August 1-5, 2012
Aug 01 05:55 Klobuchar's vote for ACA was a vote to kill jobs Aug 01 23:46 Rep. Bachmann hauls in the cash in July Aug 02 05:40 Sen. Reid hates America Aug 02 10:09 Eric Holder's assault on voting, civil rights Aug 02 11:48 Is this Reid's Rathergate moment? Aug 03 05:01 When Mark Ritchie appears in town Aug 03 11:16 Schwartz attacks Bachmann, Strib swoons Aug 05 06:57 Jim Graves' conflicts Aug 05 11:29 Dissecting Tomasky's rant
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Klobuchar's vote for ACA was a vote to kill jobs
We now have verifiable proof that Sen. Klobuchar's vote for the ACA is killing jobs :
An Indiana-based medical equipment manufacturer says it's scrapping plans to open five new plants in the coming years because of a looming tax tied to President Obama's health care overhaul law.
Cook Medical claims the tax on medical devices, set to take effect next year, will cost the company roughly $20 million a year, cutting into money that would otherwise go toward expanding into new facilities over the next five years.
" This is the equivalent of about a plant a year that we're not going to be able to build ," a company spokesman told FoxNews.com.
He said the original plan was to build factories in "hard-pressed" Midwestern communities, each employing up to 300 people. But those factories cost roughly the same amount as the projected cost of the new tax.
"In reality, we're not looking at the U.S. to build factories anymore as long as this tax is in place. We can't, to be competitive," he said.
This isn't just affecting businesses in other states. It's having an effect in Minnesota, too:
Fridley-based Medtronic has said the tax will cost them approximately $175 million per year.
Why did Sen. Klobuchar vote for a bill that imposes that hurts vital Minnesota businesses? The ACA didn't improve Minnesota's health care system. Considering that fact, why did Sen. Klobuchar vote to hurt Minnesota's biggest employers?
Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Pat Shortridge issued this statement regarding Senator Klobuchar's support for the ACA and her vote for the medical device tax:
'Amy Klobuchar's vote for ObamaCare has officially sent what would have been new Minnesota jobs, overseas. In their singular focus on ObamaCare, Washington Democrats wreaked havoc on Minnesota's economy, small business owners and the jobs they would have created, and middle class Minnesotans. We needed a responsible budget from Klobuchar and Senate Democrats, not a job killing tax that is sending companies overseas. This cornerstone of the Obama-Klobuchar agenda is preventing Minnesotans from finding work.
'Amy Klobuchar's attempt to distance herself from the medical device tax and work for its repeal is just another attempt to win reelection. She voted for it before she was against it, to borrow a famous phrase. We need Kurt Bills in the US Senate.'
Sen. Klobuchar is certainly likable but she hasn't done a thing that's improved Minnesota's economy. It's time to put someone in Washington that will vote to improve Minnesota's economy.
In the private sector, Sen. Klobuchar's performance would've earned her a termination notice. What applies to the private sector should apply to the public sector, shouldn't it?
Tags: Amy Klobuchar , ACA , Taxes , Jobs , Medtronic , Outsourcing , Recession , DFL , Election 2012
Posted Wednesday, August 1, 2012 5:55 AM
Comment 1 by Jethro at 01-Aug-12 12:30 PM
I guess it is time for "photo op Amy" to do some damage control by showing up for more pictures.
Rep. Bachmann hauls in the cash in July
If Jim Graves needed proof that Michele Bachmann's support isn't waning, this report supplies that proof:
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann says she raised more than $1 million during the month of July.
'I'm grateful for the support I've received so far and I know if we can sustain this grassroots movement, we will be victorious in the fall. Minnesotans are tired of the same empty rhetoric out of Washington, and they know my time is genuinely focused on keeping America strong and growing,' Bachmann said in a statement on Tuesday, July 31.
The fundraising numbers are from July 1 to July 25.
This shows Michele's support hasn't wavered. Despite Jim Graves' accusations that Michele was conducting a witch hunt, the cash kept pouring in.
