Barack Obama won re-election, and America lost its future. Many would call that statement a sign of sour grapes the words of a poor loser. Yet, it is neither. It is the simple conclusion for anyone who has a calculator and has done the math. The national debt for the United States is 16 trillion dollars. That’s 101% of the Gross National Product. It would be like someone making $50,000 a year owing $5,000,000 dollars. Now that Obama has been reelected, the country is projected to reach 20 trillion in debt by the time he is out of office. The only thing that could change that path is if the President were willing to cut the spending spree, something he has shown he does not want to do.

Our debt is unsustainable at its current level. Now that we are guaranteed to have Obamacare written in stone and the two to three trillion dollars it will cost, by 2016 the country will be on a path that cannot be altered: insolvency. It is simple math. It has nothing to do with being a Republican or Democrat. Issues of racism or classicism makes no difference. It is zero’s and one’s. The income either adds up or it does not.

Greece is learning this lesson now. They spent too much on social programs, guaranteed state and country wide union wages, infrastructure built to provide “jobs” and higher taxes. The net result is a country that went running, hat in hand to the European countries for money to keep their country alive. The loans came with strings attached, as most loans do, and the string was a total restructuring of Greece’s spending. The result has been civil unrest, labor strikes, and riots. If you ask the rioters why they are doing these things, they will tell you because of the cuts to wages, and social programs. The very things that made them have to go begging for loans to stay afloat. It is like a person who buys the exotic sports car, and then gets mad at the person who comes to repossess the car, because they cannot make the car payment.

America is on that path, and has been for quite some time. Like the minor tremors that portent a large earthquake, little signs have been appearing: polls that show most people wanting those that make more than they to pay more in taxes, backlashes against any plan to slow down the spending and cost of medicare, men and women alike defending the idea that others have an obligation to pay for the birth control of women, support for fiscally dubious high speed rail projects across the country. Little by little, inch by inch, the mindset of the government spending the viewpoint of entitled thinking has been creeping into the psyche of the American populace.

Tonight’s election was the seismic event that was building. It signals that America has turned toward a social democracy like Europe. This has occurred not because of Barack Obama, but because people chose him. America’s populace chose tonight. They did not choose Romney because he was a bad candidate or ran a bad campaign. They chose Barack Obama, because they want the freebies, and they want someone else to pay for it. There are more people that embrace class warfare, than shun it. The days when President Kennedy said, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” is dead and gone.

We want the healthcare, we want the free birth control; we want the government to take care of us. The only problem is we cannot afford to do it. We cannot do it at 16 trillion in debt, and moving to 20 trillion in debt will not make things better. More debt never does.

American lost tonight, make no mistake about it. America died tonight. What the country that now occupies its space on this planet ends as is pretty clear. We become Greece on steroids, and the collapse will be televised.

Image Courtesy : WCHI News

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Washington, U.S.A. — Hudson Institute Chief Economist Tim Kane is available to comment on U.S. employment numbers and his recent analysis of unemployment in the swing states.

Kane says: ”If voters in the swing states ask themselves if they are better off than they were four years ago, the answer will be no. Comparing official data in 2008 to September 2012 (the latest data available), we see the unemployment rate has increased in every one of the nine most hotly contested swing states. Ohio saw its unemployment rate rise by half a percentage point from 6.5% in 2008 to 7.0% today, but Nevada suffered more than anywhere with its level rising from 7.0% in 2008 to 11.8% today.

“If President Obama loses the election next Tuesday, he has nothing but his economic policies to blame. In early 2009, Obama’s top economists promised that the unemployment would come down nationally to 5.5 percent by the end of his first term if Congress would enact the stimulus package. Despite Republican warnings, a hyper-partisan vote in Congress with Democratic majorities in both chambers did pass the stimulus. The result has been a jobless recovery, with unemployment rates two-and-a-half full points higher than promised, which doesn’t include the millions of discouraged Americans who have stopped looking for jobs and so are not officially counted as unemployed.”

Tim Kane often provides analysis on major television networks and radio outlets. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy with a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, San Diego. He is co-authoring a book (with Glenn Hubbard) entitled, Balance: Why Great Powers Lose It and How America Can Regain It, forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in early 2013.

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Within the last few months, people everywhere have been fixating on certain aspects of each candidate for the upcoming presidential election. Many will say, “How can you support that candidate? They did this or they support this!” However, the sad fact is that both candidates have several strong reasons why they should not be president. Here is a condensed version of the considerable list for each candidate, the “top five” reasons why neither candidate is ideal to even step foot into the White House.

Five Reasons Not to Vote for Barack Obama

1) “The president said he’d cut the deficit in half,” Romney said. “Unfortunately, he doubled it — trillion-dollar deficits for the last four years. The president has put in place almost as much debt held by the public as all presidents combined.”

2) Borrowing money from China is forcing America even more in debt and making China that much more powerful.

3) He makes excuses for his shortcomings, perhaps his most prominent being that Bush left this country so far in debt and destruction, so Obama has not been able to make many changes. It is clearly Bush’s fault, even though Obama knew the challenges when he campaigned for president.

4) Other than enacting Obamacare, he has done nothing he has promised within the last four years…but that is Bush’s fault, right?

5) Many connect Obama’s views and policies to socialism and communism.

Five Reasons Not to Vote for Mitt Romney

1) Romney has promised to immediately take away federal funding for Planned Parenthood, ultimately taking away vital resources to women.

2) Since Romney grew up wealthy, he will make changes to support the rich. What will happen to the middle class?

3) According to “I Acknowledge Class Warfare Exists,” 203 Republicans voted to make abortion illegal for rape victims in July 2012. As a Republican, Romney punishes the victims of rape.

4) Romney has Mormon beliefs that heavily influence his policies and treatment of women.

5) He is not for gay marriage and gay rights like Obama.

These are some of the main reasons people are totally against one candidate, but what people forget or disregard is the fact that the candidate they support is not perfect. Both candidates have clear flaws and compelling reasons they should or should not be president. As voters, we should be well aware of both candidates’ flaws so we can make more of an educated, informed choice.

Image Courtesy : Center for American Progress Action Fund from Washington, DC (Barack Obama at Las Vegas Presidential Forum) [CC-BY-SA-2.0

], via Wikimedia Commons

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Few individuals possess more knowledge of the U.S. presidency and the people who comprise it than noted historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin.  In sharing this knowledge with a packed audience at the UNF arena on October 17 at 7:30 p.m., she admitted with a chuckle that this knowledge may come back to haunt her.

“When I am dead, I fear that I may be confronted by all the presidents that I have studied, and they may all tell me that I said something wrong,” she said, to laughter from the audience.

Throughout the lecture, titled “Former U.S. Presidents and their Mark on the World,” Goodwin had nothing to fear from the audience, as they attentively listened to her personal experiences with noted former U.S. presidents, explaining the time that she spent with noted figures such as Lyndon Baines Johnson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

She started her speech by reminiscing about her time spent with LBJ, noting that he found her particularly interesting due to her “willingness to listen to his tall tales.” She then recalled a particularly humorous moment when he arranged to spend some private time with her at a lake. Here, he even provided wine and cheese, romantic trappings that initially led Goodwin to think that LBJ had other thoughts on his mind.

Those thoughts were immediately set aside once LBJ spoke to Goodwin.

“Doris, more than any other women I have ever met, you remind me of my mother,” recalled Kearns, to laughter from the audience.

That unusual moment aside, Goodwin expressed fondness for the time that she spent working under then-president Lyndon Baines Johnson.

“The older I have gotten, the more I realize what an incredible privilege it was to have spent so many hours with this aging lion of a man,” she said with pride, while also recalling some of his key legislative accomplishments, which included three great civil rights laws, as well as Medicare and aid to education.

“He opened up to me in ways that he never would have, had I known him at the height of his power,” she added.

Goodwin then pointed out to the audience that her experiences with LBJ inspired her to understand the person behind the presidency. This drive would lead her to learn about other presidents, and she focused throughout the event on Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, men that she praised for their leadership abilities during crisis periods in American history.

Goodwin noted that a key aspect of leadership is being able to motivate yourself in the face of frustration and being able to withstand adversity.

“The world breaks everyone, but afterward, many are strong in the broken places,” she said, quoting Ernest Hemmingway.

