At last week’s Reagan Library Republican presidential debate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney cast his lot with decades of Democratic demagogues and attacked Texas Gov. Rick Perry for speaking the truth about Social Security. The Romney campaign made it clear before, during, and after the debate that Perry’s accurate description of Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme” should disqualify him from the race. The George Soros funded Center for American Progress quickly echoed the Romney campaign’s message.
Now it appears that Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., wants to join Romnney and his new liberal allies in attacking Perry on entitlement spending. An anonymous Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., aide tells The Examiner‘s Byron York: “Clearly she feels differently about the value of Social Security than Gov. Perry does. She strongly disagrees with his position on that, and it’s clearly not something that’s going to sit well with the people of Florida and Iowa and South Carolina and many of the early states, where there is a large population of seniors who rely heavily on Social Security. For [Perry] to scare them is wrong.”
The only people trying to scare seniors are the Romney and Bachmann campaigns aided by leftist groups like the Center for American Progress. Perry has never said he wants to abolish Social Security or cut benefits for current seniors. That Romney and Bachmann are so quick to reach for this page from the liberal campaign playbook on entitlement spending is disheartening. We will see how the Tea Party crowd at tonight’s CNN debate welcomes these developments.
Around the Bigs
The Hill, Voters say Obama hurt economy, but GOP also blamed: A majority of voters now say that Obama’s policies have hurt the economy since he took office according to The Hill’s latest poll. Just 35% believe Obama has helped the economy while 50 percent, the highedt number registered since The Hill started asking the question, believe he has made the economy worse. Among independents, 52 percent Obama’s policies have hurt the economy.
The Hill, President Obama sending jobs bill to Congress Monday: President Obama will again ask Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, this time from the Rose Garden, before reportedly sending actual legislation to Congress later tonight.
The Wall Street Journal, White House Regulation Shift Is a Political Bet: Cass Sunstein, the White House regulatory chief, and White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley have been trying to “reshape the administration’s regulatory posture.” “For the first two years, when there was a concern raised about regulation, the sense was they’re just moving forward,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce Bill Kovacs told The Journal. “Now, at least they’re listening.”
The Los Angeles Times, Job-creation plan largely ignores housing woes: President Obama’s yet-to-be-written American Jobs Act fails to address the issue that many believe is at the core of the U.S. economy’s failure to recover: housing. “Housing — it’s not the American dream, it’s the nightmare,” Karl E. Case, co-founder of the Case-Shiller home-price index, tells The Times.
The Wall Street Journal, New Challenges to Gas Drilling: Having lost at the federal and state levels, environmentalists in Pennsylvania are seeking to ban natural gas drilling at the local level by placing initiatives on the ballot. “I’m skeptical as to whether a ban would be upheld,” Ross Pifer, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University, told The Journal.
The Los Angeles Times, Gun store owner had misgivings about ATF sting: A gun store owner who was told by the Obama ATF to “sell guns to every illegal purchaser who walks through the door,” always feared somebody was going to get hurt. “Every passing week, I worried about something like that,” Andre Howard told The Times. “I felt horrible and sick.”
The Washington Post, Capital gains tax rates benefiting wealthy feed growing gap between rich and poor: In their hard-news section, The Washington Post makes the case for higher taxes arguing that low capital gains taxes have increased income inequality: “Over the past 20 years, more than 80 percent of the capital gains income realized in the United States has gone to 5 percent of the people; about half of all the capital gains have gone to the wealthiest 0.1 percent.”
The New York Times, La. Business Owners Sue Over New Rules for Guest Workers: The Labor Department is set to issue new H-2B guest worker program regulations that may set wages some 51 percent to 83 percent higher than current hourly rates. Some Louisiana seafood companies who say those wage rates would put them out of business are planning to sue the Obama administration to stop them.
The New York Times, G.O.P. Senators in Albany Block Federal Aid to Fulfill Part of Health Law: Republican state senators have so far successfully blocked legislation that would allow the state government to create and Obamacare-compliant health insurance exchange. “This has got to set of some very loud alarm bells in the White House,” Rutgers political science professor Ross Baker told The Times. “With a state as visible as New York, for the exchange to be obstructed is a very ominous sign for the ultimate implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”
Campaign 2012
NY 09 Public Policy Polling reports that their latest survey of New York’s 9th Congressional District shows Republican Bob Turner is “poised to pull a huge upset” over Democrat David Weprin. PPP explains that independent support is behind Turner 47-41 lead: “He’s ahead by 32 points at 58-26 with voters unaffiliated with either major party. And he’s winning 29% of the Democratic vote, holding Weprin under 60% with voters of his own party, while losing just 10% of Republican partisans.”
Perry: A Wall Street Journal profile of Perry notes that the Texas governor strengthened his own power by centralizing authority in the governor’s office. The Journal then asserts that this power grab should undercut his federalism message. “Rick Perry has become the most powerful governor we’ve ever had, not just in legislative terms but in how he wields power,” Alex Winslow, the executive director of the leftist Texas Watch, tells The Journal.
Righty Playbook
The Heritage Foundation‘s Rob Bluey posts a chart chowing how Social Security is already adding to our deficits today.
RedState‘s Erick Erickson reminds readers that no one except Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, wants to abolish Social Security.
At The Corner, Victor Davis Hanson calls the post-9/11 fight with al Qaeda, “Our New Cold War.”
Lefty Playbook
The Huffington Post‘s Sam Stein notes that unless the Super Congress takes up the bill, there is little chance Obama’s Stimulus II will ever get a vote.
Talking Points Memo‘s Evan McMorris-Santoro wonders how Romney’s attempt to attack Perry from the left on Social Security will play with tonight’s Florida Tea Party crowd.
The New Republic‘s John Judis celebrates Obama’s Stimulus II speech as a “Angry, Direct, and Eloquent Defense of Government.”
