Newt Dissed Trump as "Manipulating the Game" in 1989
— Ace

Slate is promoting this as a potentially awkward quote for the upcoming debate.

[Q]uotas send exactly the wrong signal to poor people. It says that they are going to get justice through political action and that justice is going to redress the past. That is simply, historically, not true. It's not the way the world works. The more power there is in a political system, the more the powerful exploit it. New York hasn't ended up a dream world for the poor. It has become a place where Donald Trump manipulates the game.

Pretty cogent point, awkwardness aside. Is New York a dream world for the poor? How about San Francisco?

How about DC? How about Detroit?

And a damned fine point that the more powerful a government is, the more justifications it has to favor and disfavor citizens and transfer wealth and rights between them, the more the powerful actually gain.

Because, let's face it: Warren Buffet is always going to get his phone calls answered, isn't he?

For those poor people who think Charles Schumer is their White Knight: Try calling him on the phone. See if you get through.

You know who gets through every single time? The big bankers he actually serves as Senator to.

Posted by: Ace at 11:16 AM | Comments (60)
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Nancy Pelosi: I Can't Wait To Reveal The Confidential Material From Newt's Ethics Hearings
Newt Gingrich: I Can't Wait For You To Get Your Own Ethics Investigation Either
— Ace

Granny Rictus McBotoxImplants:

"One of these days we’ll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich,” Pelosi told Talking Points Memo. “When the time is right. … I know a lot about him. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff.”

That, of course, would itself be a major ethical breach, as Gingrich points out.

First of all IÂ’d like to thank Speaker Pelosi for what I regard as an early Christmas gift. If sheÂ’s suggesting sheÂ’s gonna use material she developed while she was on the ethics committee, that is a fundamental violation of the rules of the House and I would hope members would immediately file charges against her the second she does it.

Video at the link.

At Hot Air, some debate among Republicans and Democrats about whether Newt would be a weaker candidate than Mitt, or a stronger one.

I don't know myself. I'm having trouble figuring that out. On one hand, that DNC ad about Mitt's flip-flops made him look dishonest and venal.

On the other hand, Romney has a picture-perfect family story, which Newt definitely does not.

Plus Newt has his own history of zig-zags and flip-flops, of course.

On Acceptability... Gingrich leads, Romney places, and Rick Perry manages third place.

Thanks to @baseballcrank for that.

Posted by: Ace at 11:01 AM | Comments (158)
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GOP Moderator Donald Trump: Yeah, Obama's Birth Certificate Looks Pretty Fake To Me
— Ace

It's a belief that part of the party still holds, so I guess it's not really the worst thing in the world if Donald Trump begins asking candidates about it. I suppose they should answer one way or the other; if the Never Say Die caucus on this "issue" decides they can't vote for someone who thinks that a genuine birth certificate is genuine, so be it.

Still, it would add to the unhelpful Freaks & Geeks narrative the GOP has going about the field.

“A lot of people agree with me,” Trump said in response to a question from World Net Daily’s Robert Unruh.”They find it amazing, that out of — that all of a sudden, miraculously, this birth certificate just appeared. People have questioned the birth certificate, and many people do still question it.”

“I happen to think,” Trump continued, “it’s very strange that after years, all of a sudden it appears. And I’ve also said, ‘How come there are no records that his mother was ever in the hospital?’

The National Review's editorial calls for candidates to boycott the debate. Nice thought, but some guys, like mine, probably need the exposure.

Since this will be a reality-tv show, with Trump announcing his pick for Presidential Apprentice shortly after the boardroom, I mean, shortly after the debate: It's my own trivial observation that the real goal in any reality tv show is not to win the money, but to keep one's dignity. Which is hard when you've already made the first dignity-eroding step of appearing on a reality-tv show at all.

Any candidates who do participate should keep that in mind here. Keeping you dignity is winning. Groveling for Mr. Trump's boardroom favor would not be consistent with keeping one's dignity.

Good Point by Andrew McCarthy... Given that 90% of the debates were moderated by left-liberal clowns, why should Donald Trump be of any particular worry?

This is an important point. While it's impossible to undo the damage already done, as a matter of going forward, candidates can and should insist that Republican/conservative debates will be hosted and moderated by actual Republicans and conservatives.