Attracting donations has never been a problem for Bachmann. And that hasn't changed, even with backlash over comments she made that Islamic fundamentalists could be infiltrating the U.S. government. She also claimed a fellow lawmaker and a top State Department aide have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Let's rewrite that paragraph accurately:
Attracting donations has never been a problem for Bachmann. And that hasn't changed, even with backlash after Michele conclusively proved that the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic fundamentalist organization, was gaining influence with the U.S. government. She also proved Rep. Keith Ellison and Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Whether the media reports it, that's reality. I've written about that proof in this post :
Tax records show the group that paid Ellison's expenses, the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, received nearly $900,000 in taxpayer money in 2006 and 2007 from a rental arrangement for Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA), an Inver Grove Heights charter school.
MAS is the Muslim Brotherhood :
In May 2005, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross reported in The Weekly Standard that MAS is a U.S. front group for the Muslim Brotherhood, a claim supported by a September 19, 2004 Chicago Tribune story that stated: 'In recent years, the U.S. Brotherhood operated under the name Muslim American Society, according to documents and interviews. One of the nation's major Islamic groups, it was incorporated in Illinois in 1993 after a contentious debate among Brotherhood members.'
I even wrote about Rep. Ellison's tolerance for anti-semitic bigotry in that post. I know it isn't polite to talk about these things. Whatever. They're important facts to know. That's why I've included them in my post. If the PC Police have a fit over them, that's their business.
Graves's campaign manager Adam Graves didn't have exact fundraising numbers to release on Tuesday, but said there has been a 'groundswell of support' for the Democrat's campaign, especially since Bachmann made headlines earlier this month.
'While Rep. Bachmann has been trying to capture the national spotlight in order to raise money from out of state interest groups, Jim Graves has spent the last several weeks speaking with veterans, farmers, students and small business owners across the district about issues that really matter to hard working Minnesotan families,' Adam Graves said in a statement.
'Jim firmly believes that this election will be decided by the voters of the Minnesota's 6th District, not by the amount of money our opponent raises outside of the state or from special interests.'
That's a lame official statement. The fact that Michele's support hasn't wavered in the tiniest, coupled with the fact that she garnered 53% of the vote in 2010, means she's on track to defeat Mr. Graves.
Mr. Graves' statements indicate that he's more liberal than he admits. He told me that the ACA was built on free market principles. That's laughable. He told Bill Prendergast that AGW was settled science because "99.9 percent of scientists" say so. Those views align perfectly with the DFL's beliefs.
In 2006, Tarryl Clark ran as a moderate. Some foolish Republicans bought into her schtick and supported her. This year, Graves is employing the same tactics. This year is different. This Golden Oldie hits the right note:
Tags: Michele Bachmann , Fundraising , National Security , GOP , Muslim Brotherhood , Huma Abedin , Keith Ellison , Jim Graves , Tarryl Clark , DFL , Election 2012
Posted Wednesday, August 1, 2012 11:46 PM
No comments.
Sen. Reid hates America
People can't forget Harry Reid bragging to the press that "the war is lost." It was a despicable, anti-American thing to say. He said it repeatedly. He said it without hesitation or regret. Frankly, America is worse off having Harry Reid still in office.
They're worse off because he's a despicable, discusting human being who won't hesitate in doing a hatchet job without the slightest bit of proof.
His latest disgusting act was accusing Mitt Romney of not paying his taxes for an entire decade. He said that he'd heard that from an anonymous Democrat who invested with Bain:
Reid suggested that Romney's decision to withhold tax information would bar him from ever earning Senate confirmation to a Cabinet post. Then, Reid recalled a phone call his office received about a month ago from 'a person who had invested with Bain Capital,' according to The Huffington Post.
Reid said the person told him: 'Harry, he didn't pay any taxes for 10 years.'
'He didn't pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that's true? Well, I'm not certain,' Reid told HuffPo. 'But obviously he can't release those tax returns. How would it look?'
First, it's doubtful that this confidential informant exists. If the dirtbag exists, however, then he's a gutless wimp for not coming forward and making the accusations in public.
Whether the disgusting dirtbag exists or not, Sen. Reid shouldn't make those unsubstantiated allegations public because it's impossible, short of hacking into the IRS website, to verify the voracity of these allegations.
What's disgusting is that President Obama's campaign hasn't criticized Sen. Reid for making these unsubstantiated (and unsubstantiatable) allegations. Their silence implies that they approve of Sen. Reid's accusations. Their silence in this situation should earn them nothing but unlimited derision and criticism.
I don't want Sen. Reid to apologize. I want Republican senators to make his life a living hell before running him out of the Senate. I want Republicans to torment him, call him out for what he is: a dirtbag who won't hesitate to make unsubstantiated allegations.
