About Last Night

Media Bias? What Media Bias? cont'd . . .

(Now former) Yahoo! News Chief on ABC Webcast:  Romneys "Happy to Have a Party When Black People Drown."

From Paul Ryan's Speech

"College graduates should not have to live out their twenties in their childhood bedrooms, staring at fading Obama posters, and wondering when they can move out and get going with life."

Plus:  "Sometimes even Presidents need reminding: our rights come from nature and god and not from government . . . . We will not replace our founding principles, we will reapply our founding principles."

Media Bias? What Media Bias?

"MSNBC wants you to think the Republican Party hates minorities. So much so that the liberal news network cut minority speeches from its convention coverage."

Bow To Nobody

Via Breibart.com:  Ryan Zinke, the former Navy SEAL who started the super PAC, spoke exclusively with Breitbart News today. “The ad itself accurately portrays where this President is,” said Zinke. “It accurately portrays his core belief that America should not lead. This president is shaping America to be one of the followers, to relinquish our role as a world leader. I didn’t fight 23 years as a Navy SEAL to watch America bow to anybody.”

In Case You Missed It

Ann Romney's full speech from last night:

 

As well as Chris Christie's keynote:

It's Official!

The Republican National Convention kicked off today and Romney is now officially the Republican nominee for President.

The Obama "Recovery"

"American incomes declined more in the three-year expansion that started in June 2009 than during the longest recession since the Great Depression . . . 'Almost every group is worse off than it was three years ago, and some groups had very large declines in income . . . .'”

Obama Remembers American Hero Neil Armstrong the Way You Would Expect

With a stock photo of himself.  Sigh.

There Is No War on Women

But there is a War on Children.

Mitt Romney: What I learned at Bain Capital.

Via the Wall Street Journal:

My business experience confirmed my belief in empowering people. For example, at Bain Capital we bought Accuride, a company that made truck rims and wheels, because we saw untapped potential there. We instituted performance bonuses for the management team, which had a dramatic impact. The managers made the plants more productive, and the company started growing, adding 300 jobs while Bain was involved. My faith in people, not government, is at the foundation of my plan to strengthen America's middle class.

Remembering Neil Armstrong

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

A Friendly Reminder

From Jim Treacher:  Before Obama ran for president, he falsely claimed to have been born in Kenya.

And Yet Obama Wants to Portray Him As Evil

Politifact confirms that Mitt Romney helped locate the missing teen daughter of Bain Capital partner: 

Three days later, her distraught father had no idea where she was. Romney took immediate action. He closed down the entire firm and asked all 30 partners and employees to fly to New York to help find Gay’s daughter. Romney set up a command center at the LaGuardia Marriott and hired a private detective firm to assist with the search. He established a toll-free number for tips, coordinating the effort with the NYPD, and went through his Rolodex and called everyone Bain did business with in New York and asked them to help find his friend’s missing daughter. Romney’s accountants at Price Waterhouse Cooper put up posters on street poles, while cashiers at a pharmacy owned by Bain put fliers in the bag of every shopper.

Hat tip to Instapundit.

If He Were a Republican, This Would Make Him an Idiot

Riel:  Barack Obama botches rank of top Navy SEAL William McRaven.

Hat tip to Instapundit.

Because Nothing Is More Important Than His Own Re-Election

Obama asks eurozone to keep Greece in until after election day.

I wonder who else Obama is asking favors from?

Immigration Agents File Suit Against Napolitano Over 'Amnesty' Program

Fox News: 

Kris Kobach, lead attorney on the case, equated the move to give thousands of illegal immigrants a reprieve to the failed Fast and Furious gun-walking operation.

"In both instances, the Obama administration ordered federal law enforcement agents to break the law, to ignore the laws that they're supposed to enforce, and, in the case of the ICE agents, to actually break federal laws that say you're supposed to deport certain people," he said. "And in each case, the Obama administration seems to be doing so for political reasons."

Good Question

Professor Jacobson:  Why aren’t we running as hard on Dems support for Occupy as they are on Akin?

Are You A Racist?

Bob is.

Hat tip to Vodkapundit.

Squirrel!!

Gaypatriot:  Democrats use Todd Akin to scrape the bottom of the barrel.

Well, otherwise they might have to talk about something like unemployment or the debt crisis.

Both the Reagan and Bush Recoveries Were Better Than Obama's

Or in other words, never believe what you hear from an Obama campaign spokesperson (especially if that spokesperson is Stephanie Cutter).