We don't really need all the bullshit liberal questions. They're irrelevant to the task at hand, which is, of course, to elicit information useful in selecting a Republican/conservative standard-bearer.

Posted by: Ace at 09:46 AM | Comments (191)
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CAC's 1,234,482th Thread Telling You Pennsylvania is Turning Red
— CAC

Today's edition of "Pennsylvania isn't a Republican cock-tease anymore", provided to you bythe Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Without a collapsing economy to remind these voters why they're still Democrats, they will vote Republican. Indeed, a just-stagnant economy on a Democrat's watch doesn't help.

Six weeks ago, Obama visited Pittsburgh. The union crowd was thin. Enthusiasm was nonexistent; so were local elected Democrats, who opted to shake his hand at the airport rather than stand on stage with him while he talked about jobs.
...
In off-year elections last month, Republicans increased Pennsylvania counties they control by 12, to 52 of 67. Most gains were in Northeastern or Western Pennsylvania, home to Scranton and Pittsburgh, respectively.

Heading north along state Route 51 into Allegheny County, a faded Hillary-for-president sign straddles a closed business and a yard. Duct tape appears to be still holding it in place.

If Obama is genuinely screwed in Western PA and northeastern Pennsylvania, he has no margin of error in the Philly burbs. Both Corbett and Toomey won Pennsylvania by winning a sizable portion of those too, combined with overwhelming numbers in the rest of the state. The old "Red T" of PA has become a "Red rectangle with a tiny zit and a fat lip", and that is devastating for any Democrat. The New York Times piles on about the President's collapse in Scranton:

PennsylvaniaÂ’s unemployment rate for October was 8.1 percent, lower than the national average of 9 percent. But here, in this old coal mining region, the rate was 9.7 percent; the Scranton area has the highest unemployment in the state. The city is on the verge of losing 300 postal service jobs. The regional food bank served a record number of meals on Thanksgiving and has had a 25 percent increase in demand over the last year.
...
“People are afraid,” Mr. Doherty said. “I remember when Ronald Reagan was president, unemployment was high and interest rates were through the roof. But we always thought things were going to get better. Today, we don’t think things will get better.”

The President called the blue-collar Pennsylvania voters "bitter clingers" in 2008 and in the financial panic they still voted for him. With no economic improvement to be seen, the Presidents' numbers have grown worse and worse, dipping below those in Ohio, Colorado, and North Carolina, all traditionally more Republican states. Add in his problems in Michigan(where the President trails Romney by 5 and can only best Gingrich by the same), and the President is looking at a bad night in November, regardless what the "Swing West" does.

Posted by: CAC at 08:50 AM | Comments (149)
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Fantastic Idea: Hey, Let's Ask Colleges To Cosign The Loans They're Inducing Students To Take Out
— Ace

It's very clever. Suddenly colleges would be aligned in interest with the bank (which wishes to be repaid), the taxpayer (who wishes to not have to subsidize nonpaying loans), and the student, who, whether he understands it or not, should be avoiding educational loans which are out-of-proportion to the likely ability to pay his education has given him.

Suddenly colleges would not be Universities of General Feel-Goodery And Do What You Wantery, but would have a cash-money interest in steering students towards courses of study with decent prospects for employment, and to limiting how much each student takes out in loans.

Really great idea. Of course this will punish all the Professors of Silly Studies, because they won't be able to trick as many students into taking majors in their unemployable fields. But that seems to be a good thing.

Posted by: Ace at 08:28 AM | Comments (138)
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DOOM: Cold cold heart
— Monty

The welfare state's reckoning. Europe's problems are the same as ours, pretty much; they're just feeling the pain sooner because they traveled down the welfare-state road further and faster than we did.

Democrats will try to extend the payroll-tax holiday. Kent Conrad assures everyone that Democrats will do it without adding to the deficit.

While declining to discuss details, Conrad said the cost of Reid's proposal would be fully covered and not increase the nation's record $15 trillion debt. "It will be paid for, it will be in a way that is credible and serious," Conrad said.

Kent Conrad is...well, let's say deluded...if that's an accurate quote; if spending is not cut elsewhere nor taxes raised, then the money must either be printed or borrowed. I expect the GOP to give the measure the back of their hand, but you never know; there have been troubling signs of wobbly spines in the GOP caucus. (My theory on this is that the Democrats are pushing this "cut" in order to starve the Federal coffers a bit so they can cry poor next spring and insist on the necessity of raising taxes. There was never a Democrat born who actually believed in permanently lowering taxes, so you can rest assured that this is simply a tactical gambit.)

