Romney wins Arizona and Michigan -- Time to Bow Down to the Nominee

Romney won Michigan and Arizona and now time for everyone to bow down to the nominee according to the Rockefeller Republican wing of the GOP.  We are now to accept he is going to be the nominee.  IOTW Super Tuesday doesn't matter as Romney has the momentum going into Virginia.  OOPS -- only Romney and Paul are on the ballot there due to an unconstitutional law signed and approved by Governor McDonnell who refused to change the way they accepted signatures for ballot access knowing the law was unconstitutional.  That's what you get from a Governor who supports Romney.

Take a look at these results.  First is Arizona who has the second largest concentration of Mormons outside of Utah and a Governor and Senator who endorsed Romney.  When you add the voting turnout which is low, Romney wins.  In one precinct 45 out of 3000 had cast their votes by 9 a.m.  Since Arizona is a retirement destination, retirees normally turn out early to vote.  The enthusiasm is not there for the Republican primary.  Maybe if Romney had not decided to spend millions in 'scorched earth' against fellow Republicans enthusiasm might be better but a lot of of us had heartburn with Romney and his underhanded tactics against our candidates in 2008 so we didn't want him to run.  We have been proven right as enthusiasm is not there for him even in states where he is winning.

You take out the Mormon support who are turning out to rallies and the support is not very deep.  When a candidate can only win their home state by 3% you have problems.  Declaring victory and momentum going into Tuesday?  Would say that is a little premature.

Arizona Primary Results »

Candidate		Pct.
	Romney	47.3%
	Santorum	26.6
	Gingrich	16.2
	Pau	8.4
	Others	1.5

 Michigan Primary Results »

Candidate		Pct.
	Romney	41.1%
	Santorum	37.9
	Paul	11.6
	Gingrich	6.5
	Others	2.9

This comment from Erickson of Red State says it all:

"a guy who can only win in states with a home state advantage, New Englanders and New England transplants, and Mormoms. There are a lot more outside those categories than inside them and that is shaping up to cause him heartburn on Super Tuesday. "

Unlike Arizona and Florida, my state of Oklahoma is going to abide by the rules to apportion delegates so it is not winner take all since we vote before 1 April.  If we can follow the rules by the RNC, why can't Florida and Arizona?  Never mind those Romney states and rules don't apply to him.  This post on Hot Air last night says it all:

 Romney attracting independents and democrats in New Hampshire primary = demonstration of appeal outside the base 

Santorum attracting independents and democrats in Michigan primary = betrayal of conservative principles and proof he can’t win against Obama. 

Romney running robocalls = Dont whine 

Santorum running robocalls = whining about dirty tactics 

I just want to make sure I understand how it works. 

MB (abbreviated screen name)

She summed up what many of us are feeling today.  Romney is free to do 'scorched earth' and we are to sit down and shut up but if anyone dares to come after Romney it is the end of the world with Romney and his supporters with their thin skin whining.  Super Tuesday is ahead and know at least one state that is going conservative and that is Oklahoma.  We don't have enough Mormons to make a real difference just enough to be annoying at the door but then so are others like Jehovah Witness.  Don't like people knocking on my door trying to sell me their religion like a door to door salesman.  Mormons are already posting on line they will use the White House for their outreach around the world.  Does anyone think that Democrats won't use that.  Worked on me so why wouldn't it work on other voters.  

This Romney mentality in using millions to buy this primary doesn't equal votes in the general election something the Rockefeller Republicans cannot seem to get through their brains.  

My attention is quickly shifting to the House and Senate races.  My biggest concern is that if Romney is the nominee iy will cause people to stay home who would normally vote for our Congressional candidates.  The Rockefeller wing has made one big mess of this primary and it is going to take a lot of hard work on the part of conservatives to get voters to the polls for our Congressional candidates. 

When you only beat a candidate who just surged several weeks ago by 3% in a state where you and your wife were raised and your Dad was Governor, you are in trouble in a lot of the Country.  If you look at Michigan and add what votes votes Gingrich received with Santorum, there are more votes than Romney.  Some media outlets last night reported Romney won one county by one vote.  Is this going to be another case of votes being checked and a different result comes out weeks later as part of the official results?  We are still waiting for the official Maine results.  

Republicans are NOT happy with our choices.  Do we think anyone would jump in this race at this late date to lose to Obama?  Probably not if they want a political life after 2012.  

Bad day for conservatives but on Super Tuesday that should change. 

Three Percent 

Posted by Erick Erickson (Diary)

Wednesday, February 29th at 4:45AM EST

When you have a candidate few people really like, whose support is a mile wide and an inch deep, whose raison d’etre (a 4am fancy word) is fixing an economy that is fixing itself without him, and who only wins his actual, factual home state by three percentage points against a guy no one took seriously only two months ago, there really is little reason for independent voters in the general election to choose him if the economy keeps improving. 

Seriously, putting it bluntly, conservatives may not like Barack Obama, but most other people do. And when faced with a guy you like and a guy you don’t like who says he can fix an economy that no longer needs fixing, you’re going to go with the guy you like. 

If Republicans in Washington are not panicked and trying desperately to pull Bobby Jindal in the race tomorrow, or someone like him, the party leaders must have a death wish.Mitt Romney continues to run an uninspiring campaign only able to win by massively outspending his 

opponents to tell voters how much worse the other guys are. That may work in the primary, but it will not work in a general election where the President of the United States won’t be outspent 5 to 1. 

Three percentage points. In his home state. In his wife’s home state. In the state his father served as Governor. Three percentage points against a guy few took seriously two months ago and who just three weeks ago no one expected to give Romney a run for his money in Romney’s home state. 

And this is our nominee — a guy who can only win in states with a home state advantage, New Englanders and New England transplants, and Mormoms. There are a lot more outside those categories than inside them and that is shaping up to cause him heartburn on Super Tuesday. 

And let me tell you what else is going to happen: Democrats sense such a strong vulnerability now and sniff a chance of a Santorum nomination, they aren’t going to wait for the general election to start dumping oppo research on Romney. Get ready Romney supporters, this is just the opening salvo. 

But I suspect he will be the nominee. At least we can be rid of him and, hopefully, his most ardent cheerleaders on November 7th when what the rest of us know will happen unless an economic catastrophe happens.  Excerpt:  Read More at Red State

Now you get the spin of the NY Times, the establishment paper of the Democrats, who really want Romney for the Republican nominee.  All the opposition research is done and Mr. Romney is going to find out what it is like to have the media and the Obama attack machine after him.  Romney is going to get payback for what he has been doing to Republicans.  Most of Romney's donors are feeling the pinch and tired of wasting millions on 'scorched earth.'  Are they going to step up to the plate and give to a candidate likely to lose to Obama?  Mostly likely not.  

Romney Regains Stride With Victories in 2 States 

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Mitt Romney fought back a vigorous challenge from Rick Santorum in Michigan on Tuesday, narrowly carrying his native state, and won the Arizona primary in a pair of contests that reasserted his control over the Republican presidential race as it advances to critical Super Tuesday contests next week.

His victory over Mr. Santorum here in Michigan was far from commanding, but it was most likely sufficient to dampen the rising clamor from across the Republican Party about his ability to win over conservatives and connect with voters. The tussle with Mr. Santorum highlighted ample concerns about Mr. Romney, but his win spared his campaign from deep turmoil. 

