Governor Chris Christie Speech At The Reagan Library

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gave his momentous speech at the Reagan Library which will be heavily dissected by the GOP faithful.
After Speech Christie revels in pleas to run

Offshore Oil Drilling after Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill — No New Safeguards, GOP Push for Less Oversight

One of the worst environmental disasters in history struck one year ago today — the “Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” or “BP oil spill.” Haven’t kept up with the details of offshore oil drilling much lately and curious where things stand? Well, I can’t say that we’ve learned from our lesson.

While no legislation has been passed to make offshore oil drilling safer, “the House Natural Resources Committee pushed forward three bills to expand offshore drilling and reduce safeguards,” Frances  Beinecke of the Natrual Resource Defense Council (NRDC), who served on the National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, writes.

Seriously, let’s make it easier to have another oil spill catastrophe? This is what the “House Natural Resources Committee” wants? Yes, the U.S. has been hijacked by political extremists who don’t understand the government’s role in ensuring a safe and livable environment.
More from Beinecke:

These bills would allow big oil companies to sidestep proper environmental analysis, rush permits and drill virtually anywhere off the U.S. coastline.

Have we learned nothing from the largest peacetime oil spill in history? Eleven men died in that disaster. More than 170 million gallons of Louisiana crude spewed into the water, and 1,053 miles of shoreline got oiled.

The impacts have been devastating. Gulf Coast fishermen lost $62 million in dockside sales because of the spill, while tourist businesses lost $1.5 billion in earnings. Oil remains in marshes and underwater plumes, and it will take years to determine the ecological damage.

Yet, it’s more important that oil companies be left alone to do what they wish wherever they wish.
The National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling that Beinecke found, after an “exhaustive review of the evidence” that “the root cause of the spill was systemic failure in industry management and government oversight.” Of course it was.

Completely ridiculous that these supposed leaders of our country are interested in ignoring the findings, the need for change, and are actually pushing for further deregulation in this dangerous arena.

Will less regulation of offshore oil drilling help the U.S. become more energy independent? Not enough that anyone would even notice. This is one of the least effective ways of pushing for energy independence and doesn’t get at the root of our problem at all. My grandfather was the Chief Excavation Geologist for Exxon for the U.S. (not including Alaska or California) before he retired — the guy in charge of finding oil. He mentioned a couple years ago that we’ve just gotten spoiled, that we don’t have the oil available to support our current demand.

Here’s more on that from Beinecke as well.

Turning back the clock on offshore drilling will do little to relieve America’s oil addiction.
According to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, drilling in America’s previously closed ocean areas “would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production…before 2030.” Even then, “because oil prices are determined on the international market …any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.

The U.S. cannot drill its way out of oil dependence. We can, however, turn to a host of clean energy solutions that could cut our oil imports almost in half in just 14 years. We don’t have to wait for technological breakthroughs to get started. Things like cleaner cars, more transportation options, high speed rail, and sustainable, homegrown fuels already exist.

Seriously, this is the route we need to go down. We don’t live in caves any more. We found a better option. We can find a better option for our energy supply as well (we already have). Increasing the risk of workers, the environment, and the whole world in order to try to live on an energy source of the past makes no sense (unless you are a Congressman bought by an oil industry trying to increase its profits for a few more years and don’t have any concern for what’s actually best for the American people).

Christie: Teachers Unions are Political Thugs

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey didn't hold back when referring to teachers unions as "political thugs".  And, judging by what was witnessed in Wisconsin, he's right on the mark.  While making clear that he respected teachers and the job they do, he pointed out that the union leaders do not care about children, education, or the success of pupils, but merely about power.

"I believe the teachers in New Jersey in the main are wonderful public servants that care deeply. But their union, their union are a group of political thugs," Christie said.


Christie also criticized Obama for not leading during a time of economic difficulty.  Despite the massive deficit and skyrocketing debt, Democrats are refusing to cut any programs or spending.  You can be sure they'll blame any government shut down on the GOP despite that they refused to pass a budget last year which has resulted in the current fiscal crisis.


By: Strong Conservative 

GOP prepares to swing a meat clever at the budget

WASHINGTON — The incoming Republican majority in the House is moving to make good on its promise to cut $100 billion from domestic spending this year, a goal eagerly backed by conservatives but one carrying substantial political and economic risks.


House Republican leaders are so far not specifying which programs would bear the brunt of budget cutting, only what would escape it: spending for the military, domestic security and veterans.


The reductions that would be required in the remaining federal programs, including education and transportation, would be so deep — roughly 20 percent on average — that Senate Republicans have not joined the $100 billion pledge that House Republicans, led by the incoming speaker, Representative John A. Boehner, made to voters before November’s midterm elections.


Even if adopted by the House, the Republicans’ budget is unlikely to be enacted in anything like the scale they envision, since Democrats retain a majority in the Senate and President Obama could veto annual appropriations bills making the reductions.


But the effort is more than symbolic: in particular it could give House Republicans increased leverage in budget negotiations with the White House this winter and spring, when the administration must get Congress to raise the federal debt limit or risk a government financing crisis.

Read the rest here.

Posted by John

What Do the Election Results Mean for the Economy?

