Schedule it.

Ryan vs. Obama in the Brawl For It All.

There is a precedent for this. When NAFTA was controversially on the docket, Al Gore (before he was sainted by earth-gnomes) debated Ross Perot on Larry King, I think.

Now... um... I don't think it would be fair if Obama sent his Retarded Uncle Joe to a debate, so that means that Obama will have to do so.

Game?

Obama threatened that he would "take this to the American people." So, let's do it. This is a far bigger than NAFTA.

Or would that interfere unduly with your golf game, Champ?

You've Been Served: Ryan actually challenged Obama to a debate last week -- but the media didn't report that.

Gotta keep Precious safe from discomfit.

Posted by: Ace at 01:48 PM | Comments (204)
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Just like conservatives, refusing to give to people what they most need.

Posted by: Ace at 01:38 PM | Comments (60)
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So, this girl is mocking the voyeuristic girl-culture on the internet, of make-up and sexy dancing and other proven attention-getting ploys.

So, this is a parody.

But is the parody sound, or does she just come off as a friggin' lunatic

Actually I guess it's both. So make does she come off more as a parodist or a lunatic? more...

Posted by: Ace at 01:22 PM | Comments (108)
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I believe the "Boy" is strongly implied. more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:37 PM | Comments (122)
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Just one poll. Romney isn't exactly dethroned as front-runner, because they ask a mix of questions.

This time the survey asked five questions: Who is your top pick for president? Who is the most electable? Who is your second choice? Who would do the best job handling the economy? And who would do the best job reducing spending in Washington?

...

Perry and Bachmann have set a new bar for the poll, garnering support in the range of 25 percent in the categories of electability and top pick.

...

Romney was judged the most electable by 33.5 percent, but just 12.4 percent called him their top pick for the nomination. Perry, on the other hand, does well in both categories: He’s well-liked as a candidate, with 25.4 percent naming him as their top pick, and voters also see him as electable — with 28.5 percent calling him the most electable.

...

Bachmann also saw a huge gain in the Tracking Poll, as she has in most other polls released in the past two weeks. She is the top pick of 25.8 percent of those polled, while 21.1 percent called her the most electable.

Posted by: Ace at 12:31 PM | Comments (120)
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I just asked this myself, given that Obama seems to be saying that he's willing to put politics above the nation's debt rating.

Remember, Obama didn't walk out and vow to default the country into ruin over the substance of what a deal might look like.

He walked out over Cantor's suggestion that they do a short-term deal to give them time to continue negotiating.

That is what Obama threatened to destroy the credit rating of America over -- over having to continue debating this to find some kind of compromise.

The Tyrant King wants this issue behind him, so he can get back to fundraisin' and campaignin'.

Good for Tapper for asking this.

I was going to quote it, but it's a long exchange -- Carney keeps interrupting him so there's not really any one place where the question is asked. Tapper is forced to ask pieces of it over the span of six or seven utterances.

Carney plainly does not want to answer and winds up not answering.

Actually, let me take a shot at quoting:

APPER: [continuing after interruption] I don't understand this ultimatum that the president brought into the room with him that this needs to extend into 2013.

CARNEY: Because the kind of atmosphere that's created now that has brought us to the brink of doing something that has never been done before is unlikely to improve in an election year. And we are not, as I said before, the kind of country that wants to or should put in doubt in the global economic market -- you know, or raise the question, on a regular basis, whether or not we're going to default on our obligations. I mean, as Caren (Bohan of Reuters) just mentioned, we have rating agencies putting us on warning; I mean, this is not good for our economy. So if we do this regularly, you can bet that it will have a negative impact on our economic prospects, on our growth and our job creation because it creates uncertainty about the economic environment that we're -- that businesses are operating in.

TAPPER: You're comparing it to extending the debt ceiling to 2013. I'm not; I'm comparing it to default. Which is worse? Because the president is saying essentially he would rather have it default than have to vote on this again next year. That doesn't make any sense.

CARNEY: He is saying that leaders should lead, and we have to do the right thing here. You can, as a piece of political analysis, have an opinion about it. The president's position is, this is not what the United States should do --

TAPPER: IÂ’m analyzing your own statements.

CARNEY: -- and he doesn't believe we will do it. And we think -- we think we can get to an agreement that's significant. And remember, this is all because of an arbitrary connection that was established between the amount by which Congress would have to raise the debt ceiling and the amount by which –

[digression omitted]

CARNEY: So -- but Jake, let me answer the question. We do not think that that is the way that this country should operate. The president's made it very clear.

TAPPER: What the president made clear in the meeting was that he will not --

CARNEY: Both are bad; I can't choose which is worse for you.

Carney just said he can't say which is worse -- default or not accommodating the President's politically-motivated timetable.

TAPPER: Really? They -- it -- you can't. Default might not be as bad as voting on this next year?

CARNEY: Jake, I've answered the question.

