Important questions are NOT being asked in South Florida: With President Obama coming to South Florida today re his immigration/amnesty plan, when was last time you heard an honest public discussion in South Florida about African-American unemployment rates in Miami? I think Obama's amnesty plan makes that worse. Much worse!

Important questions are NOT being asked in South Florida: With President Obama coming to South Florida today re his immigration/amnesty plan, when was last time you heard an honest public discussion in South Florida about African-American unemployment rates in Miami? I think Obama's amnesty plan makes that long-term problem worse. Much worse!

How many times are we supposed to believe politicians' assurances that amnesty will fix immigration "once & for all"? http://t.co/ftELo7QkQB
— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) February 25, 2015

Hi @MSNBC @Telemundo: Isn't a townhall supposed to be open to the area's residents? Or are you just picking-and-choosing the "questions"?
— AJ Delgado (@AJDelgado13) February 25, 2015

Interesting. Obama in Miami tmrw for a "townhall" by @MSNBC and @Telemundo - yet tix were never made publicly available.
— AJ Delgado (@AJDelgado13) February 25, 2015

Nat'l Assoc of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO): "Where are the Barbara Jordans of our times?" https://t.co/6JGWh4vRy7
— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) February 24, 2015

"why is Mr. Obama more concerned about the welfare of illegal immigrants than the welfare of black Americans?" http://t.co/i8dw3zQeTu
— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) February 24, 2015

Top domestic priority for WH during Black History month has been work permits for non-citizens in U.S. illegally http://t.co/Siif3bbsEV
— NumbersUSA (@NumbersUSA) February 24, 2015

Every time struggling US workers turn around, POTUS adds more foreign workers to compete w/ them for new jobs http://t.co/5eM40EXx6B
— Roy Beck (@RoyBeck_NUSA) February 24, 2015

They don't even bother with "experts say" anymore/"Funding Fight Over Homeland Security Poses Dangers for the G.O.P." http://t.co/LTZLgQ9Dkr
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) February 24, 2015

AMAZING: Long @NBCNightlyNews report tonight on DHS funding battle NEVER MENTIONS WHAT FIGHT IS ABOUT (immigration) http://t.co/68GxlvvnBu
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) February 24, 2015

NBC Trapped in Kafkaesque Nightmare! http://t.co/6cfW0bIVMw via @dailycaller
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) February 24, 2015

The news that President Obama was coming into South Florida today got me to wondering and musing over the weekend, and not surprisngly, some of this sentiment clearly echoes things I've asked and answered in this very space many times over the past 8 years.

Simply put, have any of you attended a public meeting anywhere in South Florida in the last two years where, either together or individually, Representatives Lois Frankel, Debbie Wasserman 
Schultz or Frederica Wilson have spoken about immigration issues and attempted to make the case that President Obama's immigration plan for amnesty for up to 5 Million people would NOT 
negatively hurt long-term unemployed workers in South Florida, esp. African-Americans?

Or seen a similar public discussion in your area? 
Why do you suppose that is?
And why fdo you suppose that the local news media ignores that obvious question, just as supposed South Florida-based public policy groups do as well?

When I was a kid growing-up as a news and politics junkie in 1970's South Florida, on the day that unemployment rates came out of the Dept. of Labor Statistics in Washington -i.e. the BLS- I seem to recall that it was usually the case that then-WTVJ anchor Ralph Renick -when he was the dominant media voice in all of South Florida- would make a point of mentioning not only the national and state numbers, but the ones for Dade and Broward, too, along with the local unemployment rate for Blacks.

And those numbers would usually appear on screen, along with a very simple graph that would be embarrassing to put up these days.

The idea being that accuracy mattered, of course, but also that it's important to have useful context and nuance to draw upon before making any reasonable conclusions about what was happening with unemployment and the economy.

That seems like such a simple thing, but before I left the area last June for an extended period of time, I can't think of the last time I actually heard the long-term unemployment levels for African-Americans in Miami getting either mentioned in print or on TV or brought into the larger discussion about their relative economic standing only getting worse if that action took place.

Especially since I think it's fair to say that based on my living in South Florida again for the past 11 years, there are many less Black adults or children in South Florida who can speak even passable Spanish, compared to when I was a kid growing-up taking Spanish for 6 years and French for 4.

Those Latin American entrepreneurs coming to Miami that seemingly everyone in South Florida's incurious media horde likes to make a fuss over in often over-the-top sycophancy, with some TV stations being especially egregious about making no pretense of being anything but Chamber of Commece cheerleaders, are NOT going to be hiring people who are NOT bilingual, except for low wage jobs.

