2012 Primary Schedule « 2012 Election Central

2012 Primary Schedule « 2012 Election Central: "February 4, 2012 Nevada (caucus)
February 4–11, 2012 Maine (caucus)
February 7, 2012 Colorado (caucus)
Minnesota (caucus)
Missouri (primary) – *See note below on Missouri
February 28, 2012 Arizona (primary)
Michigan (primary)"

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Don't know about Maine, but seems pretty likely to me that Romney wins Nevada and Colorado (because of the Mormon vote) Minnesota (near Michigan, where his Dad was governor) Arizona (Mormon vote), and Michigan (see Minnesota).

Things can change, and I'm no expert, but I don't see any way at this point Mitt is not the Republican nominee.

Mitt Romney’s trouble is his near-perfection - The Washington Post

Mitt Romney’s trouble is his near-perfection - The Washington Post: "Handsome, rich and successful, he is happily married to a beautiful wife, father to five strapping sons and grandfather to many. At the end of a long day of campaigning, his hair hasn’t moved. His shirt is still unwrinkled and neatly tucked into pressed jeans. He goes to bed the same way he woke up — sober, uncaffeinated, seamless and smiling in spite of the invectives hurled in his direction.

What’s wrong with this guy? Nada. Which is precisely the problem. Romney could use a limp."

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A veiled threat of violence?

Romney Wins Florida GOP Primary, Fox News Projects | Fox News

Romney Wins Florida GOP Primary, Fox News Projects | Fox News: ". The exit polls showed Gingrich with 40 percent among that group, and Romney with 36 percent. "

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A smaller gap than I would have expected.

iowahawk: Journalistic Sun Stroke

iowahawk: Journalistic Sun Stroke: "In reading the headline one initially takes some solace that, however overdue, the WaPo finally has gotten around to cover this half-billion dollar backdoor heist of the public treasury by cronies of the President. Even more so in the fact that they actually label it correctly as a "scandal." But it soon evaporates as one digests the lede, which helpfully chooses a human face to represent the victims of this scandal - one Linda Sterio."

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Greg Mankiw's Blog: Five Observations about Progressivity

Greg Mankiw's Blog: Five Observations about Progressivity: "1. The U.S. personal income tax is generally progressive, and substantially so. Click here to see the numbers. The average tax rate for tax returns with over $1 million in income is 25 percent. The average tax rate for returns with income between $50,000 and $75,000 is 7 percent."

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Obama follows the progressive president’s model of martial language - The Washington Post

Obama follows the progressive president’s model of martial language - The Washington Post: "Well. The armed services’ ethos, although noble, is not a template for civilian society, unless the aspiration is to extinguish politics. "

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Greg Mankiw's Blog

Greg Mankiw's Blog: "Obama’s still-vague Buffett Tax would apparently impose a minimum 30 percent tax rate on incomes exceeding $1 million....In September, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the 10-year deficit at $8.5 trillion. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation estimates that a Buffett Tax might now raise $40 billion annually. Citizens for Tax Justice, a liberal group, estimates $50 billion. With economic growth, the 10-year total might optimistically be $600 billion to $700 billion. It would be a tiny help; that’s all."

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "Many a news consumer last week may have heard nothing about last Monday’s March for Life (my photos here) in Washington, D.C. Thank you, Bret Baier, for not only noting the March but the media blackout:"

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "Herman Cain clarified on Fox News program America’s Newsroom today that, “I still endorse the people and Newt Gingrich. They are not exclusive of each other.”"

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That must mean he's also endorsing Santorum and Romney.

The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "I’m no political consultant, but it seems to me that these are the sorts of no-brainer responses that come naturally to natural politicians. Mitt Romney is not a natural politician. If duking it out with Gingrich for another month makes him a better politician, then even if you don’t want Gingrich to be the nominee you should probably vote for Gingrich."

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Government and Its Rivals - NYTimes.com

Government and Its Rivals - NYTimes.com: "This is exactly the choice that the White House has decided to offer a host of religious institutions — hospitals, schools and charities — in the era of Obamacare. The new health care law requires that all employer-provided insurance plans cover contraception, sterilization and the morning-after (or week-after) pill known as ella, which can work as an abortifacient. A number of religious groups, led by the American Catholic bishops, had requested an exemption for plans purchased by their institutions. Instead, the White House has settled on an exemption that only covers religious institutions that primarily serve members of their own faith. A parish would be exempt from the mandate, in other words, but a Catholic hospital would not."

