AP – Priorities USA Action, an independent group founded by former Obama aides, raised $4.4 million in 2011 from donors that included:
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Some of the donors to pro-Obama super PAC
(AP)
On the front page, Editor-in-Chief of THE BLAZE Scott Baker has a post about a new book : “A Nation of Moochers.” The book takes a look at mooching in America in the macro sense. But I took a look at mooching in the micro sense, meaning a few of our writers here. FireWire editor Mike Opelka told me that he’s a “recovering moocher” but added, “I give, too.” (P.S- Opelka had a lot more to say on this, which I’ll be writing in a follow-up post). “Moocher: no. Smoocher: yes,” BLAZE magazine editor Chris Field said. “I come from a small farming community where everybody works from the time they’re kids.” The Newt Gingrich American dream. I asked our business editor Becket Adams for an example of how he mooches. He said he catches the draft of semi trucks to “save on gas.” I asked if that was the only thing he did. “That’s not strictly illegal, that I’ll admit in public? Yes,” he said. Chris Santarelli , an assistant editor, is one of those people who refuses to buy their own french fries and instead nibbles on the ones his friends order. “I never buy fries, say I don’t like them, but always ask for one from a friend,” he told me. The worst. Buck Sexton , who writes on the front page, dismissed the idea of him mooching altogether. “I’m a WASP. We hate mooching,” he said. As for me, I work in media living in D.C. Events around the city are typically free for journalists, often with open-bars and free dinners. Hors d’oeuvrs, at the least. Mooching is almost forced on me.
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Santarelli mooches on friend fries
It’s been a positive week for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as he appears to have turned the tides since his crushing South Carolina primary loss to Newt Gingrich, now surging to the top of polls in Florida before the state’s Republican primary today. While Florida polls show Romney defeating the visibly furious Gingrich and the other remaining Republican candidates, several other polls show that the bruising last few weeks may have hurt the former Massachusetts governor on a broader scale of the electorate. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Tuesday shows that 40 percent of those surveyed find Romney’s work in the private sector unfavorable, 35 percent favorable, 25 percent had no opinion. Greg Sargent of the Post notes that the polling team also says “that among non-college whites — a key swing consistency that is one of the main targets of the battle over Romney’s corporate past and taxes — 35 percent view his Bain work favorably, versus 38 percent who view it unfavorably. Among moderates, the numbers are 32-39.” A separate WashingtonPost-Pew Research Center poll released Monday shows that 39 percent of registered voters see Romney connecting at least “fairly well” with the problems of average Americans, as oppose to 55 percent for President Obama. In yet another poll, this time conducted by NBC/WSJ last week , Romney’s negatives appeared to be spiking 20 points among independent voters over the last two months. While the former Massachusetts governor may be happy with a recent USA/Today Gallup poll having Romney neck and neck with Obama in swing states , and a key win in Florida tonight is likely to put him back in the drivers seat for the Republican nomination, the Romney campaign should be less celebratory than they were following the New Hampshire primary victory. If he were to become the nominee, Romney’s campaign has their work ahead of them to repair their candidate’s public image following what has been an extremely arduous primary race.