UPDATED: O-I-H-O. It Must Be One of the Fifty-Seven States

A "Quayle moment" for Obama?



Of course, unlike Quayle, Obama has the legacy media to go to bat for him.

Update:  Instapundit points us to the Tweet of the day.

Ryan = Clinger

Paul Ryan: “Hey, I’m a Catholic deer-hunter. I am happy to be clinging to my guns and my religion.”

This Ryan will second that.

Leading From Behind (Valerie Jarrett)

JWF:  Book Says Obama Deferred to Valerie Jarrett Over Whether To Go After bin Laden: ‘Obama feared taking responsibility’

Stimulus Fail

Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds has been pretty consistent lately in saying that it is always a good time to run this chart:



I have to agree.

The Media Stands Up

Jack Tapper: 

CBS News’ Nancy Cordes said that “your campaign has suggested repeatedly without proof that Mr. Romney might be hiding something in his tax returns, they have suggested that Mr. Romney might be a felon for the way that he handed over power of Bain Capital, and your campaign and the White House have declined to condemn an ad by one of your top supporters that links Mr. Romney to a woman’s death from cancer.”

“I’m not sure all those characterizations that you laid out there were accurate,” the president said. “For example, nobody accused Mr. Romney of being a felon.”

But what Cordes said was that the Obama campaign “suggested that Mr. Romney might be a felon,” and she had it exactly right.

Then there was the latest cover story from Newsweek:

Cartoons of the Day

Michael Ramirez

Flak and Change - A.F. Branco



Updated: This Is Not a Parody

Though I wish it were.

Related:  Media finally fed up with Obama dodging questions?

Update - Time Magazine's Mark Halperin:  Media pretty much does what Obama wants. 

Stimulus: $32 million Loan Guarantee to Brazilian Company Supported 250 American Jobs . . .

for three days. 

Dishonorable Disclosures

Everyone needs to find 22 minutes to watch this documentary.  And then it needs to be condensed into a 30 second tv spot that can be run from now until November 6.

Change

GOP convention to feature former Obama co-chair Artur Davis.

Plus:

Politifact's #1 Lie of 2011

Now Obama's  #1 talking point.

Democratic Grandee Explains What the Obstacle Was For the Simpson-Bowles Plan

Spoiler alert:  Obama (Not Ryan or the Republicans).

Ryan's Budget Is Radical?

Far from it.  Of course, I was raising this same point months ago.

Punching Back Twice As Hard

Seriously, Can We Just Call Him A Socialist Now?

At a fundraiser in Chicago this weekend, Obama offers, "A new vision of an America in which prosperity is shared." 

By contrast, Paul Ryan:  "We promise equal opportunity, not equal outcomes."

Race Card Alert

At a campaign stop in 49% black Danville, Virginia, Biden warns, "They're gonna to put y'all back in chains."  He also added that, "With your help, we can win North Carolina again!"

And yet, Sarah Palin was labeled as the dumb one?

Romney responds:  ""Mr. President, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago."

House Sues Holder

The Washington Times:  "A civil lawsuit filed Monday by House Republicans asks a federal court to enforce a congressional subpoena of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in his refusal to turn over documents sought in an investigation by a House committee into the failed Fast and Furious gunrunning operation."

Social Economics 101

Math

Erick Erickson:

If Barack Obama gets his way and raises taxes on everyone making $250,000.00 a year or more, the amount of money he brings in will not close his own budget deficit. Nevermind the national debt — he won’t close this year’s budget deficit.  

In fact, if we get the Democrats’ their wet dream of tax policy and take 100% of all annual income of everyone making $250,000.00 a year or more, we still won’t close Barack Obama’s budget deficit.

This is why Barack Obama will continue to simply demogague the Ryan plan, rather than present an actual plan of his own.  It is mathematically impossible for any real plan to match his own and, thus, the lie would be revealed.

Auto Bailout

Even the Treasury Department is now admitting that they expect the taxpayers to lose $25 billion on the auto bailout.  And yet Obama wants to repeat the government's bailout of the auto industry in every industry.  

Democratic Presidential Adviser Erskine Bowles Addresses the Ryan Budget

"It is a sensible, straightforward, serious budget and it cut the budget deficit by $4 trillion."

Of course, in 2010, even Obama acknowledged that Ryan's Plan "is an entirely legitimate proposal."