The other thing that I'd recommend them to do is use Sen. Reid's disgusting outburst to raise money to defeat as many Democrats as possible this fall. The best punishment for Sen. Reid short of running him out of the Senate is to turn him into the Minority Leader.
It's time for Republicans to take the gloves off. If they continue acting like gentlemen and ladies, Sen. Reid, Sen. Durbin, Sen. Schumer and other notorious hatchetmen won't have an incentive to stop being hatchetmen.
Let's hope the GOP grows a spine ASAP. Let's hope they carry out a ruthless vendetta against this dirtbag from Nevada.
Finally, here's my (rhetorical) question to Harry Reid: Sir, have you no shame?
Unfortunately, we know the answer to that question is no, he doesn't have any remorse or shame.
Tags: Taxes , Harry Reid , Scandal , This War Is Lost , Ethics Investigation , President Obama , Smear Campaign , Democrats , Mitt Romney , GOP Senators , Election 2012
Posted Thursday, August 2, 2012 5:40 AM
Comment 1 by Jeff Rosenberg at 02-Aug-12 07:13 AM
"it's impossible, short of hacking into the IRS website, to verify the voracity of these allegations."
No it isn't. Governor Romney could have some integrity and release his tax returns, just like the presidential candidates before him have. What is he hiding?
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 02-Aug-12 08:12 AM
Mitt's hiding nothing & you know it. People get it that DFL parasites like Mr. Rosenberg are trying to create something out of nothing. They know that because they aren't defending President Obama's economic record, which is a disaster. They know that because they haven't said boo about how President Obama's EPA has waged war on the coal industry. The people know because partisans like Mr. Rosenberg haven't tried defending the fact that the EPA's rules have shut down some coal-fired power plants & led to announcements that others will be shutting down soon.
Mr. Rosenberg & his partners will do anything to not talk about how the ACA includes major tax increases, increases that will cost Medtronic a projected $175,000,000 per year while not doing a thing to lower health care costs.
Mr. Rosenberg, why aren't you defending things that hurt Minnesotans? Why are you wasting time trying to create a story from something that isn't a story? Is your time that worthless? Or is it that President Obama can't win without tons of BS distractions that you're attempting to create? (Don't bother answering that last question. We know the answer.)
Comment 2 by Jeff Rosenberg at 02-Aug-12 09:07 AM
This comment was deleted because it violated a longstanding policy of making unsubstantiated allegations.
Comment 3 by Ladylogician at 02-Aug-12 10:59 AM
Jeff what is Harry Reid hiding? Bring the so-called "Bain investor" forward...if he exists. Until he comes coward, you AND the Senator are engaging in slander....
LL
Comment 4 by Ladylogician at 02-Aug-12 01:06 PM
Hey Jeff! How about a little transparency from YOUR GUY? Where are his college transcripts? Why wont he release them? WHAT'S HE HIDING? See two can play this BS game. Meanwhile the country suffers with 5%the inflation and 18%the REAL unemployment. So while your side focuses on the petty BS, we're going to focus on the issues that matter to the voters and we'll see what happens in November.....
LL
Comment 5 by walter hanson at 02-Aug-12 04:01 PM
Gary:
The Obama campaign is not attacking Reid because it was probably an Obama campaign worker who picked up the phone and called Reid in the first place.
That's why the source wants to remain anoymous.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 6 by walter hanson at 02-Aug-12 04:03 PM
Lady:
Lets not forget full disclousure of every Obama donor. In 2008 Obama's campaign had a lot of expenses for currency exchange fees. That expense wouldn't exist if every single donation was from a US citizen giving US dollars which is the law.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 7 by Lady Logician at 02-Aug-12 06:45 PM
Great points Walter...and only FAIR (and God knows the left loves "fair") since the Obama Administration is so intent on disclosing all of Romney's donors.
LL
Comment 8 by Lady Logician at 03-Aug-12 07:35 PM
Amazing how Jeffie comes in spewinig his unfounded allegations and when he gets cold hard facts thrown back his way, he runs away with his tail tucked between his legs?
LL
Comment 9 by Gary Gross at 03-Aug-12 08:33 PM
LL, there isn't much mystery to that. It's what DFL bloggers do best.