Excerpt:  Read More at the NY Times

Less then a week left of Romney ads in Oklahoma on my sports radio channel.  The ad talks about the companies he saved at Bain Capital -- as some have said -- saved them and sent the jobs overseas.  Not an effective ad for Romney here in Oklahoma.  I detest political ads when I like a candidate -- it is worse when I don't.  Keep turning my sound down on my radio when Romney comes on the air with his annoying ad that seems to go on forever.

House and Senate races are moving to the forefront as there has been some Romney supporter shenanigans in the South Florida races but Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio came to the rescue there for Cong Allen West and have endorsed Adam Hasner who pulled out of the FL primary for the Republican nomination for Senate to run for Congress.  Florida Senate seat is turning nasty once again.  People in Florida must be really tired of the north-easterners who have moved to Florida and brought their corrupt and underhanded politics with them.   Makes you appreciate living in a state like Oklahoma all the more!

Beautiful spring day in the Heartland which I am about to go enjoy!

Is The F-35 Strike Fighter The Military Chevy Volt?

This headline made my crack up and then I remembered as a taxpayer how we were being taken to the cleaners with the F-35.  What a boondoggle and waste of taxpayer dollars.  The Air Force has test pilots sitting around doing simulators when they were brought into the test out the new plane.  Some get to start the engines and drive it around a little just like the Volt but that's it.  Too dangerous to take in the air.

Have they fixed the wiring problem in the weapons bay or have they managed to get the F-35 under weight to land on a carrier?  Those are only a few of the problems.  How about the new and shiny logistics system that would download the status of the plane on landing if something had to be fixed?  Aero took the money from logistics so the LM Star Tester will most likely be the tester of choice unless they go to Warner Robins for their dog of a tester, VDATS.  The F-16 received a waiver not to use VDATS so there should be no way that Lockheed uses that system but then when you are looking to curry favor with the Air Force bigwigs who knows.

Try cost overruns and way behind schedule when the President of Lockheed guaranteed then Secretary of Defense Gates that everything was going according to schedule and any schedule problems would be fixed.  Still waiting for problems to be fixed and get back on schedule.  After reading this article from IBD, sounds like the problems with the F-35 still exist and in bigger numbers.

Will the F-35 be the same mechanic's nightmare as the F-22?  Whoever was in charge of source selection for the F-22 and F-35 blew it.  Guess this explains why the FOIA request for the F-35 was never answered -- they still have major problems and still wasting tax dollar money.  Guess others are waking up to the fact that one size does not fit all when it comes to military planes.  All these questions and so few answers out of Lockheed.  Where this ends up is anyone's guess.  Rumor has Lockheed shopping some of their groups to get money for the F-35 because the well of dollars at the DoD is running dry pretty fast.

Read this article and ask yourself why we are wasting so much money and yet the DoD wants you to think there is no place to cut.  The way contracts are awarded would be a great starting point because transferring the major weapon systems programs to the Headquarters to be Super System Program Offices (SPOs) is not working.  The merging of  AF Force Logistics Command and AF Systems Command into AF Materiel Command (AFMC) back in the early 90's doesn't seem to have worked out all that well either because of the lack of oversight.  They new weapons systems were better when controlled at the Aeronautical Systems Center SPO's made up of systems and logistics types at Wright-Patterson AFB with less pressure from the inside the beltway types.  The F-16 back in the 80's is a perfect example of cooperation between ASC, AFMC, AFSC, and the Hill AFB depot that is in charge of the F-16.  

Whatever the answer, the F-35 is not doing very well in meeting the standards that were promised by Lockheed.

Is The F-35 Strike Fighter The Military Chevy Volt?
Posted 06:59 PM ET 

Defense: Pilots who arrived a year ago to train on the fighter of the future are still waiting as safety concerns, cost overruns and questions about the whole program's feasibility mount.
The F-35 is meant to be America's next-generation fighter, the heir to the Air Force's F-15 Eagle and the Navy's and Marines' F/A-18 Hornet. Those two aircraft have fulfilled their air superiority and ground-attack roles well, yet many are well beyond their expected life expectancy. 

The F-35 would fill America's defense needs in an age of budget constraints, we were told. So far it has not been a smooth takeoff.  

About 35 of the best fighter pilots from the Air Force, Marines and Navy who arrived in the Florida Panhandle last year to learn to fly the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are still waiting. They've been limited to occasionally taxying them and firing up the engines. 

Otherwise, their training is limited to three F-35 flight simulators, classroom work and flights in older-model jets. Only a handful of pilots get to fly the F-35s. 

Concerns have arisen, ranging from improperly installed parachutes under the pilots' ejector seats to whether the aircraft have been adequately tested. 

Production has been slow and delayed, and the cost has risen from $233 billion to $385 billion. Only 43 F-35s have been built, and an additional 2,443 have been ordered by the Pentagon.
Part of the problem is that the F-35 is a one-size-fits-all aircraft designed to fit roles from taking off a carrier's deck to hovering and landing in a confined space on a foreign battlefield. It's meant to be a ground-attack and air-superiority fighter. The question is whether it can adequately be both. 

As we learned in past conflicts, relying on one-size-fits-all aircraft can be perilous. Our reliance on the carrier-based F-4 Phantom during Vietnam is a case in point. An aircraft designed to hunt down Soviet bombers during the Cold War, it carried missiles but no guns and was ill-suited for dogfights against MiG fighters designed for a single role — that of air superiority. 

That was the role originally designated for the F-22 Raptor, a stealth fighter designed to simply sweep the skies of enemy jets and let other aircraft do their thing. Production was stopped at only 187 planes, with the excuse given that we couldn't afford multiple aircraft for different roles. So the F-35 was designated as our flying jack-of-all-trades. 

Excerpt:  Read More at IBD

Romney Campaign and Super PAC in Violation of the FEC?

Romney and his Super PAC share top aides and they see nothing wrong?  Figures out of Romney who believes that he can do anything he wants to get the nomination whether it is ethical or not.  It is more important that he win then follow the rules:

Despite all the crossover, the groups can make a legal argument that the shared operatives don’t amount to forbidden coordination because staffers erected a mental barrier between work done for each. 

“It comes down to showing they provided material or information from the campaign that was used for ads. How do you do that?”asked Mr. Wertheimer

Information about campaign ads isn't hard to find as Romney's Super PAC used an ad from the 2008 failed Romney campaign about a missing teenager.  Why did the Super PAC release this ad instead of the campaign?  Is Romney's campaign running short of money to run such an ad?  Legitimate questions with no answers.

Romney decides to go 'scorched earth' and along comes his Super PAC doing just that.  Larry McCarthy, the one responsible for the Willie Horton ad, is being used by the the Romney Super PAC, Restore Our Future, to attack ads on other candidates.  The man responsible for the Willie Horton ad for Bush 41 is involved with the Super PAC attack ads for Romney.  Imagine that.  McCarthy and the word ethics should never be used in the same sentence as he will never be noted for his ethics.  Only thing he knows is attack politics from everything that has been seen first for Bush 41 and now for the Romney Super PAC.  The Horton ad was against Dukakis but his attacks ads today are against fellow Republicans.  Romney and his Super PAC have sunk to a new low.

Then there is the problem with using front companies to shield payments to people which should be against every FEC regulation there is if we still have an active FEC:

But a watchdog group said both the Romney campaign and the super PAC’s practice of using companies to shield payments to people violates campaign-finance law.