But I suppose that was before Ryan threw granny off a cliff.

Romney-Ryan 2012

In taking the weekend off from blogging (for the first time in a long while), I failed to cover Romney's selection of his running mate: Paul Ryan.  The Wisconsin Congressman and Chair of the House Budget Committee is a bold, but brilliant choice.  By picking Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has shown that he is committed to tackling the biggest problem our nation faces, entitlement reform.  The choice the American people now face in November has never been clearer: we will either embrace fiscal reform or we will march off the fiscal cliff.  And there is perhaps no one better to explain that choice than Paul Ryan.

For more thoughts consider Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds article from USA Today and Allahpundit's thoughts over at Hot Air. 

The Case Against Reelection

Krauthammer: 

There are two ways to run against Barack Obama: stewardship or ideology. You can run against his record or you can run against his ideas.

The stewardship case is pretty straightforward: the worst recovery in U.S. history, 42 consecutive months of 8-plus percent unemployment, declining economic growth — all achieved at a price of an additional $5 trillion of accumulated debt.

The ideological case is also simple. Just play in toto (and therefore in context) Obama’s Roanoke riff telling small-business owners: “You didn’t build that.” Real credit for your success belongs not to you — you think you did well because of your smarts and sweat? he asked mockingly — but to government that built the infrastructure without which you would have nothing.

Play it. Then ask: Is that the governing philosophy you want for this nation?

Mitt Romney’s preferred argument, however, is stewardship. Are you better off today than you were $5 trillion ago? Look at the wreckage around you. This presidency is a failure. I’m a successful businessman. I know how to fix things. Elect me, etc. etc.

Easy peasy, but highly risky.

Obama Camp's Top Ten Most Audacious Lies

Breitbart.com:  "Obama's overall goal isn't to stereotype Romney as Scrooge McDuck, his overall goal is -- by any means he can -- to win the "Devil You Know" campaign. And if that's your goal, one way to accomplish it is to keep Romney and his team forever on defense and explaining and smothered in distractions that never allow them to come up for oxygen and talk about a message. And it doesn’t matter how dirty or dishonest what your hurling is -- all that matters is keeping your opponent off-balance so he looks foolish." 

Obama knows that he cannot run on his record.  His only hope is to tear Romney down (with an assist from the legacy media).

Smart Diplomacy

Gateway Pundit:  Polish President Accuses Barack Obama of Betraying Poland.

Imagine what Obama may do with a second term, when he has a freer hand? 

And Yet We're Still Not Allowed to Call Him A Socialist?

Obama:  Let's have a government bailout, not just in the auto industry, but in every industry.

Of course, considering the auto bailout was such a great success for the taxpayers.

A Landslide on the Horizon?

Paul A. Rahe thinks so.

Dependency

Daniel Halper:  Over 100 Million Now Receiving Federal Welfare.

It's an Obama World, We Just Pay for It

Via Gateway Pundit:  Obama is now paying illegal aliens to come here.

Insanity

Jacobson:  "Gibson Guitar is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and foreiting possession of wood product used in guitars, based on the trumped up claim that it violated Indian law (and thereby a provision in U.S. law) in purchasing the “endangered” wood . . . ." 

This is not a good time to be a business owner .

A Fine Question

Following up on this post from yesterday, Gaypatriot asks:  If Romney's high school grades merit media discussion, why this indifference to Obama's college transcripts?

Geithner, Treasury Drove Cutoff on Non-Union Delphi Workers Pensions

Matthew Boyle: 

Emails obtained by The Daily Caller show that the U.S. Treasury Department, led by Timothy Geithner, was the driving force behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 salaried retirees at the Delphi auto parts manufacturing company.

The move, made in 2009 while the Obama administration implemented its auto bailout plan, appears to have been made solely because those retirees were not members of labor unions.

The internal government emails contradict sworn testimony, in federal court and before Congress, given by several Obama administration figures. They also indicate that the administration misled lawmakers and the courts about the sequence of events surrounding the termination of those non-union pensions, and that administration figures violated federal law.

An Excellent Idea from Obama's College Classmate

Wayne Allyn Root: 

Romney should call a press conference and issue a challenge in front of the nation. He should agree to release more of his tax returns, only if Obama unseals his college records. Simple and straight-forward. Mitt should ask “What could possibly be so embarrassing in your college records from 29 years ago that you are afraid to let America’s voters see? If it’s THAT bad, maybe it’s something the voters ought to see.” Suddenly the tables are turned. Now Obama is on the defensive.