Referencing Abraham Lincoln, she praised his early love of learning and desire to read, qualities regarded as anathema in a time that emphasized physical labor and regarded such pursuits as laziness. Despite this, he loved reading and saw literature as an escape from the daily struggles of his life.

These struggles included him losing those closest to him, including his mom and first love; his mother’s final words simply emphasized that should would never return to him once she closed her eyes. It was this realization, Goodwin noted, that allowed Lincoln to realize that once a person’s life is finite and will mean nothing once they leave the earth. However, as he grew older, he tempered this thought to where he believed that if you could accomplish something greater, people would remember you for it.

This latter thought was the rationale that Lincoln took as he pursued public office; he simply wanted to leave the world in a better place than the way he found it.

When she referenced Franklin Delano Roosevelt, she spoke about the challenges he faced when dealing with polio, the fallout that reduced him to being a paraplegic.

“The paralysis crippled his body but expanded his mind and capabilities,” she noted.

This expansion, Goodwin noted, would allow him to better relate with others and empathize with their struggles.

“FDR now reached out to know people, to pick up their emotions, to put himself in their shoes. No longer belonging to his old world in the same way, he came to empathize with the poor and underprivileged, people to whom fate had also dealt an unkind hand,” she said.

These challenging times, Goodwin pointed out, helped in shaping the characters of both Lincoln and FDR and greatly influenced their leadership methods going forward.

Continuing this character study on these two former presidents, Goodwin also praised their emotional intelligence of both men, a trait that allowed them to set aside grudges and show willingness to accept praise and criticism with equal measure, as well as credit others even if the situation did not warrant it.

Goodwin noted that Lincoln always found a way to praise his Cabinet members, even if they did not always deserve any credit for their work.  This was also true for members of FDR’s cabinet as well; in fact, she noted how Francis Perkins, FDR’s Labor Secretary, praised him for renewed confidence after entering the meeting feeling overwhelmed about the responsibilities of her position.

As the event continued, she continued to praise the actions and exploits of these two individuals, before taking the time to answer questions about the event. In speaking with the audience, she expressed her interest in learning about the trials of Theodore Roosevelt, observing how many of the concerns that were a part of his era, such as workers’ rights and anti-trust suits, are now commonplace in our time as well.

As she concluded her speech, she emphasized the nobility of politics and that it is still a worthwhile endeavor, despite the polarization that is present in our current society.

“Politics is still an honorable vocation; as tough and rough as it may seem right now, I still think that there is nothing like it out there. The feeling that you have made people’s lives better and the curiosity of meeting so many people is unmatched,” she said.

Image Courtesy of  americanlibraries

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As the US election for president draws closer, dirtier the debates become. This does not only extend to President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, but to the voters themselves. Since this election is so important to the United States, people who have not previously paid much attention to politics–myself included–have been roped into the huge battle for control. The battle has now been dragged into cyberspace.

Facebook has exploded with status and picture updates about the election and who individuals support, which creates tension among friends who are supporting different candidates. I know some of my friends are hardly talking to one another strictly because of fights they have had about politics.

My family and I have an agreement to not discuss politics because we support opposing candidates, and the fights would always turn ugly when the subject came up. However, the rest of the country is letting everyone know their position for the election; political conventions and rallies are happening left and right because everyone wants to get support for their candidate. In other elections, people were not as passionate about who they planned on voting for.

Sure, the election campaigns were aired on TV and everyone was subjected to the annoying phone calls sponsoring a candidate, but friends and families were not torn apart because of politics. Meanwhile, both candidates are trying to make themselves look as saintly as possible while simultaneously trying to make their opponent seem like the anti-Christ. The presidential debates have been the most public display of this goal. The debates have caused a huge stir with voters with trying to determine who “won” the debate.

Romney had better stage presence while Obama looked like he did not want to be there. Obama kept trying to play off of Bill Clinton and emphasizing how horrible George W. Bush was while not taking ownership of any of his own shortcomings. During Obama’s reign, the country’s deficit tripled and he added more debt than any other president combined.  But none of this is his fault, only Bush’s. Obama kept twisting Romney’s plan for taxes, which Romney defended and said that Obama was purposely misleading the public.

Romney continually challenged Obama, who never really defended himself fully. Since the debates, others have tried to make excuses as to why Obama did not seem to be present and involved. However, all the debates have done is created more of a gray area while the public decides which candidate is the biggest liar.

With the debates over, political commercials are always on TV. It has gotten to the point that I refuse to watch any TV until after the election craziness is over. Neither candidate is perfect, and it gets to be very depressing watching Romney have commercials saying how horrible President Obama is while Obama projects the opposite sentiment.

The election is a month away, and it is sure to get much worse before the ballots are collected and tallied. November is guaranteed to be a political bloodbath.   Image Courtesy of   new-york-city

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Bird fever is sweeping the nation. During the very first, eagerly awaited presidential debate – and even now, some days after – the economy and healthcare are nowhere near as ubiquitous as Big Bird.

The avian giant was brought into the political crossfire on Wednesday, when Mitt Romney said to Jim Lehrer, “I’m sorry, Jim. I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I’m not going to — I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.”

Responses to this statement have ranged from the very humorous to the visceral. Sometimes both. Bright yellow memes have cropped up and spread faster than any flu. Most of these feature the image of some unemployed version of the eight-foot giant. When a presidential candidate threatens the future of a beloved childhood icon, it’s not impossible to predict where the conversation is going to go.

To date, it has been ongoing. The participants in this conversation have not just been teenagers fooling around on Photoshop: PBS had choice words for Mr. Romney in a statement released shortly after the debate. So did the creators of Sesame Street, as well as different voices in circulations such as the Times. What could only have been a spur-of-the-moment example has set off some type of debate across different media spheres.

Romney’s reasoning seems off the mark when the numbers are considered. According to the Huffington Post, only one fifteenth of the federal budget goes to public broadcasting. And that small part only makes up seven percent of the overall costs for the show. That’s a very small percent. The rest is covered by licensing and sponsorships. The “public” in public broadcasting does not seem all that public in the larger picture.

It was a dent in what was decided to be a surprisingly good performance on the part of Romney. A bad example completely overshadowed what was meant to be an entirely different statement. Our economic debt with China is going to be Goliath for whoever it is that will have to make our future executive decisions. It goes back to the core disagreement between the candidates: How much should government be involved? And to that extent, how much should it invest in its citizens?

Next time though, Sesame Street should be kept out of it.

Image Courtesy of  Gage Skidmore

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Chicago, U.S.A — There are truisms, and then there are “really truisms.” And one of them is the notion that a person doesn’t have the right to complain, if he or she didn’t bother to vote. Democrat, Republican, or fiercely Independent – it is a rally cry that transcends political affiliations. And yet while the number of complainers continues to increase, those who express their feelings in the voting booth continues to decrease.

It is with this in mind that Chicago-based “Attention Agency” Third Street conceived the idea of launching a national, multimedia campaign entitled Real Complainers Vote – a non-partisan effort designed to encourage young registered voters to embrace two American privileges: Voting and Complaining. To achieve this goal, they teamed up with frequent collaborator, Foundation Content as well as acclaimed street artist Ray Noland and comedian TJ Miller.

Real Complainers Vote takes a “seriously humorous” look at how our nation isn’t just comprised of complainers; it was founded and built by them. Through a unique viral video, social media and street-level campaign materials, Real Complainers Vote seeks to motivate young voters to express themselves where it matters most – in the voting booth — on November 6.

Third Street Chief Creative Officer David T. Jones sums up the essence of the campaign: “We know that we don’t need to convince Americans to complain. We only need to convince them that complaining has a cover charge. And that cover charge is voting.”

Foundation Content’s Kyle Shoup, who served as Creative Director for the Real Complainers Vote project, said, “We wanted to take the opportunity to make something fun, but unique. The result was a piece that incorporated stop-motion, handmade, 2D & 3D design and animation. Mixed media is really what this piece became, and it gives the message an unusual and compelling look.”

To view the animated, viral video within this campaign, please see: http://realcomplainersvote.com/ and follow the Griping on twitter at: @complainersvote

Image Courtesy of  Mark Scott Spatny / Shutterstock.com

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Towson, U.S.A. — Exis Interactive, a Maryland based game development company has released “Execuforce” a satirical 3d game for campaign and charity fundraising. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Obama presidential campaign and the wounded warrior project.

This is the first game to be used for campaign financing, and provides a new way to reach and engage the 18-35 year old audience. People who buy the game not only donate to these worthy causes, but they also get a great experience while learning about the candidates in the game itself.