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Mitt Romney Is Coming for Your Kosher Food, Old Florida Jews -- Daily Intel

Mitt Romney Is Coming for Your Kosher Food, Old Florida Jews -- Daily Intel: "Gingrich is referring to Friday's New York Post report that Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, vetoed $600,000 in funding "for poor Jewish nursing-home residents to get kosher meals." Certainly, it's safe to assume that preventing old Jewish people from eating Kosher meals will be one of Romney's priorities as president, as well. "

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Why is Newt the tea party candidate? And he gets upset about Romney's dishonest attacks?

The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "I’m sorry but, on purely tactical grounds, what a bonehead move by the Romney campaign. Negative attacks, especially in a primary, have to be run on a careful cost-benefit analysis, and what exactly is the upside here? That at least Tom Brokaw isn’t Dan Rather? Romney is comfortably up in the Florida polls in large part because his campaign (with the unwitting collusion of NBC News!) managed to turn Gingrich’s flank on the wealth issue and cut him off from reinforcement via a Newt-versus-the-establishment-media moment. He now affords Gingrich such a moment with juuuuust enough time before the polls close to be impactful.

I’m not saying this is going to cause Romney the primary or anything, but that’s not the point. The point is that it’s hard to see what at all this could have done to help him win it."

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This could be the case. But the other way of looking at it is, this is an attack on Newt's elect-ability, that could be effective if there's no backlash.

The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "When Marxists are complaining that your party’s candidates are disconnected from today’s global realities, it’s generally not a good sign.

Aside from the minor detail that Marxists have been complaining about the disconnect between pro-market political parties and “global reality” since the original Marxist sat in the Reading Room of the British Library riffing on the internal contradictions of capitalism, I was struck by Mr Friedman’s sparkling way with words. I’m not a credentialed Professor of Prose Style at Columbia School of Journalism or anything, but, for the “it’s generally not a good sign”/”you know you’ve got a problem” cliche to work, doesn’t the bit before it have to be something unexpected or unwanted?"

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NattO, Maggot Cheese and Other Food That May Repel - WSJ.com

NattO, Maggot Cheese and Other Food That May Repel - WSJ.com: "Aside from its alien texture, nattō suffers from another problem, at least for Westerners—odor. Nattō smells like the marriage of ammonia and a tire fire."

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Althouse: Actress Cynthia Nixon in trouble for saying her "gayness" is "a choice."

Althouse: Actress Cynthia Nixon in trouble for saying her "gayness" is "a choice.": "By the way, I vividly remember back around 1990, the progressive gay-rights-type people I knew were intent upon portraying sexual orientation as a choice. I won't name the famous lefty who snapped at me for entertaining the notion that homosexuality might have a biological basis: If it exists at the biological level, it will be perceived as a disease and people will try to cure it. That was really the same point as Besen's, oddly enough, in that it was about acceptance as opposed to treatment."

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "I don’t take Cain’s retraction of his original endorsement personally — I’ve always known I’m unelectable — but I wonder how the rest of you feel?"

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Marginal Revolution — Small steps toward a much better world.

Marginal Revolution — Small steps toward a much better world.: "Chess is a relative meritocracy, with clear standards for performance and achievement, but I am not sure that chess players as a whole are happier for this. Some ambiguity in one’s level of achievement can be socially useful and somewhat of a relief at the personal level. Life in a sheer meritocracy would be psychologically oppressive."

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Marginal Revolution — Small steps toward a much better world.

Marginal Revolution — Small steps toward a much better world.: " The real question about our fiscal future is not Republicans vs. Democrats but rather whether any coalition can limit benefits to older people. It is already unlikely that the Republicans will gut Medicare or Social Security or get very far in trying. "


Depressing.

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What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes

What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes: "Third, the rule is missing an important characteristic: indexation to inflation. Part of a capital gain is not real income at all, but an inflationary return."