So what group is that going to be in Miami-Dade County?
Precisely, but instead, everyone just pretends they don't know what the logical result of this will be.
#Despair

I guess we'll all have to just wait until after the next riot and have yet more foreign and out-of-state reporters fly into the area to comment again on the self-evident short-term attention span of reporters that is actually much worse than South Florida residents as a whole.
Which is why those out-of-towners will again be speaking about South Florida reporters continuing to ignore the legitimate concerns of Black Miami, preferring to do ponintless stories about breast surgery, food fads and fashion and crime lowlights among visiting celebs and rappers on South Beach.

But then isn't that lack of energy and foresight the same reason why local news media don't exert any energy at all in pressing local South Florida Congressional representatives on policies that are harmful to such a large share of the populace?
Their own constituents!

Recently, Rasmussen Reports released a national poll on the Obama Amnesty plan.
Guess what it said

Voters Weigh Costs of Obama's Amnesty Plan

Voters still view President Obama's order exempting up to five million illegal immigrants from deportation as illegal and tend to think Congress should try to stop it. But they're evenly divided over whether a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is the way to do it. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/february_2015/voters_weigh_costs_of_obama_s_amnesty_plan

Delicious! ICYMI in October, Ralph Benko reviews Niall Ferguson's factual assault on Paul Krugman and considers it a huge public service, ending it with, "Play taps for Private Krugman." I agree! As for the terministic screens...

Much Bigger Than The Shutdown: Niall Ferguson's Public Flogging Of Paul Krugman http://t.co/Dy2UEaC6i6 via @forbes #tcot @jamesgrickards
— Ralph Benko (@TheWebster) October 21, 2013

Been meaning to post this wonderful post full of ideas for weeks...

Delicious! ICYMI in October, Ralph Benko reviews Niall Ferguson's factual assault on Paul Krugman and considers it a huge public service, ending it with, "Play taps for Private Krugman." I agree! As for the terministic screens...

Forbes.com
OP/ED
Much Bigger Than The Shutdown: Niall Ferguson's Public Flogging Of Paul Krugman
By Ralph Benko
10/21/2013 @ 8:00AM 

While America was distracted by the theatrics of the government shutdown and threat of default something of much greater importance occurred.  

Niall Ferguson undertook a public flogging of Paul Krugman.
Krugman’s horns now forever will show under his dislodged faux halo. For this the world will prove a safer, and much more decent, place.

Read the rest at:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2013/10/21/much-bigger-than-the-shutdown-niall-fergusons-public-flogging-of-paul-krugman/

Three months earlier, there was this:

Forbes.com
OP/ED 
If Paul Krugman Didn't Exist, Republicans Would Have To Invent Him
By Ralph Benko
7/22/2013 @ 8:00AM

Paul Krugman makes for an unparalleled intellectual foil. If he didn’t exist we’d have to invent him. Recently he has been vintage Krugman, slinging derp. 

“Derp” is new slang, or perhaps jargon, with which to ridicule opponents. It is making its wayamong the left wing hipsters, blogsters, and twitsters.

Read the rest of the essay at:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2013/07/22/if-paul-krugman-didnt-exist-republicans-would-have-to-invent-him/

More Ralph Benko:
@TheWebster https://twitter.com/TheWebster
http://thegoldstandardnow.org/

Fred Barnes dribble drives, shoots and scores: "The canard that never dies—despite the total absence of facts to back it up" -Obama saved the U.S. from another Great Depression. Yes, he saved us from the thing that nobody predicted would happen -and which never was going to happen; #ThomasPeterffy

Thomas Peterffy video: Thomas Peterffy - Freedom To Succeed. 
"America's wealth comes from the efforts of people striving for success. Take away their incentive with badmouthing success and you take away the wealth that helps us take care of the needy. Yes, in socialism the rich will be poorer -but the poor will also be poorer. People will lose interest in really working hard and creating jobs."
Uploaded October 10, 2012. http://youtu.be/UnX7TNFIELg

Fred Barnes dribble drives, shoots and scores: "The canard that never dies—despite the total absence of facts to back it up" -Obama saved the U.S. from another Great Depression. Yes, he saved us from the thing that nobody predicted would happen.

The Weekly Standard
Obama Didn’t Save Us
By Fred Barnes
October 22, 2012, Volume 18, Number 6

About the only talking point Joe Biden didn’t repeat in his debate with Paul Ryan was the one lionizing President Obama for having saved the country from another Great Depression. Biden used it in his speech at the Democratic convention, as did others, and it remains a hardy perennial of Obama lore. The president, ever immodest, has credited himself for this achievement. Last year Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told him, it’s “your legacy.” Andrew Sullivan, in a recent Newsweek cover story likening Obama to Ronald Reagan, twice credited the president with having “prevented a second Great Depression.”