There is not much ethical about the Romney campaign but he wants to be President?   But then he considers corporations people even when they are set up for the purpose of helping his campaign and really are just a front.  Doesn't seem very ethical to most people but then it is Romney and he is supposed to be above criticism just like Obama.

Romney camp, super PAC share high-level aides
Companies used as payment conduits
By Luke Rosiak-
The Washington Times Sunday, February 26, 2012 

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and the super PAC accepting million-dollar contributions to support him are barred by law from coordinating, yet they share many of the same top-level workers, a fact both groups have helped mask by paying high-level aides through companies that appear to exist largely as conduits to avoid disclosure. 

Months before a top Romney aide, Steve C. Roche, stopped working for the campaign, a company controlled by Mr. Roche was established and has since been paid $2 million by the super PAC, with a million-dollar check coming just three days after the last money publicly disbursed to him by the campaign, a Washington Times review of campaign expenditure records showed. 

Another consulting firm has done hundreds of thousands of dollars of work for both the campaign and the super PAC, with the most recent payment from the campaign coming the same day as the first from the super PAC. Still other companies, some doing work for the campaign and others for the PAC, are based at the same address. 

The groups said they have done nothing wrong because staffers are careful not to use anything they learn in working for one group to the other’s advantage. 

But a watchdog group said both the Romney campaign and the super PAC’s practice of using companies to shield payments to people violates campaign-finance law. 

Though Mr. Roche was regional finance director for the Romney campaign through the summer, in April a cryptically named limited liability company, Podium Capital Group LLC, was established in Delaware taking steps that hide its creator’s identity, incorporation records show. 

The super PAC disclosed paying $1 million for “fundraising services” to Podium on Aug. 4, listing as its address a post office box in Beverly, Mass. 

The super PAC, Restore Our Future, acknowledged to The Times that Podium is “Roche’s company.” 

The Romney campaign says it is careful to follow the law; but a review of the records shows that its interpretation relies on a remarkably strict and hard-to-demonstrate definition of “coordination.” 

“It seems like this was an overall plan involving both the campaign and the super PAC” that spanned months, said Fred Wertheimer, executive director of Democracy 21, a campaign ethics watchdog, of Mr. Roche’s transition. With high-ranking operatives from the campaign heading the independent group, he noted, there was much less need to communicate with current campaign staffers. 

‘Travel reimbursement’ 

Any gap between Mr. Roche’s tenure as a campaign official and his super PAC work lasted days at most. Mr. Roche received checks from the campaign as recently as Aug. 1 for “travel reimbursement.” But the Romney campaign declined to say when he left, and the exact dates of his compensation are not discernible in campaign records because fundraisers were paid through another company, SJZ LLC, named after Mr. Romney’s national finance director, Spencer J. Zwick. 

“People hire consulting firms all the time to do campaign work for them, but this appears to be a deliberate effort to mask the actual recipient of the money and therefore circumvent disclosure laws,” Mr. Wertheimer said. “It comes down to, is this a real company?” 

There is no record of Podium’s existence outside of the single Delaware filing. It has no physical address, and it has never done work for any other political group. Mr. Roche did not respond to requests for comment. 

It was unclear why high-level operatives with official campaign titles were being paid only indirectly through SJZ, or why, if the campaign contracted with a firm for services, it was separately reimbursing that firm’s workers for expenses. Except for some general-election work it did in 2008 after Mr. Romney abandoned his presidential bid, the SJZ entity has not worked for any non-Romney campaign, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show. 

The Times review shows that the Romney super PAC’s accounting practices used corporations as conduits for payments instead of named employees. During the campaign, Mr. Romney has said that “corporations are people, my friends.” 

Excerpt:  Washington Times

The Times took at look at the funding of Romney's Super PAC and how they operate.  Must have given the investigators a headache.  When you can look at FEC records and see major problems, you know there is going to be even more in a campaign.  Is this what McCain was referencing about a Super PAC who was going to be in trouble.  Why he endorsed Romney is what many of us are waiting to find out.  After he endorsed, the opposition research against Romney was released most believe from his campaign.  Think if I was a candidate who trashed McCain in the past, I would rather not have his endorsement.

The question of the day is whether the FEC is going to get some backbone and go after Romney's Super PAC and frankly they should include his campaign PAC as well in any investigation.  Something smells big time, but will the FEC finally get involved and start handing out major fines?  Time will tell but since it is a Republican, they probably will investigate.

Restoring the American Dream by Rick Santorum

This editorial by Rick Santorum is why so many conservatives are going to his campaign:

Restoring the American Dream  

Feb 28, 2012   

By Rick Santorum 

Buying a first home and building equity has been a large part of the American dream and remains one of the most cherished experiences for American families. 

But sadly, for many American families, that dream has been crushed. The country's housing collapse has resulted in 10 million homes being worth less than their mortgage value. In Arizona, 47 percent is the real and tragic number and in Michigan, it's 35 percent. 

Presidents Bush and Obama didn’t help. The government committed declared 700 financial firms and most of the nation's largest banks as "too big to fail." Through the TARP bailout, the government offered $500 billion to those banks and firms. Unbelievably, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich strongly supported this measure. I strongly opposed it. 

This dramatic expansion of government was supposed to restore confidence in our largest financial institutions. But the market for mortgage-related securities is still in agony. 

President Obama hasn’t learned from past mistakes. He is committed to Obamanomics, which grows government, explodes public debt, and slows economic growth and job creation. Now he wants even more government intervention to manipulate interest rates. The new plan may cost taxpayers hundreds of millions, perhaps billions. 

Understandably, families who once thought about buying first homes are scared. I will restore their confidence in housing with my pro-growth economic plan, called by the Wall Street Journal “bolder and better” than Mitt Romney’s timid plan. 

First, I will eliminate Obama's job-killing regulations and unleash America’s domestic energy potential. We need to promote economic growth boldly to get people back to work. 

Second, to help families seeking a fresh start, I would allow deductions from taxable income on losses that come from sale of a principal residence. This will provide relief for families whose homes have lost value. 

Third, I will eliminate the federal housing role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac within five years. These two mortgage giants shoulder the blame for the housing crisis of 2008 and they will be eliminated. Ten top Fannie and Freddie administrators were paid $12.79 million in bonuses on top of their regular salaries last year. It’s unacceptable that the president has protected Fannie and Freddie. 

Fourth, I’ll ask Congress to reform the Federal Reserve and make it transparent. Its loose monetary policy encouraged the housing bubble to grow, then its tight monetary policy made it burst. It picked winners and losers, and bailed out overseas banks with taxpayer dollars. 

We should also narrow the Fed’s mandate and set, by law, a target of stable monetary growth. Doing so will focus the Fed on price stability instead of its current role of promoting risky policies which hurt American families and taxpayers. 

Fifth, I will repeal the regulatory burdens of Dodd-Frank, which have hurt lending and smaller community banks, affecting the ability of small businesses to survive and create jobs. In classic but tragic Washington incompetence, regulations that applied to the entire financial sector omitted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, failed institutions still protected by the Democrats. 

It’s hard to imagine the American dream that doesn’t include the opportunity for American families to buy their own home. Past policies have endangered this pursuit. President Obama’s policies continue to make it harder to restore the American dream for many hurting families. It’s time to get America’s housing market back on the right track. 

Michigan Captiol Confidential 

http://www.mackinac.org/16503

This morning in an email, Santorum supporters learned:

119,058... that's the number of donations Barack Obama's re-election campaign is averaging per month. No one on the Republican side has even come close to Obama's level… until now!

