Thursday, January 3, 2019
Rand Paul to Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts Puritan: Cut the petty holier than thou crap
Ain't gonna happen Senator Paul. There's something in the water up there in Massachusetts that once you drink of it, you're infected forever. Same thing happens with the water in Utah. But hooah anyway.
I don`t know how it really helps anybody`s cause for people to stand up there like they`re holier than thou. And it`s like, look at me, how virtuous I am. And I`m going to bring down the presidency by criticizing his character in front of the whole nation. It does nobody any good. And, in the end, I think it`s going to look petty, and I think there`s going to be a backlash to this. ...
I question [Trump] on policy when I disagree with him. He knows I have stood up to him. I have talked to him on the phone and he says, "I know where your principles are and I know you can`t move on this particular vote." And we still have a good conversation. And I think that`s different than attacking and trying to go for the jugular of someone`s character. And so I do think it`s different. ...
[I]f there were an election between Donald Trump in a primary and Romney, I think Romney would be wiped out.
Hooah Newt Gingrich to Mitt Romney: The Senate doesn't care who you used to be
It is kind of sad. As a freshman, he could have come in, he could have written as the former governor of Massachusetts, his views on Elizabeth Warren running for office. He could have written about the shutdown and offered an idea, such as combining help for the DREAMers with building the wall and securing the border. He could have written about things he knows a great deal about.
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Among whites Trump 2016 underperformed Romney 2012 57%-59% overall, but crushed him with whites in eleven states and in seven to win the presidency
Mitt Romney is back, but he really ought to just zip it. He's a loser.
States where Trump 2016 (wins in red) outperformed Romney 2012 (wins in blue) among whites:
States where Trump 2016 (wins in red) outperformed Romney 2012 (wins in blue) among whites:
Florida 64%-61%
Indiana 64%-60%
Iowa 54%-47%
Maine 46%-40%
Michigan 57%-55%
Minnesota 50%-49%
Missouri 66%-65%
New Hampshire 48%-47%
New York 51%-49%
Ohio 62%-57%
Wisconsin 53%-51%.
Where Trump underperformed Romney Trump still won the same contests, but also reeled in Pennsylvania which Romney did not. Overall Trump won 10 states to Romney's 4, largely on improved performance among whites.
States where Romney 2012 (wins in blue) outperformed Trump 2016 (wins in red) among whites:
Arizona 66%-54%
California 53%-45%
Colorado 54%-47%
New Jersey 56%-54%
New Mexico 56%-47%
North Carolina 68%-63%
Oregon 44%-42%
Pennsylvania 57%-56%
Virginia 61%-59%
Washington 46%-40%.
Exit polling via CNN.
Exit polling via CNN.
Peter Dutton of the US Naval War College doesn't think China can control the South China Sea
One of the rare hopeful appraisals I have read, which ought to be sobering . . . for China.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Next stop for beer-drinking Cherokee woman Elizabeth Warren: A visit to the hardware store "to get me a huntin' license"
Must be something in the water up there in Massachusetts that turns people into phony baloney plastic banana good time rock-n-rollas. Michael Dukakis in the tank, John Kerry goes a huntin', and now Elizabeth Warren cracks open a cold one in a New Year's Eve chat streamed live. Hm. Tongues are a-wagging. A drinking Indian, huh? Was it an India Pale Ale?
The article forgets to mention the incident involving John Kerry, who served in Vietnam.
Cashman: Elizabeth Warren racks up another Dukakis moment :
With the beer vid — trying to sell herself as your average
beer-swigging multimillionaire former Harvard Law prof who’s a champion
of the middle class — Warren has racked up two strikes in short order.
Three strikes and … it could be just Beto O’Rourke vs. Kamala Harris on
the left side of the Democrats’ debate stage.
Suddenly Obamacare is not much of a muchness to Democrats, a mere stepping stone to the socialist future
The next development will be Republicans arguing, as Paul Ryan did in 2012 about Medicare, that conservatism means we must preserve Obamacare for future generations.