Read the rest of the column at:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/obama-didn-t-save-us_654408.html

-----
#ThomasPeterffy  http://twitter.com/search?q=%23ThomasPeterffy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Peterffy

Dennis Miller says he not only is NOT undecided, he's "over-decided" for Mitt Romney; opines on Sandra Fluke and the contrived issue of the "war on women"; the role of individual responsibility in combating unemployment and slumping U.S. economy and NOT allowing the govt. to have so much control over your life; the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign

Amusing and pithy as always, appearing this past week on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Dennis Miller, opinionated comedian and host of the nationally-syndicated radio program, "The Dennis Miller Show," told host Bill O'Reilly that he not only is NOT undecided, he's "over-decided" for Mitt Romney. He also discussed President Obama's appearance on CBS-TV's the "Late Show with David Letterman" and the softball questions he received while a guest there, and spoke about the 2012 election campaign. Uploaded September 19, 2012. http://youtu.be/tpN8u4uHe1M

LOL!

Appearing three weeks earlier on NBC-TV's  “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,”  Dennis told Jay what he really thought about Sandra Fluke and the Democratic party's contrived issue of the "GOP "war on women " in order to solidify their base of young female voters; taxpayer-funded government programs and the distinction he makes between helping people who are genuinely in need of help, and helping the merely clueless, who feel they can use the govt. as a hammock to support them when it's convenient. Uploaded August 27, 2012. http://youtu.be/lv2jAiWmpio


DennisMillerShow video: Dennis Miller Radio Show- Bathrobe Sessions #220. 
Dennis on the role of individual responsibility in combating unemployment and slumping U.S. economy and NOT allowing the govt. to have so much control over your life. Uploaded September 20, 2012. http://youtu.be/107_ZV_XV7s



"Dennis on The Road " tour schedule: http://www.dennismillerradio.com/b/Fall-2012:-Dennis-on-the-Road!/969152456530916447.html

http://www.dennismillerradio.com/

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/DennisMillerShow 

Obama economy claims newest victim -Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. to close - Obama blames digital technology for loss of jobs; TheWrap's Tim Molloy & Tim Kenneally report on NBC-TV pulling plug on "The Office" after this coming season, Season 9

MittRomney video: These Hands: Virginia 
Melissa Ball of Ball Office Products of Richmond, VA tells what she knows from first-hand experience and how she feels about small companies like hers -in her case, a woman-owned company- being held-up as objects of ridicule under President Obama. Uploaded August 2, 2012. http://youtu.be/sfn6axtWH-I

As one American company that serves office products survives, another beloved one shuts down for good...


Photo from Photobucket.com

Obama economy claims newest victim -Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. to close - Obama blames digital technology for loss of jobs; TheWrap's Tim Molloy & Tim Kenneally report on NBC-TV pulling plug on "The Office" after this coming season, Season 9

'The Office' to End After Season 9
By Tim Molloy & Tim Kenneally
Published: August 21, 2012 @ 11:46 am
http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/office-end-after-season-9-52916


As It happens, Dwight reminded all of us in the episode from Season 6 that ran on WTBS early this very morning what the employees could do if the company shut down, 

"You can all have jobs at Schrute Farms as human scarecrows. Although it doesn't pay much, and you can't unionize."

-----

"At Ball, we don’t just take orders – we build relationships."

2100 Westmoreland St. Richmond Va 23230

info@ballop.com 

Phone: (804) 204-1774 or 1-800-719-8748

Fax: (804) 204-1597

http://ballop.com/

http://ballop.com/blog/

I'm very psyched -and greatly relieved!- by the selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's Vice Presidential nominee; Integrity, optimism and a tenacious work-ethic are Ryan's hallmarks

Prosperity Project video: The Crisis. Congressman Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, outlines the debt crisis we face. Uploaded April 5, 2011.

http://youtu.be/O-QEENKN_9Y

His future plans made clearer, Marco Rubio and his family and friends can now finally breathe again and have a little more personal space, a more normal life, though this necessarily means that many of the most ardently pro-amnesty immigrant groups, and their allies in the news media, will now have to get off their summer diet of anti-Rubio remarks and anecdotes for new agitprop pieces attacking Rubio for being, well, part of the norm, and not one of their puppets.

This will also mean the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times can finally wake-up from their long summer slumber and sleepwalking, 86 their Marco Rubio Veep infatuation, smell the Cuban coffee, get out of their air conditioned offices, and get moving on transforming their heretofore lame and going-thru-the-motions 2012 presidential and Florida election coverage, so much of which has been just plain pitiful the past year in the view of not just myself but friends of mine who work at national news organizations, who are rightly puzzled and chagrined at what passes for news coverage in the two largest markets of the fourth-largest state in the country.

Romney's choice of optimistic, hard-working and media-genic Jack Kemp acolyte Paul Ryan also means that we can count on Debbie Wasserman Schultz going into full ZEALOT mode in the coming week, as she once again abandons her constituents in Broward to play the role of attack dog as she criss-crosses the country, only venturing into safe Dem districts.