Today I am proudly announcing our campaign has had over 100,000 donors since February 1!
And while that is exciting we aren’t resting on our laurels. We still need to catch Obama and clearly demonstrate Republicans are rallying around OUR campaign as the conservative alternative to President Obama. 

(snip)  

In addition to showing how strong we are this powerful sign of momentum will once and for all erase the myth that only Mitt Romney has the resources needed to defeat Barack Obama. 

The truth of the matter is that despite raising $62.7 million since entering the race - Mitt Romney has "broken the bank" spending $55 million of it tearing down his opponents with shameless negative attack ads and published press reports indicate his campaign maybe struggling to raise money.

The above paragraph is the reason that small donors are going in big numbers to Rick Santorum.  He is not asking for $2500 for a donation like Romney/Trump but is asking for donations if can spare $25 and up or even $10.  His donations show a wide section of people are support Santorum while Romney's donations show that he is getting mostly donations at the $2500 level.  Where do you find the most energy for a candidate?  From the small donors who are made to feel part of the campaign.  The emails from his campaign have been really impressive and make you want to donate to help win the nomination.  Many donors will up their donations for the general when he runs against Obama and yes I think he will be the nominee in the end because his campaign is where you find the excitement.  Just ask the people passing out yard signs in Oklahoma -- they sent out the email Saturday morning and immediately started receiving requests to put a sign in the year.

A little note about Rick Santorum.  When he was here in Oklahoma he went to visit Boone Pickens to learn about energy.  It was reported by one of our sports reporters who saw Pickens right after Santorum that he never asked Pickens for a donation.  He just wanted to get information.  That is so rare out of candidates that Dean Blevins put it on Twitter.

If you are a betting person, put your money on Rick Santorum to win Oklahoma.    

Critics hit Romney job-creation record; Romney blames Legislature

Romney ran as a liberal to win the Massachusetts Governor's race and from all accounts was very comfortable running as a liberal which is a 180 from his comfort level in this Presidential primary.  It is amazing that now he blames the MA legislature for not allowing him to grow jobs:

The Republican has said that he would have been able to do more, but his hands were tied by the Democrat-controlled legislature, which had no appetite for his conservative-fueled policies.

Romney is the person who worked with the legislature to pass Romneycare but now he wants to make us believe that they are the reason he was stalled in creating jobs.  Still have that swamp for sale in in the desert if you believe that.  Is Romney unable to tell the truth about his time as Governor thinking that destroying those hard drives would keep anyone from finding out what happened.  He forgot about the Boston News Media and especially the Democrats who are being blamed for him being more moderate.  They know the Romney that ran for Governor is a 180 from the Romney today and that it is only ten years ago.

Romney is finding out that facts do matter and the truth will win out!  

Critics hit Romney job-creation record
Cite workers that left Massachusetts 

By Seth McLaughlin
The Washington Times Sunday, February 26, 2012 

 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Mitt Romney is fighting for votes in economically struggling Michigan by pointing to his job-creation record in Massachusetts for proof he can jump-start bad economies — but the drop in unemployment during his time as governor may be a result more of willing workers fleeing the state than from his own ability to spawn jobs. 

In fact, Massachusetts had the weakest employment growth of any state from 2002 to 2006 except for Mississippi and Louisiana, which suffered the brunt of Hurricane Katrina, and Michigan itself, which was buffeted by the auto industry’s woes. 

“The fact the unemployment rate went down had nothing to do with the policies of his administration,” said professor Andrew M. Sum, director of the center for labor market studies at Northeastern University in Boston. “We had one of the three worst job-creation rates in the country under his administration. The unemployment rate largely went down for one reason, because people withdrew from the labor force and left the state.” 

Michigan Republicans go to the polls Tuesday along with voters in Arizona, and the economy remains at the top of the list of issues for Republican voters nationwide. 

Mr. Romney in particular is basing his campaign appeal on his message of economic competence, highlighting his time at the helm of Bain Capital and the one term he served as governor as critical experience that will translate over to the White House. 

“When I came in as governor, we were in a real free fall,” Mr. Romney said in a December debate. “We were losing jobs every month. We had a budget that was way out of balance. So I came into office, we went to work as a team, and we were able to turn around the job losses. 

And at the end of four years, we had our unemployment rate down to 4.7 percent.” 

Mr. Sum said he had no bones with Mr. Romney touting the role he played at Bain Capital creating jobs — more than 100,000 by the ex-governor’s own count. 

But Mr. Sum said Massachusetts’ unemployment rate fell mostly because people looking for work moved out of the state, and thus were no longer counted on the Massachusetts rolls.
In all, he said 222,000 more residents left Massachusetts than moved there during Mr. Romney’s time in office, making the state “a national leader in exporting our population.” 

The Romney campaign disputed the employment numbers, saying that when measured on a month-to-month basis from December 2002 to December 2006, both the labor force and the number of employed actually grew. 

Indeed, the labor force — measured by those with jobs or those who were actively seeking employment — grew 0.5 percent. But that was still the third-worst rate in the country, behind Louisiana and Mississippi, both of which shed workers after Hurricane Katrina. 

And Massachusetts’ employment rate — the percentage of the population actually in jobs — did grow 1.5 percent, but that was fourth-worst in the country, behind the two Hurricane Katrina states and Michigan.

Excerpt:  Read More at Washington Times

Facts really are turning out to be pesky for Romney -- 200,000 people moved out of MA looking for jobs or transferring and he touts their unemployment figures when he was Governor.  Massachusetts under Romney was the fourth worst in the country ahead of two Hurricane Katrina states (LA and MS) and Michigan.  Sitting here laughing that Romney has the nerve to tout his record on employment when his state is the 4th worst in the Country and two of the states were hurt bad by Katrina and the other one was where Romney grew up.

Everyone in Michigan needs to read the truth about Romney not what they are being fed by the Romney camp who is revising history as they go. 

Oklahoma and Trans Canada Turn their Backs on Obama on Southern Portion of Keystone Pipeline

There is no doubt in my mind and the minds of a lot of Oklahomans that Mary Fallin is the best Governor this State has ever had and this proves it.  Knew they had been working on the details of constructing the southern portion of the Keystone Pipeline which does not need State Department or Obama approval.  They got it done and now the southern part of the pipeline from Cushing, OK, to the refineries at Port Arthur on the Texas Gulf Coast will be built by Trans Canada bringing jobs to Oklahoma and Texas along with oil to the Texas refineries.

Our Governor should be the one running for President as she has plenty of experience and knows how to get things done but this Oklahoman is very happy she is not running and remains our Oklahoma Governor.  

Oklahoma is a state that is on the move for jobs, has a great quality of life, along with affordable living and hands down one of the best Governors in the Country.  Congratulations to Governor Fallin for getting this accomplished and making Oklahoma a state that business' want to relocate.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFebruary 27, 2012 

Governor Fallin Applauds TransCanada Decision to Begin Construction of Southern Portion of Keystone Pipeline 

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin today applauded TransCanada’s decision to proceed with the construction of an oil pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The pipeline represents the southern leg of the Keystone XL Pipeline project that would transport oil from Canada and various U.S. markets to the Gulf Coast. 

“Connecting Cushing to oil markets in the Gulf Coast will provide both an immediate economic jolt to the state of Oklahoma as well as a long term boost to our energy sector,” Fallin said. “Construction of the pipeline alone will create 1,200 jobs, while increasing access to the important markets along the coast will help energy producers for many years to come. This is an important, positive step forward for Oklahoma, and my thanks go out to TransCanada for its leadership on this issue.” 

