Quote :

"3 posts in a row with progressively increasing sarcasm...Paul has him coming apart at the seams folks "

Yeah I'm just exploding here, clicking the post button and then typing up one-liners, clearly I've lost it.

12/22/2011 11:20:11 AM

"Edit Post"

12/22/2011 11:23:13 AM

But then I gotta do the whole "enter a reason for this edit" thing, which costs more clicks and keypresses. Don't get me started on double edits...

12/22/2011 11:27:02 AM

Lazy and hates capitalism. It's all coming together now.

12/22/2011 11:47:07 AM

It's called "post smarter, not harder"

12/22/2011 1:31:04 PM

Quote :

"While operating a private medical practice? C'mon. The guy got immensely popular in the 80s. He was stretched too thin, some bad shit was said in a publication with his name on it, and that's literally the only "scandal" in his past. This is been brought up for a couple of decades when people simply don't want to have a real debate on the issues. "

There's no way Paul didn't know who was writing the things in his newsletters. He's obviously lying to protect someone (and i don't blame him). He's response on CNN was less than graceful too.

But, most articles about this issue accurately point out that you don't ever hear Paul saying anything racist, ever, which is a very valid point. Even Obama pointed out his grandmother was afraid of the blacks, so there are ways for Paul to explain his viewpoint while coming off as no more than a little naive about race (i think people would respect him more if he just came out and said this). but his odd behavior when asked about the issue just makes people think the worst.

12/22/2011 7:45:12 PM

Quote :

"There's no way Paul didn't know who was writing the things in his newsletters. He's obviously lying to protect someone (and i don't blame him). He's response on CNN was less than graceful too."

Oh, he knows who was writing at the time. Some of those people are dead. The ones that aren't have reputations at stake.

I'd really like to know more of the details behind the scenes, but ultimately, I don't give a shit. There are more important things at stake.

12/22/2011 7:56:57 PM

Too bad Paul stands for the policy changes with the biggest chance of decreasing the effects of racism in America: drug decriminalization.

The biggest problem minorities face in America is how law enforcement agencies go after them with a disproportional amount of aggression when it comes to drugs. This is the biggest reason for the disadvantage and Paul wants to end it.

12/22/2011 8:05:03 PM

So neither Perry or Gingrich are on the ballot in VA..... Interesting

12/24/2011 7:32:21 AM

They can't even run a campaign properly, what makes anyone think they can run a country?

12/24/2011 12:02:00 PM

doesn't Newt live in Virginia? As in, he won't be able to vote for himself in the primary?

12/27/2011 2:59:07 AM

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/gingrich-06-memo-agree-entirely-with-gov-romney-on-health-care/

Quote :

"We agree entirely with Governor Romney and Massachusetts legislators that our goal should be 100 percent insurance coverage for all Americans,” Gingrich wrote in 2006. And, Gingrich wrote, the key to achieving that goal was doing what Romney did in Massachusetts: Requiring everybody who could afford it to buy health insurance. In fact, Gingrich makes an impassioned case for the so-called individual mandate — which is also at the center of President Obama’s health plan — on conservative grounds."

So the GOP is spending all this energy to repeal Obamacare, while simultaneously on the verge of nominating a candidate who supported it's forebear.

[Edited on December 27, 2011 at 11:40 AM. Reason : :]

12/27/2011 11:40:51 AM

Maybe they changed their mind because the individual mandate doesn't make sense without a public option?

12/27/2011 12:40:31 PM

The individual mandate doesn't make sense period. Obama acknowledged that in the 2008 campaign.

All the public option does is offload the cost onto the people. That's certainly not the way to bring down costs.

12/27/2011 12:56:21 PM

With or without the public option the costs are offloaded onto the people.

With the public option, you at least don't have executives buying yachts with the money people pay to try to stop their mother from dying of cancer.

12/27/2011 1:36:32 PM

Quote :

"With or without the public option the costs are offloaded onto the people."

Not necessarily. Sure, those admitted to the emergency room without ability to pay will be rolled into the cost somewhere, but that's not the main driver of health care costs.

Quote :

"With the public option, you at least don't have executives buying yachts with the money people pay to try to stop their mother from dying of cancer."

Yes, you do. The executives just work for the government now.