Yes, we can count on seeing a steady stream of photographs of her predictable nonsensical threats before older voters and rich Democratic donors, her odd facial expressions and hairstyles will produce photographs which will, in some cases, will, no doubt, prove priceless.
His Midwestern friendliness and amiability will continue to stand out in sharp contrast to her shrill, know-it-all, govt. as savior nostrums, and her patronizing glares.

As you newcomers to the blog can see, below, I've already been a strong supporter of Paul Ryan and his economic prescription... and have been waiting patiently to see when and if I should share some of the knowledge here about Ryan, a man whom a week ago, 99% of South Florida's reporters couldn't have told you anything about other than that he was from Wisconsin. 

Here's one of the sources for information that THEY and you can trust: the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com/

See my previous blog post, with video, on Congressman Paul Ryan and his budget prowess of April 8, 2011 titled, Michael Barone on Paul Ryan's AEI speech taking on his budget critics: "Ryan Steals March on Obama as Fiscal Crisis Looms"
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/michael-barone-on-paul-ryans-aei-speech.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: House Budget Press <HBCPress@mail.house.gov>
Date: Fri, Aug 10, 2012 at 10:19 AM
Subject: Ryan and Sessions: ‘Unprecedented 1,200 Days’ Since Senate Democrats Passed A Budget
To:

PRESS RELEASES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAugust 10, 2012 PERMALINK	CONTACT: William Allison (Ryan) 202-226-6100 Stephen Miller, Andrew Logan (Sessions) 202-228-0575
Ryan and Sessions: ‘Unprecedented 1,200 Days’ Since Senate Democrats Passed A Budget
WASHINGTON – House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions of Alabama issued the following joint statement marking the 1,200th day since Senate Democrats have last adopted a budget: “Tomorrow marks another disappointing record for the United States Senate: Senate Majority Leader Reid and his Democrat conference will have gone an unprecedented 1,200 days without adopting a budget plan as required by law. Not only have they failed to adopt a budget, but with America under threat of financial calamity, they have refused to even present a plan for public scrutiny. Last year, Majority Leader Reid said it would be ‘foolish’ to do a budget and the legally required Budget Committee mark-up was cancelled. No plan from his conference has seen the light of day. He refuses to disclose who he plans to tax and how he plans to spend taxpayers’ money. “This year, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad committed to bringing forth a budget plan and conducting a mark-up, and was shut down by the Majority Leader. Once again, the conference put forward no proposal and offered nothing on the Senate floor. The Senate Majority did not offer up a single plan or even cast a vote in support of a single plan. By contrast, House Republicans laid out and adopted a credible, responsible plan that avoids this looming debt crisis with spending cuts and pro-growth tax reform while preserving the safety net. "Never before has our nation needed a budget and a long-term financial plan as badly as it needs one now. The Congressional Budget Office stated this week that the federal government is on track to run another trillion-dollar deficit this year and our debt will continue to explode with this continued lack of leadership. In addition to huge deficits, we face a $4 trillion tax increase at the end of this year and a sequester that Defense Secretary Panetta said will ‘do catastrophic damage to the military.’ Responsible and moral leadership requires the Senate to meet its legal obligation to pass a budget and to begin to address the fiscal crisis that is fast approaching our nation.”
###

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Video: 60 Minutes reports on Obama's economy in Orlando and Central Florida: Homeless kids living in cars. If you missed this powerful 60 Minutes story last year, see it Sunday night at 7 p.m. Eastern: heart-breaking hard times for kids in Obama's America - Hard times generation: homeless kids, reported by Scott Pelley; #60Minutes, @ScottPelley, @60Minutes

CBS News 60 Minutes Preview: Hard Times Generation. Above, Arielle and Austin Metzger. CBS News anchor Scott Pelley goes to Central Florida to document a slice of life under Obama you may've missed: kids and their parents forced to live in cars. 

See his report on Sunday night at 7 p.m. Eastern.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7389253n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

CBS News 60 Minutes: Hard times generation: Homeless kids,

First aired: March 6, 2011
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358670n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel




CBS4 video: Florida Teen Destiny Raynor Talks About New Faces Of Poverty.
December 15, 2011 8:31 PM
Article at:
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/12/15/florida-teen-talks-about-new-faces-of-poverty/

http://miami.cbslocal.com/latest-videos?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6552285

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml/


https://twitter.com/60minutes

Economic fairness is a loser of an issue in 2012 presidential campaign: Bill O'Reilly and pollster Scott Rasmussen, separately, opine on why President Obama's negative TV attack ads on Mitt Romney's re his tenure at Bain Capital, while driving-up Romney's negatives among Democrats, are actually failing to move enough voters his way, as 62% of U.S. puts economic growth ahead of economic fairness

Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor with Bill O'Reilly
Talking Points: The real Barack Obama has finally stood up
July 19, 2012. http://video.foxnews.com/v/1743930340001/



Pollster Scott Rasmussen opines on why President Obama's negative TV attack ads on Mitt Romney's re his tenure at Bain Capital, while driving-up Romney's negatives among Democrats, are actually failing to sufficiently move enough numbers his way -while making Romney supporters and moderates more angry at Obama- as 62% of U.S. puts economic growth ahead of economic fairness


Rasmussen Reports

Bain Attacks Fail to Shake Up Presidential Race

A Commentary By Scott Rasmussen

Friday, July 20, 2012

Over the past few weeks, President Obama and his campaign team have launched a furious attack on Mitt Romney's record as head of Bain Capital, a highly successful venture capital firm.