Eric Holder's assault on voting, civil rights
There's no question that Eric Holder wasn't the US Attorney General when thugs from the NBPP threatened voters, including legendary civil rights attorney Bartle Bull. He wasn't the US Attorney General when the DOJ won the civil case against the NBPP. What's indisputable, though, is that Holder was the US Attorney General whose DOJ dropped the case after a previous DOJ team of attorneys had won the case.
New evidence has surfaced showing a high-ranking DOJ official, Thomas Perez, lied under oath. This scandal is about to get major national press thanks to this video:
First, let's review what's known. Judicial Watch filed a FOIA request, which led to Judge Reggie Walton's ruling . Here's the vital part of Judge Walton's ruling:
Judicial Watch...has obtained documents from the Obama [DOJ] that provide new evidence that top political appointees at the DOJ were intimately involved in the decision to dismiss the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense (NBPP). These new documents, which include internal DOJ email correspondence, directly contradict sworn testimony by Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, who testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that no political leadership was involved in the decision...The new documents include a series of emails between two political appointees: former Democratic election lawyer and current Deputy Associate Attorney General Sam Hirsch and Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli.
Here's one of the emails disclosed by the DOJ:
For example, in one April 30, 2009, email from Hirsch to Perrelli, with the subject title 'Fw: New Black Panther Party Update,' Hirsch writes:
Tom,
I need to discuss this with you tomorrow morning. I'll send you another email on this shortly.
If you want to discuss it this evening, please let me know which number to call and when.
This entire administration must go, starting with Eric Holder. That means prosecuting him for politically undermining a case involving a voting rights violations.
That includes criminal prosecution of Gen. Holder and President Obama's political appointees. President Obama's political appointees undermined the American system of justice through acts of political sabotage that helped their political allies. That's corruption of the worst kind.
The indictment against this administration keeps getting longer. What's worse for this administration is that it keeps revealing more corruption and economic ineptitude.
Tags: President Obama , Voting Rights Act , New Black Panther Party , Thomas Perez , Perjury , Eric Holder , Corruption , Prosecution , Democrats , Bartle Bull , Civil Rights , Elections
Posted Thursday, August 2, 2012 10:09 AM
No comments.
Is this Reid's Rathergate moment?
It's time that the Senate ran Sen. Reid out of office. Of course, Senate Democrats will protect Sen. Reid because their highest priority is maintaining power, not doing what's right.
If Democrats won't do the right thing, then it's up to the American people to defeat them this November.
For instance, when 'moderate' Sen. Klobuchar stays silent about Sen. Reid's disgusting behavior, her actions say she isn't willing to take a principled stand against a disgusting human being. That's all the reason Minnesotans should need to fire her this November. It isn't like she has any accomplishments during her time in office. (Except if you count her voting to raise Medtronics tax bill by $175,000,000 per year as an accomplishment.)
Jon Tester, Sherrod Brown, Tim Kaine, Claire McCaskill, Bill Nelson and others should pay the price for not criticizing Sen. Reid's disgusting statements, too.
It's bad enough that Sen. Reid made the initial accusations without a bit of proof. What's worse is his newest statements :
On Wednesday, Reid stuck to his story, and broadened it.
"I am not basing this on some figment of my imagination," Reid said in a telephone call with Nevada reporters. "I have had a number of people tell me that."
Asked to elaborate on his sources, Reid declined. "No, that's the best you're going to get from me."
" I don't think the burden should be on me ," Reid said. "The burden should be on him. He's the one I've alleged has not paid any taxes. Why didn't he release his tax returns?"
Talk about chutzpah. Sen. Reid makes statements that haven't been substantiated by anyone willing to make these accusations public. When Sen. Reid's honesty is challenged, albeit not by GOP senators or by the allegedly MSM, his reaction is that he shouldn't have to prove he isn't lying through his teeth.
Sen. Reid is a disgusting individual who isn't worried about proving whether he's telling the truth.
If GOP senators stay silent or make statements like this, they'll send the signal to progressives that they don't have an incentive to stop their smear campaigns:
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Wednesday that he did not see Romney's tax returns as a "relevant issue" and that if people want more disclosure, "they should pass a law to make it that way."
Talk about wimpy. Sen. Rubio could turn this into a media disaster for the Democrats if he issued this statement:
Sen. Reid's disgusting and unsubstantiated accusations fit a pattern with Sen. Reid. His defeatist statement that "The war is lost" demoralized our troops while they fought bravely. His unsubstantiated allegation from a mystery investor who doesn't have the courage to make these accusations in the light of day calls into question whether this person exists.