TransCanada also announced today that it plans to file a Presidential Permit application (cross border permit) in the near future for the Keystone XL Project from the U.S./Canada border in Montana to Steele City, Nebraska. Fallin once again called on President Obama to quickly approve the project. 

“The Keystone XL pipeline is exactly the kind of shovel-ready project that President Obama should be supporting,” Fallin said. “If the project is approved in its entirety, we can expect up to 20,000 construction jobs and as many as 250,000 total jobs to be created. Furthermore, the substantial upgrade to our energy infrastructure would help bolster the production of North American energy and wean the United States off its dependence on hostile oil regimes overseas. It’s a win-win project that is important to both our national security and our economic security.” 

###

Research Could Impact Tornado Warnings in the Next 10 Years

National Weather Service in Norman, OK

On November 7th, 2011, the partnership with the University of Oklahoma and the National Weather Service was confirmed:

NOAA has selected the University of Oklahoma to continue a federal/academic research partnership that focuses on weather radar research, improving forecasts for severe storms, and improving our understanding of extreme weather and short-term regional climate.

The warning system we have in this area is already amazing.  When the alerts go out, you can go to our main TV stations and track the bad weather by street thanks to the Storm Chasers and latest technology.  This is perfect timing for this article as we are about to enter tornado season here and will be seeing even more people in the area who chase the storms.

They researchers have been perfecting the technology over the years and with the Storm Prediction Center here at the complex of the National Weather Service on the University of Oklahoma we get the latest warning information available.  Now they are researching to make it even better.  The University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology is located in the NWC building which is part of complex that houses researchers from around the world.  National Weather Service, Radar Operations Center, Storm Prediction Center, National Severe Storms Laboratory, and the Warning Decision Training Branch are located throughout the complex.

OU Gets New Mobile Radar To Better Understand Tornadoes

Remember when we first moved here and our families back east would think all the warnings that come out from Norman, OK, for areas around the Country were actually happening here in Norman.  Next time you hear a warning from Norman, OK, you need to take notice because they track storms around the Country and send out their warnings.

We also test warning sirens here.  The latest one is about a block from my house and if you are doing anything at noon on Saturday, you won't be talking as the person could not hear you.  This one wakes you from your sleep.

When you drive around Norman and the area you see all the instruments on the storm chaser's SUVs just like in the movie, Twister, which part of it was filmed here.  We have had massive tornadoes, F5+, just north of us a few miles but knock on wood not where I live.  For some reason the tornadoes that track from the SW go into pretty much the same area of Moore.  The weather service experts say there is no reason but like many others, we will go with the Indian legend of the buffalo wallow down by the Canadian River in west Norman which protects us from the really bad tornadoes (knock on wood)  and the legend that tornadoes go in at the knee of a river which is Moore.

February 26, 2012 

Research could impact tornado warnings 

By Joel Pruett, The Norman Transcript 

The Norman TranscriptNORMAN — Organizations at The National Weather Center are conducting research that could give you notice up to four times faster when tornadoes, hail or damaging winds are headed your way. 

Several groups housed within the center, a cooperative of the University of Oklahoma and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, began a research project in 2010 to extend the current national average for severe weather notification time, 14 minutes, to up to 60 minutes with what they’re calling “Warn-on-Forecast.” 

David Stensrud, chief of the Forecast Research and Development Division of NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory, said Warn-on-Forecast would allow meteorologists to predict severe weather by feeding radar data into a computer model, which then predicts probable directions and behaviors of a storm. 

This project would provide forecasters, media and the public with “richer information” that would allow them to “make even better decisions for their own safety,” Stensrud said.  

Hurdles remain 

He said the project aims, eventually, to provide Americans with rapidly evolving information, though a couple of things still stand in the way. 

“We still don’t understand all the details of how tornadoes form,” Stensrud said. “That’s always going to be a challenge. 

“The other obstacle is just computer speed. To make a forecast valid, you have to get the model very quickly. You need computers that are very fast, and they need to be fairly inexpensive.”
Stensrud said the project’s researchers have access to “very good” technology to complete their research, but he said the computers are not yet fast enough for an operational setting. He said he expects that the needed technology to use Warn-on-Forecast in practice likely exists, but he expects that it will be about a decade before computers of “affordable expense” will be available. 

“This is a 10- to 15-year project,” he said. “One could imagine in 10 years from now that you could actually get weather service warning information on your cell phone or on your GPS unit for your car. No matter where you are, you could get information telling you where the threat is relative to where you are.” 

As meteorologists wait for the earliest potential project completion date of 2020, they continue to rely on the current 14-minute-warning prediction model, which relies on human interpretation of radar data and local weather norms as well as reports from spotters. 

Joel Pruett 366-3540  jpruett@normantranscript.com

We have had some unusual weather here in the last two years -- a blizzard that acted like a hurricane the day before Christmas, heavy ice storm that took out all kinds of trees and electric poles, downburst in a square mile area where I live, a tornado that formed several blocks from the weather center, and a straight wind that snapped off poles and damaged the large heating/air units at Walmart.  The power poles were snapped like toothpicks only about five blocks from my home but we had little damaging wind here in my neighborhood.  Every home on my street has a new roof after the last two years.

We learned last year that tornadoes do go through mountain areas as one came out of the Wichita Mountains (video) in SW Oklahoma near Lawton barely missing the large OGE wind farm in that area.  It was amazing to watch on television as the station had their helicopter in the air that tracks tornadoes.

With all the strange weather including the drought and fires, the one thing we can say is that we have some of the most advance warning in the Country and without that warning there would be a lot more injuries or deaths in the past years.  The fact that our local television stations have invested so much money into making their reporting on tornadoes and bad weather available immediately taking off regular programming is appreciated by those of us who live in this area.  From the National Weather Service to the meteorologist who are also weather reporters, to their staff, and especially to the storm chasers, we say Thank You for keeping us safe!

The Norman TranscriptSun Feb 26, 2012, 03:19 AM CST

Mitt Romney Has ‘Rockefeller Problems’

Mitt Romney is the poster boy for the Rockefeller Republican wing of the Republican Party.  He is definitely moderate to liberal, a former northeastern Governor of Massachusetts, became an independent when Reagan/Bush were in office, ran to the left of Ted Kennedy for Senator, and ran for MA Governor as a

"pro-choice, economically centrist, and culturally liberal, business-oriented Republican"

That was only ten years ago when his wife, Anne, promised the women of Massachusetts that they had nothing to fear with her husband as Governor as he was pro-choice.  Just like Romney started vetoing bills from the MA legislature when he decided to run for President instead of seeking a second term as Governor knowing full well that every bill would be overridden.  Not to mention the Romney poll numbers were tanking because for one reason he was an inaccessible Governor.

Romney and his wife can say anything they want today trying to convince conservatives that he has changed but it is not working.  He is not comfortable speaking as a conservative and you can see right through the facade.  Then there is the 'scorched earth' attacks trying to take out Rick Santorum who is a conservative.  Epic fail by the Romney camp as now Santorum supporters are flat out mad at Romney and his campaign threatening to not vote for Romney for President if he gets the nomination as they consider him to be Obama lite.

Now his wife is saying Romney won't do any more debates and maybe he should just stand there while she talks?  Guess she thinks she would do less gaffes then her husband?