There is clear evidence that the attacks have had some impact. 

Read the rest of the essay at:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_scott_rasmussen/bain_attacks_fail_to_shake_up_presidential_race

-----

Rasmussen Reports

62% Put Economic Growth Ahead of Economic Fairness

in Politics

July 19, 2012

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/july_2012/62_put_economic_growth_ahead_of_economic_fairness

Sen. Marco Rubio discusses Obamacare before SCOTUS -interview on CNBC's 'Squawk Box' with Becky Quick, Joe Kernen & Andrew Ross Sorkin; with Dennis Miller on his talk radio show

Sen. Marco Rubio discusses Obamacare on CNBC-TV's Squawk Box with Becky Quick,  Joe Kernen & Andrew Ross Sorkin. April 4, 2012.
http://youtu.be/VsrF-h8Dtj0





Audio of Senator Rubio discussing the Supreme Court's review of Obamacare with actor and radio show talk host Dennis Miller. March 28, 2012.
http://youtu.be/LmGDNpjapoo


-----


Dennis Miller Show's homepage: http://www.dennismillerradio.com/


CNBC-TV's Squawk Box homepage: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15838368/


http://www.cnbc.com/


Florida Senator Marco Rubio's YouTube Channel: 
http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorMarcoRubio


His other one is: http://www.youtube.com/user/MarcoRubio


Reclaim America PAC: http://www.reclaimamericapac.com/

Must-see videos from '60 Minutes' - End of NASA's Space Shuttle & cancellation of Constellation program cripples FL's Space Coast economy, as space program's Best & Brightest leave Florida or downsize their lives, leaving personal, social & economic devastation in its wake -14,000 prideful people suddenly jobless

CBS News 60 Minutes video: Scott Pelley reports: "High joblessness in the home of U.S. space flight." Originally aired April 1, 2012. "With the end of the space shuttle program, Brevard County, Fla., lost its largest employer, and Kennedy Space Center workers lost good jobs that made them proud." http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403938n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox

Must-see videos from '60 Minutes' - End of NASA's Space Shuttle & cancellation of Constellation program cripples FL's Space Coast economy, as space program's Best & Brightest leave Florida or downsize their lives, leaving personal, social & economic devastation in its wake -14,000 prideful people suddenly jobless.




"60 Minutes Overtime" video: Space Coast: Through the lens of 60 Minutes. Posted online April 1, 2012. CBS News cameraman Chris Albert uses his Canon 5D to capture the story of the devastation of the end of the Space Shuttle program in Brevard County, Florida, home to the Kennedy Space Center, and its ripple effect throughout the Space Coast.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57407321-10391709/space-coast-through-the-lens-of-60-minutes/ 

Newt Gingrich plays hardball, tells truth, electrifies South Carolina GOP debate re education policy, govt. benefits, war on terrorism, Pakistan; the post-debate spin on Sean Hannity Show

Newt Gingrich campaign video: Newt on Education: Return Power to Parents. January 17, 2012. http://youtu.be/6Gc-x-tZ2bQ



Newt Gingrich campaign video: Newt: "99 Weeks is an Associate Degree". January 17, 2012. http://youtu.be/2Xr72U1jdtE



Newt Gingrich campaign video: Newt Gingrich to Juan Williams: Americans Want Paychecks, Not Government Food Stamps. January 17, 2012. 
http://youtu.be/4c1-22w2G7M



Newt Gingrich campaign video: Newt Plan for America's Enemies: Kill Them. January 17, 2011. http://youtu.be/50WYM-1SjQQ



Newt Gingrich campaign video: Newt Gingrich's appearance on Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity Show after the debate. January 17, 2012.
http://youtu.be/NTDP5-7OTj4


All videos are from the January 16, 2012 Republican Presidential debate held at North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina sponsored by Fox News Channel, The Wall Street Journal and the South Carolina Republican Party.





