Who Is Rick Santorum?

Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania, has recently been doing well with conservatives from Iowa to New Hampshire to South Carolina and certainly helped himself out with a strong showing on last night's Republican debate. He's more conservative than Romney,....more disciplined than Newt,...... less bombastic than Rick Perry, and see's the world and the threat much more clearly than Jughead,...err,...Ron Paul. From Rick Santorum's website, we can get a better idea on who Rick Santorum is and his direction for America:

Rick Santorum believes that to have a strong national economy, we must have strong families. America’s government must recognize this and help create a positive pro-family environment for our families, our communities and our businesses. Rick believes we are a land of opportunity where all Americans have the chance to rise on their own merits and hard work.

Sadly, President Obama believes just the opposite and using class warfare to divide America.

Rick Santorum is committed to celebrating the family by reviving our economy and creating jobs in America again with a smarter and simpler tax code. Santorum will roll back job-killing regulations, force the federal government to shrink and live within its means by passing a Balanced Budget Amendment and reinvigorate our domestic manufacturing and energy potential. His vision for America is to restore America's greatness through the promotion of faith, family and freedom.

MADE IN AMERICA: EMPOWERING AMERICAN FAMILIES, BUILDING ECONOMIC FREEDOM

1. Cut and simplify personal income taxes by cutting the number of tax rates to just two - 10% and 28% returning to the Reagan era pro-growth top tax rate
2. Simplify the tax code and reduce middle income taxes by eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
3. Simplify the tax code, encourage savings and investment and reduce taxes by eliminating the Death Tax
4. Lower the Capital Gains and Dividend tax rates to 12% to spur economic growth and investment
5. Reduce taxes for families by tripling the personal deduction for each child
6. Reduce and simplify taxes for families by eliminating marriage tax penalties throughout the federal tax code
7. Retain deductions for charitable giving, home mortgage interest, healthcare, retirement savings, and children
8. Eliminate the cap on deductions for losses incurred in the sale of a principle residence
9. Cut the corporate income tax rate in half to make our businesses competitive around the world, from 35% to 17.5%
10. Eliminate the corporate income tax for manufacturers – from 35% to 0% - which will spur middle income job creation in the United States and will create a job multiplier effect for workers
11. Spur innovation in America by increasing the Research & Development Tax Credit from 14% to 20% and make it permanent
12. Eliminate the tax on repatriated taxable corporate income – from 35% from 0% - when manufacturers invest in plant and equipment; and reduce the corporate tax rate from 35% to 5.25% on other repatriated income and allow for 100% expensing for new business equipment
13. Repeal and Replace ObamaCare with market based healthcare innovation and competition to improve America and America’s health and create jobs
14. Reduce Federal (non-defense discretionary spending) to 2008 levels through across the board spending cuts;
15. Eliminate all energy and most agriculture subsidies within four years letting the markets work, eliminate resources for job killing radical regulatory approaches at the EPA and refocus its mission on safe and clean water and air and commonsense conservation, eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood and support adoption, reduce funding for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for extreme positions undermining economic freedom, eliminate funding for implementation of ObamaCare, and eliminate funding for United Nations organizations that undermine America’s
interests
16. Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution capping government spending at 18% of GDP
17. Support Legislation to Reform the Congressional Budget Process and support legislation that requires Congress to pass constitutionally required spending bills or forfeit its members’ pay for the next fiscal year
18. Eliminate all other Obama era regulations with economic impact over $100 million
19. Negotiate 5 Free Trade Agreements and submit to Congress in first year of Presidency
20. Tap into America’s vast domestic energy resources to power our 21st century economy without picking winners and losers so all American families and businesses can have lower energy cost
21. Unleash innovation in telecommunications and Internet consumer options by getting government out of the way which will expand productivity and lower costs
22. Reform Social Security and Medicare for sustainable retirements
23. Block Grant Medicaid, Housing, Job Training, and other social services to the States
24. Freeze current non-defense related federal worker pay levels for a year and reduce federal workforce by at least 10% with no compensatory increase in the contract workforce.
25. Secure our border, streamline the legal immigration process to attract highly skilled talent and entrepreneurs from around the world and reform the agriculture worker program so it works for America’s farmers
26. Reclaim the role of parents as the decision makers in their children’s education and incentivize the states to promote parental choice and quality educational options because the family is the foundation of the economy
27. Promote tort reform and alternatives to litigation for federal policies and programs; and incentivize the states to expand these reforms across our economy
28. Approve the Keystone Pipeline and other job creating initiatives delayed and burdened excessively by government regulation
29. Overturn the National Labor Relations decision preventing Boeing from opening up its airplane factory in South Carolina and prevent other decisions like it
30. Phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s government backed role in mortgages and homeownership within five years
31. Audit the Federal Reserve and return it to it’s original purpose – a single charter to only manage inflation
32. Strengthen our national security and national defense so that we are not dependent upon our foes or competitors for critical manufacturing, technology, energy and other security needs

Okay back to the 2012 Republican Presidential race.