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What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes

What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes: "So, a Buffett Rule would not simply mark a return to a time when tax burdens were higher on people with high incomes. It would entail enacting a new form of tax policy not used in other major countries and not used for any sustained period in the United States. It is very cavalier to contend that such a policy would not discourage investment."

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What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes

What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes: "Second, the rule would also make the United States a significant outlier. Preferential treatment for capital gains isn’t an idea that the Republican congress invented in the 1990s. It has been a feature of the United States tax code for more than eight decades and is also present in substantially every other advanced country’s tax code."

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What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes

What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes: "A corporation deducts interest payments before calculating its taxable income, and then an individual owner of corporate debt pays tax on interest payments at ordinary income rates. On the other hand, a corporation pays tax on profits after interest expense. These after-tax profits are either distributed to shareholders, who pay tax on the dividends; or they are retained, in which case the stock price rises and shareholders pay tax on capital gains.

Because interest is taxed only once and profits are taxed twice, corporations take on more debt than they would in absence of the tax distortion. The distortion is mitigated by the fact that dividends and capital gains are taxed at lower rates than interest income. Because the Buffett Rule would raise capital gains and dividend tax rates and, in many cases, lower the effective tax rate on interest, corporations would face even more incentive to overleverage themselves."

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Very good sentences — Marginal Revolution

Very good sentences — Marginal Revolution: "There is an irony here: one of the criticisms of Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital is that private equity firms put unhealthy amounts of leverage on the firms they acquire in order to exploit the favorable tax treatment of debt. The Buffett Rule would make that strategy even more attractive."

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Review & Outlook: Professor Gingrich's Ethics - WSJ.com

Review & Outlook: Professor Gingrich's Ethics - WSJ.com: "The fairer rap on Mr. Gingrich is that his management style was chaotic and eventually lost the confidence of his deputies and backbenchers, which is true."

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "I’m learning, more and more, that political perceptions have a great deal to do with style. If you slash and shout, many people think of you as “conservative” or “right-wing.” If you say right-wing things in a calm, polite way, you may be seen as a moderate."

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Fading Gingrich attacks Romney in ad - Yahoo! News

Fading Gingrich attacks Romney in ad - Yahoo! News: "MIAMI (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich struggled to regain momentum in the Republican presidential race on Friday as two new polls showed him falling behind rival Mitt Romney, who was seen as the winner of the final debate before the Florida primary."

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Sixteen Concerned Scientists: No Need to Panic About Global Warming - WSJ.com

Sixteen Concerned Scientists: No Need to Panic About Global Warming - WSJ.com: "In September, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ivar Giaever, a supporter of President Obama in the last election, publicly resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) with a letter that begins: "I did not renew [my membership] because I cannot live with the [APS policy] statement: 'The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth's physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.' In the APS it is OK to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves, but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible?""

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Sixteen Concerned Scientists: No Need to Panic About Global Warming - WSJ.com

Sixteen Concerned Scientists: No Need to Panic About Global Warming - WSJ.com: "The fact is that CO2 is not a pollutant. CO2 is a colorless and odorless gas, exhaled at high concentrations by each of us, and a key component of the biosphere's life cycle. "

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "What is relevant is Gingrich’s repeated the claim: “I worked with Ronald Reagan in the ’80s to do x, y, and z, including to bring down the communist empire.”

Well, that is preposterous. First of all, foreign policy is presidential. The Congress has almost no say. If it has any, it’s the Senate. It’s not the House. If it’s in the House, which has almost no say, it would be the majority party. Gingrich was a member of the minority party in the House all through the Reagan years, which has nothing to say about almost anything. He wasn’t even in the leadership. He had no role whatsoever in the destruction of the Soviet Union. That was done by Reagan, Jeane Kirkpatrick, George Schultz, Margaret Thatcher, the Pope, Helmut Kohl, Andrei Sakharov, and others. Newt is not on the list. And the fact he keeps saying this is a… delusional sign, a sign of grandiosity."