It's time for Sen. Reid to put up or shut up or be held accountable for his disgraceful actions. Sen. Reid won't pass a budget. Sen. Reid won't accept responsibility for verifying the identity of this mystery investor.
While Sen. Reid sits on his thumbs or makes wild allegations, Republicans in the Senate and the House continue putting forward proposals to dig this nation out of the mess this administration and Sen. Reid have kept us in.
It's time for Sen. Reid to prove he isn't lying through his teeth. If he brings this Bain investor forward, then it's a debatable issue. If he continues making these allegations without offering proof, it's reasonable to think that Sen. Reid is lying.
UPDATE: This has the feel of Rathergate. Disgraced 'journalist' Dan Rather tried accusing George Bush of not fulfilling his service to the Texas Air National Guard during the 2000 campaign.
When that fell through, he waited until 2004 to run the story. The fledgling blogosphere quickly discredited the article, leading to Rather admitting that the documents were "fake but accurate."
Is this Harry Reid's "Rathergate moment"? I can't rule it out.
Tags: Ethics Investigation , Harry Reid , Taxes , Bain Investor , Dishonesty , Amy Klobuchar , Jon Tester , Tim Kaine , Claire McCaskill , Scandal , Democrats , Election 2012
Posted Thursday, August 2, 2012 11:48 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 02-Aug-12 03:57 PM
Gary:
In one sense this is worse than Rathergate.
Dan Rather proudly was showing records which said that George Bush hadn't served in the national guard. It took people only a couple of minutes to realize that the documents were fake.
For Reid to be at Rather's level he needs a phony tax return for Mitt Romney which shows that Romney didn't pay his taxes.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
When Mark Ritchie appears in town
When Mark Ritchie makes an unexpected 'educational visit' to your city, it's always accompanied by a slew of articles about voter fraud. When Secretary Ritchie visited St. Cloud, he didn't hold a townhall event open to the public. Instead, he met with the area's city councilmembers, mayors, county commissioners and government bureaucrats.
According to this article , multiple plaintiffs filed a lawsuit alleging that election officials didn't verify people getting ballots were entitled to those ballots:
"Public records reveal that after the November 2008 election there were 48,545 EDRs found to be unconfirmable; nevertheless each had their vote counted for that election contest. Each EDR who was found to be unconfirmable as entitled to vote after the election, upon information and belief, was also not entitled to vote on the preceding election day for that November 2008 contest.
People that can't verify they are who they say they are shouldn't get the same ballot that verified voters get. They should get a provisional ballot. If the person doesn't return to verify their identity within 2 weeks, their ballots shouldn't count.
Right now, the procedure is that a person using EDR gets a regular ballot. That's a major problem because thousands of postal verification cards got returned as undeliverable in 2008 and 2010. When the cards were researched, many cards were sent to addresses that were empty lots or nonexistent entirely.
Though Secretary Ritchie won't admit it, that's what voter fraud looks like.
One of the DFL's favorite chanting points is that photo ID "is a solution in search of a problem." The problem has been located.
One commenter to LFR suggested that this wasn't proof of voter fraud, that this might be the result of data entry error or that the people just filled their EDR form wrong.
That's spin.
In 2008, a total of 715,000 people used EDR. Over 6,000 PVCs were returned as undeliverable. That's an error rate of nearly 1%. That sounds like a reasonable error rate but it isn't.
Most companies require their data entry operators maintain an error rate of less than .05%. If that corporate standard was applied to these EDRs, that would mean there shouldn't be more than 357 PVCs returned.
Requiring photographic identification would solve this crisis. Yes, crisis is the right term. People who work hard and play by the rules shouldn't have their votes negated by a person committing voter fraud.
Secretary Ritchie and his corrupt allies say that every vote is precious. I agree with him on that. Legally cast ballots shouldn't be negated by people committing voter fraud.
That's why Photo ID must be required in Minnesota.
Tags: Photo ID , Voter Fraud , Election Day Registration , PVCs , Mark Ritchie , Corruption , DFL , Elections
Posted Friday, August 3, 2012 5:01 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 03-Aug-12 04:28 PM
Gary:
Lets not forget that Al Franken won by less than 500 votes. Al Franken might be in the Senate because of those votes. So Franken might not be our senator except when illegal votes are counted.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 2 by Crimson Tide at 03-Aug-12 06:31 PM
I am constantly amused by opponents of voter ID. The legitimate voters will vote loud & clear on this issue in November.
