep candidate and she is downright hysterical:
WASH DC - Republican leaders strongly criticized President Obama and his administration today, claiming Obama's policy of allowing satellites to fall to the earth will cause an economic slump and cost jobs. GOP party strategists blamed democrats, including Obama for allowing the 1991 launch of the satellite and called for a Congressional investigation into the incident.
Pots, pans, satellites among DEM-debris
GOP leaders also chastised the administration for not warning earthlings of the decommissioning of the satellite in 2005 and are now seeking answers from The White House on the location of the downed vessel.
"There is an obvious Democratic Party-led cover-up of this near catastrophy of epic proportions and now this administration and its covert agency, NASA, claim no responsibility nor any knowledge of the where-abouts of the satellite in an attempt to avoid congressional scrutiny," said one highly placed GOP Congressman. "Obama and Nancy Pelosi must answer for this," he added.
Meanwhile, GOP hopeful and rogue candidate and wanna be author Sarah Palin questioned the where-abouts of the satellite from her Alaska front porch, stating, "I used to be able to see the satellite and the stars over there, across the strait in good ol' Russia before this administration brought about cloudy days in my beautiful hockey-Mom lovin' state of Alaska."
GOP leaders noted Texas-based newscasters and astronomers were witness to chunks of space garbage falling to earth from the upper atmosphere and they claimed to see a piece hit the sixth floor window of the Texas Schoolbook Depository while some fell on a nearby grassy knoll. Governor Rick Perry contemplated whether he would seek federal funds to create 100 more minimum-wage jobs for clean-up crews to scour the Texas oil fields in search of the democratic space machine's parts of mass mayhem. Mitt Romney had no comment.
"This near carnage of a good ol' prarie in West Texas is another fine example of this president's lackluster efforts in government, for the economy and for the environment. First, he brings up health care reform and plots out a system that might actually work and help people, then he comes up with a well thought-out and long-term plan for taxation and deficit reduction, then his speech the other night about some non-sense of creating jobs. We've created plenty of jobs here in Texas and the people no longer have to wait in line so long at the Waffle House and Taco Cabana. It's just another fine example of a Northerner, who came from a place that wasn't even a State until 1959, and his plot to ruin our America," said a source close to Perry.
"Wasn't it better when we had 48 States in this union and these people from Hawaii and Alaska were minding their own business?" added the source.
Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachman, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Texas' Governor Rick Perry.
The unintentional comedy meter has never hit higher ground, although the fact the GOP dealt a ticket like John McCain (who turns 75 on August 29th) and Sarah Palin (no comment necessary) was enough to trip the UCM scales to record heights in 2008.
As this political campaign enters the preseason for 2012, the one thing I would like the 2012 GOP candidates to recognize and acknowledge, is the fact that the eight-year presidential stint of their fellow Republican George W. Bush has a lot more to do with the current state of the union and state of the economy than the more recent three-year administration of President Barack Obama.
Let me take a quick quote from an informative op-ed piece entitled "What Happened to Obama?" which appeared in the NYT last weekend to illustrate my point:
When Barack Obama rose to the lectern on Inauguration Day, the nation was in tatters. Americans were scared and angry. The economy was spinning in reverse. Three-quarters of a million people lost their jobs that month. Many had lost their homes, and with them the only nest eggs they had. Even the usually impervious upper middle class had seen a decade of stagnant or declining investment, with the stock market dropping in value with no end in sight. Hope was as scarce as credit.
Three quarters of a million jobs that month. That month!
So, please GOP candidates, especially Gov. Perry of Texas who was patting himself on the back and stump-speeching a misleading statistic that 40% of the net new jobs in the USA have been created in Texas. Please don't insult my intelligence, Mr. Perry. Please include the caveat that most of those jobs are low wage jobs to the point where Texas has the highest percentage of low-wage jobs in our nation coupled with the highest number of uninsured workers among all the 50 States and maybe Perry should add the fact that the low wage earners pay considerably high state taxes, compared to the richest wage-earners in the great state of Texas. And let us not forget, Perry employed the one and only Karl Rove to assist his first campaign before he stepped up to replace another Rove candidate in former President George W. Bush.