National Journal: Newt Gingrich on Mitt Romney: Why Nominate a Loser?, January 16, 2012. http://bcove.me/afa4zld8


National Journal
CAMPAIGN 2012
Gingrich on Romney: Why Nominate a Loser?
Former speaker says past defeats show Romney, Santorum are unelectable
By Sarah Huisenga
Updated: January 17, 2012 | 1:03 p.m.
January 16, 2012 | 5:32 p.m.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/gingrich-on-romney-why-nominate-a-loser--20120116


The Florida GOP Presidential primary is two weeks from today and I will be voting for Newt Gingrich.
I received my new voter's registration card in the mail on Saturday, exactly eleven days after visiting the Broward Supervisor of Elections HQ in Ft. Lauderdale to do the paperwork to change my party registration. 


-----
More information on Newt Gingrich at:

http://www.newt.org/


http://www.youtube.com/user/ngingrich


http://twitter.com/newtgingrich 

Iowa Caucus-apalooza is tonight, and as 80% reject Romney & Paul, GOP strategists work on Obama's biggest flaw: his own words and his OWN failure to deliver on his lofty rhetoric

First in the Nation: The Iowa Caucuses
http://youtu.be/Da2xVjBiNjQ

That sound you'll be hearing in the distance all across the country later today, around 12 Noon Eastern, is the sound of millions of people turning on their radios to hear what Rush Limbaugh has to say about what is and is NOT going on in the hours leading up to tonight's Iowa GOP presidential caucus.


Townhall.com

Why 80% Reject Paul and Romney
By Kevin McCullough
1/1/2012

Dear Iowa Caucus participants,

You have been told for the better part of year now who it is that you must choose. Beltway insiders have insisted upon thrusting establishment candidates upon you. Libertarian anarchists have swopped into your state shouting that you must support Ron Paul, while toking on the marijuana they soon believe President Paul will make legal.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://townhall.com/columnists/kevinmccullough/2012/01/01/why_80_reject_paul_and_romney





Rush: Establishment "Afraid Newt Might Win," Because Their "Hearts Are Set on Romney"
http://youtu.be/pIOPvSKSk0o

Art Laffer: Gingrich Has Done It Before, Has Best Economic Plan

http://youtu.be/dRCgN8jgCgI

New York Times
As Gingrich Reels From Attack Ads, Some Aides Suggest Fighting Back

By Trip Gabriel

Published: December 30, 2011

DES MOINES — Alarmed by Newt Gingrich’s decline in the polls in the face of a fusillade of negative advertisements, some senior aides and grass-roots supporters have suggested that he reverse course and fight fire with fire, fearing for the future of his candidacy if he does not.

Mr. Gingrich’s vow to stay positive draws applause at every stop of his winding Iowa bus tour, but polls raise questions about that strategy as attack ads against him from his opponents’ campaigns and independent groups have seeped into voters’ minds.

Read the rest of the article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/31/us/politics/gingrichs-aides-urge-him-to-fight-back-against-attack-ads.html

PBS video: Washington Week: On the Trail: The Iowa Caucuses, December 29, 2011.
http://youtu.be/dOq95QNbPIc

New York Times
Group’s Ads Rip at Gingrich as Romney Stands Clear
Restore Our Future has spent close to $3 million in Iowa alone.
By Nicholas Confessore and Jim Rutenberg
Published: December 30, 2011

DES MOINES — The attacks began three weeks ago and have not let up since: Television ad after television ad slamming Newt Gingrich for having “more baggage than the airlines,” for being fined by Congress for ethics violations, for his position on illegal immigration, even for admitting that he has made mistakes on the campaign trail.

Democrats and Republicans alike have singled out the $2.8 million-and-counting air deluge as the biggest factor in Mr. Gingrich’s precipitous drop in polls of Iowa voters and Mitt Romney’s corresponding rise, reshaping the critical first contest of the Republican primary season to Mr. Romney’s benefit.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/31/us/politics/restore-our-future-attack-ads-harm-gingrich-in-iowa.html


The Washington Post
GOP’s election battle plan: Use Obama’s own words against him
By Peter Wallsten
Published: January 1, 2012

With Republican voters in Iowa set to finally begin picking a nominee to challenge President Obama, GOP officials in Washington are quietly and methodically finishing what operatives are calling “the book” — 500 pages of Obama quotes and video links that will form the backbone of the party’s attack strategy against the president leading up to Election Day 2012.

The document, portions of which were reviewed by The Washington Post, lays out how GOP officials plan to use Obama’s words and voice as they build an argument for his defeat: that he made specific promises and entered office with lofty expectations and has failed to deliver on both.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gops-battle-plan-against-obama-use-his-own-words-against-him/2011/12/30/gIQA7ZrPUP_story.html




http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/rss/politics/campaigns


http://www.youtube.com/user/ngingrich


http://townhall.com/columnists/kevinmccullough/

Henry Blodgett's insightful take on the U.S. economy, unemployment and job creation: Sorry, high-tech isn't labor-intensive; the Apple example

The Blaze video: Amy Holmes Interviews Henry Blodget from Business Insider, October 13, 2011. http://youtu.be/N_l-gBTW1To

Below is an interesting and sobering take on the U.S. unemployment situation that was written a few days ago by Henry Blodgett, CEO and Editor-In Chief of Business Insider, before the contentious debate began in earnest on Friday about the validity of the official numbers being released, esp. about the "real" number of Americans unemployed, given how many Americans have now used up their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits.