Schwartz attacks Bachmann, Strib swoons
This morning's Strib contains this op-ed from Eric Schwartz, now a professor at the U of M. Schwartz decries Michele Bachmann's "innuendo" regarding Huma Abedin:
So why did the congressional letter to the State Department evoke such a storm of protest, most prominently from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., but from so many others as well? In fact, the outrage was not inspired by the views, however controversial, of the five members of Congress on policy toward the Islamic world. Rather, it was the letter's use of innuendo, in particular, against Huma Abedin, the State Department's deputy chief of staff and a longtime aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Citing a report from a Washington think tank run by a former Reagan administration staffer, the letter states that Ms. Abedin has family members "connected to Muslim Brotherhood operatives and/or organizations." It makes note of her access to the secretary of state and asks the inspector general to identify whether any U.S. citizens may be agents of the Muslim Brotherhood.
It's insulting to watch Prof. Schwartz decry the use of innuendo against Ms. Abedin, then use innuendo to smeaer Rep. Bachmann's source. What motivation would Prof. Schwartz have for mentioning that Rep. Bachmann's source works at "a Washington think tank run by a former Reagan administration staffer"?
That's just the tip of the iceberg, though. Prof. Schwartz was "special assistant to the president for national security affairs" during the Clinton administration. That's the time when Clinton antiterrorist policy led to al-Qa'ida building training bases throughout Afghanistan. During the Clinton administration, al-Qa'ida conducted numerous terrorist operations, including the embassy bombings in east Africa, the Khobar Towers bombings in Saudi Arabia and the Cole bombing.
Prof. Schwartz makes the case for using the smart diplomacy policies of the Clinton administration. al-Qa'ida's successful terrorist attacks in the 1990's, not to mention their success in training the 9/11 terrorists, ought to eliminate the consideration of smart diplomacy as a worthwhile national security option.
As for Michele's statements, they've been verified as totally reasonable by terrorist expert Andrew McCarthy and former Muslim Brotherhood terrorist Walid Shoebat, not to mention lots of documentation.
Prof. Schwartz's perspective is based largely on political correctness, which is a flawed perspective. This administration's unwillingness to confront reality is preventing our nation from attacking the problems we're facing.
We saw how that worked in the 1990s. We can't choose that path again.
Tags: Political Correctness , National Security , Clinton Administration , Eric Schwartz , NSC , Democrats , Michele Bachmann , Andrew McCarthy , Walid Shoebat , Muslim Brotherhood , Republicans
Posted Friday, August 3, 2012 11:16 AM
No comments.
Jim Graves' conflicts
Jim Graves is a portrait of someone who says one thing, then thinks the opposite. Graves told me that he's pro free market. Then he told me that he thinks the ACA is "built on free market principles." The free market doesn't tell a person they have to buy something, then tell them what bells and whistles that something has to have.
To quote Andy Aplikowski , free markets don't need thousands of IRS agents to make sure you do what you're told to do:
The Government does't need to hire an army of tax agents to enforce a free market based reform. And the Government doesn't expressly lay out the parameters and scope of a free market plan.
Mr. Graves told Jack and Ben that he isn't really a Democrat. He's just running as one so he has a chance at winning. That's BS. He's a hard core liberal who made lots of money.
What other explanation is there for a man who thinks that global warming is manmade? If he believes that global warming is manmade and that it's a problem worth solving, what's his solution? The only conclusion is that he's for cap and trade. That's a hardline liberal position.
When Tarryl ran against Michele in 2010, one of her first visits was to Netroots Nation, the gathering of left wing kooks. Daily Kos published this letter from Jim Graves.
One of the things Graves continues harping on is Michele Bachmann's 'witch hunt':
Watching Michele Bachmann's McCarthy-like witch-hunt unfold over the past few weeks has been truly disturbing. Her baseless attacks upon honorable, hard-working Americans is not only designed to divide us through hate and fear, it weakens our ability to take on the real challenges facing our nation today.