Lastly, dear GOP candidates, whenever you speak of President Obama and the troubles this country faces in foreign policy and the war, please use the name of Donald Rumsfeld in the same sentence. On Sunday, this editorial will appear to address the issues of foreign policy the US fostered during the Bush administration. See: HERE.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — What if you held a voter turnout rally and the top candidates on the ballot didn’t show up?
Michael Steele, the Republican National Committee chairman, and Sarah Palin, arguably the biggest draw in the Republican Party, found themselves in that position here in Orange County on Saturday night in the first of two high-profile national rallies they are doing before Election Day. The next one is in Orlando, Fla., next week.
Mr. Steele and Ms. Palin (particularly Ms. Palin) packed a ballroom at a hotel complex just outside Disneyland.
But the two Republicans at the top of the California ticket — Meg Whitman, the candidate for governor, and Carly Fiorina, the candidate for Senate — skipped the event, both claiming prior commitments. That said, Ms. Palin is a decidedly unpopular figure in the state, particularly with independent voters, and Republicans said it was probably not a good idea for Ms. Whitman or Ms. Fiorina to be seen at a campaign rally with her this close to Election Day.
"Who knew you needed to go down to the loading dock to ask questions in the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
-- Marg Delahunty, by Mary Walsh, one of Canada's most entertaining comedians.
I don't even need to write a word of set-up to this one. Just read it and weep with the fact that this person was actually nominated to be the VP of the United States of America:
The headline to the story read:
Palin tells Marg Delahunty Canada should reform its public health-care system
But, it should have read: PALIN A DISGRACE to the Citizens of the USA:
By Lee-Anne Goodman, The Canadian Press
WASHINGTON - Marg Delahunty has braved the wilds of the American Midwest to come face-to-face with Sarah Palin.
Comedian Mary Walsh's beloved character button-holed the former Alaska governor at a recent book-signing in Columbus, Ohio, only to be strong-armed away from Palin by a cabal of security guards.
The action was documented on Tuesday night's "This Hour Has 22 Minutes," but four days later, Walsh was still marvelling at her close encounter with one of the most controversial politicians on the planet.
"We told her we're from Canada, and we're just looking for a few words of encouragement for the Canadian conservatives who have worked so tirelessly to destroy the socialized medicare that we have," Walsh recalled Tuesday from St. John's.
"Four huge big burly guys started pushing, and I pushed back, but I got her attention, and she told us to keep the faith, something like that, and said we're all trying for the same thing."
After being kicked out of the book-signing, Walsh and her crew then waited outside at a loading dock close to where Palin's bus was parked. When Palin emerged from the Borders bookstore, Walsh said, Delahunty - dressed in a more toned-down version of her trademark warrior princess costume - called out to her.
"Hey, remember us, we're the Canadians! We came all the way here from Canada!" Delahunty yelled. "When we asked you that question, we didn't hear your answer."
Palin strolled over, looking down on Walsh and her crew to tell them that "Canada needs to reform its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit."
"Basically, she said government should stop doing the work that private enterprise should do," Walsh said.
In addition to those comments, Walsh said, she found it equally bizarre that no one was allowed to ask Palin any questions at the book-signing.
"It was great fun, but also very strange," Walsh recalled.
"We're in a bookstore, at a public event, in a place one would think was a bastion of free speech. And no one was allowed to ask questions. What are they afraid of?"
I just noticed that Google Ads has placed a Sarah Palin book ad on my Blog site. Pretty funny as the search engines don;t realize that I have been ripping her to shreds. They just search the name and place the ad!
Here's how the conversation might've taken place this weekend:
Author: "You mean, they wont just read the book and believe everything I say?
Publisher's PR guy: "No, they'll go page-by-page and they'll check the facts."
