March 28th, 2012: Tebow, The Supreme Court, Stossel, Ichiro and the Cleveland Waterfront

I love the way Tebow approaches his faith as a football player. For one, it’s clear his lifestyle is different than the non-Christian. He is not afraid to speak of his faith, but he understands the idea of time and place. On the other hand, he knows he has a platform and will use it when it makes sense. The chief example of this was the focus on the family ad a few years ago. The best example of him being a good Christian is how he is respected by his teammates. It’s something we all can learn from.
 

Drudge: Justices poised to strike down entire healthcare law (LA Times)
 

I think you do have to throw out the baby with the bathwater here. It is true there are good things in this bill. Still, it was created as a whole under a paradigm that if struck down, can’t stand. The congress can then go back and work under the framework as established by the court. This is going to be painful to some, but I think it’s the best way to do it. Otherwise, you have the court with basically a legislative power.
 

RCP: Job Killers by John Stossel
 

Stossel makes the classic case why big gov’t regulation stinks. He is right, it gets in the way of the job creators in most cases. Some of it is good, but most of it is bad. It’s a horrible thing when big business has to spend tons of money walking the minefield of regulations. Small business? Well usually they are just screwed.  The gov’t kills many more jobs than they create with regulations.
 

Y! Sports: Ichiro Suzuki a hit in Japan as Mariners beat A’s
 

Did you know the first regular season game was today? Yep, 6AM EST, in Tokyo, Japan. It was extra innings and the Mariners beat the A’s. Two bad lineups and one amazing pitcher lead to low scoring game. It’s great to have the best game ever back in swing. They play again tomorrow at 5AM and then the season starts for good next week.
 

Cleveland.com: The next big thing is Cleveland's waterfront

 

The Cleveland waterfront is a joke. For the most part, it’s a waste. Why the heck is a little used airport and a close aviation school down there!!! One of the biggest assets of Cleveland is that it is on lake Erie. It’s hard to imagine doing much worse. Look at Chicago with the Pier, now look at Cleveland. Hopefully this plan can get off the ground and it makes a lot of money for all the private companies willing to invest.

March 27th, 2012: Catholics, Soccer and more

 

NYT: Santorum Fails to Capture Catholic Vote

 

 

This is not surprising to me despite the fact that Santorum is Catholic. Santorum does best among those who attend church weekly. These people are more enthusiastic about a social conservative candidate.  Most who identify as “Catholic” aren’t active in the church. Most who identify as “Evangelical” are. Protestants who are not are not active are much more likely to use the term “Christian” or “Protestant” A Gallup survey asked found 84% of self identified born-again whites found religion important as opposed to only 50% of catholic whites.
 

 

Drudge: Gingrich Begins Charging $50 for Photos at Events (Nat'l Journal)

 

I read this and at first I was outraged. Charging people at campaign events? It’s done all the time at fundraisers and conventions, but at rallies its free if you can get the ear of the candidate. Upon more thought though, if Newt wants to charge, so what? The man is running on fumes because he has no chance to be president. I doubt Sheldon Adelson is dumb enough to burn any more money with Newt’s Super PAC.
 

 

RCP: Repeal the 'Stand Your Ground' Laws by Eugene Robinson

 

I don’t know if the stand your ground law should be removed. From what I understand, it was put in place because self-defense law was too narrow by many. If this Martin case is as it seems, no self-defense law should apply here. This man pursued the young boy. There may be a need for self-defense law to be made strong, but as Jeb Bush said, the law needs to be constantly looked at, if this law makes it so a man can pursue an unarmed man and kill him with a firearm, that is a HUGE problem. That isn’t standing your ground, that is murder.

 

Yahoo! Sports: Costly error in injury time ends USA’s Olympic hopes

 

 

This is hard to fathom. I am not even a soccer fan and it pains me that the USA will not be in the Olympics. It’s hard for me to believe that the US, the third largest population with over 300 million people is become more of a soccer nation, yet lost (they tied which is a loss in this case) to El Salvador, with just over 6 million people, the 108th largest nation. A huge step back for US Soccer and I will miss not following soccer like I do once every 2 years.
 

 

Cleveland.com: Cleveland house prices hit new low as S&P/Case-Shiller Indices show rocky start to 2012

 

 

The recovery is still slow to happen here in the rust best. A big problem I would think is still the HUGE number of foreclosures. I sure hope this neck of the woods is able to turn things around. I think it will happen, but it’s a slow hawl. Cleveland in particular I think will bounce back with healthcare, so what happens with Obamacare is very important locally. 