This game is another example of how American companies are innovating, bringing disparate elements together to form something new and imaginative. Working tirelessly to push boundaries and find new ways to communicate with one another and the world. Games are great tools for dissemination of information, and a powerful medium for mobilization; They’ve never been used in this fashion before, and this project represents a shift in the use of new media to spread a message.

Players can take the role of Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Bill Clinton, and Ronald Reagan in a fantastical journey that pits the leaders of the free world against evil alien forces bent on enslaving mankind. The game allows players from all over the United States to play together in an online cooperative mode and help save the game world. In the real world though, these players have a direct impact by helping the campaign and our troops.

Campaign and Charity Supporters can buy the game at http://www.ExisInteractive.com/Execuforce/.

“This is a last minute fundraising effort to benefit the Obama campaign, and to directly aid the wounded soldiers who have given so much for this country. We think it’s important for everyone participate in our democratic process, and hope that Execuforce can help inform and entertain; all while getting critically needed funds to the campaign and our wounded warriors. Games are the most engaging way to interact with your audience and spread your message. Execuforce is the first game to directly aid campaigns via fundraising and we hope that other people interested in helping these causes will champion this project. We’re a small four man team and we want to help combat the onslaught of corporate money flooding the system. “ – Peter Kojesta, Founder of Exis.

Exis is an Indie game development studio founded in 2003 and creates AAA products for partner studios and publishers. The company is located in Towson, Maryland, directly across the street from Towson University.

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Toronto, Canada – Wave Accounting, the disruptive creators of award-winning free small business accounting and payroll software, announced on September 11 the results of its small business opinion poll on the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election. Wave polled the U.S.-based portion of the company’s more than 300,000 customers regarding their opinions on the candidates’ potential impact on small business.

Key findings include:

• On the question, “Who is better for small businesses,” 53% of respondents chose Romney/Ryan, 39% chose Obama/Biden.
• Reducing government red tape is the number one issue for Republican voting respondents, with an overwhelming 90% citing this issue as “crucial.”
• Among voters intending to vote Democrat, the most important issue is improving health care options for small businesses (77% called it “crucial.”)
• Size matters: Support for Romney/Ryan grows as company size grows. 47% of companies with 6-9 employees say they are definitely voting Romney/Ryan, vs. 45% among companies with 2-5 employees, and 43% among one-person businesses.
• Support for the GOP ticket is strongest in the South where 57% of businesses favorRomney/Ryan.

“These insights represent the real opinions of real small businesses in America,” said Kirk Simpson, CEO of Wave Accounting.

Recent “small business” surveys have included opinions from companies with hundreds of employees and many millions in revenue. Because Wave specializes in online solutions for real small businesses with 9 employees or less, the company can access key insights from a unique and significant segment of the market.

“This group makes up 95% of businesses in the U.S., yet their voices are badly underrepresented in media and politics,” said Simpson. “Their opinions and needs are interesting, in some cases unexpected, and deserve to be heard.”

The complete Wave Small Business Opinions Report — 2012 U.S. Presidential Election is available at www.waveaccounting.com/election2012.

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The big issues of the coming campaign are not in question. The economy, America’s growing debt, unemployment, and the role of entitlements (read: government) in Americans lives are crux of the 2012 battle for the White House. Highlighting the negative results in these areas is Mitt Romney, best hand for winning the election.

Nonetheless, foreign policy issues and threats are looming above America’s head in a big way, and will need to be addressed. The conventional wisdom is that Romney has little foreign policy and relations experience. President Obama’s own lack of experience in this area notwithstanding, his campaign zeroed in on this one reason that Romney is not the right man for job.

Governor and Romney advisor Tim Pawlenty addressed this viewpoint and other foreign policy concerns today in a symposium held by the Foreign Policy Initiative. Moderated by board member and Fox news analyst Bill Kristal, the event gave Pawlenty a forum to address how a Romney Presidency would look like in the area of foreign relations. The big take away from the event was Pawlenty’s view that Romney is on the right track.

“Romney has the right foundational and directional philosophy to make the correct decisions.” Pawlenty followed this up by reminding everyone in attendance that Reagan did not have extensive foreign policy experience. His worldview is what allowed him to be an effective foreign policy President.

Channeling Reagan is something that most, if not all, republicans attempt to do. It does not matter whether it is taxes, the economy, or dealing with America’s challenges abroad. Still, there is a large grain of truth to his statement. Governors of either party seldom have extensive foreign policy and relations experience. Their duties at times lightly touch the area, but their primary function is running their states. The lack of experience has to be made up with study and experienced, sound advisors.

Underlying it all, however, is the philosophy of the person in charge. The President can have a mindset like Carter or Winston Churchill. How he views Americas role and his mindset sets the agenda for who he has as advisers, what diplomacy targets he set, and what he will do and not do with America’s armed forces.

Pawlenty was critical of the philosophy President Obama has taken. “President Obama has decided to lead from behind. To have America take a less active role as leader in the world. That has not worked out well.” Examples given of this view were the “reset with Russia,” as the President calls it, and the missed opportunity in the Iranian uprising.

The financial challenges the country faces are grave, but the potential threats of Iran, Russia, and China are like a Damocles sword above the neck of Uncle Sam. Romney cannot afford to let the view of the President set America’s view of him in this area. The knowledge and philosophy that Pawlenty speaks of must be in full view to the American public. Foreign policy may not be issue one this election cycle, but it still cannot be allowed to be ignored.

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Thursday night, the Republican Convention culminated with the much anticipated acceptance speech of Mitt Romney. His speech will be dissected backwards and forwards. The plan he laid out will be analyzed and fact checked. The attacks on the President will be evaluated for their impact and truth. All of these items will happen over the course of the next week. But the thing many will be talking about more is the speech made by American Icon Clint Eastwood.

In a surprise visit, Eastwood stepped to the stage to a rousing standing ovation. What followed was an explosion of real time panning and praise across the social media universe. Traditional media and pundits soon followed suit after Romney completed his speech. If you are a Conservative partisan, then you found the speech funny, and a breath of fresh air from a Hollywood actor. Liberals and Obama supporters found it offensive, and rambling. The truth is somewhere in between.

In deference to the Eastwood here is the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (in reverse).

The Ugly

All actors share one trait that is maddening to groups that have them speak or support their causes: they cannot be controlled. Eastwood was scheduled for a five minute, scripted speech. He went over time and off script. He added an off color joke about an imaginary President Obama telling him (Eastwood) to tell Romney to “go do something he can’t do to himself.” The remark was NOT appreciated by the Romney camp. We are, after all, talking about a Presidential candidate for whom saying the word “hell” is noteworthy. It is not something that anyone would have signed off on. But what is there to do, walk him off the stage like they do at the Oscars? Once Eastwood is on stage, you just have to accept whatever happens next.

There is wide acceptance among the political class that President Obama has a disdain for Romney. There is little doubt, however, that he would not actually ask Romney a question or make a comment about Romney in that manner. He is not Rahm Emmanuel, after all.

The Bad

The schtick Eastwood used regarding interviewing the President, but having an empty seat, has been mocked across Hollywood. Roger Ebert remarked, “Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic.” Fellow film critic Richard Roeper tweeted, “Clint has now eclipsed the total word count of his last three films.” Star Jones had this too say, ”I can’t believe I just watched Clint Eastwood turn into somebody’s DRUNK UNCLE HARRY on the stage of the GOP RNC. He humiliated himself.”

What is interesting here is that even the film critics do not have a sense of entertainment history. The empty chair technique is an old comedic routine. Clint was around when it was used, but his age may have something to do why he performed it so haltingly. It did not translate, and probably would not have if he had delivered it in a smooth manner.

At 82, there is a legitimate question as to whether Eastwood is mentally agile enough for what he was attempting. As it turned out, all it did was take attention from Romney’s speech. It won’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but in a campaign where the President is searching for distractions, no one on the conservative side should be providing them. 

The Good

Lost in the reaction to the off-color jokes, and a comedic routine that failed because of how it was delivered, is the substance of what Eastwood said.

Liberals are quick to ignore this, because in their world you do not criticize Democrats, and not this President. It is disrespectful, it is wrong, and to many it is racist. It is not surprising they ignore the numerous jokes and just plain nasty remarks (Bill Maher) made toward republicans.