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Gingrich Campaign: Debate Audience Stacked For Romney - Andrew Joseph - NationalJournal.com

Gingrich Campaign: Debate Audience Stacked For Romney - Andrew Joseph - NationalJournal.com: "Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich rode a strong performance and crowd enthusiasm at a debate in South Carolina to victory in that state’s primary, but the crowds at two debates in Florida this week haven’t been as wild for Gingrich. Now his campaign is claiming that rival Mitt Romney’s campaign stacked the audience at Thursday’s debate with its supporters to shift the energy toward Romney, the Huffington Post reported."

If Romney did this, then I'm impressed. What a brilliant move.

Romney Should Be Proud - Mona Charen - National Review Online

Romney Should Be Proud - Mona Charen - National Review Online: "It’s as predictable as vultures at a carcass — when a wealthy Republican is running for office, the press will make his wealth a handicap. Recall that when George H. W. Bush was running in 1988, he was derided as “preppy.” George W. Bush was the undeserving scion of the ruling class, we were told, never mind that he had succeeded in business on his own. Though John McCain had been a fixture on the national stage since 1980, no one had paid much attention to his wealth until he was the Republican nominee, at which point his many houses suddenly became a matter of profound national importance.

Democrats, of course, are permitted to be rich without fear of undue scrutiny. John F. Kennedy was wealthier than Mitt Romney, or he would have been had he lived to collect his inheritance. Lyndon B. Johnson was born poor and died very rich. He didn’t earn his money in the private sector. He used political influence to first purchase and then maintain monopolistic radio licenses in his wife’s name."

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Jaltcoh: Live-blogging the last Republican presidential debate before the Florida primary

Jaltcoh: Live-blogging the last Republican presidential debate before the Florida primary: "8:58 - Romney says that if he were still working in business and someone made a proposal like Gingrich's space program, he'd say: "You're fired." "

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "Meanwhile Newt clearly came in winging it without a plan to turn things around. I think when his attempt to turn the tables on Wolf fizzled it hurt him politically and drained him psychologically. He finished well, but sagged for a long time."

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Hmmmm. Trick didn't work twice.

The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "The final “debate” (which wasn’t) before next Tuesday’s Florida primary was an argument for why these circuses should be totally restructured and Republican candidates no longer do them in their current format. The big media care only about diminishing Republicans and anything that would prevent President Obama from being reelected"

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Newt’s Worst Night - By Rich Lowry - The Corner - National Review Online

Newt’s Worst Night - By Rich Lowry - The Corner - National Review Online: " For the first time perhaps ever, Romney effectively showed righteous indignation (unfortunately for me, since I have a column tomorrow saying he isn’t quite capable of it)."

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Instapundit

Instapundit: "That’s right; Reuters wrote that Rubio voted against Obamacare, but, as with Sotomayer’s nomination, he wasn’t in the Senate yet. This kind of journalistic incompetence is stunning. How can any reporter–here, David Adams of Reuters–write that Rubio voted a certain way, without even checking to make sure he was in office at the time?"

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Strongest case against Romney a few sheets short of a ream - HUMAN EVENTS

Strongest case against Romney a few sheets short of a ream - HUMAN EVENTS: "It is beyond journalistic malpractice for media outlets showcasing the bitter and lying Johnson to neglect to mention that he was the union president who led the strike that forced Ampad to close the plant.

And yet The New York Times, MSNBC and others who have publicized Johnson's sob story regularly refuse to convey that crucial fact. This would be as if a judge excluded the fact that the defense's principal witness is the defendant's mother."

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Althouse

Althouse: "ALSO: Amazingly unbelievable assertion: "I'm a Democrat, but I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: The government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves and no more.""

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Newt Gingrich Judges You

Newt Gingrich Judges You: "“And that is why the Waffle Fry is in every way superior to the socialist ‘French’ Fry.”"

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Opinion: Mitt Romney is the Not-Bad Candidate in a Sea of Terrible Ones - WNYC

Opinion: Mitt Romney is the Not-Bad Candidate in a Sea of Terrible Ones - WNYC: "In a perfect world, we'd have a perfect candidate. Or a good candidate. Or a not-terrible candidate. But it is not a perfect world so we are left with Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul."


I pretty much agree with everything in this article.