Lindsey Grahamnesty points out that the Gang of Eight bill was tougher on border security than Trump is now
Suddenly the Gang of Eight bill is conservatism. Trump is now to the left of the entire Republican primary field of 2016 on immigration, begging for just $5 billion and willing to take less.
What suckers he takes us for.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: What I can tell you is Democrats have voted for 700 miles of the Secure Fence Act that had double-layered fencing. Call that whatever you'd like. In the Gang of Eight bill we had $42 billion for border security, including $9 billion for physical barriers.
The wall has become a metaphor for border security. And what we're talking about is a physical barrier where it makes sense. In the past, every Democrat has voted for these physical barriers. It can't be just about because Trump wants it we no longer agree with it.
There is nothing immoral about a physical barrier along the border in places that make sense. There will never be a deal that doesn't have money for the physical barriers that we all in the past have agreed we need.
Laugh of the Day: Trump calls Elizabeth Talking Bull crazy without calling her crazy
The president has this part of politics down pat. Too bad the follow through on policy utterly escapes him.
From the transcript here:
HEGSETH: She says she’s in the fight all the way, Mr. President. Do you really think she believes she can win?
TRUMP: Well that I don’t know. You’d have to ask her psychiatrist. But honestly, I just, you know --
(LAUGHTER)
Monday, December 31, 2018
H. Ross Perot's $13/hr factory jobs going to Mexico in 1992 should pay $27/hr today adjusted for inflation but pay only $18
The giant sucking sound clip from 1992 is here.
Perot characterized factory wages in 1992 as typically paying between $12 and $14 per hour.
Adjusted for inflation the $13 job in 2017 would pay nearly $27 per hour. The reality is it pays a lot less than that. Factory work in Michigan today basically starts at $15, up only 25% not 107%. The average manufacturing job paying $21+ is composed of a lot of such lower paying positions.
The reality is in Michigan that the top eventual $18/hr advertised wage is the equivalent of less than $9/hr in 1992.
The jobs have gone out of the country, expanding middle classes abroad while impoverishing our own at home.
Outgoing Trump Chief of Staff General John Kelly attacks Jeff Sessions, was just one in the retinue opposing Trump's policies whom Trump himself appointed
That's rich, attacking the only guy in the administration who tried to implement the policies the candidate ran on.
Good riddance!
“What happened was Jeff Sessions, he was the one that instituted the zero-tolerance process on the border that resulted in both people being detained and the family separation,” Kelly said. “He surprised us.” ... “The president still says ‘wall’ – oftentimes frankly he’ll say ‘barrier’ or ‘fencing,’ now he’s tended toward steel slats," Kelly said. "But we (moved away from) a solid concrete wall early on in the administration, when we asked people what they needed and where they needed it.” ... “Illegal immigrants, overwhelmingly, are not bad people,” Kelly said. “I have nothing but compassion for them, the young kids.” ... He said the job was arduous and he often clashed with Trump over policy. But he was determined to stay through the 2018 midterm elections.
Trump already compromised on The Wall, and that's the problem
Trump gave away 80% of what he wanted without getting anything in return.
It's political malpractice.
Even worse, he's shut down the government now over the remaining 20% at the most politically inopportune time, having nothing left to bargain with.
The time to have done this was when Republicans were in control of Congress, in January 2017, or February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January 2018, February . . ..
Forgive us for thinking he was never serious about The Wall, at all.
The Wall is now and may always have been simply a political tool, like opposition to abortion. He stopped being serious about it in August 2016 after the immigration issue secured him the nomination, when this "advisor", Kellyanne Conway, came on board from the Ted Cruz campaign, which likewise was never serious about The Wall. Ted had one throwaway line about immigration in his entire speech announcing his candidacy, that's it. It was Trump who completely blindsided him and the rest of the Republican field with the issue. But ever since it's only red meat for the base. He never made it a priority, and fired the only person actively pursuing immigration reform in his administration, Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That's how unimportant The Wall has been to the president.
The Wall riles up the news, keeping Trump in it, that's all.
I believe the president has already compromised. He originally asked for $25 billion. The House is at $5.6 billion. They did their job. The Senate has to come back. It is a modest investment.
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