My bet is that Obama will never unseal his records because they contain information that could destroy his chances for re-election. Once this challenge is made public, my prediction is you’ll never hear about Mitt’s tax returns ever again.

This would be fantastic, which sadly means it will probably never happen. 

Reality Deficit: Left and Obama Misrepresent Debt and Deficit Over Last Four Years

The Money Game

Team Obama raised $75 million in July, while Team Romney raised $101.3 million.

Remember when Obama was predicting he would run the first billion dollar campaign?  Feels like a long time ago.

Obama's Anti-Military Stance in Ohio

Paul Mirengoff: 

Under current Ohio law, the period during which voters can cast their ballot early ends three days before the election. However, the law has an exception for members of the military. They are allowed to vote early right up until election day.

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee have filed a lawsuit to overturn this law. They argue that it is arbitrary and unconstitutional to afford special consideration, flexibility, and accommodations to military voters to make it easier for them to vote in person. In court papers, Team Obama repeatedly asserts that there is no good reason to give special flexibility to military voters.

The Romney Campaign responds:  Calls lawsuit "despicable" and "offensive."

Romney v. Obama: Staples v. Solyndra

Hat tip to Instapundit.

The Bad History Behind "You Didn't Build That"

Virginia Postrel:  "The president’s sermon struck a nerve in part because it marked a sharp departure from the traditional Democratic criticism of financiers and big corporations, instead hectoring the people who own dry cleaners and nail salons, car repair shops and restaurants -- Main Street, not Wall Street. (Obama did work in a swipe at Internet businesses.) The president didn’t simply argue for higher taxes as a measure of fiscal responsibility or egalitarian fairness. He went after bourgeois dignity."

The New Normal

Pethokoukis: 

Only in a world of lowered, New Normal expectations was the July jobs report anything less than another disaster for U.S. workers. Nonfarm payrolls rose 163,000 last month as the unemployment rate rose to 8.3%. In addition, employment for May and June was revised by 6,000 jobs. 

– Not only is the 8.3% unemployment rate way above the 5.6% unemployment rate that Team Obama predicted for July 2012 if Congress passed the $800 billion stimulus plan. It’s way above the 6.0% unemployment rate they predicted if no stimulus was passed.

Go ahead. Make my [election] day.

Romney wins the Clint Eastwood endorsement.  This shouldn't be too surprising, given that Eastwood is a self-described libertarian.

Perspective

Krauthammer:  Romney's Excellent Foreign Trip.

Of course, you wouldn't know it if you only followed the legacy media.

I Guess You Can Say They Are Consistent

For the Thirty-First Time, Obama White House Says "Don't Read Too Much" Into a Bad Jobs Report.



Chart via Vodkapundit.

Ann Romney Slammed for $990 Shirt . . .

Michelle Obama praised for $6,800 jacket.

An Abdication of Responsibility

Veronique de Rugy and Nick Gillespie:

What we’re actually witnessing — and have been for years now — is not gridlock, but the abdication of responsibility by Congress and the president for performing the most basic responsibilities of government. Despite the fiscal crisis that Washington knows will occur if it fails to deal with unsustainable spending and debt, it hasn’t managed to produce a federal budget in more than three years.

To their credit, House Republicans have drafted, voted on, and passed a budget, but they are busy now trying to worm their way out of the very spending cuts — the sequestration deal — they insisted on as a condition for raising the debt limit last summer.

One of the most egregious failures of the president’s budget was that it, as in his previous budgets, offered no serious plan to stabilize the largest entitlement programs. Instead, the president and congressional Democrats lambasted Republicans for actually addressing the problem in their budget.

That's why we need a Tea Party.

Report Faults ATF Officials for Fast and Furious

Susan Ferrecchio:  "But the investigation concluded the Obama administration also bears responsibility for Operation Fast and Furious, which has been at the center of politically charged dispute between the White House and congressional Republicans."

Keep in mind that this is just the first of three reports and that the next two will focus on the failures within the DOJ.

Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey Try To Answer

Why can't comedians make fun of Obama?

Olympics - Starring Kristi Yamaguchi and other Olympic Stars

Key takeaway:  "He faced a $400 million budget deficit and turned it around to $100 million surplus."

Romney Backed by Lech Walesa . . .

Obama Endorsed by Ahmadinejad.

I wonder who is likely to secure the Putin endorsement?