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While Romney looks to win the bloody battle of FL, polls say he may be losing a broader war
Photoshop: Reader Jimmy D. Yesterday, the SEIU and left-wing USA Action launched Spanish-language radio attacks on Mitt Romney for his support of immigration enforcement measures. One of Romney’s advisers is Kris Kobach — a constitutional law professor, Kansas Secretary of State, and staunch leader in the fight against illegal alien amnesty and ACORN-style voter fraud. Eliseo Medina, the secretary-treasurer of Service Employees International Union, blasted Romney on Monday during a conference call announcing a Spanish-language radio ad the union is launching in partnership with Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC supporting President Obama. Medina, the No. 2 official at the influential union, was reacting to an answer Romney gave at a debate Monday night where he said “self-deportation” was the answer to ridding the country of illegal immigrants. “It’s basically to say, ‘Make their life miserable’” by refusing to rent to them or to provide access to heat and water,” Medina said. “Make it difficult for their kids and their schools.” Asked by The Hill how Romney’s comments could be construed to imply that illegal immigrants should be denied basic necessities, Medina pointed to Romney’s close relationship with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has endorsed Romney. Kobach has been credit with writing most of Alabama’s harsh anti-illegal immigration law, which has been challenged in the courts. “Mr. Romney has said he wants to support and he joins in supporting Kris Kobach,” Medina said. “When he says he supports those kinds of policies, he has to own all of it.” “This is a dishonest smear from President Obama’s liberal allies and a desperate attempt to distract from his abysmal record,” said Romney adviser Albert Martinez. “It will do nothing to help the millions of Hispanics who have been hit especially hard as a result of the Obama economy.” Martinez said Hispanics, like all Floridians, believe Romney is the best person to rebuild the economy and to replace Obama. Well, look now, who’s mimicking the open-borders SEIU and blurring the lines between illegal and legal immigration. Yep. Newt Gingrich: Sen. Marco Rubio scolded Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign over a Spanish-language radio ad that accuses rival Mitt Romney of being “anti-immigrant” “This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign,” Rubio told The Miami Herald when asked about the ad. “The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant,” Rubio said. “Both are pro-legal immigration and both have positive messages that play well in the Hispanic community.” Rubio’s sharp rebuke comes a day after he subtly corrected Gingrich for comparing Romney to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, branded by conservatives as a turncoat who left the party before Rubio beat him in 2010. The criticisms from someone of Rubio’s stature in the Republican Party comes as polls show a near-even race, albeit with Gingrich surging. Rubio plans to stay neutral in the race. He’s a potential running mate whom both candidates would love to have on the ballot. The truth is that neither Gingrich nor Romney has a strong, consistent overall record on border security and enforcement. But at least Romney’s been traveling in the right direction…while Gingrich once again echoes left-wing language and plays the race card to get ahead. Nose plugs. Get out yer nose plugs. *** Newt and his supporters have been deriding the notion of self-deportation as some sort of alien, offensive concept. Long-time readers of this blog and of my investigative work on immigration have been familiar with it for years. It’s attrition through enforcement , it’s humane , and it works . *** Can you be more two-faced? Newt has been winning massive adoration and applause for claiming he’ll stand up for states like South Carolina and Alabama , which have been sued by the Obama DOJ over tough immigration laws. Then he joins the likes of the SEIU and slams the very “anti-immigrant” policies authored by Kris Kobach that the Obama DOJ wants to overturn. Emetic of the day. *** Update: Newt retreats. From GOP Hispanic leaders calling him out, via the Miami Herald: While we may have differences of opinion with regard to some of Governor Romney’s policies on immigration, we nonetheless stand firmly behind him because we know he is the most qualified conservative candidate to defeat President Obama and to lift up all Americans, including Hispanics. Like your attacks on the free market, attacking Mitt Romney as “anti-immigrant” only serves President Obama and his liberal allies. Mr. Speaker, our party deserves better. Sincerely, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez Senator Mel Martinez Raquel A. Rodriguez Zoraida Fonalledas Jorge Arrizurieta R. Alexander Acosta Remedios Diaz Oliver Rudy Fernandez Jeanette Prenger Jerry Natividad Sal Gomez Allen Gutierrez Hector Barreto Jose Fuentes Bertica Cabrera Morris Rafael Elias-Linero
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Gingrich channels open-borders SEIU; Rubio rebukes; Update:Newt retreats