The latest from Romney is touting Rick Santorum endorsing him in 2008 and the comeback from Santorum is priceless:

Santorum said Friday he regretted endorsing Romney for president in 2008. 

"As far as my endorsement, you know what?," Santorum said. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." 

Santorum worked with McCain in the Senate and knew his temperament but didn't have the advantage of seeing how uncomfortable Romney was in conservative states like mine or seeing what his campaign did to other candidates in 2008 by undermining them every step of the way using his surrogates to attack them all over the net and in debates to put them back on their heels with half truths and lies.  Funny how Romney liked debates at the beginning but now doesn't.  He has lost his edge and conservatives have finally woken up to the fact that Romney is playing the part of a conservative just like an actor in a movie but he is not a very good actor.

Mitt Romney Has ‘Rockefeller Problems’ 

In his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney faces the same problem that confronted New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller in his 1964 bid for the GOP presidential nod — a failure to engage conservatives. 

That’s the view of Chris DeSanctis, who offers readers a history lesson in a new article on the American Thinker website. 

Rockefeller was a liberal Republican and head of the moderate-to-liberal wing of the GOP based in the Northeast, nicknamed me-too Republicans because their platform resembled the Democratic Party’s platform. 

Believing his support among moderate and liberal Republicans was secure, early front-runner Rockefeller “tried to court the growing conservative wing of his party” led by Sen. Barry Goldwater, according to DeSanctis, an adjunct professor in the Department of Government and Politics at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. 

But the liberal GOP establishment was alienated by Rockefeller’s rightward move, while conservatives failed to embrace a liberal Northeast Republican. So Rockefeller changed course and began to viciously attack conservatives. 

The tactic backfired, and Goldwater won the nomination. “The conservative wing of the GOP had shocked the liberal wing,” DeSanctis notes. 

Now in this year’s GOP race, “Mitt Romney has Rockefeller problems,” he asserts, quoting former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson: “Romney’s main political vulnerability is a serious one. Running for Massachusetts governor in 2002, he was a pro-choice, economically centrist, and culturally liberal, business-oriented Republican.” 

And due to his Massachusetts record, conservatives “refuse to embrace Romney. Like Rockefeller, this prevents him from uniting the party,” DeSanctis says. 

But those conservatives “love” Rick Santorum because he has remained consistent to his conservative beliefs about government, says DeSanctis, who concludes: 

“Goldwater’s issues of low taxes, a smaller federal government, strong military, support for individual rights, and conservative family values, among others, are now mainstream in the GOP.

“This is why today, against all odds, a traditional conservative like Rick Santorum is rising.” 

A recent poll of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute showed Santorum with 35 percent of the vote to Romney’s 26 percent.   

Source:  Newsmax

I can remember my Dad saying in 2004 that Rockefeller was nothing but a northeastern liberal who didn't have a conservative bone in his body.  He was for Goldwater all the way.  The man who would never put a bumper strip on his car had one for Goldwater that read "In Your Heart You Know He is Right,"  He detested Rockefeller with a passion and blamed him for a lot of Goldwater's problems in the general election.  I guess I inherited my Dad's dislike for northeastern liberals trying to run as conservatives.

Living in MA for nine, long miserable months didn't help while my husband was on an Industry Assignment for the Air Force.  Romney talks about trees in Michigan?  I never saw as many trees blocking out the sun in the winter as I did in MA.  Only time you saw the sun was at 4:00 AM streaming in from the east into the windows.  In the afternoon, the sun didn't clear the trees to the south.  Was ready more than once to pack up the kids and head back to Southern California.

Both my parents would get mad every time Ohio would vote Democrat for President, Governor, or Senator so I guess I inherited that streak from them.  Dad would have loved living in Oklahoma.  Found my home in this Conservative state where a lot of Democrats are more conservative then the Republicans I met in MA.

IMHO there is only one Republican who stands on principle even if it is not the conventional wisdom of the day.  It is because he has core values that won't waiver.  He is not running as something he is not as you can see it and hear it when he speaks that he is a conservative.  That person is Rick Santorum who deserves the votes of conservatives to be our nominee.  He definitely meets the Ronald Reagan 80% for conservatives and he is honest.  The big plus is that there will be a contrast between Santorum and Obama while with Romney he can be portrayed as Obama lite in many ways.  Romney's arrogant, elitist attitude is not playing well with Conservative Republicans.

One thing we have found out is that the Rockefeller wing of the Republican Party is alive but not so well these days.  Pretty bad when you have a group, Dogs Against Romney, detailing his abuse to the family dog, Seamus.   Romney is that typical cold northeasterner who doesn't relate well to people from other parts of the Country who are much more friendly.  Noted that Romney is not coming back into Oklahoma to campaign from what I am hearing.  It would be a waste of time IMHO.  Now if we could only get his ads off our radio and TV, I would be happy!

Have a great rest of the day and a reminder to conservatives to get out and vote for the most conservative candidate in your primary.  Don't let the Rockefeller establishment types tell you that Romney is the only one who can beat Obama because that is simply not true.  We need a real choice in November to bring out conservatives to vote so we can Keep the House and Take the Senate.

Graceless, Classless, Clueless equals Romney's campaign

You can add Classless and Clueless to Graceless when describing the Romney campaign.  Frankly all these emails look like they could come from Carney, Obama's Press Secretary, as Romney shares the same traits as the Obama campaign for being snarky which is another word you could add to the list.  Imagine attacking a fellow Republican about his speech before he gives it and this is supposed to help Romney.  Cannot believe the tone deaf campaign that Romney is running.

His wife, Anne, just said no more debates for Mitt.  That's nice to know that she is calling the shots.  Romney loved debates until he started becoming the target and now he doesn't like debates because people are catching on he has been lying during the debates.  Imagine that -- Romney lying!  The flip flopper and the truth don't seem to be on the same page.

The Romney campaign of 'scorched earth' against fellow Republicans will eventually come back to haunt him in the weeks ahead.  How do you get supporters of other candidates on your side when they know their candidate was taken out with dirty tricks, opposition research to make them look bad, getting other candidates like Paul and Bachmann to be attack dogs, buying off candidates/office holders with donations for endorsements, paying off debts of candidates who endorse, and using tons of money against them in the campaign.  In Romney lala land guess you are supposed to forget how underhanded his campaign and Super PAC was against your candidate and just jump on board because Obama is so bad.  That's not happening with a lot of supporters of other candidates.

Like a lot of other conservatives I am not convinced that Romney with his underhanded tactics and wanting to silence anyone who dares to cross him would be much better then Obama when you have emails like this going out from his campaign:

Graceless
2:00 PM, Feb 24, 2012 • By MICHAEL WARREN 

This morning, Rasmussen released a new poll showing Mitt Romney regaining his lead in the Michigan primary. This afternoon, Romney communications director Gail Gitcho sent out the following email to reporters:

All –  

If you are reporting on Senator Santorum’s response to the Rasmussen numbers speech today, in which he will reportedly issue desperate and false attacks against Mitt Romney in an attempt to prop up his campaign, please use this quote from me.  

“Rick Santorum is a Washington insider who is lashing out at Mitt Romney because he had a terrible debate performance. Back in 2008, Sen. Santorum endorsed Mitt Romney for president because of Mitt’s ‘conservative’ record. Now, Rick’s changed his tune. This sounds like another case of Rick Santorum abandoning his principles for his own political advantage.” – Gail Gitcho, Romney Communications Director  

Gail Gitcho
Romney for President
Communications Director

A snarky and graceless attack on a speech that Rick Santorum has yet to give? Is this the sign of a confident campaign? Are these kind of emails helping the Romney effort?   