To them it is fair game: it is just jokes, it is free speech. In reality it is evidence of how thin skinned liberals really are. When they make fun of you, you should be able to take a joke. Make fun of them, and you’re crazy, kookie, or a bad person.

Clint made the very real analogy that when you have someone that is not doing the job, you have to let them go. You just do not tell Obama he should be fired or replaced in the liberal world. It is nuts to point out that he, and all politicians work for us. It is just not done to point out the pain of 23 million people out of work.

On substance Eastwood was as on target as any of the gun toting heroes he played in those old spaghetti westerns.  

Image Courtesy of  Randy Miramontez / Shutterstock.com

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On the day that Paul Ryan was to give his acceptance speech for the nomination of Vice-President, Ryan knew he had to bring it. Not just because needed to excite the base. Nor was it because he needed to set the narrative in a way that combated the attacks he has already received since Mitt Romney selected him as his running mate. No, he needed to hit it out the park, because a day and half of the same message from different people had grown, if not tedious, certainly stale.

We Built It and We Can Do better may be the rallying cry, but it needed to be told in a fresh way something fierce. If there were any worries about Ryan’s ability to get the job done, they were unfounded.

Simply put, Ryan knocked the ball out of the park.

In a speech that interwove his personal story and beliefs with the plans of a Romney-Ryan ticket, Ryan effectively made the case for the plans and policies they are fighting to implement. Many have commented on Ryan’s likeability and personable manner. Both traits came through in both tone and demeanor. Stories about his family and calling his mother, “his role model” are flatly stock in trade items in politics, but there was an earnestness that permeated through Ryan. He is not just saying these things, they are true for him. This will go a long way for him in the campaign, and made the strong medicine he threw at Obama non offensive.

In a speech that had plenty of zingers in it, Ryan nonetheless never made the attacks personal. They were, in fact, not attacks, so much as critiques. What was different in his speech, in contrast to the attacks thus far from President Obama, is that Ryan focused on the results of the last three years. He zeroed in on facts, and figures, but personalized their consequences.

He made it personal as he talked about the GM factory in his hometown of Jamesville, Wisconsin, the people that he knew who used to work there, and the Obama administrations broken promise to keep it open. This was in contrast to the half a billion the President used in Solyndra. 

Ryan is known as a policy guy. For him its about the numbers, the policy and the results that follow. Ryan, however, was able to explain, keep the speech flowing, serve red meat, and do it with in a humorous way. His best zinger perhaps being the vivid image he conjured with this line: “Americans in their 20′s should not have to move home with their parents house, living in their old rooms, looking up at fading Obama posters and waiting for life to begin.”

A comment meant to target younger voters, but still managed to convey an important message to adults as well. Its a tactic that he used more than once. Throw a funny zinger like, “The President has said he has not communicated enough. That is his job to tell a story. In the last four years we have not suffered from a lack of words from the White House. What we are missing is leadership in the white house.”

Never in the speech did it become about Obama personally or about ideology. Just the results and what needs to be done to get better results. This is why the speech was a home run. Not because he could get applause lines, or get a standing ovation from the people in attendance. They are all going vote for Romney and him anyway. No the brilliance was delivering a speech that moderates, independents, and apathetic voters can understand. The message came through because it was a truthful one delivered at partisan event that did not sound at all partisan. Not in tone. And that is what Romney will need from Ryan during the campaign.

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There were no surprises and the Republicans pulled no punches in their opening night speeches, Tuesday night. The afternoon speakers may have drawn a line in the sand with the mantra of “We Did Build It,” chastising the President on spending, and attacking Obamacare, but the presentation in prime time colored that line bright yellow and made it glow in the dark.

Never in the modern era has there been such a stark difference between both the parties and their plans. The Democrats have not only doubled down on policies and rhetoric attacking the wealthy and successful, but their convention speakers feature Sandra Fluke, and a slate of liberal woman’s rights advocates. Fluke will be the talking poster girl for free birth control and a woman’s right.

Tuesday night the republicans took a battering ram to that poster with a night interwoven with political stars, and videos from small business owners of company’s like Sollman Electric Co. and Kimmie Candy to make their case clear.

In the 2008 campaign Obama’s off the cuff remark to Joseph Wurzelbache “lets spread the wealth,” became an instant line of attack for John McCain and made “Joe the Plumber” a house hold name. It did not, however, provide a lightening bolt of anger toward the president beyond conservative circles. The offensive nature of the statement motivated conservatives, but did not ignite within independents or moderate democrats.

“You didn’t build it,” is this years’ bad off-the-cuff comment by the President, and has ignited a big firestorm of opposition. Romney, like McCain before him, has jumped on the comment. Further, the RNC and Romney campaign are betting it will resonate further than the “Spread the wealth” comment; enough to make it the center of the convention speeches. Still, there is a question if this theme will have legs beyond the convention. The view that a person is not responsible for their success, but government is a large part of it, rankles the hairs of a lot of people. However, this election does not hinge on that notion. It hinges on the economy, jobs, the debt, and the President’s failure to fix any of those problems. The largest bat to swing is the stark reality that things are worse in those areas than when the President took office three years ago.

Governors John Kasich and Mary Fallin of Oklahoma were the best warm up speakers for the anticipated Ann Romney and Chris Christie speeches, and clearly articulated the vision the republicans believe is best for America. Kasich’s message was powerful because it showcased the results he has facing the fiscal problems of Ohio. He focused on the results in contrast to Obama. Fallin, followed a short time later further explaining the work involved in the business her and her husband started, and the results of fiscal logic in her state.

Congressional Candidate for Utah, Mia Love was inspiring, but had too short of a speech. Perhaps this was due to the changing schedule, but this was a mistake by convention organizers. Love is a Tea Party favorite. She is another example that belies the accusations from Democrats that the republican Party is against minorities. Her intelligence and poise make it clear she is no token. Judging by the round of applause she received the attendees at the convention felt that same.

Rick Santorum and Chris Christie were both expected to produce fireworks, but both stayed in their lanes. Santorum gave a typical social conservative message, but did not step on anyone’s toes. Christie followed the example of Kasick and spoke at length about telling the truth to the American politic, and focusing on solving problems, not winning elections. Christie is at his best in a debate or press conference, but it is clear that he held back.

Arthur Davis, perhaps fired the most direct shots at President Obama. A black male who voted and supported Obama in 2008, he has disavowed the Democrats, and switched parties. He went after the President, going so far as to steal his 2008 chat, “yes we can” with a spin on controlling debt, creating jobs, and supporting business owners.

The jewels of the night were of course Nikki Haley, and Ann Romney. Haley spoke at length about the 30 year journey her family made to create a successful business. She detailed how “They Built It,” and the lessons learned from watching her parents. More powerful was her description of the fight she had with the Obama administration and the National Labor Relations Board regarding Boeing opening a plant in South Carolina. As a right to work state, South Carolina is not a favorite place of unions. Haley’s description of how, no union jobs were being lost due to the plant, but Obama’s fight to block was an effective illustration of how the President has harmed the growth of jobs.

Ann Romney roll was clear, to humanize and personalize her husband. It’s a role that First Ladies and potential First Ladies all share; make their husbands seem like regular guys. What Ann did however was begin a narrative that explains the true path her husband took to his business success. Her description of their marriage beginning in a $75 a month, basement apartment is one that all Americans can relate too, and have not heard from Romney himself.

This will need to change. Few Americans can relate to someone with 240 million dollars, but all Americans love a person that starts from nothing and makes that kind of money. Romney will need to talk about his beginnings, and his wife seems to be the best person to bring this part of her husband alive. It is difficult for most people to dismiss a wife that recounts the struggles and work she saw and experienced first hand.

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The big night is here. Mitt Romney takes to the stage at 11pm to accept the Republican Presidential Nomination and deliver the biggest speech of his life. It has been a long road for Romney. He has never been fully embraced by the party base, and there is still speculation by many on whether he will be tonight or on election day.

One of the things he will have to deal with in this election, which may appear small but is part of the larger narrative is the liberals that try to paint conservatives as a racist party. There have been more than a few stories from the liberal networks about the number of blacks at the national convention. Even though the Republican National Convention had several African-American speakers the story is that no blacks are here. The truth is that there are plenty, and they all have to deal with the question of how they can support Romney.