Photoshop: Reader Jimmy D. Yesterday, the SEIU and left-wing USA Action launched Spanish-language radio attacks on Mitt Romney for his support of immigration enforcement measures. One of Romney’s advisers is Kris Kobach — a constitutional law professor, Kansas Secretary of State, and staunch leader in the fight against illegal alien amnesty and ACORN-style voter fraud. Eliseo Medina, the secretary-treasurer of Service Employees International Union, blasted Romney on Monday during a conference call announcing a Spanish-language radio ad the union is launching in partnership with Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC supporting President Obama. Medina, the No. 2 official at the influential union, was reacting to an answer Romney gave at a debate Monday night where he said “self-deportation” was the answer to ridding the country of illegal immigrants. “It’s basically to say, ‘Make their life miserable’” by refusing to rent to them or to provide access to heat and water,” Medina said. “Make it difficult for their kids and their schools.” Asked by The Hill how Romney’s comments could be construed to imply that illegal immigrants should be denied basic necessities, Medina pointed to Romney’s close relationship with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has endorsed Romney. Kobach has been credit with writing most of Alabama’s harsh anti-illegal immigration law, which has been challenged in the courts. “Mr. Romney has said he wants to support and he joins in supporting Kris Kobach,” Medina said. “When he says he supports those kinds of policies, he has to own all of it.” “This is a dishonest smear from President Obama’s liberal allies and a desperate attempt to distract from his abysmal record,” said Romney adviser Albert Martinez. “It will do nothing to help the millions of Hispanics who have been hit especially hard as a result of the Obama economy.” Martinez said Hispanics, like all Floridians, believe Romney is the best person to rebuild the economy and to replace Obama. Well, look now, who’s mimicking the open-borders SEIU and blurring the lines between illegal and legal immigration. Yep. Newt Gingrich: Sen. Marco Rubio scolded Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign over a Spanish-language radio ad that accuses rival Mitt Romney of being “anti-immigrant” “This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign,” Rubio told The Miami Herald when asked about the ad. “The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant,” Rubio said. “Both are pro-legal immigration and both have positive messages that play well in the Hispanic community.” Rubio’s sharp rebuke comes a day after he subtly corrected Gingrich for comparing Romney to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, branded by conservatives as a turncoat who left the party before Rubio beat him in 2010. The criticisms from someone of Rubio’s stature in the Republican Party comes as polls show a near-even race, albeit with Gingrich surging. Rubio plans to stay neutral in the race. He’s a potential running mate whom both candidates would love to have on the ballot. The truth is that neither Gingrich nor Romney has a strong, consistent overall record on border security and enforcement. But at least Romney’s been traveling in the right direction…while Gingrich once again echoes left-wing language and plays the race card to get ahead. Nose plugs. Get out yer nose plugs. *** Newt and his supporters have been deriding the notion of self-deportation as some sort of alien, offensive concept. Long-time readers of this blog and of my investigative work on immigration have been familiar with it for years. It’s attrition through enforcement , it’s humane , and it works . *** Can you be more two-faced? Newt has been winning massive adoration and applause for claiming he’ll stand up for states like South Carolina and Alabama , which have been sued by the Obama DOJ over tough immigration laws. Then he joins the likes of the SEIU and slams the very “anti-immigrant” policies authored by Kris Kobach that the Obama DOJ wants to overturn. Emetic of the day. *** Update: Newt retreats. From GOP Hispanic leaders calling him out, via the Miami Herald: While we may have differences of opinion with regard to some of Governor Romney’s policies on immigration, we nonetheless stand firmly behind him because we know he is the most qualified conservative candidate to defeat President Obama and to lift up all Americans, including Hispanics. Like your attacks on the free market, attacking Mitt Romney as “anti-immigrant” only serves President Obama and his liberal allies. Mr. Speaker, our party deserves better. Sincerely, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez Senator Mel Martinez Raquel A. Rodriguez Zoraida Fonalledas Jorge Arrizurieta R. Alexander Acosta Remedios Diaz Oliver Rudy Fernandez Jeanette Prenger Jerry Natividad Sal Gomez Allen Gutierrez Hector Barreto Jose Fuentes Bertica Cabrera Morris Rafael Elias-Linero
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Gingrich channels open-borders SEIU; Rubio rebukes; Update:Newt retreats