Source:  Weekly Standard

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Obama Lies about the Koch Brothers

Is Obama going to go after anyone who dares to cross him while he is running for President trying to bully them into remaining silent?  Not going to work with most people but picking on the Koch Brothers was just plain stupid if he thinks he can shut them up.  

In Obama's letter to supporters about the Koch Brothers he said they "make millions by jacking up prices at the pump" is an outright lie.  The Koch Brothers don't own gas stations.  They are part of the exploration and drilling process to get the oil to the refineries.

He has also crossed the line using the Office of the Presidency for his own political interest by refusing to approve the Keystone Pipeline by caving to the environmental base of his campaign.  He would rather cater to the people who would protect a spider over a human than do what is best for the Country.

To top things off, the Obama Stooge pretending to be a Press Secretary, Jay Carney, blames the cancellation of the Pipeline on Republicans?  Now that is reaching.  Carney is supposed to be the Press Secretary for the President not the Campaign but he has blurred his duties.  The pipeline would have brought Canadian oil to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast and increased our energy independence from dictators like Chavez in Venezuela. Looks like Obama couldn't have that happen to a dictator he wants as his friend.  Would Obama rather see the Canadian oil go to China?  Sure looks like that is the case.

Obama also doesn't seem to care about all the jobs he threw under the bus by canceling the pipeline.  Is it all about helping his friends and keeping the US energy dependent on foreign oil from dictators and the Muslims in the Middle East?  Has he cut a deal with Chavez and the Saudi's?

Koch Brothers have been pushing for new refineries but that is not likely to happen either with Obama's EPA.  Following the Horizon British Petroleum Gulf Oil Spill and the Obama Moratorium on drilling in the Gulf, it took until last March before permits started being approved at a rapid pace.  Today drilling in the Gulf is getting back to normal with more deep water drilling but why did it take so long?  Did Obama decide that since he was running for reelection he had better get drilling in the Gulf back up and running?  Don't think the man does anything unless he thinks it will benefit his reelection.  Believe Obama will sell out anyone to have four more years in the White House.

Obama trying to kill free speech of individuals and/or businesses like the Koch Brothers is just wrong and frankly Un-American.  Does Obama want those of us who oppose him to sit down and shut up?  Sure seems like it, but that is not going to happen in this election.  A lot of us who are not happy with our choices in the Republican Primary are even a lot less happy with Obama by a mile.

Very happy to see the Koch Brothers not standing down to Obama but firing back at him.  More Republicans need to follow their lead and call him out when he does something to try and get them to be quiet.  Obama has the vast majority of media on his side but he does not have a lot of the bloggers who get out the truth.  As nasty as our primary has been, I can see the general getting even nastier as Obama becomes the energizer bunny when he campaigns versus having to do the duties of the President where he turns into a couch potato.

Koch brothers fire back at Obama
By BYRON TAU |
2/25/12 11:24 AM EST

Oil magnates Charles and David Koch are firing back at President Obama's reelection campaign over a fundraising letter tying Mitt Romney to their business interests. 

In an open letter addressed to campaign manager Jim Messina, president of government & public affairs for Koch industries Philip Ellender accuses the Obama campaign of sending an "irresponsible and misleading letter" to supporters. 

"If the President’s campaign has some principled disagreement with the arguments we are making publicly about the staggering debt the President and previous administrations have imposed on the country, the regulations that are stifling business growth and innovation, the increasing intrusion of government into nearly every aspect of American life, we would be eager to hear them," Ellender writes. 

"But it is an abuse of the President’s position and does a disservice to our nation for the President and his campaign to criticize private citizens simply for the act of engaging in their constitutional right of free speech about important matters of public policy. The implication in that sort of attack is obvious: dare to criticize the President’s policies and you will be singled out and personally maligned by the President and his campaign in an effort to chill free speech and squelch dissent," he writes. 

"It is understandable that the President and his campaign may be 'tired of hearing' that many Americans would rather not see the president re-elected. However, the inference is that you would prefer that citizens who disagree with the President and his policies refrain from voicing their own viewpoint. Clearly, that’s not the way a free society should operate," the letter charges. 

In a letter that went out to supporters Friday, the Obama camapign said that the Koch brothers "make millions by jacking up prices at the pump, and who bankrolled Tea Party extremism, and committed $200 million to try to destroy President Obama before Election Day."
All are charges the Kochs denies. 

"For example, it is false that our 'business model is to make millions by jacking up prices at the pump.' Our business vision begins and ends with value creation — real, long-term value for customers and for society. We own no gasoline stations and the part of our business you allude to, oil and gas refining, actually lowers the price of gasoline by increasing supply," the Koch letter says. 

Source:  Politico

Romney Lies in Debate about the Morning-After Pills forced on Catholic Hospitals

Why let the facts get in the way when you are lying at the debates?  Does Romney have selective memory loss about his time as Governor since he had all the hard drives destroyed from his Administration?  Doesn't that sound like Nixon?  Kind of scary if you think about it as the last thing we need in the White House is another Nixon type.   The Romney lie I have put in bold in this article from the Weekly Standard, but here are the key words:

“Nope, absolutely not. Of course not. "

Did Romney think The Boston Globe no longer had an archives of their articles when this happened?  Not only did they have the article in the archive but the headline immediately points out Romney is lying:

“Romney says no hospitals are exempt from pill law.”

Between Romney not answering a simple question at the debate and the lies picked up by Fact Check, how can anyone say he had a good debate unless telling the truth is not part of a good debate performance?  Why couldn't he answer the question of the biggest misconception about him or is it because what some of us are writing is actually true?

Looks like Romney was caught in a whopper of a lie on forcing Catholic Hospitals to provide the Morning-After Pills:

Were Catholic Hospitals in Massachusetts Forced to Provide Morning-After Pills?
8:05 AM, Feb 24, 2012 • By JEFFREY H. ANDERSON

During Wednesday night’s Republican debate, moderator John King said, “Governor Romney, both Senator Santorum and Speaker Gingrich have said during your tenure as governor, you required Catholic hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims. And Mr. Speaker, you compared the governor to President Obama, saying he infringed on Catholics’ rights. Governor, did you do that?” 

Romney replied, “Nope, absolutely not. Of course not. There was no requirement in Massachusetts for the Catholic Church to provide morning-after pills to rape victims. That was entirely voluntary on their part. There was no such requirement.” 

Yet a headline in the Boston Globe on December 9, 2005 read, “Romney says no hospitals are exempt from pill law.” The first sentence of the corresponding article read, “Governor Mitt Romney reversed course on the state’s new emergency contraception law yesterday, saying that all hospitals in the state will be obligated to provide the morning-after pill to rape victims.” 

Newt Gingrich, who looked puzzled and incredulous as Romney was speaking, replied,
“Well, the reports we got were quite clear that the public health department [of Massachusetts] was prepared to give a waiver to Catholic hospitals about a morning-after abortion pill, and that the governor’s office issued explicit instructions saying that they believed it wasn’t possible under Massachusetts law to give them that waiver. Now, that was [in] the newspaper reports that came out. That’s something that both Senator Santorum and I have raised before.” 

