I was hoping Pres. Obama would bring Joe Biden along, because he'll laugh at anything...Romney at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner
- As I read the news yesterday that welfare spending grew by 32% over the last four years (bringing that spending to $1.3T), I found that news deeply disturbing---for America. This spending is more than what we pay out in Social Security and defense. And the Obama administration, along with so many other failures in policy, has done nothing to remediate this problem.
- No one can argue, that safety nets for the poor in any society are essential. In fact, it's undeniable that we are an exceedingly generous nation to our poor. Medicaid alone is almost $300B. Food stamp spending is approaching $80B a year. We are also a nation that's believes in ourselves, believes in pulling up our own boot straps. Yet, when we have neighbors, friends and family in trouble, we have safety nets in place to help them get back on their feet. In addition to generous government outlays, faith-based and charitable agencies play a key role in this area.
- But something has changed in the last several years. There are simply too many people "gaming" the system. For them, instead of these programs helping bridge that period of unemployment or just bad breaks to employment and financial independence, the programs have become a permanent fixture in their lives. They've taken that safety net and turned it upside down and converted it into a hammock. Even mores disturbing, the government enables this process to happen in a period when we are $16T in debt and living on a lot of borrowed capital.
- It's also now undeniable that the Obama administration's poor economic policies have resulted in millions more Americans having to receive food stamps and other assistance. The total number of households now considered in the "low food security" group (or hungry) is almost 15%. For single female head of households, it's 37%. In the black community, hunger stands at 25%, followed by Hispanics at 26.3%. Again, the Obama administration has done little, if anything, to help these people get back on their feet. And the longer they go hungry, the longer they don't find work, it's inevitable those safety nets will be used as hammocks. What other choices do they have? For many, it's become a matter of survival. And for too many others, those hammocks just become too damn comfortable.
- According to Pres. Obama, our losing 4 great Americans in Libya last month was "not optimal." He said that on the "Daily Show" this week. If he loses in November, I wonder if he'll consider his loss not "optimal."
- AP is now reporting that the CIA station chief in Libya reported directly to Washington within 24 hours of the attack on our embassy that the attack was not "spontaneous" in response to the video. However, it's still not clear who in Washington might have seen that cable from the CIA.
- Cartoon in the NY Post today shows that scumbag who was caught trying to blow up the Fed in NYC this week standing in front of a judge with his attorney. The bubble above the attorney's head says: "Not guilty to terrorism. Mr. Nafis was involved in nothing more than a spontaneous protest due to a YouTube video."
- Orlando Sentinel, a newspaper that backed Obama in 2008, endorsed Romney this week.
- Pew Research is now reporting Romney's favorability rating just passed Obama's by 1 point, 50-49% for the first time. In Gallup, Romney's favorability rating tops Obama also by 1 pt., 52-51%.
- Whoopi Goldberg tried to pull the "Mormon" card on Ann Romney yesterday and Whoopi fell flat on her face. Whoopi said Mormons are not permitted to be in the military. Ann Romney went on to correct her. They are allowed to serve in the military.
- While the Obama campaign stresses "lady parts," the Romney campaign is relying on "lady smarts."