At Los Angeles Times , “Romney’s tax returns sit uneasily with Florida voters .” Reporting from Tampa and Plant City, Fla.— Even before Tuesday, Mitt Romney was struggling to connect to average voters, suffering from impromptu remarks — proffering a $10,000 wager in a debate, suggesting $375,000 in speaking fees was small change — that gave off a whiff of privilege. Then came Romney’s release of tax returns showing that in 2010 he claimed $21.6 million in income, with an effective tax rate of less than 14%, far less than many middle-class families pay. He also estimated $20.9 million in income for 2011, with a rate of just over 15%. Jeanne Johnson, a political independent and owner of the Lake Alfred Barber Shop, said that when she heard the news of Romney’s taxes on TV, “I thought I was going to throw up.” “It just ruined my day,” said Johnson, 51, a single mother of two who has been cutting hair since she was 20. “Like, get a real job.” Others living in her politically crucial area of Florida, where Republican presidential candidates are rushing raucously toward a Jan. 31 primary, took offense not at the sums but at Romney’s resistance to releasing his taxes until he was forced. “He hid his taxes,” said Helen Roise, 70, a tax preparer at H&R Block in Plant City, a central Florida hub that bills itself as the winter strawberry capital of the world. “He didn’t want us people to know. That’s what bothered me.” Even so, Roise planned to vote for Romney, mainly because she is from Michigan and remembers his father, George, as a good governor. Also at Christian Science Monitor , ” Mitt Romney tax return poses a challenge: how to talk about his wealth ,” and ” Mitt Romney’s disastrous week ends with collapse in national polls .”
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Romney Tax Returns Stoke Resentment in Florida
The world’s a scary place. Wars, famines, corrupt politicians, terrorism, imploding economies — the list goes on. There are plenty of issues worth fearing, which is why a subset of the nation is preparing for what they see as impending calamity. These individuals, dubbed “preppers,” are stocking up on food, guns, water and other items that they may need should the economy erupt or a massive natural disaster strike. With so many possibilities for problematic occurrences, these individuals want to ensure that they can live beyond any tragically defining moments. Most preppers are fearful of the prospects of no governmental structure — something that some see as a possibility amidst economic woes and political strife. Back in 2009, a Newsweek report described this phenomenon : In the late 1990s, Y2K fears brought survivalism to the mainstream, only to usher it back out again when disaster didn’t strike. (Suddenly, unused survival gear began showing up in classifieds and on eBay.) A decade later, “preppers” are what you might call survivalism’s Third Wave: regular people with jobs and homes whose are increasingly fearful about the future… Watch some preppers discuss their lifestyle, below: Reuters published a report this weekend, highlighting some of the preppers out there who are stockpiling and awaiting what they see as the inevitable. To begin, there’s Patty Tegeler, a 57-year-old who lives in Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains. “In an instant, anything can happen,” she said. “And I firmly believe that you have to be prepared.” Tegeler’s home has essentially been prepared for whatever may come. She has a large generator, water tanks, portable heaters and enough freeze-dried food to lock herself inside and to keep nourished for two years. Wondering how she secured these items? There’s an entire market that caters to these individuals (most vendors operate on the internet). These companies sell many of the items that Tegeler has in her own home, as they teach skills or sell the products needed to ensure individual and family survival pending disaster. The Reuters article even mentions Glenn Beck : Conservative talk radio host Glenn Beck seems to preach preppers’ message when he tells listeners: “It’s never too late to prepare for the end of the world as we know it.” Additionally, it goes on to further explain the movement: “With our current dependence on things from the electric grid to the Internet, things that people have absolutely no control over, there is a feeling that a collapse scenario can easily emerge, with a belief that the end is coming, and it is all out of the individual’s control,” [Cathy Gutierrez, an expert on end-times beliefs at Sweet Briar College in Virginia] told Reuters. While many would dub survivalist behaviors as silly or a waste of time, preppers separate themselves from the likes of Harold Camping and other leaders who have set dates for what they promise to be apocalyptic conclusions to societal existence. Preppers like Tegeler claim that their items won’t go to waste regardless of whether there’s a collapse or not. For these individuals it’s all about being ready for anything that could unfold. And there’s plenty of media outlets for these individuals to consume, as they share tips and communicate with one another. Blogs like lawyer Michael T. Snider’s ” The Economic Collapse ” focus upon the themes surrounding the economy’s potential bust. “Most people have a gut feeling that something has gone terribly wrong, but that doesn’t mean that they understand what is happening,” Snider said. “A lot of Americans sense that a massive economic storm is coming and they want to be prepared for it.” Then there’s James Wesley Rawles, a former Army intelligence officer, who is behind the ” Survival Blog ,” an online outlet that preppers regularly read. “We could see a cascade of higher interest rates, margin calls, stock market collapses, bank runs, currency revaluations, mass street protests, and riots,” he said in an interview with Reuters. “The worst-case end result would be a Third World War, mass inflation, currency collapses, and long term power grid failures.”