Author: "Huh?"
***
Here is an AP story for your reading pleasure:
(AP) Sarah Palin's new book reprises familiar claims from the 2008 presidential campaign that haven't become any truer over time.
Ignoring substantial parts of her record if not the facts, she depicts herself as a frugal traveler on the taxpayer's dime, a reformer without ties to powerful interests and a politician roguishly indifferent to high ambition.
Palin goes adrift, at times, on more contemporary issues, too. She criticizes President Barack Obama for pushing through a bailout package that actually was achieved by his Republican predecessor George W. Bush - a package she seemed to support at the time.
A look at some of her statements in "Going Rogue," obtained by The Associated Press in advance of its release Tuesday:
PALIN: Says she made frugality a point when traveling on state business as Alaska governor, asking "only" for reasonably priced rooms and not "often" going for the "high-end, robe-and-slippers" hotels.
THE FACTS: Although travel records indicate she usually opted for less-pricey hotels while governor, Palin and daughter Bristol stayed five days and four nights at the $707.29-per-night Essex House luxury hotel (robes and slippers come standard) overlooking New York City's Central Park for a five-hour women's leadership conference in October 2007. With air fare, the cost to Alaska was well over $3,000. Event organizers said Palin asked if she could bring her daughter. The governor billed her state more than $20,000 for her children's travel, including to events where they had not been invited, and in some cases later amended expense reports to specify that they had been on official business.
PALIN: Boasts that she ran her campaign for governor on small donations, mostly from first-time givers, and turned back large checks from big donors if her campaign perceived a conflict of interest.
THE FACTS: Of the roughly $1.3 million she raised for her primary and general election campaigns for governor, more than half came from people and political action committees giving at least $500, according to an AP analysis of her campaign finance reports. The maximum that individual donors could give was $1,000; $2,000 for a PAC.
Of the rest, about $76,000 came from Republican Party committees.
She accepted $1,000 each from a state senator and his wife and $30 from a state representative in the weeks after the two Republican lawmakers' offices were raided by the FBI as part of an investigation into a powerful Alaska oilfield services company. After AP reported those donations during the presidential campaign, she gave a comparative sum to charity.
PALIN: Rails against taxpayer-financed bailouts, which she attributes to Obama. She recounts telling daughter Bristol that to succeed in business, "you'll have to be brave enough to fail."
THE FACTS: Palin is blurring the lines between Obama's stimulus plan - a $787 billion package of tax cuts, state aid, social programs and government contracts - and the federal bailout that Republican presidential candidate John McCain voted for and President George W. Bush signed.
Palin's views on bailouts appeared to evolve as McCain's vice presidential running mate. In September 2008, she said "taxpayers cannot be looked to as the bailout, as the solution, to the problems on Wall Street." A week later, she said "ultimately what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy."
During the vice presidential debate in October, Palin praised McCain for being "instrumental in bringing folks together" to pass the $700 billion bailout. After that, she said "it is a time of crisis and government did have to step in."
PALIN: Says Ronald Reagan faced an even worse recession than the one that appears to be ending now, and "showed us how to get out of one. If you want real job growth, cut capital gains taxes and slay the death tax once and for all."
THE FACTS: The estate tax, which some call the death tax, was not repealed under Reagan and capital gains taxes are lower now than when Reagan was president.
Economists overwhelmingly say the current recession is far worse. The recession Reagan faced lasted for 16 months; this one is in its 23rd month. The recession of the early 1980s did not have a financial meltdown. Unemployment peaked at 10.8 percent, worse than the October 2009 high of 10.2 percent, but the jobless rate is still expected to climb.
PALIN: She says her team overseeing the development of a natural gas pipeline set up an open, competitive bidding process that allowed any company to compete for the right to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48.
THE FACTS: Palin characterized the pipeline deal the same way before an AP investigation found her team crafted terms that favored only a few independent pipeline companies and ultimately benefited a company with ties to her administration, TransCanada Corp. Despite promises and legal guidance not to talk directly with potential bidders during the process, Palin had meetings or phone calls with nearly every major candidate, including TransCanada.