They no longer count in the official govt. statistics, just like people who have given up looking for work.

More below the article.

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http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-new-data-center-north-carolina-created-50-jobs-2011-11

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For years while I lived in the Washington, D.C. area -roughly 1988-2003- Henry Blodgett's alternately insightful, funny and tart-tongued essays, commentary and darts on the economic scene and the ups and downs of various U.S. businesses and the people who ran them, as well as his take on the regulators and Capitol Hill legislators who pretended to know what was going on -mostly written for Slate- was an almost daily source of amusement and email back-and-forth between myself and many of my more professionally financially-focused friends and former colleagues, some of whom wrote for well-known national media outlets.

Blodgett is CEO and Editor-In Chief of Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/author/henry-blodget

Here's an example of one email to someone in Washington, D.C. from just over three years ago, with the response to it first; names changed to protect the innocent and guilty.

Re: FYI: re Henry Blodgett on buying NYT Digital; Hillary as Cordell Hull?

Monday, November 24, 2008 2:11 AM

Love this e-mail! The Hillary analysis was dead on.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

From: (me)

Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:55:44 -0800 (PST)

Subject: FYI: re Henry Blodgett on buying NYT Digital; Hillary as Cordell Hull?

Dear X:

Hola amigo!

Meant to send this interesting post below to ya on Friday.

Hope all is well with you and your real family -and the extended Timesian family in DC that I came to know- this coming Turkey Day.

You can't begin to know how much I miss being around the action!!!

You would not believe the number of reporters, print and TV, down here who wouldn't recognize a story if their lives depended on it. Really.

The banal quality and quantity of news reporting down here is SO much worse than I can adequately describe here, or ever remembered witnessing when I'd come down here from D.C. over the holidays or for Orioles spring training.

(Have you heard if Tom F. is renewing his O's season tickets???)

Suffice to say that in an area that has a million stories cooking, too many reporters in South Florida have a pronounced lack of curiosity and resourcefulness, and seem to think they are all on stand-by for Access Hollywood, ie, are literally led by hand to stories by publicists and corporate cousins and their flacks.

As you might recall me having previously mentioned, I subscribe to the Silicon Alley Insider via email, and when I saw the photo of Jane and Arthur, Jr. in Henry Blodgett's post below, it made me laugh uncontrollably when I first saw it, largely because -what are the odds- I'd just been reading something about the British monarchy and -wait for it- Lady Jane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Jane_Grey

She, too, thought that she was in charge, but when push came to shove with the royal family, "Off with her head!"

(And they meant it!)

As your friend, I have to advise you that in the event she comes down to D.C. anytime soon, do NOT stand next to her, he said only semi-jokingly!

No doubt over the next few months, IF she walks the plank, we'll be reading revisionist essays from many quarters in the punditocracy saying that Grey Lady Jane wasn't really ever responsible for any of the bad decisions made by the Times, it was others.

Sadly and rather predictably, I suspect that'll esp. be the case with female writers, who will posit some heretofore unknown convenient alibi that this particular corporate suit, is, well, different than all the other business suits that have been recently tarred-and-feathered metaphorically for bad business performance and poor decisions that helped lead to that dead end.

I especially think that'll be the case for those female columnists outside the Times' outer defense perimeter, since, well, seriously, how many times can they pretend that they really care where the Obama girls go to school?

Like you didn't guess Sidwell Friends about 30 seconds after it was official he'd won just like I did?

Please!

Very disappointed to see recently that the Times sports magazine PLAY went buh-bye for good.

I could never tell when it was going to come out, which is frustrating and perhaps part of the bigger non ad-related problem, due to lack of topicality, but there was always something interesting in it, the same way there always was with the late great

Inside Sports magazine in the 1980's, which presaged so many of the past 25 years of sports writing, good and bad, though I prefer to recall the good.

That's where I first heard of John "Junior" Feinstein...

When I lived in Evanston, I lived next door to their editorial office my first year there. So, tell me again why I was so stupid that I never thought to go next door and talk my way into some sort of assignment to prove my worth, such as it was at the time?

Easily one of my worst decisions ever!

Monday's LA Times has an interesting angle on the possible Hillary move to Foggy Bottom, and I've been thinking about it more than most, since it's actually quite original.

New York Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-hillary24-2008nov24,0,1141924.story

A TIME OF TRANSITION

Clinton's potential pitfalls seen in FDR's secretary of State

Like Cordell Hull, she could find herself marginalized because she hasn't been close to the president she would serve. Her future ambitions could also complicate her job.