Last night’s elections ended the Democrats’ trifecta hold over the House, Senate, and White House. The last time we had voting results with a similar switch was the second half of Bill Clinton’s presidency. However, times have ‘a changed.

So, what does the Republican pick up mean for the economy? Should we truly expect fiscal discipline? Can we fix everything without new taxes?

The Republican Win is a Victory for Businesses and High Incomes

Bloomberg asserts “Republicans will use their new majority in the House to bolster their campaign to extend Bush-era tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000. They’ll also side with companies such as International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Blackstone Group LP (BX) and Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY), which have lobbied against President Barack Obama’s proposals to increase taxes on overseas profits.”

Gridlock is No Good for Stocks

All is not Goldilocks, says Nick Godt at MarketWatch. “Standard & Poor’s (MHP) cranked up its database and found that since 1900, the market performed worst in the two years after midterm elections that yielded total gridlock, with a split Congress, and best under total unity, with a unified Congress and an administration of the same party.”

The GOP will Not Help the Crashing US Dollar

Contrary to voter euphoria, the Republicans don’t have a dollar-strengthening budget in their “Pledge to America,” shows Brett Arends at WSJ. “We can probably expect skyrocketing federal deficits and maybe even a dollar crisis. The Pledge calls for trillions of dollars in tax cuts, yet offers few major plans for savings. As the free-market Cato Institute dryly noted, the 48-page document “contains more pictures of Republican members of Congress than it does evidence that the GOP is seriously prepared to cut spending.”
What are your hopes and fears for the new landscape in Washington? Let us know in the comments below …

Source: USA Today

Disclosure: No positions in companies mentioned.

 Wall St. Cheat Sheet.

Gingrich Calls Obama A "Kenyan"

"What if Obama is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together his actions? That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior. This is a person who is fundamentally out of touch with how the world works, who happened to have played a wonderful con, as a result of which he is now president.

"I think he worked very hard at being a person who is normal, reasonable, moderate, bipartisan, transparent, accommodating — none of which was true. In the Alinksy tradition, he was being the person he needed to be in order to achieve the position he needed to achieve. He was authentically dishonest." - Newt Gingrich, speaking to the National Review.

Posted by Joe 

Quote Of The Day - Carl Paladino

"Instead of handing out the welfare checks, we'll teach people how to earn their check. We'll teach them personal hygiene ... the personal things they don't get when they come from dysfunctional homes. These are beautiful properties with basketball courts, bathroom facilities, toilet facilities. Many young people would love to get the hell out of cities. You have to teach them basic things — taking care of themselves, physical fitness. In their dysfunctional environment, they never learned these things." - GOP New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, saying that the state's poor should be housed in prisons.
By Joe My God

Gingrich & Pawlenty: Voters Should Toss Out Any Gay-Friendly Judges

Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty, both of whom may run for president in 2012, are supporting a campaign in Iowa to toss out the state Supreme Court judges that ruled in favor of marriage equality. The effort to oust the judges was launched last week by former GOP candidate for governor of Iowa, Bob Vander Plaats.

Gingrich: "Iowans are unique in that they have the ability this fall to send a very clear and simple message that the court’s behavior is unacceptable by just voting ‘no’ on the three judges who are up for reappointment. If a majority of Iowans vote ‘no,’ that will send a signal to the whole country that there is a citizens revolt under way.”

Pawlenty: “The notion that judges stand for election is embedded in the Iowa Constitution. It’s embedded in the Minnesota Constitution. It’s the right and privilege of the citizens of this state and my state to weigh in on whether they like or don’t like the job that a judge is doing and to agree or disagree with him.”

Posted by Joe

Cook Predicts GOP Wave in November; I Predict a Wave of Misdirected Dem Panic

Charlie Cook, founder of The Cook Political Report, sees a Republican wave coming in November. While not always right, Cook has been at this for a long time and is a respected name in political forecasting.

Among all voters, there has been a significant swing since 2008 when Democrats took their new majority won in 2006 to an even higher level. But when you home in on those people in this survey who are most likely to vote, the numbers are devastating. The NBC/WSJ survey, when combined with a previously released NPR study of likely voters in 70 competitive House districts by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg and Republican Glen Bolger, point to an outcome for Democrats that is as serious as a heart attack. Make no mistake about it: There is a wave out there, and for Democrats, the House is, at best, teetering on the edge.


Anyway you slice it, the numbers are bad news for Democrats. Cook points out that Democratic voters are less enthusiastic about voting, and the generic ballot has swung in the Republican direction. This dire warning from Cook will send Washington Democrats into a further panic, which will probably result in them doing even more things that will crush enthusiasm among their base. They’ll ramp up their misguided faux deficit fear-mongering while millions struggle without a lifeline in the recession.

I want to make a small point about the generic ballot. Democrats currently hold an unusually large majority in the House. In 2008, Democrats won about 53 percent of all votes cast for Congress. To keep all their House seats, Democrats don’t need to win just the majority of votes cast for Congress but need to receive a similarly big majority of them. Even if Democratic candidates manage to get a majority of votes for Congress in November, if it’s only a small majority, say 50.5 percent, the result will be a large loss of seats.

This November, especially because of how districts are gerrymandered, Republicans could win what is declared an overwhelming victory, a net gain of 30 or more seats, even though Democrats receive more total votes for Congress than Republicans.