12/27/2011 1:42:55 PM

There aren't any social security, medicare or medicaid gov. employees buying yachts.

12/27/2011 1:52:04 PM

That's because the money is in insurance right now, not entitlement administration. If the government essentially takes over insurance, you'd see a shift.

12/27/2011 2:17:10 PM

Fox News now trying to push Rick Santorum as the next frontrunner. Guaranteed Obama win, right there.

12/27/2011 6:14:05 PM

I was subjected to a lot of Fox news this weekend and I didn't get that at all. Since I had to watch it I was actively trying to figure out if there was any one candidate over the other they were pushing. The best I could tell they weren't overtly minimizing Ron Paul but they certainly weren't giving him the same air time as other candidates given his Iowa polling numbers. It seemed if anything they were trying to push Romney and Gingrich though not overtly with either one of them.

12/27/2011 6:24:23 PM

Mmmm hardcore social regressives.

12/27/2011 6:25:06 PM

At this point, Santorum is the only viable "not Romney" left, and the only one who hasn't been exposed to same level of scrutiny that sunk the rest. He won't win Iowa, but if he finishes 3rd or better, who knows. It was only a matter time before the Tea Party stared at the frothing puddle of Santorum, and saw their reflection.

In any case, I stopped worrying about Obama's reelection chances during the Cain train. The GOP field is a joke, and as long as his approval rating hovers near ~50%, it won't be a competitive race.

12/27/2011 6:36:11 PM

^^^It just started today. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/27/in-what-may-be-final-turn-in-gop-roller-coaster-santorum-begins-his-ascent/

There's no actual data to back it up, they're just hoping that it'll stick.

Quote :

"In any case, I stopped worrying about Obama's reelection chances during the Cain train. The GOP field is a joke, and as long as his approval rating hovers near ~50%, it won't be a competitive race."

Your optimism is almost certainly unjustified. While you'll try to convince everyone that the recession ended two years ago, regular Americans are still feeling the pain, and it's only going to get worse in 2012.

Gingrich now lashing out at Ron Paul, saying he wouldn't vote for him if he got the nomination. Of course, that's no surprise - Gingrich is bought and paid for. From the same article:

Quote :

"But Gingrich went on to note that that "we agree entirely with Gov. Romney and Massachusetts legislators that our goal should be 100 percent insurance coverage for all Americans.""

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9RT4NN83&show_article=1

Gingrich, Obama, and Romney are all the same candidate.

[Edited on December 27, 2011 at 6:44 PM. Reason : ]

12/27/2011 6:38:30 PM

stretching it pretty hard with the gingrich comparison.

Romney and Obama, yeah, I'll actually agree with that. Gingrich is a train wreck, though.

12/27/2011 6:56:28 PM

In terms of actual policy (which is the only thing I care about), I don't see a big difference. If any of the three are elected, we will have substantially bigger government than we had at the beginning of their terms.

12/27/2011 6:59:33 PM

Quote :

"Your optimism is almost certainly unjustified. While you'll try to convince everyone that the recession ended two years ago, regular Americans are still feeling the pain, and it's only going to get worse in 2012."

Nah, it's actually pretty justified. In fact, after Boehner's bungling of the payroll tax cut fight, the Dems have a punchers chance of retaking the house along with holding on to the senate. The GOP debates have basically been a contest to see who can say the craziest shit to differentiate themselves from Obama. I mean, give the man some credit. While his centrist governing may have alienated a lot of leftists, it's also made him basically immune to the usual lines of attack from the right. All they have left is pandering to bigots, which will only get you so far. The improving economy is just icing, that will take this from a close reelection for the incumbent to a laugher.

[Edited on December 27, 2011 at 7:21 PM. Reason : :]

12/27/2011 7:17:55 PM

As long as Europe doesn't go completely tits-up, 2012 should be a good year for the US economy. Trends indicate that companies are beginning to hire again, with more than 100,000 jobs added in each of the last 5 months. We should see around 3% growth and unemployment dipping below 8% by the end of the year. These trends bode well for Obama.

12/27/2011 7:21:24 PM

Thanks for instilling some confidence, guys.

Quote :

"As long as Europe doesn't go completely tits-up, 2012 should be a good year for the US economy."

Oh...fuck.