Mr. Graves' witch hunt meme is getting tiresome. It's been discredited by terrorist expert Andrew McCarthy and former Muslim Brotherhood terrorist Walid Shoebat. Newt Gingrich discredited DC elites with impeccable logic and a relentless dose of reality:
This desperate avoidance of reality is not new. After Maj. Nidal Hasan shouted, 'Allahu Akbar' ('God is great') in Fort Hood, Texas, and killed 12 soldiers and one Army civilian while wounding 29 others, there was pressure to avoid confronting his acts as inspired by his support for radical Islamism.
An American of Palestinian descent, Hasan had been in touch with a radical American cleric in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki. He declared Hasan a hero. Al-Awlaki was himself declared a 'specially designated global terrorist' and, with presidential approval, was killed by a predator missile.
Yet, despite the evidence, Wikipedia reports, 'One year after the Fort Hood shooting, the motivations of the perpetrator were not yet established.'
In short, Jim Graves might know how to build and run hotels but he's oblivious to facts, especially as it relates to free markets, terrorism and science.
Simply put, Jim Graves isn't qualified to be a congressman. I'd want him on an economic development commission but I wouldn't want him as a congressman.
Tags: National Security , Jim Graves , Tarryl Clark , Hotels , Daily Kos , Cap And Trade , ACA , Free Markets , Democrats , Election 2012
Posted Sunday, August 5, 2012 6:57 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 05-Aug-12 08:24 AM
Mr. Graves is another rich liberal who believes he can tell us what to do and think.
Mammade global warming is a hoax perpetrated on us by a fail presidential candidate to re-distribute wealth. Funny how it has made Al Gore richer and most everyone else poorer. The earth has been changing temps and climates long before man was burning coal and driving evil SUV's and will continue to do so with or without us.
How exactly is the ACA a free market program?
The free market does not force you to buy ANYTHING you do not want to buy. A free market would allow me to buy a major medical plan from the lowest price company no matter where they are located instead of just from a MN company. It would also allow me to buy a policy that only covers the thngs I want covered as opposed to the hundreds of mandated things some politicians have forced to be covered.
As for the whole Muslim Brotherhood thing, liberals will continue to bury their heads in the sand not wanting to offend anyone or group until it is too late, again. Better to start asking the questions now as to who may be associated than asking how did XXX happen after it is too late. McCarthy was found out to be right in the end too and look how many commies are in congress now.
Also, is Mr. Graves going to condemn Harry Reid for his baseless attacks on Mitt?
Comment 2 by eric z at 05-Aug-12 11:44 AM
Gary, Gary, Gary. Graves is a job creator.
From things you've written I thought that meant something to you. He is the exact opposite of a buy-them-and-fold-them Wall Street tycoon. Do you suppose the tax returns Romney will not release document job destruction and overseas outsourcing, and that's the cause of the man's tenacity?
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 05-Aug-12 05:54 PM
Eric, The things Graves has done in the private sector are praiseworthy. I've repeatedly said that.
That said, his public policies would kill jobs, starting with the ACA, then including Cap & Trade. President Obama's EPA is almost as big disaster as the ACA.
What part of that didn't you understand? This isn't that complicated.
Comment 3 by indy jones at 05-Aug-12 01:32 PM
Does he get his money like Solyndra? They were job creaters until they weren't and then they were "contributors" with tax dollars. Graves would do well to understand that manmade global warming, to borrow a phrase from Theo's website, is a manmade issue, manmade data, manmade crises, and a manmade consensus.
Comment 4 by Crimson Tide at 05-Aug-12 02:19 PM
Graves is a nice, cordial businessman with a weak campaign message that meanders to and fro like the Snake River. Spending a lot of time beating up Bachmann on the Muslim Brotherhood while being silent on specific details regarding jobs, healthcare, and the economy will not convince voters that change is needed. Graves would be better served on an economic development committee. Verso is now closed and the next economic disaster on a smaller scale will most likely be the St. Cloud airport.
Comment 5 by Gary Gross at 06-Aug-12 11:45 PM
First, what we have is an accomplished businessman whose policies are as liberal as the failed policies of this administration. He thinks that the ACA is built on free market principles. When did free markets tell a person to buy something? Better yet, when did free market principles tell the person to buy something they didn't want, then tell them what features this thing they didn't want must have? Best yet, when did free markets rely on mandates to force people to buy something they didn't want and possibly didn't need?
Second, Jim Graves is just the male version of Tarryl Clark, except he can afford to wear expensive suits. He's a first class bullshitter who's too afraid to put an issues page together. That's what we here in the Sixth District call gutless.