Coming out of Iowa, where incidentally it wasn't just Republicans voting,... .....Democrats were allowed to vote for their "favorite" Republican candidate as well,.....we see that Gingrich has fallen substantially; Mitt can't seem to get over the 25% percentile;.......Santorum and his low cost, boot leather campaign has
garnered alot of support; Perry stayed abut the same as he has been in the past month;.....and Bachmann has fallen quite a bit. Who did we forget? Oh yeah, Ron Paul,...who domestic platforms is based solidly on Constitutional principles, his foreign policy idiocy has really established himself as a kook,...add in the newsletter with the really outlandish views on race, then you have a bigoted kook.

What happens in New Hampshire really only plays to people's perceptions and affects monetary support from backers/potential backers. But after all, perceptions are real and the winners (and losers) of New Hampshire will also serve to increase/decrease support for candidates in South Carolina. You can probably count on New Hampshire being the stopping point of Bachmann's campaign.  

Average polls from New Hampshire:

Romney 42%

Paul 20%

Santorum 11%

Huntsman 9%

Gingrich 8%

Then onto South Carolina. With the addition of South Carolina, we start to see a more diverse smattering of Republican groups adding their opinions to the fray. But one small state in the bread basket,...one small state in the liberal NE and South Carolina do not a Nation's view make. But after South Carolina the race should be down to Romney, Santorum, Gingrich and unfortunately Paul.

Perry may stay in, but if he does less well in South Carolina than he hopes,...he'll be out. Romney and Paul (again unfortunately) will be in for several more states as they have national organizations from their previous runs as the big office. Gingrich? I think he'll be in for a few more states, but let's all hope Rick Santorum picks up the support necessary to make a run at least deep into the primary season as he influences the constitutional aspects, foreign policy and traditional American values quite heavily.

Average polls from South Carolina (however will be affected by the NH results): Hampshire:

Romney 34%

Santorum 22%

Gingrich 20%

Paul 11%

Perry 5%

And here's a clue to the liberal media who are bashing the Conservatives for having so many choices with support spread throughout all candidates,.....We'll match our slat of primary candidates against any the Democratic party has brought up since the 1900's.  The last Democrat primary saw Obama (and we all know what a loser he is), beating Hillary and that lawyer John Edwards (with the $500 haircuts) who is now facing prison.  Nobody could call this slat a good selection with a straight face.

I'd be happy with Newt, Santorum, Romney, Perry, Bachmann even Hunstman over Obama or any new candidate the Dem's would put up to run. Hell, I would even bet for Ron Paul over Obama.

As far as how much the polls mean,......the night before the Iowa caucus results, the polls had Paul tied or slightly leading Romney and we all now how turned out.

Things that Piss Me Off Right After Christmas

New York Times calls the U.S. the stingiest Nation. I shouldn't even get mad at anything coming out of the New York Times which basically has the same credibility as the National Enquirer, but,...these America haters continue to pick a topic and get it bass ackwards. Not only does the U.S. give generously to all sorts of charities and nations, we give money to our enemies. We give hundreds of millions of dollars to Palestinians who were cheering in the streets while watching the 9-11 attacks on Television. The problem is that we are too generous to the wrong people and nations.

Social Security Payroll Tax Cut. This is the issue where the Federal Government reduces the amount of tax that comes out of our pay checks towards Social Security. Rather than enact any kind of Federal Income Tax or Capital Gains reduction or reform, Obama's brilliant brainstorm of reducing the amount we contribute to the already unfunded and going bankrupt Social Security is a brain teaser to put it mildly. The Democrats and the mainstream liberal media (there I go being redundant again) sure spun this as a Democrat victory and a Republican defeat. A rational person will see this as a defeat for the American People. We the People get a tiny amount of additional take home income in out checks, while social security continues heading towards a cliff. Obama gets to shelf any decision on the oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S., and we'll be back in the same boat again in two months. The promise of the Democrats to work towards a year long reduction in social security payroll tax is like staring at a flat tire when your engine is blown and the steering wheel is missing.