If you were to put aside the difference in success for blacks under Democrats versus Republicans and just focus on Mitt Romney, here is what we find: Romney’s life has been one of competency. It is a life filled with success at running things. He has turned around companies. He ran the Winter Olympics, a job offered to him because of his turnaround experience, and saved them. He has been Governor of Massachusetts and done a good job. He did not get everything he wanted, but he did leave the state of Massachusetts with a rainy day fund, something the federal government could use right now.

What do we have on the other side?

President Obama’s life is a life of personal success. He went to a good school. He went to an excellent graduate school. He managed to get elected to public office, and managed to get elected President of the United States. All of that is nice personally. But where is the record of success running things?

He has never run a business or worked in one, nor has he run a city or state. Since he never has run anything, we are left with what he has done thus far. I do not find that record a strong one. Unemployment is 8.3% – 15% in black communities – and has been as high as 10%. He promised to lower the deficit, but increased it. He did not lower the debt, he spent more than any President before. Has that spending lead to a robust economy? No. He bailed out GM, which went bankrupt anyway, and still owes the country billions.

The only thing he can really point to is a healthcare plan that is still unconstitutional—the Supreme Court notwithstanding– and will break the financial back of the country. He can point to foreign policy when it comes to Bin Laden and drone attacks, but many will argue that all of that is on the back of President Bush.

Yet, African-Americans are supposed to support him. Worst, if you support Romney, then somehow you are a racist if you are white, and self-hating if you are black.

Both are wrong. What matters in life is success. What matters is doing something and it working. Not how you feel about it, not how it sounds, and not something that is said by a black man. If a black man is in charge, and he screws up, how does that help anyone, black or white? If a white man is in charge and screws up, how does that help anyone, black or white? It does not. You need to be competent at what you are doing. You need someone in charge that can do the job.

Here is a thought. Ask any black democrat this question: “If you are a manager for a company, would you hire someone that was incompetent? Would you keep someone in a job they were failing at just because they were black?”

The answer would be no. So the real question is, why is that acceptable for the most important job in the country?

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The big gun of Republican party, Chris Christie, may have been scheduled for 10:30 the first night of the convention, but that did not stop the day’s first speakers from starting the fire fight early. Congressional candidates from across the country took to the stage and laid down the foundation for this season’s election campaign.

Each speaker incorporated the basic tenets of the conservative movement; smaller government, low taxes, and protection of life, all consistent themes in the conservative movement. Nothing new there. The real shots were measured in words about the results President Obama has gotten in the last three years. Congressional candidate John Archer of Iowa summed up the theme best,

“We’ve had three years of hope and change. Where has it gotten us?”

The strategy is clear, hammer away at the economic results the President has in his first term. President Obama’s record was target rich environment that each speaker took advantage to full effect. With two debt clocks clicking away overhead, each speaker made the case against the spending that has occurred under the President. Each ridiculed the idea of government creating success with a money giveaway. The consistent applause line was any statement proclaiming that, in fact, business owners did build their success, not government.

The die has has been cast and all republicans, at all levels will make this about the Obama record, unemployment, fighting tax hikes, and repealing Obamacare. The themes of the Romney campaign, “We Built It,” and “We Can Do Better,” are not just displayed in large placards around the hall, but found their way into each speech. Congressman, Tim Scott, summed up the feeling in the room succinctly by singing out, “Hit the road jack, and don’t you come back, no more, no more, no more.”

At the end of his rendition the crowd exploded in applause.

Convention speeches, especially the early afternoon ones, are staged affairs with every candidate attempting to get their 15 minutes of time. Circulated talking and speech points are passed and shared like candy bar freebies. No matter what the primary was like, everyone supports (in their speeches) the presumptive nominee. This true of all political conventions. The Republican convention is no different in that way, but there is a difference this year. There is a palpable air of urgency in each candidate.

This is expressed in the believe that the fiscal cliff the country is heading for could remake the country in a way the founders never wanted, envisioned, or would have agreed too. This is the election that could determine the future for not just the next decade, but for a generation. It is not just empty speeches, there is belief and fear as well. Stronger than either was a determination in each speaker’s voice that they were committed to winning the election and supporting Mitt Romney.

And this was just the warm up acts. The main act tonight of Ann Romney and Chris Christie will truly set this convention off.

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Lost in the backdrop of most Presidential Conventions is the reality that more than just nominating a candidate is occurring. It’s also a party for both political parties and a showcase for major entertainment acts. Even as the convention was slowed to a crawl space because of the storm, work continued in the Tampa Bay Forum Center for many of the upcoming music acts. Here is some raw video of a sound check for the house band G.E Smith.

Image Courtesy of the 2012 Republican National Convention

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In the streets of downtown Tampa, dual preparations continue as the city braces for tropical Storm Issac and the Republican National Convention. Convention officials delayed the start of the events from Monday afternoon to Tuesday as a safety precaution. Issac is not projected to hit landfall in Tampa, but that will not stop massive amounts of rain and strong winds from shutting everything down for a day.

There is one thing, however, that will continue to work inside the Forum center and serves as a loud remainder of what this election is about. That item is a large clock keeping track of the amount of financial debt, added each second. Tampa may be worried about the impending storm of Issac, but the entire country is facing a debt storm that is bearing down on everyone like a category 5 hurricane.

The optic of the clock is a perfect anchor for one of the foundational fights that will be played out this presidential election. President Obama will fight to make this election about Romney’s taxes, women’s rights, and Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan. The President’s surrogates and spokespeople will attempt to distract voters away from the economy.

Thus far, they have done an excellent job of doing so. But, the fiscal cliff that the spending of the Obama administration has enacted is a problem that Romney must keep front and center in the campaign. Nothing does that better than the backdrop of a debt calculator displaying the massive bill the country is racking up.

This is a message that the republicans must take to heart as well. The last two weeks have seen the Romney camp get bogged down over Medicare and the comments of Senate candidate Todd Akin regarding rape and abortion. The economy and the debt are problems one and two. They cannot afford to get caught in the Obama trap of defending themselves and talking about things that have nothing to do with those issues.

Many in the media will play along with President Obama and will be all too willing to cover other issues. Optics is one way around this obstacle. Do not just talk, show. Judging by the large and ominous clock clicking up every second of the convention speakers’ speeches, the Romney campaign may be on their way to making this election about what it needs to be about.

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In the past weeks the political campaign has focused in social issues like Medicare, abortion and rape; all of these are areas in which President Obama has an advantage over Mitt Romney. According to the last AP-GfK poll, President Obama is seen much more capable of handling social issues. But now Mitt Romney has tried to focus in his energy plan to boost his economic plan.

Mitt Romney is now trying to refocus the national debate to economic issues in which Obama is weaker. The high unemployment rate has been one of Obama’s weaknesses; the Obama campaign has released a new ad called “Clear Choice,” which features former President Bill Clinton, saying that this election is an opportunity to decide which candidate would be able to get the country back to work.

Clinton explains the Republican plan intends to cut taxes on the wealthy and get the country back to the regulation that got the country in so many problems. On the other hand, Clinton explained that Obama’s plan would rebuild the country investing in innovation and creating jobs. Clinton added that the plan would only work with a strong middle class, such as the one that existed when he was president.

Romney is now working on his energy plan, which he says would be able to create three million jobs by 2020. It would also open more areas for drilling off the coast in two swing states the Republicans lost in the 2008 election: North Carolina and Virginia.

Romney will be traveling to different states with his energy proposals, so voters will have the opportunity to hear them. His plan is supposed to result in $1 trillion in revenue for federal, state and local governments. Also, Romney intends to give each state the liberty to establish the form of energy production they want on federal lands, which is quite different from Obama’s administration energy policy in which the federal government currently controls these lands.

Romney’s plan will have a lot of opposition in Congress and will lead to protests from different environmental groups, especially if the oil drilling is done in the mid-Atlantic, where it is currently banned. In order to prevent these protests, the energy production would be banned in areas that are currently designated as off-limits. Romney has a big plan to finally execute the Keystone XL pipeline project, which is a pipeline that would run from Canada to Texas refineries.

Mitt Romney has recently received almost $7 million from oil executives from fundraisers in Texas. During a fundraiser in Arkansas, Romney promised that “”North America will be energy-independent by the last year of my second term.”

Steve Holland in a Huffington Post article explains that the “Republicans are eager to make greater use of the U.S. energy supply to increase jobs for Americans suffering amid an 8.3 percent unemployment rate. They would curtail some federal regulations to permit more production.”