The employment problem is structural, which means two things: it will be a project of years and maybe decades to fix; and there are no silver bullets or magical fixes. Politicians of either party who claim that there's some easy path back to full employment are lying, and they should be called on their lies.

The Financially Driven Erosion of Scientific Integrity. The legendary robustness of peer-review has broken down badly in recent years -- but I think this has to do as much with the massive volume of scientific publications and the increasing specialization of fields as it does to do with money. And nasty old human nature plays a part as well.
more...

Posted by: Monty at 04:55 AM | Comments (292)
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Top Headline Comments 12-5-11
— Gabriel Malor

Happy Monday. Some items to get you started:

Despite widespread cheating, Russian PM Putin's party is dealt major setback in parliamentary elections.

Current and former Maricopa County cops say hundreds of sex crime cases were mishandled---or outright ignored---by the self-proclaimed "America's Toughest Sheriff."

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:59 AM | Comments (180)
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A Very Special ONT: Candace Kita's 3rd Annual USO Thanksgiving Sendoff for the Troops. [dri]
— Open Blogger

L-R: Lisa Gleave, Sandi Taylor, Caitlyn O'Connor, Jennifer Korbin, Candace Kita,
Yancey Taylor, Enya Flack, and Miki Black.

I recently caught up with AoSHQ's favorite 'Ette Candace Kita at the blog's secret subterranean command post and cocktail lounge beneath the massive Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV. Between drinking flaming shots of Bacardi 151, Candace told me about some of the exciting things she has been working on lately. "Although I model and audition constantly, I always leave time to celebrate the troops and the incredible sacrifices they make on a daily basis". "This year marks the third annual USO troop Thanksgiving send-off that I got to participate in." "Over 300 troops were served a turkey dinner with all of the trimmings. The feast was donated by the Hilton Hotel chain and transportation was provided by Rockin Hollywood Tours." "This year the whole event was sponsored by Benchwarmer.com who even produced a line of cards especially for the event."

When asked about future events she stated " I hope to someday be able to get the girls together for an AoSHQ social event (AKA a moron meet-up) if the readers express any interest." I told her that I would take a survey and get back to her on that. Many more photos after the break. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:22 PM | Comments (528)
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Saturday Night Live Joins US In Complete Bankruptcy
— Ace

Sure, I could make the bias case, but it's their right to be biased.

But they don't have the right to be unfunny.

Two sketches, Cain posted at top and Obama beneath that, which are simply not professional-level. Not really even Talented Amateur level.

It's not just that it's not funny. In many cases, I'm not even certain about what they imagined would be funny.

Thanks, sort of, to Ben.

Posted by: Ace at 02:20 PM | Comments (167)
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Bye, Bye Barney
— andy

There are couple of good Barney Frank pieces in the Boston press today. First, Jeff Jacoby on the nasty piece of work that is the congressman we happen to share.

When the longtime Massachusetts representative found himself last year facing -- for the first time in decades -- a surprisingly strong Republican challenge, journalists noticed something strange: He wasn't being as nasty as usual. He wasn't responding to questions with his trademark put-downs. He wasn't condescending to critics with quite as much sneering contempt.

When Barney says he doesn't like campaigning, what he really means is that he finds it too difficult to fake being a decent human being for a few months every couple of years.

Sean Bielat deserves a lot of credit for Frank's retirement. He ultimately bounced him out of office, just not the way he had hoped.

Next up, Howie Carr:

Barney Frank has always been the smartest guy in the room — just ask him.

...

So hereÂ’s the irony: Barney Frank, so arrogant, so full of himself, so intoxicated by decades of fawning media coverage, just assumed that he would be taken care of in redistricting by the peons in the Legislature.

When even the far left loons on Beacon Hill find a fellow traveler this off-putting, he might have a problem.

We'll try hard to flip this seat to the GOP, but like I tell people all the time around here, my Republican congressman sits in that seat we lost in the 2010 census. Probably somewhere in Texas.

But there's at least a glimmer of hope that it'll take whatever Democrat we put in this seat a decade or more to become as big a jerk as Barney Frank.

Posted by: andy at 10:45 AM | Comments (281)
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