By Paul Richter

November 24, 2008

Reporting from Washington — Cordell Hull was a veteran lawmaker with a worldwide reputation when Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him secretary of State in 1933, in part to win needed support from Hull's army of Democratic admirers.

But the dignified Tennessean was never close to FDR. As time passed, he was "muscled out by others in the administration," said Michael Hunt, a diplomatic historian at the University of North Carolina.

Barack Obama's election as president has drawn other comparisons with Roosevelt's, especially for the economic crisis he inherits. But the example of Hull, a marginal figure despite the fact that he served into the 1940s and later won the Nobel Peace Prize, may point to potential pitfalls for Hillary Rodham Clinton if she takes the top diplomatic post, as seems increasingly likely.

Clinton would come to the role with global star power, a first-name relationship with world leaders, and a long familiarity with foreign policy.

But her relationship with the president and the new administration -- so key to success in the job -- is coarsely mixed. And her future ambitions could affect her pursuit of the administration's goals.

Hmm-m...

Now consider this, from a recent NYT quiz

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/crosswords/trivia/quiz335.html?scp=1&sq=%22Cordell%20Hull%22&st=cse

NOODLE NUDGER #335 -- Steel Trap

Question #3 was:

He headed U.S. Steel before he was tapped by Franklin D. Roosevelt to run the Lend-Lease Program. Name this executive who went on to succeed Cordell Hull as the Secretary of State in 1944.

You said John W. Aiken. The correct answer is Edward Stettinius.

As Secretary of State, Stettinius helped establish the United Nations, and represented the U.S. at that institution from January to June 1946.

If Hillaryland goes to Foggy Bottom, I think she won't last past the first term.

Consider the following two pieces from NYT 'Christmas Past' as part of my reasoning.

THE MAN WHO SITS AT ROOSEVELT'S RIGHT; Cordell Hull Has Long Been a Student of International Economics

By BERTRAM D. HULEN,

Sunday Magazine

April 9, 1933

WASHINGTON

A student of economics, Cordell Hull comes to the office of Secretary of State at a time when, in his own words, "the world is in a state of bitter economic war" and when negotiations in the interests of world peace must, for some time to come, be based on economic questions...

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DEWEY'S STRENGTH SHOWN IN SURVEY;

He Would Give Roosevelt or Hull a Close Race Now, Gallup Study Finds

THIRD 'TRIAL HEAT' HELD

It Pictures Possible Result if Election Were Conducted at This Time

Sunday May 12, 1940

Thomas E.. Dewey would run an extremely close race for the Presidency against either Cordell Hull, Secretary of State, or President Roosevelt, if the contest were staged now, a survey just completed by the American Institute of Public Opinion indicates, according to Dr. George Gallup, its director...

I forgot, while Hull was the father of the inheritance tax and the modern federal income tax, what exactly was Hillary's track record and expertise with economics in the Senate and the presidential race with Obama? Exactly.

Her numbers didn't add up!

If -as Tom always says in his columns and books - economics is more important than ever to U.S. foreign policy, isn't that likely to make Hillary even less important in an Obama-dominant administration?

In a word, yes.

Adios!

____

Silicon Alley Insider

Reducing Our Offer For The New York Times (NYT)

Henry Blodget

November 20, 2008 12:52 PM

As you recall, back in July, we happily made an offer for the digital operations of the New York Times Company (NYT).

We offered a massive price--$1 billion--and proposed an innovative deal structure that would avoid the need for annoying shareholder approvals, jillion-dollar legal fees, egregious tax hits, etc. (In short, the NYT would acquire us, and then spin us and NYT Digital out--see details below). We explained how we would run the standalone NYT Digital and how the proposed transaction would benefit New York Times shareholders, who have since been obliterated.

Well, we are pleased to say that, despite the global market carnage, our offer remains in effect! Alas, in light of the impending depression and recent developments at the New York Times Company, we must mark our offer to market.

http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/11/reducing-our-offer-for-the-new-york-times-nyt

Obviously, in retrospect, I wasn't right about everything three years ago.

Hillary Clinton has outperformed all of Obama's economic team!

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Another helpful article to me on Janet Robinson's handling of the New York Times and their financial condition at the time I wrote the email above was this great piece in the New York Observer, which I've been faithfully reading for 22 years:

The New York Times Company Severely Cuts Dividend, Pot of Wealth for Sulzbergers; Analyst: ‘It Was Inevitable’

By John Koblin 11/20/08 9:50pm

http://www.observer.com/2008/media/new-york-times-company-severely-cuts-dividend-pot-wealth-sulzbergers-analyst-it-was-inevi

http://twitter.com/hblodget

http://www.businessinsider.com/

http://www.theblaze.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/BlazeChannel1