Holland, speaking about the environmental controversy that Romney’s plan could cause, said “the plan makes little mention of climate change or greenhouse gases. Romney policy adviser Oren Cass said Romney supports green energy and government spending on energy research, but opposes loan guarantees for green companies.”

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Accusations from Republicans, especially Rick Santorum, against Obama continues, as Santorum also explained that, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, “Obamacare” would cost taxpayers almost two trillion dollars. Santorum added that, in 10 years, “Obamacare” would leave nearly 30 million people uninsured and would not solve the urgent problem of the increasing costs for healthcare.

Santorum also mentioned China’s economic situation to criticize Obama’s economic policies. China has largely increased its manufacturing base and its economy grew almost two trillion dollars in the past year. Santorum explained that in the United States, Obama increased taxes on most manufacturing businesses, which killed more job opportunities and puts the country at a great disadvantage against China.

Mitt Romney has also taken advantage of Europe’s crisis to criticize President Obama saying that the Americans shouldn’t let the United States become Europe under Obama’s leadership. Romney also compared California’s difficult economic situation under Democrat leadership with the Greek economic crisis.

But these haven’t been the only accusations Republicans have made against Democrats. Recently, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, accused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) of lying for saying that Mitt Romney had not paid income taxes in 10 years. Romney defended himself, saying that his 2010 tax report has already been released and the 2011 report will be released when it is completed. Currently, only Romney’s tax return for 2010 has been publicly released.

Most of Santorum’s accusations are similar to what other Republicans are using to attack Obama. One of the most hurtful ones has been Romney’s campaign ad accusing Obama of gutting former president Bill Clinton’s welfare reform by dropping employment requirements. In response, Clinton released a statement on August 7 denouncing the ad.

An article on The Atlantic, written by Molly Ball, explained that “the Obama administration issued a memo telling states they could apply to have some aspects of the law’s work requirements waived. Some on the right were outraged by the supposed attempt to weaken the law’s emphasis on getting people off welfare and into employment, which the administration denied would result from its order.” That is why Romney’s campaign released an ad claiming that the Obama administration wants to get rid of the work requirements in order to receive the welfare check.

The article further explains that the Obama administration responded to Republican accusations saying that they don’t want to drop work requirements but they do want to give benefits to more people who aren’t working in the way it is currently defined, finding the requirements restrictive.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich also accused Obama of gutting Clinton’s welfare reform. Gingrich, who was one of the Republicans who negotiated the welfare reform with Bill Clinton, accused Obama of “setting up a dramatic reduction in the work requirement.”

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Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and many other Republicans have been criticizing President Obama for what they consider to be failed economic policies and are accusing him of trying to get rid of work requirements in order to receive a welfare check.

Former 2012 hopeful Rick Santorum recently posted on his blog about “Obamanomics,” a term used to explain that Obama’s economic plans, instead of “spreading wealth around, in reality only spreads poverty and economic decline.”

The former Republican presidential candidate wrote that Obama does not understand the challenges many working families are facing. He thinks that the government’s economic management has led to a situation that forces companies to outsource jobs, while many American families are losing them.

Santorum asserts that the situation is so chaotic that 41 months have passed with the unemployment rate above 8 percent, something that hasn’t occurred since the Great Depression. Since WWII, no president that served while the unemployment rate was above 8 percent has been reelected. If this continues into November, President Obama will have to challenge history for reelection.

Santorum also added that one out of six Americans is currently below the poverty line and that one in four children is receiving food stamps.

The other aspect Santorum criticized from Obama’s government is unnecessary spending. Santorum wrote, “national debt has grown by over $5.2 trillion to $16 trillion dollars—an increase of 49 percent.”  Santorum also explained that this is the fourth consecutive year in which the deficit exceeds one trillion dollars.

Another accusation Santorum made against Obama is that he has only made cuts in the defense spending budget, which Santorum considers wrong. He believes that the defense system should be a priority for the federal government, but Obama’s cuts have exceeded one trillion dollars.

President Obama has defended himself from this type of accusations, an example is on a speech on Cleveland in June he explained that the Bush tax rate cuts where somehow guilty for the recession, not his economic policies. Obama stated: “The failure to pay for the tax cuts and the wars took us from record surpluses under President Bill Clinton to record deficits. And it left us unprepared to deal with the retirement of an aging population that’s placing a greater strain on programs like Medicare and Social Security.”

Obama defended his economic policies on Cleveland, he stated: “We acted fast. Our economy started growing again six months after I took office and it has continued to grow for the last three years.” He added: “Our businesses have gone back to basics and created over 4 million jobs in the last 27 months; more private sector jobs than were created during the entire seven years before this crisis, in a little over two years.” But this is exactly what Republicans like Rick Santorum are criticizing, they accuse him of not reacting in time and maintaining the unemployment rate above 8% for too long.

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Los Angeles, U.S.A. — With many citing the economy as the most important issue for the 2012 presidential election, Loop21.com, a leading digital source of emergent Black culture, and a coalition of top black civic, entertainment and media organizations, conducted The State of the Black Economy (SOBE) survey, a study of African American public opinion on the issue. The study, conducted from July 9 to July 27, tapped into a panel of more than 5,000 regular African American visitors to the Loop21.com website.

According to polling results released today, Loop21.com’s African American panel respondents are more pessimistic about the national economy than they are on their own personal finances, however, 86% approve of President Obama’s performance on the economy. While overall the president’s economic job approval number have been hovering around the mid to low 40s; African Americans see him as doing much better than the public at large.

The panel respondents tend to blame the current economic problems on former President George W. Bush, Wall Street, and Congress, more so than President Obama. Panel respondents also tend to think that President Obama’s race influences the public criticism he receives when people speak about his economic job performance.

When panel respondents who disapproved (14%) of the President’s performance on the economy were asked who could do better than President Obama the most common response suggested no one. The second most common response among disapproving respondents was that a Democratic Congress could do better.

The distant third most common response (9%) was a third-party Presidential candidate. The list of responses—panel respondents could only check one—included a Republican President (1%), the Republican Congress (<1%), a Democratic other than Obama (6%), a Democratic Congress (20%), a non-Democrat or non-Republican president (9%), a different African American (1%), none of the above (44%), and unsure (17%).

Asked specifically about how much President Obama “cares about the needs of Black people” compared to “past presidents” and compared to “former President Bill Clinton,” respondents said that Obama cared more than past presidents, but equal amounts said he cared “the same” as or “more” than former President Clinton.

Panelists also offered opinions about job policy priorities. When asked about the issue of jobs in the United States, a majority of panel respondents say job creation should be more important than reducing the deficit and that tougher immigration enforcement would not lead to more job opportunities. The panel respondents were split on the issue of whether tax decreases for business would stimulate job growth.  Panel respondents also preferred “issue targeted” policies over “race targeted” policies.

On the issue of race, (70%) of the panel respondents see “African Americans” as sharing more common experiences than “Americans” in general, (55%).  The survey also found that panel respondents perceive more racial bias for other African Americans than they experience in their own daily lives; yet, list “workplace discrimination” among their greatest concerns for job security.

Racial perceptions influenced African Americans panel respondents’ assessment of criticism leveled at President Obama. The overwhelming majority of respondents hold the view that all “Americans” and “African Americans” hold President Obama to a “higher standard than other presidents.” When asked why, nearly 9 out of 10 responded that both “Americans” and “African Americans” hold President Obama to a higher standard “because of his race.”

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Tampa, U.S.A. — This month’s Republican National Convention is expected to bring approximately 50,000 visitors to Tampa and drive delay times on the city’s major roads by 18 percent. The insight, released today by INRIX, the largest global traffic intelligence platform in the world, unveils a number of likely problem areas for drivers including:

• Routes South of Whiting Street will be closed, including the Platt Street Bridge and the part closure of the Selmon Expressway, between Willow Avenue and 50th Street
• Traffic will likely reroute to the I-275 or Kennedy Boulevard with delays increasing to more than 25 minutes on the busiest days, from an average of 10 to 15 minutes
• Overall traffic volume will significantly rise, with 350 charter buses and more than 500 private vehicles expected, with no plans to set aside specialized lanes on the interstates
• Short traffic signals could bring downtown Tampa to a standstill, with the biggest concerns being traffic signals on Kennedy Boulevard and Ashley Drive
• Road closures are anticipated to be lifted after 6PM on Friday August 31 st and will start from Saturday August 25 th

Jim Bak, Director of Community Relations, INRIX, shares advice to Tampa commuters: “There will likely be a conference session that clashes with the morning rush hour on Monday August 27 th and commuters should get an early start to avoid the anticipated delays. Staggering work hours around peak commuting times and working around the road closures as much as possible should help alleviate some of the pressure on the roads, we advise drivers to plan journeys in advance as much as possible.”