The Boston Catholic Insider blog (courtesy of Quin Hillyer at the American Spectator) provides a much more detailed account of events, which essentially mirrors Gingrich’s understanding. The core of the account is as follows: 

“On December 7, 2005, Romney’s Department of Public Health said that Catholic and other privately-run hospitals could opt out of giving the morning-after pill to rape victims because of religious or moral objections…. 

“On December 8, 2005 Romney reversed the legal opinion of his own State Department of Public Health, instructing all Catholic hospitals and others to provide the chemical Plan B ‘morning after pill’ to rape victims.” 

On December 9, the Boston Globe headline appeared.

The Globe reported: 

“[Governor Romney’s] decision overturns a ruling made public this week by the state Department of Public Health that privately run hospitals could opt out of the requirement if they objected on moral or religious grounds. 

“Romney had initially supported that interpretation, but he said yesterday [Thursday] that he had changed direction after his legal counsel, Mark D. Nielsen, concluded Wednesday that the new law supersedes a preexisting statute that says private hospitals cannot be forced to provide abortions or contraception. 

“‘And on that basis, I have instructed the Department of Public Health to follow the conclusion of my own legal counsel and to adopt that sounder view,’ Romney said at the State House after signing a bill on capital gains taxes.”

(snip) 

“Asked yesterday to elaborate on that position, Romney said simply that the law was the law and that the state had to follow it. The governor characterized his own beliefs about emergency contraception this way: ‘My personal view, in my heart of hearts, is that people who are subject to rape should have the option of having emergency contraception or emergency contraception information.’”

After responding to Romney in the debate, Gingrich made the broader point about the inevitable tension between liberty and centralized government power, saying: 

“I want to go a step further, because this makes a point that Ron Paul has been making for a generation and that people need to take very seriously. When you have government as the central provider of services, you inevitably move towards tyranny, because the government has the power of force. You inevitably — and I think this is true whether it’s Romneycare or Obamacare or any other government centralized system — you inevitably move towards the coercion of the state and the state saying, ‘If you don’t do what we, the politicians, have defined, you will be punished either financially or you will be punished in some other way like going to jail.’ And that’s why we are, I think, at an enormous crossroads in this country.” 

Excerpt:  Read More at The Weekly Standard 

No wonder Romney doesn't want to run on his real record of Governor preferring to rewrite history about his record.  Once again he has been caught by Fact Check from Wednesday night's debate.  The first paragraph from the Boston Globe about Fact Checking had the best description of the debates I have seen:

Twenty Republican presidential debates later, the head-scratching claims kept coming.
Did Mitt Romney really cut taxes as Massachusetts governor, as he asserted yet again? Or did he raise them by hundreds of millions of dollars, as former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum alleged? And how could Newt Gingrich have given the nation four balanced budgets when he was only in Congress for two of them?
There was something old, something new in the misstatements of the candidates Wednesday in what was possibly the last GOP debate.

Now for some of the real facts from the debate Wednesday nigh:

ROMNEY to Santorum: “You voted to raise the debt ceiling five times without compensating cuts in spending.’’ 

THE FACTS: Maybe so, but increases in the debt ceiling were not politically charged in the past as they are now. They just allow the government to pay bills run up by previous Congresses. To not pay them would be like deciding to stop paying a car loan or mortgage. In fact, President Ronald Reagan, an icon to most conservatives, supported increases in the debt limit 12 times over his two terms. The idea of insisting on offsetting spending cuts when raising the debt ceiling is relatively new.   

******

ROMNEY: “They finally realized I was right.’’ — On the government ushering the auto industry into and out of bankruptcy. 

THE FACTS: Romney did propose a bankruptcy process for the automakers before the government opted for that course. But there was a tremendous difference between the course he advocated and the one that was taken. GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy on the strength of a massive bailout that Romney opposed. Neither Republican President George W. Bush nor Democratic President Barack Obama believed the automakers would have survived without that backup from taxpayers. Romney held out the possibility at the time of the government giving certain loan and warranty guarantees that would not have approached the nearly $85 billion bailout.   

******

SANTORUM: “Gov. Romney even today suggested raising taxes on the top 1 percent.’’ 

THE FACTS: Romney’s new proposal actually would lower tax rates across the board. The rate for the wealthiest Americans would drop to 28 percent from 35 percent. However, Romney’s call for unspecified new limits on tax deductions for higher-income taxpayers makes it impossible, absent more details, to assess the impact on any individual.  

******

NEWT GINGRICH: “When I was speaker … we balanced the budget for four consecutive years.’’  

THE FACTS: Gingrich has made this misstatement many times before. He was speaker from January 1995 to January 1999. During budget years 1996 and 1997, when Gingrich was House speaker, the government ran deficits totaling nearly $130 billion. In budget year 1998, which ended Sept. 30, 1998, there was a surplus of $69 billion. And in budget year 1999, during which Gingrich was speaker part of the time, there was a surplus of $126 billion. Thus, Gingrich can only claim credit for contributing to two years of a balanced budget, at most. 

******

ROMNEY: “I’m going to link the pay of government workers with the pay in the private sector. Government servants shouldn’t get more than the people who are paying taxes.’’ 

THE FACTS: It’s something of a myth that federal workers make out like gangbusters next to their private sector counterparts.

The latest Congressional Budget Office study found federal pay is, on average, only 2 percent higher than for comparable private sector workers. The discrepancy is larger among the least educated. Federal employees with just a high school diploma make 21 percent more than similar private workers. But federal workers tend to be more educated, older and concentrated in professional occupations — and they make 23 percent less, on average, than private sector counterparts. 

That advantage holds true when benefits are added to the mix: The federal professionals still lag, while federal employees with less education have a greater advantage over private sector workers. 

These are excerpts from the Fact Check of the debate on Wednesday.  You can read more at The Boston Globe.  Bottom line is not to believe everything you hear at a debate.  Checking Fact Check during and following the debate gives you the facts instead of spin from candidates.  Democrat Fact Check in 2008 for their debates was off the chart with lies and misstatements.  Not sure which was worse 2004 or 2008 from the Democrats when it came to lying and spinning at debates.

How about getting some honest candidates to run for President who tell the truth when asked a question instead of trying to score political points with lies and misstatements?  Wouldn't it be nice to turn into a debate and know you are going to find how how a candidate feels about an issue without spin or pandering?  Is it possible that in 2016 we could have debates with unbiased moderators and no spin?

Having liberal moderators for most of the Republican debates has not helped the process of electing our nominee to go against Obama in the fall.  Some moderators are more concerned about starting a cat fight among candidates then getting at the truth of what they believe.  The Republican Primary has been a disaster so far in the eyes of a lot of conservatives and now the establishment types are starting to say the same thing.  Time to change the way we elect our nominee starting with cleaning out the RNC which should have happened back in 2000 when the RNC Chair favored McCain over Bush in the primary.  A good friend and I sent an email to all members of the RNC asking them to remove the Chair -- didn't happen but we tried.

Bottom line is if Romney cannot tell the truth on an issue like the MA Morning-After Pill Mandate, how can we expect him to tell the truth as President?  Instead of a President with the nickname of "Tricky Dick,"  would we have one called "Tricky Mitt!"  No thanks, I will pass on Romney and hope that fellow conservatives have finally woken up to the fact that Romney and Paul are tag teaming and either vote for Santorum or Gingrich -- not my first choice or second choice but much better than Romney/Paul and 100 times better than Obama.