TAPPER: No, you guys are painting a very cataclysmic picture

CARNEY: Jake --

TAPPER: -- that I'm not challenging -- on how bad a default would be. I don't understand why that is preferable --

CARNEY: Because we don't have to get there. We're not going to default, Jake. We're not going to default. I think I, in the answer to two previous questions before I got to you, made clear that no one in the room thinks we're going to default and the president and the vice president don't think we're going to default. So it's a hypothetical that we don't even have to entertain.

Posted by: Ace at 11:24 AM | Comments (266)
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She also says he's too busy to deal with this, and she can understand that, because she's too busy too.

Job.

I guess that's actually a step down, so Obama is shedding divinity as we speak.

Flashback: Around June 23rd, Cavuto asked Rep. Clyburn why President Golfsalot wasn't more involved in negotiations.

[Clyburn:] “We can’t have the President sitting in these meetings, three and four hours every day, when all of these other things are happening around the world. The president has much more to do with his time, and that’s why you have a Vice President.”

[Cavuto:] “You might be right Congressman, but no offense, he’s in New York, you know, fundraising tonight.”

Thanks to soothsayer for that.

There's video but the clips I've seen don't include Cavuto's zinger.

[zing!]

Posted by: Ace at 09:59 AM | Comments (277)
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Oh wait, did I say "right wing" pollster using likely voters?

I meant Gallup's poll of registered voters

Indies aren't too happy, and Republicans remain strongly unified in voting the President out:

Independent registered voters are currently more likely to vote for the Republican candidate (44%) than for Obama (34%), though one in five do not have an opinion. Republicans and Democrats show strong party loyalty in their vote choices, with Republicans showing somewhat stronger loyalty.

Republicans vote by an 88-4 margin for the Republican, Democrats 81-8 for the President.

I expect the President will get at least 45% of the popular vote, at the worst. Of course, a 45% showing would cost him Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Maine, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, and spawn a massive run on pudding supplies.

Posted by: CAC at 09:38 AM | Comments (83)
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I asked this earlier on Twitter, directing my question to Rick Klein, whoever he is. (I think he might be with ABC but who knows.)

Obama's hissy fit came when Eric Cantor began suggesting a short-term deal to give the parties more time to work out a long-term one. That's when President Piss-Pants stormed out and began writing all sorts of smack on his MySpace page and started listening to the "deep" Coldplay songs on his iPod.

But why is a long-term deal economically necessary?

Answer: It's not. This is purely political on Obama's part; he just wants this losing issue off the table, and with Republican cover on it for him. He wants to claim it's a bipartisan decision, and then to never speak of it again.

What the hell does that have to do with America's credit rating? Nothing. It's only about Obama's political capital rating.

So let's sum up:

Obama is willing to destroy America's credit rating in order to secure himself a personal short-term political advantage.

And Republicans are probably going to call this particular bluff.

Some of the options are variations on this scenario: The House passes a short-term bill which makes X billion dollars in cuts and increases the debt limit by precisely the same amount. Then Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, uses his parliamentary powers to force a vote on the bill, even if he has to attach it to something else. Republicans vote for it. In that way, House Republicans would have passed, and Senate Republicans would have voted for, a measure that both cuts spending and averts a government default. (Many GOP leaders use the word 'default,' although what would result if there is no agreement is closer to a partial government shutdown.) In any event, Republicans would have proposed and passed their own measure to increase the debt limit and avoid possible catastrophe. Obama and his Democratic allies in the Senate could stop it, or the president himself could veto it if it somehow made its way through the Senate. In any event, Obama would be the one stopping an actual measure to increase the debt ceiling.

They're also thinking about passing the Cut Cap and Balance bill.

Posted by: Ace at 09:32 AM | Comments (83)
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I haven't followed this at all, so I'm mainly interested in the broader lesson here: If you have them up against it, they'll break eventually.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton sent a letter Thursday to House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, saying he “reluctantly” agrees to accept the Republican budget proposal from June 30 if it will end the government shutdown.

Dayton said accepting the offer would bridge a $1.4 billion gap between him and the Republican leadership. The governor says he has “serious reservations” about the GOP plan, but Minnesota’s government shutdown must end.

“If this gets resolved and gets Minnesota back to work in the next few days, then it doesn’t matter what people say about me,” Dayton said.

Powerline has the same idea:

As I read Governor DaytonÂ’s letter to the Republican leadership in the legislature, the most notable fact is that Dayton has given up on imposing tax increases as a condition of ending his shutdown of state government. Why did Dayton agree to end his shutdown now? This is pure speculation, but my guess is that he is looking at poll data that are not supportive of his position.

Will the result of MinnesotaÂ’s shutdown (assuming the Republicans agree to DaytonÂ’s terms, or something very close to those terms) be a harbinger of what happens at the federal level? I hope so.

What If They Called a Shutdown And No One Came? Commenters from Minnesota are saying that the public hardly even noticed the shutdown -- so Dayton's big play wasn't so big.

Another possible lesson for the federal crowd.

Posted by: Ace at 09:11 AM | Comments (80)
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