It'll break your heart to know that support for Michele hasn't wavered. She's still above 50%, which means she wins. Enjoy.
Dissecting Tomasky's rant
If ever a nationally-known writer ignored the facts, Michael Tomasky's column is that column. Here's his opening paragraph:
There's a secret lurking behind everything you're reading about the upcoming election, a secret that all political insiders know - or should - but few are talking about, most likely because it takes the drama out of the whole business. The secret is the electoral college, and the fact is that the more you look at it, the more you come to conclude that Mitt Romney has to draw an inside straight like you've never ever seen in a movie to win this thing. This is especially true now that it seems as if Pennsylvania isn't really up for grabs. Romney's paths to 270 are few.
Let's start with Rasmussen's polling. President Obama hasn't topped 45% support in ages . Next, let's factor in Gallup's polling showing a big enthusiasm gap favoring the GOP .
The battleground state polls that show President Obama leading either make a substantial mistake in their turnout model, dramatically oversample Democrats (Quinippiac had Ohio at D+8; it wasn't that good for President Obama in 2008) or they simply get their turnout model wrong.
Simply put, there's no way a double-digit enthusiasm gap favoring the GOP, combined with Mitt Romney's steady lead nationally with likely voters translates into the Obama landslide that Tomasky is predicting.
That's like a football coach telling his team that they'll win because, even though their opponent is bigger and stronger, his team is slower and less talented.
That's before talking about how Mitt hasn't unleashed the monster ad buys that will highlight President Obama's disastrous economic policies have hurt the economy. These ads will highlight how President Obama's EPA is intentionally killing the coal industry while raising everyone's electric bills. The advertising will highlight the fact that President Obama picked the environmentalists over the unions when making the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
There goes the union vote for President Obama.
In 2008, President Obama got 338 electoral votes. Subtract Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, Florida and Virginia's electoral votes from the 2008 total and you're left with 252 electoral votes for Team Obama.
Make no mistake about Florida. The ACA stole $500,000,000,000 (yes, that's half a trillion dollars) from Medicare. Florida's seniors noticed. They're reliable voters, too. President Obama gutted the space program, too. That isn't playing well with Floridians, either.
Talking about how President Obama's EPA is shutting down coal mining and coal-fired power plants won't play well in Virginia and it certainly won't play well in southeastern Ohio. If President Obama doesn't win by a sizable margin in southeastern Ohio, Mitt wins Ohio's electoral votes and the presidency.
The reality is that President Obama has thrown the kitchen sink at Mitt Romney and, like his economic policies, it hasn't worked. For President Obama to have spent 10s of millions of dollars and be essentially tied should frighten Democrats.
President Obama is essentially tied with Mitt Romney. Considering the fact that Mitt hasn't unleashed his blistering ad campaign highlighting this administration's failures indicates President Obama is in exceptionally weak position.
Tags: President Obama , Media Bias , Landslide , Medicare Cuts , EPA , Coal , Unemployment , Democrats , Mitt Romney , GOP , Election 2012
Posted Sunday, August 5, 2012 11:29 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 05-Aug-12 11:38 AM
The big lurking secret I see: Whether multimillionaire Romney paid any taxes besides one year at the 14% level, 2010. And if not, how did he arrange such a thing when those with less wealth paid?
Comment 2 by walter hanson at 05-Aug-12 12:40 PM
Eric:
What does a discussion have to do with electoral college map.
With the exception of you, Harry Reid, and President Obama's desperate reelection team no one cares.
And if you want to play that game lets see Obama's college transcripts first.
Lets see all the documents involing the purchase of house (the one where a convicted felon made a special deal to help Obama get his dream house)first.
I assume you have already written your letter to Obama asking for them to be made public?
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 3 by walter hanson at 05-Aug-12 12:45 PM
Gary:
I'm beginning to think that Democrats are desperately trying to get this spun that Obama is going to win any way to discourage Republicans. As you showed even if Obama is given Neveda, New Mexico, Iowa, and Colorado (all states Bush won in 2004) he can't win
the election.
Now look at what might happen to Obama. He might lose Wisconsin (won by Gore, Kerry, and Obama). He might lose Michigan (won by Gore, Kerry, and Obama). He might lose New Hampshire (won by Bush in 2000, Kerry, and Obama). That's the tip of the ice berg.
It's look like a large electoral landslide for Romney.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