12/27/2011 7:35:02 PM

Quote :

"2012 should be a good year 2012 should be a good year 2012 should be a good year 2012 should be a good year 2012 should be a good year 2012 should be a good year 2012 should be a good year 2012 should be a good year 2012 should be a good year 2012 should be a good year "

12/27/2011 8:07:00 PM

^^ it's already acknowledged that austerity in the south will plunge the Eurozone into another recession. However, there is a reason that I emphasized "completely". The only way that Europe drags the US down is if their banks go belly-up, exposing the US to another financial meltdown. And as bad as it is in Italy, they still have the big bazooka of the ECB at their disposal if necessary. The Eurozone won't break apart for a few years at the earliest, I'm thinking.

12/27/2011 8:21:43 PM

Quote :

"CNN/TIME NH poll: Romney 44, Paul 17, Gingrich 16, Huntsman 9, Santorum 4, Bachmann 3, Perry 2."

Quote :

"CNN/Time IA poll: Romney 25, Paul 22, Santorum 16, Gingrich 14, Perry 11, Bachmann 9."

12/28/2011 4:08:31 PM

^I believe those were GOP only, not likely or previous caucus/primary voters.

12/28/2011 4:39:38 PM

Ha, Public Policy Polling tweeted, in response to CNN's poll:

Quote :

"If we only polled registered Republicans in Iowa like CNN we'd have Romney ahead of Paul too...not how the rules work though."

12/28/2011 8:03:25 PM

^^^^
I read an article recently that claimed us banks were salivating at things getting worse for Europe so they could buy up their assets for cheap.

12/29/2011 1:19:04 AM

Jon Huntsman: They pick corn in Iowa. They actually pick presidents here in New Hampshire

http://news.yahoo.com/huntsman-iowa-absence-pick-corn-iowa-123132431.html

Smart move, bro.

12/29/2011 7:56:34 PM

The other 48 states don't get to pick jack shit.

12/29/2011 10:23:48 PM

^^ he's right too

12/29/2011 11:35:50 PM

That comment is gonna bite him in the ass in 2016, when he actually has a shot in hell of getting the nomination and needs Iowa's support.

12/30/2011 12:13:21 AM

Haha don't be silly. There will be no election in 2016.

12/30/2011 12:42:54 AM

^ winrar

12/30/2011 12:48:02 AM

Lol at santorum being in the lead in Iowa.

12/31/2011 9:48:44 PM

I haven't seen any polls with Santorum in the lead.

1/1/2012 4:38:52 AM

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-election/8987336/US-elections-2012-Rick-Santorum-latest-Republican-to-surge-in-Iowa.html

He's been trading thetop spot with Romney

1/1/2012 3:10:44 PM

Lol what?

Only if you consider a subset of the data.

Quote :

"Having been stuck in low single-digits throughout the campaign, he came third behind Mr Romney and Ron Paul in the final Des Moines Register poll, backed by 15 per cent of likely caucus-goers. However the 53-year-old, who is supported by many evangelical Christians for his zero-tolerance stance on abortion, overtook Dr Paul when the last two days of the four-day survey was considered separately. That put his backing at 21 per cent, just three points behind Mr Romney, with 72 hours to go. "Momentum's name is Rick Santorum," said J. Ann Selzer, the top pollster for the newspaper."

[Edited on January 1, 2012 at 3:30 PM. Reason : Emphasis mine]

1/1/2012 3:29:47 PM

If Santorum gets nominated, I think I'll give up the fight. This country won't be salvageable.

1/1/2012 4:07:15 PM

Santorum scares me.

1/1/2012 4:49:12 PM

^^ I will without a doubt change my voter registration if that happens. He is the most giant of douchebags. He might be even worse than Bachmann or maybe even Palin.

^ Eh, he doesn't have any chance whatsoever to get elected, I don't think. It's just depressing that he gets any traction at all.

1/2/2012 12:14:14 AM

The fact that he wants to bomb Iran if they don't open up for an inspection of their nuclear plant..

1/2/2012 12:33:34 AM

^ you realize to the average AMerican, that sounds perfectly reasonable...?

1/2/2012 12:34:53 AM

Never said the average American doesn't scare me as well.

1/2/2012 1:15:19 AM