Then we have that idiot Harry Reid (D-NV who stated: "Everything we do around here does not have to wind up in a fight." Well Harry, I reckon it does when one side wants to spend this country into bankruptcy and default, while over taxing the job creators to sabotage the economy, meanwhile placating the people by giving them tax reduction gimmicks that put a few bucks in their pockets at the expense of Social Security solvency. Are we to be bought that cheaply?


Making Newt to look like a Bomb Thrower. With George H.W. Bush formally supporting Mitt Romney, the media train is reporting that Newt Gingrich is too much of a bomb thrower,...much too caustic to gain mainstream Republican support. On the other hand, they paint him as a classic political insider. Wonder which one is closer to the truth as it can't be both. Where the "Bomb Throwing" rep comes from is the 1990 fight between the first Bush Administration's desire to raise taxes, despite Bush's promise not to do so. Anyone remember the "Read my lips, no new taxes" speech? Gingrich's refusal to support Bush's 1990 budget deal was seen as both disloyal and anti-pragmatic, and that's we the lack of support from the Republican mainstream comes from.

Cain Down And Out,....Newt's My Pick Now

Presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, participated in the Thanksgiving Family Forum hosted by The Family Leader. He answers questions concerning loss of values, Faith vs. secularism, and his world view in terms of freedom, responsibility, and morality.

Other questions and answers include the role of the federal government as it pertains to achieving a common good, is here any moral justification for war, Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), abortion, adoption, and the judicial system.

Newt also expresses his deeply held convictions regarding America, and how his experiences have helped shape the love he has for country.

Learn more at http://www.newt.org

This previous aired on 19 November, a week before Thanksgiving.

Gingrich's Immigration Plan

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is being bashed about by other conservatives who are accusing him of advocating amnesty for illegal immigrants after the comment's Newt made at the last debate in Washington, DC.

Gingrich faced harsh criticism after suggesting that some illegal immigrants with close ties to their community should not be deported. Gingrich's says "Several of my friends were explicitly distorting what I said, even though they knew better. So I think it takes a few days to clarify that in fact what they are saying isn't true."

Under Gingrich's plan for immigration reform, the federal government would establish a system of local boards to determine whether illegal immigrants could be permitted to remain in the United States based on their ties to the community. Gingrich's say's it's based on the World War II model of draft boards where the local community selected who would be drafted and who wound not. "It requires
trusting citizens rather than bureaucrats. It's a jury system for local communities."

Gingrich added that he thought that immigrants eligible to stay should have spent at least 25 years in the country, have close ties to a community and a family, but predicted that most would voluntarily leave. But Gingrich also said, at the debate, that the Republican party is the party of family, and (we) can't rip families apart who have been here for 25 years.

On the Gingrich's website, there is a plan that outlines several steps that would need to be taken before implementing the local board plan:

Secure the border by January 1, 2014;

Make it easier to deport people; set up a guest-worker program;

Streamline the visa process;

Make English the official language of government;

Promote immigration among high-skilled foreign workers (especially those with skills in math and science);

Punish employers who hire illegal immigrants;

Require immigrants to take a comprehensive test on American history;

Then set up the boards to determine who can stay and who should leave.

"I have a very clear position," Gingrich says,....... "I have not suggested amnesty for 11 million people.....I am for a path to legality for those people who's ties are so deeply into America and would truly be tragic to try and rip their family apart."

No matter what you think of Gingrich's plan or position, I think he is being honest and practical, as opposed to other conservatives' calls to find, detain then deport up to 25 million illegal aliens. Doing that is just not practical. What say you?

Cain Blasted on Anita Hill Comment

Herman Cain is defending himself from sexual harassment allegations, but that didn't stop him from joking about Anita Hill, the college professor who made similar allegations against Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court nomination hearings 20 years ago.

A Fox News camera captured Cain laughing about Hill during a campaign stop in Kalamazoo, Mich., Thursday, when a supporter brought up the professor's name.

"You hear the latest news today? Anita Hill is going to come …" a man told Cain, the conclusion of his statement muffled by the crowd.

"Is she going to endorse me?" Cain joked, as he and the crowd laughed heartily.

(watch the video here)

I am thinking "so what"? People are attacking Cain for this?! Cain did not introduce Anita Hill's name (which is obviously not a name that is backed up with a lot of credibility since her baseless attacks on another conservative black public figure - now Associate Justice Clarence Thomas), ...ohh,..but I am getting off track here,......again, Herman Cain did not bring up Hill's name,.... some reporter did, and Cain made a facetious (and funny) comment. If you have problems with this - go stick your head in a toilet......as a bus station.