Current Top three worst bottlenecks in Tampa:

• I-275 Southbound from Floribraska Ave/28th Ave/Exit 28 to US-92/Dale Mabry Hwy/Exit 23,  traffic moves through this 4.2 mile stretch of road at rush hour at 33 mph for 24 hours each week
• I-275 Northbound from FL-60/Cypress St/Exit 39  to FL-574/Exit 46B where traffic crawls through this four mile stretch of road at an average speed of 22 mph for 13 hours each week.
• Veterans Expy/FL 569 Southbound where it intersects with Linebaugh Ave/Exit 7 is a half mile stretch of road where cars crawl at an average speed of 23 mph for 10 hours a week.

The Republican National Convention runs August 27 th to August 30 th 2012 across various locations in Tampa.

image Courtesy of    Voices Empower with Alice Linahan

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Tampa, U.S.A. — A unique gathering of advocacy groups urged the Republican Party Committee on Resolutions (the platform committee) to consider all faith viewpoints when it comes to the country’s most pressing social issues—including access to reproductive healthcare and the freedom to marry.

In response to increasingly heated rhetoric about religious freedom, leaders of Republicans for Choice, Catholics for Choice and the National Council of Jewish Women, which are members of the Coalition for Liberty and Justice, joined the Log Cabin Republicans on a panel, “Republicans in Good Faith: Making Room for All Voices in the GOP,” during Republican Party platform committee meetings.

New polling data from Republicans for Choice revealed that the leadership of the Republican Party does not reflect the views of rank and file Republicans when it comes to reproductive healthcare issues. Eighty percent of those who identified as Republicans believe that, when it comes to abortion, the decision should be made by a woman. Three percent said it should be made by the government.

“Republicans in good faith don’t use faith to discriminate. They recognize the hypocrisy of advocating government to get out of the boardroom but not the bedroom. They understand that they need to welcome and embrace voters of all religious persuasions, not just the few who have dominated the discussions in the recent past,” said Ann Stone, national chairman of Republicans for Choice.

Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, said, “Polls done across the political spectrum show the majority of Republicans, like the majority of Americans, do not agree that abortion should be illegal. The leadership of the GOP should better reflect the views of Republican voters—who are overwhelmingly pro-choice.

Too many Republican leaders agree with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that recent advances in the provision of family planning are an attack on religious freedom. This is completely bogus. In bending the knee to the Catholic hierarchy, these leaders have taken on values that are held by a tiny minority of Catholics and are anathema to Republican ideals of freedom and fairness.”

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Two new polls have appeared demonstrating the same thing: Obama is still slightly ahead of Romney. The surveys have been elaborated by AP-GfK and The Wall Street Journal/NBC News. Not even the nomination of Paul Ryan as Romney’s running mate has made the Republican comeback a sure thing, but Republicans still hope their Tampa Convention will turn things around.

The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows the Obama-Biden ticket has the support of 48 percent of registered voters ,and the Romney-Ryan ticket gets 44 percent.

In the July poll the results were almost the same. Let’s remember that during that month Ryan had not yet been designated as Romney’s running mate. The Obama-Biden ticket had 49 percent of registered voters’ support, and Romney had 43 percent. Even through all of the Republican effort, only a slight difference has been seen in the polls from July to August.

Romney’s tax record, and his Medicare plan, which is not popular, is costing him serious trouble. These are the main issues he must solve to have a serious comeback opportunity. President Obama, on the other hand, is having trouble with the unemployment rate and the nation’s direction; he must convince the voters that in four more years he will be able to take the country in the right direction.

But not all of the polls look negative for Romney. If you consider just 12 key state battle grounds: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, Obama’s advantage over Romney has gotten smaller. He now leads 49 to 46 percent, when in the same poll on June and July he had an 8 percent advantage in these same key state battlegrounds.

Obama still has minorities’ support; Hispanics and African Americans are behind him. So are women, which makes it seem that the Democrat’s campaigning regarding Republicans’ war with women has succeeded.  Romney is leading Obama on white, rural and senior voters, respectively.

The AP-GfK poll shows similar results. One of the poll’s results worthy of consideration is that amongst people who think Medicare is a very important issue, 49 percent would vote for Obama and 44 percent for Romney. This proves that Obama’s Medicare plan is more popular. On the other hand, voters still think Romney is more capable of handling the economy, 48 percent favor him and 44 percent favor Obama.

According to this poll Obama is also seen as much more capable of handling social issues, such as abortion and same-sex marriage, 54 percent of them think Obama is much more capable of handling abortion, while only 33 percent think Romney is more capable.

Obama is also seen as a strong, honest and trustworthy leader, whilst Mitt Romney needs to work on his personal image in order to have a serious chance of winning this election.

Republicans are hoping their Tampa Convention will make them jump in the polls. They have prepared a Convention with speakers that could turn things around, like Chris Christie (key-note speaker) or Marco Rubio (who will introduce Mitt Romney). Also, the Convention will be an opportunity for Romney to work on his personal image and for people to know Paul Ryan’s proposals firsthand.

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Washington, U.S.A. — Following Congressman Akin’s controversial remarks on Sunday, the Romney-Ryan campaign quickly released the following statement: “Governor Romney and Congressman (Paul) Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin’s statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape.”

After praising Congressman Ryan’s pro-personhood record in a press release last week, Personhood USA has now expressed concern about the appearance of compromise on the part of Congressman Ryan.

“Personhood USA does not endorse political candidates, but we had hoped that Congressman Ryan would be a good influence on Governor Romney, considering Romney’s liberal abortion record,” explained Jennifer Mason, Communications Director for Personhood USA. “Reading today that babies conceived in rape should suffer the death penalty under a Romney-Ryan administration is extremely concerning, and indicates that Congressman Ryan’s pro-woman and pro-baby positions would have little influence if he wins the office of Vice President of the United States.”

In December, Personhood USA asked GOP Presidential hopefuls to sign a “Personhood Pledge,” affirming the Republican party platform and following in the steps of President Ronald Reagan. Governor Mitt Romney declined to sign the prolife pledge.

Personhood USA spokesperson Rebecca Kiessling, who was conceived in rape, has had the opportunity to speak to many presidential hopefuls over the past five years. When speaking with Governor Mitt Romney several years ago, Rebecca commented that he was largely unresponsive and seemingly disinterested. By contrast, Rebecca’s conversation with Texas Governor Rick Perrymade headline news, with Governor Perry stating, ”Looking in her eyes, I couldn’t come up with an answer to defend the exceptions for rape and incest.”

“As someone who really cares about rape victims, I want to protect them from the rapist, and from the abortion, but not the baby. A baby is not the worst thing that could ever happen to a rape victim — an abortion is,” explained Kiessling. “We need to educate the American public on the truth in this matter and not make public policy based on myth and misinformation.”

“Governor Romney claims to be prolife, but it appears he is prolife with exceptions – if the baby was conceived in rape, it seems that Romney does not believe that baby has a right to life. This position is contrary to the Republican party platform and contrary to the beliefs of prolife Americans nationwide. All babies have a right to live, regardless of the circumstances of their conception,” concluded Mason

Image Courtesy of   NewsHour

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The Obama campaign has announced that Vice President, Joe Biden, has plans to be in Tampa next week. This wouldn’t be an important announcement, but the same days he is planning to attend Tampa are the same days the Republican National Convention will be taking place in the city.

The White House released a statement saying: “Next week, on Monday, August 27 and Tuesday, August 28, Vice President Joe Biden will travel to the Tampa area and other cities for campaign events.” The Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place from August 27 to August 30 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has already responded to Biden’s plans saying that the Republicans will respond to any attempt from the Democrats to interfere with the convention.

Priebus even threatened the Democrats that if they interfere with their convention, they should not be surprised if the Republicans interfere with theirs: “I think it’s pretty common among parties to play with each other’s conventions, and we’ll have a pretty big presence in Charlotte as well,” Priebus added that “the nice thing about going first is that whatever they do to us, we can do ten times over to them.” This was a very serious threat; it seems Priebus believes that if the Democrats attack their convention the Republicans should counter-attack harder.