Romney’s time to rally himself against Gingrich - The Washington Post

Romney’s time to rally himself against Gingrich - The Washington Post: "And many “values voters” who consider Mormonism somehow suspect seem to regard it as not very important, no more important than Gingrich’s serial monogamy, and less important than Romney’s largest problem, which is, remarkably, his resume."

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Gingrich Account of First Divorce Disputed by Aides, Documents - Bloomberg

Gingrich Account of First Divorce Disputed by Aides, Documents - Bloomberg: "Crews, now living in Jonesboro, Georgia, said she was stunned to see recent media accounts in which the Gingrich campaign claimed it was his first wife who sought the divorce.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she said. “It’s just about the biggest mistake they could make to say these things because they are so easy to check up on.”
As for whether she’ll vote for her former boss, Crews said: “I would prefer that the Republicans nominate someone else.”"

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "One other reason I’m inclined to root for Newt is that he just makes for such a great villain. His narcissism, grandiosity and megalomania have all the makings of a bombastic antagonist, perhaps in the mold of someone like Drax from Moonraker. Even his name, “Newt” lends itself to this narrative (a salamander?) I could easily see him as one of the Alien leaders from V — the original miniseries (1983 version, not the crappy remake.)"

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Mitt Romney releases tax returns - The Washington Post

Mitt Romney releases tax returns - The Washington Post: "The couple gave away $7 million in charitable contributions over the past two years, including at least $4.1 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Romney’s family has for generations been among the Mormon Church’s most prominent members."

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No ‘Sachs Appeal’ | Hoover Institution

No ‘Sachs Appeal’ | Hoover Institution: "In this essay, I do not want to defend the Paul candidacy. Candidates all take many positions, and I have little sympathy for what I regard as the dangerous isolationism of Paul’s foreign policy, for his relative silence on the vital issue of free trade, and for his quixotic effort to abolish the Federal Reserve (which stands in need of extensive reform) in favor of a return to a gold standard."

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: ". His Al Gore like inability to break through his android shell is really grating on me. It’s unfair, of course. I think Romney’s an honest, smart and decent man who would probably make a fine president. As I’ve been writing for a very long time, Romney has an authentic inauthenticity problem. In other words, he seems like he’s faking things even when he’s not. He may take positions he doesn’t hold in his heart, but all politicians do that. The problem is that the vast majority of the time he’s no more passionate or convincing about the positions he almost surely does hold in his heart. "

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Essay;Blizzard of Lies - Page 2 - New York Times

Essay;Blizzard of Lies - Page 2 - New York Times: "By concealing the Madison billing records two days beyond the statute of limitations, Hillary evaded a civil suit by bamboozled bank regulators."

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "South Carolina, where Fort Sumter stands as an enduring monument to not quite thinking things through, has gone and done something hot-headed again. Let’s hope this time it won’t result in four more years of a destructive presidency. But it could. "

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Drudge Screwed Up ABC's Plans for the Marianne Gingrich Interview - The Rush Limbaugh Show

Drudge Screwed Up ABC's Plans for the Marianne Gingrich Interview - The Rush Limbaugh Show: "Now, if Newt can hold onto enough of the Republican base, he might take 20% of the Democrat vote with this."

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Scandalous Photos Reveal Grover Norquist Carried On Secret Affair With Taxes For Years | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Scandalous Photos Reveal Grover Norquist Carried On Secret Affair With Taxes For Years | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "WASHINGTON—In a scandal that strikes at the very heart of the American anti-tax movement, a series of incriminating photos surfaced online Thursday, revealing that, for decades, leading Republican power broker Grover Norquist has secretly engaged in a romantic affair with taxes."

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uExpress.com: Maggie Gallagher by Maggie Gallagher -- (11/30/2011) MITT ROMNEY NEVER FLIP-FLOPPED ON MARRIAGE

uExpress.com: Maggie Gallagher by Maggie Gallagher -- (11/30/2011) MITT ROMNEY NEVER FLIP-FLOPPED ON MARRIAGE: "I'm not going to defend Romney from the charge that he has changed his mind -- on abortion he clearly has.

But I do want to take up the one issue I know the most about: same-sex marriage.

Let's compare Romney's and Obama's records of constancy on this one issue, the hot button of all button issues in American politics today."