March 26th, 2012: My Take on 5 Stories in 100 words or less

This is a new idea I have. Take 5 stories on the front pages of news sites I follow. The most important newspaper in the world, the New York Times. The most important news aggregator, Drudge. The most important political news aggregator, RCP. Where I get my sports news, Yahoo! Sports. Lastly, local news, Cleveland.com. The Drudge and RCP links are from different sites, but I found them via Drudge and RCP. 
 

NYT: Justices Hear Argument That Health Case Is Premature

 

This is an issue that the court has every right to look at and ought to look at, just as they are going to do. Kicking the can on this debate until after its implemented is a dumb idea. It may make political sense, but this issue needs to be solved sooner rather than later. No matter where you stand on Obamacare and the individual mandate, this needs to be figured out soon because access to healthcare is clearly a problem and out not to be kicked down the road.

 

Drudge: ‘After My Election I Have More Flexibility’

 

Yet another example of a hot mic picking up something that is true, yet ought not be heard by the President in the media. To deny that a president makes decisions based upon re-election, even those on missile defense is native.  When push comes to shove one would hope the President would have the safety of the American Public first but within that framework there is going to be a lot of politics.

  

RCP: Santorum Ignores Pressure to Bow Out to Romney

 
Santorum ought not get out of this race until he lose a home game, that is a state he ought to win or when Mitt Romney gets 1,144 delegates. The next home game for Rick Santorum is Wisconsin. Why? It’s working class and evangelical. One could argue he already lost a state like this in Ohio, but Wisconsin is more rural and favors him more. If Santorum loses there, I believe its time for Santorum to pack up his bags.
 

Yahoo! Sports: Tim Tebow uncomfortable with getting forced front and center by Jets bosses

The idea that Tim Tebow is going to be a cancer in any way to the New York Jets is a joke. Tebow is going to say, and more importantly do all the right things. If the Jets are smart, they will use him in the way he ought to be used, as the ultimate wildcat sort of player. The man is not going to be a great quarterback, but he very well could be a great NFL player. Will be fun to see how he is used next season.

Cleveland.com: Consumer groups oppose Ohio bill to drop landline services

 

 This bill is a good idea. Why should the gov’t be forcing telcom companies to provide a service only a smaller and smaller slice of the population uses? If this law is passed, do you really think seniors won’t be able to have phone access anymore? If there is still a market for landlines, people will pay for them. I trust the free market, don’t you? 

March 4th, 2012: Super Tuesday Prediction

I believe that Super Tuesday will end this nomination race effectively as Flordia did for the GOP in 2008. Mike Huckabee won a few states after it was basically declared over, but it will be over. Mitt Romney will win Ohio by 4-6 points and be closer than expected in Georgia and Tennessee, in fact he may even win Tennessee. I believe Tennessee will be the last state to matter that will be called, although Alaska may be last simply due to the fact that it is a caucus state with a significant time difference.
 

Ohio
 

This is where the major battle has been has waged. The Santorum hopeful (like me) could claim Ohio is a lot like Michigan without the advantages Mitt has in Michigan, that is that he was born there and his father was Governor there. There is also large evangelical support in the southern part of the state and the eastern part of the state is coal country which Santorum has been dealing with for a while being from Pennsylvania.
 

 The problem is the Santorum flubs and he has lost his “big mo” He lead by double digits in the state but that has been leaking by the day. If this election was on Thursday last week I think Santorum wins. Unfortunate for Rick its not and Romney gets an extra 5 days to pound his message by outspending Santorum at least 4 to 1. When this happens, the numbers move toward mitt every day.
 

Prediction: Romney 37 Santorum 32 Gingrich 15
 

Tennessee
 

The Santorum lead has vanished mostly in Tennessee according to a Rasmussen poll released today in the field yesterday. Santorum needs to hope there is something wrong with this Saturday sample as two polls taken two weeks ago had him up about 20 points. I think the Rasmussen poll is right and I would not be shocked if Mitt Romney takes Tennessee. Tennessee is not conservative as their image, Huckabee only won the state by 2.7%.
 

Prediction: Romney 33 Santorum 32 Gingrich 18
 

Georgia
 

Georgia seems to want to show the former speaker some love for his roots there. Gingrich is making a last stand there and I think he will get it but why? Even a win does not give him a plausible way to win the nomination.
 