When Priebus was asked that if his declarations meant that Romney would be in Charlotte for the Democratic Convention, he responded: “You never know where we are going to be.”

This political campaign has been very aggressive, with both campaign teams trying to interfere in each other’s activities.

Joe Biden has been also involved in recent controversies because of the declarations he made on a speech in Danville, Virginia to a crowd that included many African Americans, in which he said that Romney’s Wall Street plan was going to put the people “back in chains.”

An Obama campaign official told ABC News that ““as the full quote makes obvious, the Vice President was clearly using a metaphor to describe the devastating impact of deregulating Wall Street and the financial industry, as well as how Governor Romney’s policies would take us back to the same failed formula that led to the 2008 financial crisis – the same failed formula that benefited a few, but crashed our economy and hurt the middle class.”

The Obama campaign official defended Biden, saying that he did not intend to make racial comments for political purposes, as many analysts have criticized.

Image Courtesy of  Center for American Progress

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Paul Ryan recently made a speech in front of many elderly and beneficiaries of Medicare citizens  at The Villages in Florida, one of the key states in which the Republicans are receiving hard critics for their Medicare plans, which the Democrats claim would hurt American seniors.

Paul Ryan is considered to be a great speaker; the first thing he did during his Florida speech was to introduce his mother (Betty) to the crowd. He said that under Obama’s leadership the United States has become a “nation deeper in debt and further in doubt,” he added that now more than ever the country needs a leader that would make tough decisions to get the country back on track. He also criticized that President Obama and other politicians have “become more focused on their next election than on the next generation.”

Ryan also said that it is true that Obama “inherited a difficult situation,” but the problem is that he made it worse. He added that his speech is not hope and change anymore, it has now changed into anger and frustration.

Paul Ryan also talked about Romney’s credentials. It seems he has taken seriously the job of making his running mate seem as the leader America needs in this difficult situation. He talked about Romney’s business records, which have been one of his most criticized aspects by Obama’s campaign, by saying that Romney has helped in creating successful businesses many people know about like Sports Authority or Bright Horizons.

He also talked about Romney’s political experience, saying that Romney was a Republican governor in a Democratic state like Massachusetts, and he was able to negotiate with the Democrats in the legislature to balance the budget without increasing taxes.

Ryan also spoke about Medicare, the controversial issue that has been debated during the past few weeks. Democrats claim the Republicans want to turn Medicare into a voucher system and the Republicans claim Obama has taken $716 billion out of Medicare to support his own program (Obamacare).

Ryan said he wants a debate over Medicare and that a debate is needed. While talking about Medicare he referred to his mom, who is retired in Florida and is enrolled in Medicare. The vice presidential candidate said that for him Medicare is not a “bunch of numbers,” it is the program that his “mom relies on.”

Ryan explained that his mom is enrolled in Medicare and planned her retirement on the promise the government made her, because she paid her payroll taxes in order to become a Medicare beneficiary. Paul Ryan added that Obama has taken $716 billion from the program to pay for Obamacare and this will cut benefits from seniors.

He also added that Obama put a board of bureaucrats in charge of Medicare to fulfill his plans. The Wisconsin congressman said that because of the way Obama has handled Medicare, millions of seniors are projected to lose their benefits. He clearly stated: “Medicare should not be used as a piggy bank for Obamacare.”

The vice presidential candidate said that Romney and him would not let this board of bureaucrats “mess with [his] mom’s healthcare.” He also responded to recent accusations that he would end Medicare as it is known right now and make seniors pay more for their health programs by saying that if you are 55 or over, the Romney-Ryan plan for Medicare would not affect your benefits. He added that in order to save Medicare for the generation of 55 or over, a Medicare for his generation is needed, so the program does not go bankrupt when his generation wants to retire.

Ryan also explained the plan they intend to follow to save Medicare originated in the Clinton’s Commission Plan to Save Medicare, and it would not change benefits to people who are 55 or above. Instead, it provides a choice for the kind of medical coverage the younger generation wants to receive, including the traditional Medicare plan.

Ryan explained that this forces the insurance providers to compete between each other to gain customers. Ryan added that instead of being begging for mercy from bureaucrats to get health insurance, this Medicare reform would provide the opportunity to choose the insurance plan that suits each senior better.

Image Courtesy of  WisCoMedia

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After the euphoria that followed Romney’s nomination of Paul Ryan as his running mate, two issues are now at the forefront of debate: Medicare and Romney’s tax record. Democrats are asserting that Romney has not paid taxes in a decade. The way the candidates manage these controversial issues could decide the election.

Democrats have made claims that Romney has been dishonest in how much he has really paid in taxes. On Aug. 2, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared on the Senate floor, “The word’s out that he hasn’t paid any taxes for 10 years. Let him prove that he has paid taxes, because he hasn’t.”

In his defense, Romney has said that he has paid at least 13% of his income in taxes each year during the last decade. But Romney has only made public his 2010 tax return and has stated his 2011 tax return will be released when they are ready. Romney said in a recent press conference, “I did go back and look at my taxes and over the past 10 years I never paid less than 13 percent. I think the most recent year is 13.6 or something like that.”

Obama’s campaign has been taking advantage of the fact that Romney’s tax return records are not public and recently offered him a deal in which they promise to stop attacking him for this matter if he releases five years of tax return records. The offer came in a letter made by Jim Messina, campaign manager for Obama for America, after Romney released his statements.

He stated, “Governor Romney apparently fears that the more he offers, the more our campaign will demand that he provide,” and added, “So I am prepared to provide assurances on just that point: if the Governor will release five years of returns, I commit in turn that we will not criticize him for not releasing more–neither in ads nor in other public communications or commentary for the rest of the campaign.”

Romney’s campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, responded to Messina’s offer, stating “It is clear that President Obama wants nothing more than to talk about Governor Romney’s tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters, like putting Americans back to work, fixing the economy and reining in spending.”

Another issue that has become controversial in this campaign is the future of Medicare. Romney, in a recent political rally, used a whiteboard to explain the difference between Mr Obama’s plans for Medicare and his own. He explained that Obama’s plans would lead to bankruptcy and that his plan’s would give solvency to Medicare. Both sides have said they want a serious debate about Medicare, an issue that has not been of similar importance in recent political campaigns.

Jim Messina immediately responded to Romney after he used the whiteboard through Twitter, “Next time Romney uses a whiteboard to explain his Medicare plan, he should probably use this one.” In his whiteboard picture Messina explains that Obama would not make cuts on Medicare benefits. On the contrary, he adds that Romney would give the insurance companies $150 billion.

Image Courtesy of  Matthew Reichbach (Flickr: Mitt Romney Steve Pearce event 057) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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New York, U.S.A. — The Nobel Watch Company, a manufacturer and importer of high quality Swiss watches, released an attractively designed watch that supports the election of Governor Mitt Romney and Congressman Paul Ryan. The company’s Board of Directors strongly supports Governor Romney and has resolved to aid his election by producing this quality election timepiece.

“As a business owner, I have firsthand experience on how the downward economy is affecting people all across America,” says Iszy Genuth, President and Founder of Nobel Watches. “The Nobel Team has decided to produce a special watch for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, since America needs a comeback team that will make us strong again.”

Nobel Watches has partnered with the Veteran’s Watchmaker’s Initiative to produce the timepiece. The Initiative teaches the important skill of watch making to disabled veterans so that they can develop a respectable profession. “What greater way to support our country than by having all the watches assembled in the USA by disabled war veterans?” said Mr. Genuth.

In addition to creating valuable jobs in the US market, Nobel Watches will be donating $4 of each watch sold to the Republican National Committee as another way to show their support for the Republican ticket. Nobel is also donating a $1 to the Veteran Watchmaker’s Initiative for each watch sold. The watch is quickly becoming a collector’s item, and people who buy it can display it proudly, knowing they are helping to contribute to a more robust economy and a better future for our country.

A proven name in luxury Swiss watches, Nobel’s watches are not only backed by their unique styling and affordable prices, they’re also supported by years of combined experience.

“Only the Nobel name is instantly associated with man’s greatest achievements, and with the release of our new timepiece we hope to help America achieve its potential and become great once again.”

Image Courtesy of  tomanthonydotcom

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