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College Majors That Are Useless - Yahoo! Education

College Majors That Are Useless - Yahoo! Education: ""It's true that farms are becoming more efficient now and so there is less of a need for farm managers," he says. That means less jobs. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor projects 64,000 fewer jobs in this field over the next seven years."

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From the Yearbook to the White House: The 2012 Republicans in High School - Chris Good - Politics - The Atlantic

From the Yearbook to the White House: The 2012 Republicans in High School - Chris Good - Politics - The Atlantic: "Awards/Activities: Cross Country, Hockey, Glee Club, Pre-med Club, Church Cabinet, The Forum, Pep Club, Blue Key Club, American Field Service, World Affairs Seminar, Speculator’s Club, Homecoming Committee Chairmen, Assistant Editor of the yearbook, Inter-house council representative"

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Mitt Romney Sent Millions to Mormon Church - ABC News

Mitt Romney Sent Millions to Mormon Church - ABC News: "Romney has always been a major donor to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which requires that members "tithe," or give 10 percent of their income to the church. His family charity, called the Tyler Foundation, has given more than $4 million to the church in the past five years, including $1.8 million in 2008 and $600,000 in 2009. But because Romney, whose fortune has been estimated at $250 million, has never released his personal tax returns, the full extent of his giving has never been public."

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Dating Disaster: My Date With A (Former) Suicide Girl | YourTango

Dating Disaster: My Date With A (Former) Suicide Girl | YourTango: "Despite being able to hold down perfectly normal interactions for weeks online and over the phone, she was now more inaccessible than an unwed Mormon's privates (thanks, I'll be here all week)."

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Find Result - 141 P.3d 589

Find Result - 141 P.3d 589:
“There is commercial utility to allowing persons to hug before they marry.”

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Questions Republican Candidates Need to Answer: Ramesh Ponnuru - Bloomberg

Questions Republican Candidates Need to Answer: Ramesh Ponnuru - Bloomberg: "9. Congressman Paul, you’ve said that the U.S. has undergone a coup and that the Central Intelligence Agency (0112917D) now “runs everything.” If that’s true, is there any way that the CIA will allow you to win the presidency?
10. A follow-up: How can we be sure that you, Congressman Paul, are not a CIA agent under deep cover?"

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Presidential Campaigning, Huntsman Style - By Andrew Cline - The Corner - National Review Online

Presidential Campaigning, Huntsman Style - By Andrew Cline - The Corner - National Review Online: "Jon Huntsman ended his presidential campaign exactly as he began it: as a pompous, sermonizing mannequin.

To say that Huntsman was Mitt Romney without the flair would be unfair — to Mitt Romney. Despite their surface similarities, Romney and Huntsman were enormously different candidates. Huntsman lacked all of Romney’s great strengths — a reason for running, a coherent message for the voters, a plan for winning, and the discipline, organization, and killer instinct necessary to defeat his opponents. Huntsman brought two visible attributes to the table: condescension and the need for adulation."

Is a Second Language a Liability? - By John J. Pitney, Jr. - The Corner - National Review Online

Is a Second Language a Liability? - By John J. Pitney, Jr. - The Corner - National Review Online: "It’s good for candidates to know other languages. Because so many issues involve statistics, it’s also good for them to know calculus. But it would be strange if a candidate routinely interrupted speeches to solve differential equations. People would think that the candidate was just showing off."

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Huntsman’s (Not So Distant) Past Attacks on Romney - By Katrina Trinko - The Corner - National Review Online

Huntsman’s (Not So Distant) Past Attacks on Romney - By Katrina Trinko - The Corner - National Review Online: "Jon Huntsman is about to endorse Mitt Romney. But he hasn’t always been so warm-and-fuzzy toward Romney. Huntsman, who endorsed John McCain in 2008, waged a relentless campaign against Romney for most of this cycle."

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Congress logs most futile legislative year on record - Washington Times

Congress logs most futile legislative year on record - Washington Times: "It’s official: Congress ended its least-productive year in modern history after passing 80 bills — fewer than during any other session since year-end records began being kept in 1947."

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A mere 80!

EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "Someone with business experience would never announce a mortgage loan modification program and expect it to be implemented in a matter of weeks (remember, a mortgage is a legal document that is somewhat antiquated with procedures that differ by state and local jurisdiction; remember that, prior to 2008, mortgage servicers had very few staff with any experience at all in loan modification; remember that when you introduce entirely new parameters into a highly computerized business process, somebody has to determine which systems are impacted, gather requirements, redesign databases, develop logic to protect against data input errors, develop a test plan,...). Someone with business experience would not enact a program that fines companies for failing to use a fuel that does not yet exist. Someone with business experience, I dare say, would understand that chaotic organization has consequences.

I am not saying that business experien"

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A Democrat Reaches Across the Aisle - Michael Barone - National Review Online

A Democrat Reaches Across the Aisle - Michael Barone - National Review Online: "Ryan-Wyden differs from the Medicare plan Ryan presented last spring by offering the option of keeping the current Medicare system. That is also a feature of the Medicare proposals of candidates Romney and Gingrich.

Wyden, with a solidly liberal voting record, may seem to be an unlikely partner in this enterprise. But he has consistently favored adding elements of market competition to our health-care system."

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It Isn’t Just the Mandate - Mona Charen - National Review Online

It Isn’t Just the Mandate - Mona Charen - National Review Online: "IPAB is a new thing in American government. Unlike most other boards and commissions, the panel’s 15 members (appointed by the president and approved by the Senate) need not be bipartisan. Also unlike other boards, commissions, and federal agencies, the IPAB’s decisions are virtually unreviewable. IPAB doesn’t have to adhere to the notice and comment rules of federal agencies, which permit citizens to respond to proposed rule-makings. IPAB dictates automatically become law unless Congress itself intervenes. Ah, but they’ve thought of that and made it virtually impossible. The law prescribes that Congress has a limited period of time in which it can modify IPAB rulings and then it must do so by a three-fifths majority. Even ratifying treaties and proposing amendments to the Constitution require only two-thirds majorities. As for the courts, forget it. The judiciary is forbidden to review IPAB decisions."

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The Volokh Conspiracy » The President’s Agency Consolidation Proposal

The Volokh Conspiracy » The President’s Agency Consolidation Proposal: "Currently, there are six major departments and agencies that focus primarily on business and trade in the federal government. The six are: U.S. Department of Commerce’s core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency."

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Why won’t Romney show his money trail? - The Washington Post

Why won’t Romney show his money trail? - The Washington Post: "Tax returns offer information not available on the financial disclosure forms that are legally required of candidates, including their charitable deductions and use of tax shelters."

I wonder if he doesn't want either 1. Mormon's to see that he's not a full tithe payer (or pays on net!) or, more likely, 2. Non-Mormons to see that he is a full tithe payer.

Are You There Reader?

Kind of weird that two articles, posted on the same day at Slate, both discuss one particular book.

Cannon Street All Stars, reminding America how far we’ve come - The Washington Post

Cannon Street All Stars, reminding America how far we’ve come - The Washington Post: "It speaks well of the nation that, without gentle reminders by people like the men in the blue blazers, it has difficulty remembering the way things were."

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Red wine-heart research slammed with fraud charges

Red wine-heart research slammed with fraud charges: "NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A University of Connecticut researcher who studied the link between aging and a substance found in red wine has committed more than 100 acts of data fabrication and falsification, the university said Wednesday, throwing much of his work into doubt."

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Buffett Challenges McConnell, Republicans on Tax Policy | Swampland | TIME.com

Buffett Challenges McConnell, Republicans on Tax Policy | Swampland | TIME.com: "Sen. McConnell says that Washington should be smaller, rather than taxes getting bigger. And since some, like President Obama and Mr. Buffett, want to pay higher taxes, Congress made it possible for them to call their own bluff and send in a check. So I look forward to Mr. Buffett matching a healthy batch of checks from those who actually want to pay higher taxes, including Congressional Democrats, the President and the DNC."

Exactly the right response.

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Buffett Challenges McConnell, Republicans on Tax Policy | Swampland | TIME.com

Buffett Challenges McConnell, Republicans on Tax Policy | Swampland | TIME.com: "Warren Buffett is ready to call Republicans’ tax bluff."

