Why Rick Perry Won and Michele Bachmann Lost the Iowa Debate

 - Review of the Fox News Sioux City GOP Debate - 

I watched most of last night's Fox News Sioux City GOP debates twice. Once to analyze the statements and positions and the second time to observe the ebb and flow of the debate itself. In the beginning it was a relative picnic, but it became the knife fight I had predicted as the debate progressed. Unfortunately for Michele Bachmann, she got careless with her blade and a lot of the blood on the floor was her own - or it will be in tomorrow's news cycle, anyway. Bachmann's analysis is the longest by far, so if you make it through there, you're home free.

Prior Fox News Debate
Image via Wikipedia

My take on the debates by candidate:

Michele Bachmann: Minnesota Congressman Bachmann made three key strategic errors last night. First, her credibility is not an established fact and attacking more than one candidate last night stretched it beyond the breaking point. Bachmann weighed in on both Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, but her biggest error was different; one that could have easily been avoided.

People without heavyweight credentials of their own cannot challenge Newt Gingrich's conservative credentials, which is why Mitt Romney surrogates such as Bill Bennett and George F. Will do so but Romney seldom does personally. Bachmann is a conservative, but compared to Gingrich her political resume is both thin and short.

Iowa Debate Poll and Old Poll Results

Image via Wikipedia

New Poll: Who won the Sioux City Iowa debate?

Michele Bachmann
Newt Gingrich
Jon Huntsman
Ron Paul
Rick Perry
Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum

Please vote in the poll which is in the right column near the top of the page. You may vote once, and in this poll you may vote for only one answer. The poll will close at Midnight, the morning of December the 22nd.

Old Poll Results:Why is President Obama blocking the Keystone XL Pipeline?

 69.8% - He fears angering the left-leaning Green movement.
 25.5% - He is using it as political leverage.
   7.5% - He hates Canadians.
 33.0%  - He wants no new oil-related jobs.
 16.0% - Someone in Texas might benefit.
   5.7% - He is confusing oil pipelines with surfing pipelines.


Please note that this is not a scientific poll and is used for entertainment and to generate discussion. Poll results will add up to more than 100% because each voter was allowed to choose multiple answers in this particular poll.


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Sioux City Me, Sioux City You Blues

 - Preview of the Fox News Sioux City GOP Debate - 

I'll be blogging tonight's Fox News GOP debate; watching for political blood and gore. Sioux City, Iowa, is hosting the event which will likely need ring girls, a referee, a ring and a house doctor. I will be surprised if it does not get ugly. I've made a few notes on what I will be watching for during the debate and thought I would share them with you.

After the debate, I'll open up the online poll on who you believe won the debate with civil comments welcome. Then, I'll add my after-debate opinions to the mix.

Things to watch:

Historic downtown Sioux City, Iowa
Image via Wikipedia

Michele Bachmann: Bachmann is one of two candidates who must do well here to be taken seriously for the remainder of the campaign. Her campaign has trumpeted her Iowa ties and organization too loudly and too broadly for her to fail and mount a comeback later. Whether she realizes it or not, this is make or break for her. She does not have to win, but anything less than third in the Iowa caucuses is a major problem and less than fourth is a death knell for her campaign. She is likely to be very aggressive and should self-monitor to ensure she does not sound shrill.

Herman Cain: Most regular debate watchers may be surprised at how much they miss Cain's presence.

Newt Gingrich: As the current poll leader, Newt will again be the focal point of his fellow candidates. Look to see if he handles attacks with calm, rational ripostes or if he looks mean. The manner, rather than the substance of his remarks will be more important. Look for attacks on Gingrich's past moves to the left. Critics want you to see them as revelatory; Newt wants you to see them as anomalies. If he is smart, Gingrich will point out how he differs from President Obama rather than his fellow Republicans.

The Do-Nothing Senate's Pipeline to Hell

An oil and gas pipeline
Image via Wikipedia

Article first published as The Do-Nothing Senate's Pipeline to Hell on Technorati.

President Barack Obama likes blaming a "do-nothing" Congress for his sad record as president. But is that entirely fair? Blaming all of Congress for the US Senate's failure to act would be like Achilles blaming his entire leg for his vulnerable heel.

Speaking of heels, it’s the Senate leadership that is sitting on the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, aka the payroll tax cut bill. The bill would continue payroll tax cuts for 160 million Americans, and require approval for the Keystone XL Pipeline (KXP). The Canadian pipeline provides two benefits: thousands of American jobs and an increased flow of oil into a country with no real energy policy.