PALIN: Criticizes an aide to her predecessor, Gov. Frank Murkowski, for a conflict of interest because the aide represented the state in negotiations over a gas pipeline and then left to work as a handsomely paid lobbyist for ExxonMobil. Palin asserts her administration ended all such arrangements, shoving a wedge in the revolving door between special interests and the state capital.
THE FACTS: Palin ignores her own "revolving door" issue in office; the leader of her own pipeline team was a former lobbyist for a subsidiary of TransCanada, the company that ended up winning the rights to build the pipeline.
PALIN: Writes about a city councilman in Wasilla, Alaska, who owned a garbage truck company and tried to push through an ordinance requiring residents of new subdivisions to pay for trash removal instead of taking it to the dump for free - this to illustrate conflicts of interest she stood against as a public servant.
THE FACTS: As Wasilla mayor, Palin pressed for a special zoning exception so she could sell her family's $327,000 house, then did not keep a promise to remove a potential fire hazard on the property.
She asked the city council to loosen rules for snow machine races when she and her husband owned a snow machine store, and cast a tie-breaking vote to exempt taxes on aircraft when her father-in-law owned one. But she stepped away from the table in 1997 when the council considered a grant for the Iron Dog snow machine race in which her husband competes.
PALIN: Says Obama has admitted that the climate change policy he seeks will cause people's electricity bills to "skyrocket."
THE FACTS: She correctly quotes a comment attributed to Obama in January 2008, when he told San Francisco Chronicle editors that under his cap-and-trade climate proposal, "electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket" as utilities are forced to retrofit coal burning power plants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Obama has argued since then that climate legislation can blunt the cost to consumers. Democratic legislation now before Congress calls for a variety of measures aimed at mitigating consumer costs. Several studies predict average household costs probably would be $100 to $145 a year.
PALIN: Welcomes last year's Supreme Court decision deciding punitive damages for victims of the nation's largest oil spill tragedy, the Exxon Valdez disaster, stating it had taken 20 years to achieve victory. As governor, she says, she'd had the state argue in favor of the victims, and she says the court's ruling went "in favor of the people." Finally, she writes, Alaskans could recover some of their losses.
THE FACTS: That response is at odds with her reaction at the time to the ruling, which resolved the long-running case by reducing punitive damages for victims to $500 million from $2.5 billion. Environmentalists and plaintiffs' lawyers decried the ruling as a slap at the victims and Palin herself said she was "extremely disappointed." She said the justices had gutted a jury decision favoring higher damage awards, the Anchorage Daily News reported. "It's tragic that so many Alaska fishermen and their families have had their lives put on hold waiting for this decision," she said, noting many had died "while waiting for justice."
PALIN: Describing her resistance to federal stimulus money, Palin describes Alaska as a practical, libertarian haven of independent Americans who don't want "help" from government busybodies.
THE FACTS: Alaska is also one of the states most dependent on federal subsidies, receiving much more assistance from Washington than it pays in federal taxes. A study for the nonpartisan Tax Foundation found that in 2005, the state received $1.84 for every dollar it sent to Washington.
PALIN: Says she tried to talk about national security and energy independence in her interview with Vogue magazine but the interviewer wanted her to pivot from hydropower to high fashion.
THE FACTS are somewhat in dispute. Vogue contributing editor Rebecca Johnson said Palin did not go on about hydropower. "She just kept talking about drilling for oil."
PALIN: "Was it ambition? I didn't think so. Ambition drives; purpose beckons." Throughout the book, Palin cites altruistic reasons for running for office, and for leaving early as Alaska governor.
THE FACTS: Few politicians own up to wanting high office for the power and prestige of it, and in this respect, Palin fits the conventional mold. But "Going Rogue" has all the characteristics of a pre-campaign manifesto, the requisite autobiography of the future candidate.