Huh? This sentence is so revealing.

Oregon Supreme Court

Yesterday I had a very cool and rare opportunity: I got to argue an --admittedly technical--question to the Oregon Supreme Court. You can watch the video here.

Does anyone know a good way I can download this video?

The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "Meanwhile, the single person most responsible for ensuring a Romney primary victory is probably Ron Paul, who has refused to attack Romney in any serious way and who has prevented an alternative to Romney to emerge. Ron Paul is not a member of the conservative establishment, I don’t think. And if he is, I still seriously doubt he’s on any conference calls with Bill Kristol coordinating strategy. But that’s just a hunch."

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Unsolicited Advice: What Would You Tell the Governor?

Unsolicited Advice: What Would You Tell the Governor?: "Ann Althouse, blogger and UW–Madison law professor: “It must be hard for you going to parties where everybody’s always cornering you telling you what you need to understand.”"

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Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge

Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge: "Imagine people become more egalitarian, to the point where they heap scorn on the rich and successful. What is the effect on inequality? By the previous logic, the effect is directly counter-productive. The more you scorn rich people, the more people you scare away from high-income professions. The more you scare away, the lower their supply. And the lower their supply, the higher their income!

Lesson: If you really want a materially more equal society, stop beating up on the 1%. Do a complete 180. Smile upon them. Admire them. Praise them. Sing songs about how much good they do for the world. The direct result will be to raise their status. But the indirect result will be to pique the envy of status-conscious people, increasing the competition among the top 1%, and thereby moderating income inequality."

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Ron Paul goes on the attack, steps back into the spotlight at debate - The Hill's Ballot Box

Ron Paul goes on the attack, steps back into the spotlight at debate - The Hill's Ballot Box: "Those two snapped back, leading to one of the most testy exchanges in the debate, and all frontrunner Mitt Romney had to do was sit back and watch his rivals tear each other down.

Paul, who is second in New Hampshire polls, got plenty of air time to make his attacks and all of the candidates involved in the exchanges found themselves playing defense against each other."

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Hunstman’s New Tactic - By Ramesh Ponnuru - The Corner - National Review Online

Hunstman’s New Tactic - By Ramesh Ponnuru - The Corner - National Review Online: "Tell Republicans they’re not sane."

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Bastiat's Insight on Government Inaction, David Henderson | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Bastiat's Insight on Government Inaction, David Henderson | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "But, by an inference as false as it is unjust, do you know what the economists are now accused of? When we oppose subsidies, we are charged with opposing the very thing that it was proposed to subsidize and of being the enemies of all kinds of activity, because we want these activities to be voluntary and to seek their proper reward in themselves. Thus, if we ask that the state not intervene, by taxation, in religious matters, we are atheists. If we ask that the state not intervene, by taxation, in education, then we hate enlightenment. If we say that the state should not give, by taxation, an artificial value to land or to some branch of industry, then we are the enemies of property and of labor. If we think that the state should not subsidize artists, we are barbarians who judge the arts useless."

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An Imperial Sham - Jonah Goldberg - National Review Online

An Imperial Sham - Jonah Goldberg - National Review Online: "In 2007, the Democrats controlling the Senate were fed up with George W. Bush’s recess appointments. Majority Leader Reid, feigning great sadness over the sorry state of our republic, resorted to the extraordinary tactic of keeping the Senate in pro-forma session so as to prevent the imperial Bush from doing an end-run around the confirmation process. The move was celebrated by liberal commentators as a brave and necessary assertion of congressional power and was supported by then-senator Barack Obama."

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "Also, I find her rather hot, which is more than I can say about Ron Paul or Newt, or even Jon Huntsman when he does that open-necked shirt thing."

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EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "What about the "losers"? Bite your tongue. When you call lower-income people "losers," you're falsely assuming that we're all racing for the same finish line: material success. But to a large extent, lower-income people are just racing for other finish lines. Leftist outrage over income inequality is therefore deeply misguided. To a large extent, incomes differ because priorities differ. And if the poor don't consider their lack of riches a big deal, why should anyone else?"

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Introduction

Introduction : " The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians."

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