The job estimates for KXP vary from 6,000 to over 100,000. The project manager for the proposed pipeline, TransCanada, estimates the jobs to be 20,000.

President Obama has not said that he will not approve the pipeline, but wants to delay his decision until after the 2012 elections. Excuse me? That's like telling your boss that you'll just wait to finish that all-important project until after your employee review. The construction jobs would be nearly immediate and could be honestly called "shovel ready," like the jobs that the stimulus bill was going to create, except these will really exist.

Ignorance, Arrogance and Government Meddling

Ignorance and arrogance: two characteristics that do not mix well. As a combination, it’s right up there with Saturday Night Specials and unlimited $1 beer night. You just know that something will go horribly wrong. And there can be added factors to make it even worse.

Add one attractive woman of questionable moral character and her large, highly jealous husband to a room full of men with Saturday Night Specials on unlimited $1 dollar beer night and it’s a certain tragedy and likely inspiration for at least three good country songs. Take the ignorance and arrogance combination and throw in political power and the presidency and you have tragedy on a completely different scale and perhaps a generation lost to stifling poverty and depression, though there will be a lot more country songs. Guess which scenario you get to vote on in 2012?

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Retired
Image via Wikipedia

While I could list all of the scandals that occurred when government meddles in business, that’s not what this is about. It does not matter which party is in power, when politicians get involved in business and let businessmen get involved in politics, there will be a huge bill to pay. Hey, I’m looking at you, fellow taxpayer, because we will pay that massive tab.

When Angelo Mozilo got caught up in the subprime mortgage scandal, he had to pay a fine of $47.5 million and his company Countrywide Credit paid another $20 million. We got him, didn’t we? Forty-seven million five hundred-thousand dollars! Poor Angelo had to retire with his paltry estimated $550 million in wealth. He could have still bought Solyndra! And don’t we just wish he had.

Dear Hollywood: You Piss Me Off

Dear Hollywood:

You pretentious, self-centered aggregation of massive egos, warped minds and hideously bloated selfishness; your profits are now in the toilet along with the tiny remnants of your soul. Finally. Your box office receipts are now below post-911 levels, accurately reflecting the sinking quality of your over-hyped product.

Historically, Hollywood has been exempt from financial disaster. When times are bad, people turn to fantasy and other types of entertainment so you prosper as others suffer. You produce what economists, and good critics I might add, call an inferior good. In the economic sense, it means that as the economy worsens, your sales increase. In the other sense, it simply means you under perform.

Now the economy is so dreadfully bad that even you cannot escape its clutching death grip of chromium steel. You deserve it. You raised money for the Chicago hack that now leads our nation. You overwhelmingly supported him and his left-leaning ideology as he ridiculed the beliefs and philosophy of middle America.

Image via Wikipedia

When then-Senator Barack Obama described small-town Pennsylvanians as those who "cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment", you applauded him. He was attacking your customers and you thought it was great. You dumbasses just raised more money for him.

The understudy you placed in the lead role of this nation can't even memorize the script. He's a teleprompter short circuit away from revealing his status as a talentless buffoon  - and then there are his actions. He knows economics like Ed Wood knows great cinema. Perhaps you will now pay attention, but quite frankly, I don't think you're that smart.

Let's turn to your overpaid on-screen employees, your representatives to the American people. Your "stars" have turned into soul-sucking black holes of selfish publicity whores with every known personality disorder and social disease - in the literal and possibly physical sense - known to mankind.

The Recipe for Government Soup

The way to make America prosperous again is to produce more than we consume. It's that simple. There is no Secret Recipe DF8GVEXEW35G that awaits discovery by some government economist; no production function that will right our economy by adjusting the inflection points and certainly no gimmick from the Federal Reserve Chairman that will fool the market.

We simply have to produce more than we consume. It's what we capitalists call "creating wealth". It's something the current administration has forgotten: Before one can redistribute wealth, wealth must be created. Progressives often forget that simple fact.

Image via Wikipedia

The problem for the Obama Administration is that government cannot create wealth. Individuals create wealth. Government can confiscate the wealth of individuals through taxes and fees, but it cannot make wealth.

Some of you may object and point out that with the assistance of the Federal Reserve System, the federal government prints money. You would be correct; it does print money, but money is not wealth.