Prediction:  Gingrich 36 Romney 30 Santorum 23
 

Virginia
 

Due to rules that make it too hard to get on the ballot, this is a two person race between Romney and Paul.
 

Prediction:  Romney 75 Paul 25
 

Vermont
 

A Northeastern caucus state that Romney will probably win in a similar fashion to Washington State.

Prediction: Romney 44 Santorum 22 Paul 17
 

Alaska
 

Are you staying up for the Alaska caucus results? If so, you long past junkie status
 

Prediction: Romney 38 Paul 30 Santorum 23
 

Massachusetts
 

Mitt Romney was Governor here and there will be no drama in this one. Only degenerate gamblers would bet this one laying a lot of points if betting on Mitt.
 

Prediction:  Romney 65 Santorum 17 Paul 9
 

Oklahoma
 

This is the biggest lock for Santorum. I don’t even think this lead will leave him.
 

Prediction: Santorum 37 Romney 25 Gingrich 21
 

Idaho
 

Ron Paul did well here in a meaningless primary in 2008. He will do well again.
 

Prediction: Romney 40 Paul 35 Santorum 12
 

North Dakota
 

Another small caucus state, another Mitt Romney win
 

Prediction: Romney 37 Paul 24 Santorum 21
 

So there you have it, Mitt Romney wins 8 of 10 and this race is over. Hoping I am wrong on this one.

February 28th, 2012: Your Mom Goes to College

Rick Santroum said the following: “Not all folks are gifted in the same way. Some people have incredible gifts with their hands. ... President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.” Let me first say this is a bad way to make true point. The truth is that college isn’t the right choice for everyone, in fact Obama even said so himself in his rebuttal of Santorum, saying “I’m not only talking about four-year degrees I’m also talking about going to community college to get a degree for a manufacturing job where you have to walk through the door to handle a million-dollar piece of equipment.”
 

So I am for everyone being able to get post high school education, but it may not be right for everyone to get a Bachelor’s degree at a four year institution. This isn’t about denying an opportunity; it’s about the exact opposite. People are going to college, racking up tons of debt and not graduating and having a lifetime of debt and nothing to show for it. It would have better for them if say took a fraction of that money and learned to be a hairstylist or a dealer or a mechanic. It is often noted that the unemployment rate among college graduates is significantly lower than high school graduates, and this is true, but it does not take into account the pain of those who do not graduate from college, who now are in debt with no benefit.

I am a Santorum supporter and I don’t like calling Obama a snob. Does he want to employ his worldview to the people? Yes, he thinks what he is doing what is right! But so does Rick Santorum. We battle these things out and that is what elections are for. So yea, Obama is professorial and intellectual and he is trying to do what he thinks is right for the country. Sadly most of his ideas are wrong and we need to get him out of office and the best chance to do that is with Rick Santorum.

January 31st, 2012: Mitt’s Negative Attack Strategy? A-OK

There have been rumblings in the media. Mitt Romney is too negative. He has no ideas on the campaign trail. All he is doing is attacking Newt Gingrich. To this I say, well done Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney is doing one thing right now, trying to ensure he is the nominee of the Republican Party. To fault him for that is to fault the process, which some people do but I fault neither.
 

Look at this in the lens of what has happened so far. Mitt gets a virtual tie in Iowa declared a win. He then wins new Hampshire. What does he do? He plays the prevent defense and Newt Gingrich has two amazing debates and takes the reins in South Carolina. Mitt is still the favorite, but he is damaged due to him switching to general election mode too soon. So what does Mitt do, he attacks back at the bully. He is stepping on the throat of Newt Gingrich and making sure he stays down. Newt became “the conservative alternative” and Mitt attacked that man to death. Newt kept saying that he would trounce Mitt when it became a two person race. That is not true. It basically is a two person race and all it did was allow Mitt Romney to go nuclear on Newt without fear of him losing votes himself. Santorum and Paul are still in the race, but they have been deemed “a waste of a vote” and it’s essentially a two person race.
 

Joe Scarborough and many others in the media have been saying Mitt has no substance. Mitt may or may not have the substance in order to be a good President. In any event, he is going to show it now. He is going to do what he needs to do to win the GOP nomination in the cleanest way possible. Right now, that way is attacking Newt Gingrich until he is a dead man.