A screen shot from the American Preppers Network
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Meet the ‘Preppers’ — The Americans Stockpiling Food & Water for a Possible Collapse
Well, I’m holding off on some political analysis because there’s just too much news and commentary to digest. I’ll be blogging the reactions to the South Carolina primary earthquake later today. Meanwhile, I’m getting ready for some football. I love the playoffs more than the Super Bowl, and Bill Plaschke does too, at the Los Angeles Times, ” This Sunday is twice as good for NFL fans “: One of the hidden truths in professional football will make its annual appearance Sunday, bitten by frost, pelted by rain, awash in beauty. Advertisers don’t want you to know it. Party planners don’t want you to feel it. The NFL itself would rather you not recognize it. But with the intensity of a John Elway scramble and the passion of a Dwight Clark leap, it is a truth that cannot be denied. Sunday is the greatest single day of the NFL season. Sunday is the real Super Bowl, only twice as much and twice as good. The two conference championship games played Sunday will be more compelling than the one game played two weeks later, and it won’t even be close. Sunday is the Super Bowl minus the capital letters, Roman numerals and incessant glitz. Sunday is real football, played in real weather, in front of real fans, for real stakes. I’ve never seen a Super Bowl winner cry. I’ve seen New Orleans Saints players weeping when they beat the Minnesota Vikings to qualify for their first Super Bowl. I’ve never seen a Super Bowl quarterback quiver. I’ve seen Peyton Manning nearly faint from emotion as he staggered off the field after finally beating Tom Brady and qualifying for his first Super Bowl. The Super Bowl has become so big, both teams feel as if they’ve won by simply being there, and often act and play like it. The conference championships are very different, very down, very dirty. Heroes are made, chokers are discovered, every victory is much sweeter, each defeat more devastating. The conference championship games create so many great moments, those moments have been given enduring names. The Catch. The Drive. The Fumble. Even perhaps the most legendary postseason game of the modern was a Super Bowl semifinal game, the 1967 Ice Bowl in Green Bay. When as the last time the Super Bowl produced something so memorable that it was given a name? The Wardrobe Malfunction? This Sunday’s conference title clashes will be more of the same, a Super Bowl without some highbrow casual fan staring at the TV shouting “Super!” while other fans spend time grazing in appetizer bowls. RTWT. Also, at USA Today , ” Three-and-out: Giants, 49ers set to add to playoff history ,” and ” Three-and-out: Ravens, Patriots provide battle of contrasts .”
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NFL Conference Championship Weekend
Obama’s Disney World appearance will “literally shut down ‘Main Street USA.’”
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Team Obama shuts down ‘Main Street’
Well, maybe Perry can expand on this during Monday’s presidential debate. What a chance to call out the progressive left for its epic America-bashing and hypocrisy. At Los Angeles Times , ” Rick Perry: Marines who urinated on dead bodies are ‘kids’ .” And at USA Today , ” Perry slams Obama team’s response to Marines video .” Image Credit : The People’s Cube .
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Rick Perry Slams Obama Administration’s Response to Marines Pissing on Dead Taliban