Money can do many things such as act as a medium of exchange, and it can even be a tool for storing value, but printing money only reduces the value of each individual piece of money in existence. It does not create wealth. In fact, if you use money as a store of value and the government prints more money, then your money lost value.

One Thing to Know About 'Fast and Furious'

 - And Two Important Things We Do Not Know - 

There is one thing you need to know about Operation Fast and Furious aka Operation Gun Walker. In all of the obfuscation by the US Department of Justice and misleading testimony by US Attorney General Eric Holder it has gotten lost. Be patient and I will get to it. In the meantime, just remember that Eric Holder is to justice what Michael Moore is to competitive bodybuilding.

Left-wing film maker Michael Moore
Image via Wikipedia

You know, I'm sure, that the stated premise behind this reckless, probably illegal, endeavor is that the United States government would sell guns to proxy buyers in the United States and then track those weapons to drug lords in Mexico. You probably also are aware that the government of Mexico was never told about the operation and that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) had no way of tracing those guns once they were taken across the Mexican border. Yes, there was no way to trace the guns to the Mexican drug lords.

Keystone XL Pipeline Poll and Old Poll Results

New Poll: Why is President Obama Blocking the Keystone XL Pipeline?

Image via Wikipedia

 - He fears angering the left-leaning Green movement.
 - He is using it as political leverage.
 - He hates Canadians.
 - He wants no new oil-related jobs.
 - Someone in Texas might benefit.
 - He is confusing oil pipelines with surfing pipelines.

Please vote in the poll which is in the right column near the top of the page. You may vote once, but in this poll you may vote for multiple answers. The poll will close at Midnight, the morning of December 15th.

Old Poll Results: Will you support the GOP Nominee?
   5.6% - No, I will not support any Republican candidate.
   0.0% - Only if it's my top choice.
   5.6% - If it's one of my top 3 choices.
 11.0% - Yes, almost any GOP candidate.
 77.8% - Anyone is better than Obama.

I was pleasantly surprised by the poll results, expecting more one-candidate voters. Obviously, these are not scientific polls and are simply for recreation and to stir discussion. If you'd like to amplify your answers or attempt to persuade other voters, feel free to use the comments section. Of course, I do expect civility. Enjoy!

by Ken Carroll

Blazing Thoughts - Or Is My Hair on Fire?

Blagojevich (L) with former Presidential Fixer and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (C)
Image via Wikipedia

Blago
On the bright side, recently sentenced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's Elvis impersonation will be a big hit at the Joliet talent shows. Hey Gov, be sure to perform Jailhouse Rock for all of the other inmates - and sing it like you mean it!
Obama in Kansas
Being a far-left liberal and having the far-left Washington Post (allegedly a newspaper) rate your speech is kind of like your own grandmother grading your performance at a local piano recital. So, when the WaPo gave King Barack I three out of four Pinocchio's for his outrageous fantasy-laden speech, I was shocked. Of course, I would have rated them as outright Whoppers, but Obama just makes it up as he goes along!

The GOP's Circular Firing Squad

Ken Carroll's Eleventh Rule of Politics: "If you’re an incumbent, the election will nearly always be about you. If you are a challenger to an incumbent and the election is about you, then you are nearly always in trouble.”

The Republican Party and its faithful followers have formed a circular firing squad around its potential presidential nominees and are rapidly loading and firing. Some on the outskirts of the group, apparently fearing that the massacre will be over before they can make their way to the front, are calling for more candidates to step forward.

Dear Mr. Cain: It's Time

Dear Mr. Cain:

We've never met, so this advice may sound impertinent. I'm offering it as a serious Republican who is still not committed to a particular candidate, so I hope you will consider what I have to say.

When people said you were a flash-in-the-pan after the South Carolina debates, I defended you way back on May 6th, saying, 

  "The big winner was Herman Cain. Cain clearly won the debate on two levels: his performance and his accomplishment of what he needed as a candidate. Last night Herman Cain proved he belongs on the big stage and that his message has an audience. Pundits may dismiss Cain and we must remember it is a long campaign, but anyone who thinks Herman Cain won’t be around is going to be proven wrong."  

I took a lot of heat for that statement, but I was right. In other posts, I defended your lack of political experience when I pointed out that your positions as CEO were a better preparation for the US Presidency than the herd animals in legislatures. I still believe I'm right about that, too, but now we won't know.