So now this event adds to the plate of rotten vegetables the liberal media is using to drive Herman Cain off the Presidential Candidate podium. Rational people have got to ask, "Why is the liberal media much harder on Cain than anyone else?" The other black presidential candidate this decade, Barack Obama, received not only an absolute pass from the media, but this "objective" media championed his agenda as well, giving him a pass on everything from citizenship issues to lack of experience.

The reason I think Herman Cain is such a target is that the Liberal-Leftist society of this country is scared to death of a black man with conservative views holding such a position. This would surely rock the very foundation of the liberal think-speak, which bases one of the foundation platforms on the concept that white conservative America is to blame for the poor economic condition of black America. The liberal-leftist establishment needs for black America to believe this, so they continue to get the vast majority of black-Americans voting Democratic. Herman Cain explains this best when he says words to the effects "that he left the
Democratic Plantation long ago."

Tax Simplification by Newt Gingrich

I think that no matter his personal issues with multiple divorces and campaign staff reported deserting him early in the campaign, former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich remains one of the smartest, and most experienced Republicans candidates. He is starting to get a lot more support in the Republican primary, practically quadrupling his numbers in the last two months.  Here is what he has to say about Tax Simplification:

A significant amount of attention during this campaign has focused on simplifying the tax code. There is no question that our tax code has become a burden to the American people and must be reformed. In our 21st Century Contract With America, we address tax simplification in a way that is both bold and pragmatic. As Speaker of the House of Representatives, I led the effort to reform welfare, resulting in 66% of those on welfare getting a job or going to school. So I know what it takes to actually pass historic reforms. The 21st Century Contract With America has a tax simplification plan that I am uniquely qualified to pass through Congress. Here is the plan you have helped us develop:

All tax filers would be given the option to pay their income taxes under the current income tax provisions or choose to pay income taxes under a lower single rate of taxation of 15% or less with limited deductions.

This optional flat tax reform could save taxpayers more than an estimated $400 billion in compliance costs each year such as record keeping, paying for tax advice, and filling out complicated tax returns. This savings doesn't even account for eliminating the countless hours of aggravation and worry and the sheer complexity of tax compliance. These tax compliance savings are the functional equivalent of a permanent, pro-growth tax cut and will provide a substantial boost to our annual growth rate.

This faster, flatter, fairer tax structure would also be simple: tax returns could be done on a single page. Subtract from your income a standard deduction and deductions for charity and home ownership, multiply the result by the fixed single rate of taxation of 15% or less, and the process is over. Gone will be the stressful hours spent figuring out whether you qualify for this or that deduction. No more headaches trying to determine where estimated tax payments go. Tax preparation fees could be money spent on something more rewarding.

Such an optional flat tax system would create a new standard deduction, which would be above the established poverty level, meaning an optional flat tax would not unfairly target the poor. And because the flat tax is optional, it does not raise taxes on a single person or unfairly impact seniors or lower income workers.

Once we combine these pro-growth tax reforms with my other reform proposals for welfare reform, social security, and lower spending contained in the 21st Century Contract with America, we will experience a stunning and swift turnaround in the economy.

The Public Likes Herman Cain's Message

Over this past weekend I was talking to several different people about county and city politics when the discussion turned to national politics. In a group of six people (myself, a school teacher, a technical college instructor, a state highway patrol officer, an office manager and a commercial construction company supervisor) all of us agreed that Herman Cain was the best candidate that has surfaced to lead this country. Two of these people even admitted they had voted for Obama!

A recent article from the internet says Herman Cain is firing up the crowd, all over the country, at a tea party and other rallies. In one West Tennessee town, Cain was speaking when the generator powering his sound system shudders to a halt.

Cain stands awkwardly for a few moments then suddenly begins to sing. Slowly at first but gaining in speed, he belts out "Impossible Dream" in the rich baritone he's honed in church choir. "You know, when it's your rally, you can do what you want to do!" Cain says as he finishes with a raucous laugh. The 500 or so supporters who have jammed the strip mall parking lot to hear the Republican Party's newest star speak roar their approval.

Momentum restored, Cain launches into a pitch for his signature 9-9-9 tax plan, and the crowd is right there with him, chanting 9-9-9 along with the Georgia businessman. The 65-year-old's improbable campaign for the presidency is all about momentum right now. How does he maintain the wave he's riding in recent polls that have catapulted him from an also-ran in the GOP race to the elite top tier?

There are many reasons his bid could fade as quickly as it rose. He acknowledged Friday that he will trail former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry significantly in fundraising. Cain has never held elected office and could wilt under the rigors of the campaign trail and withering scrutiny coming his way.

But Cain's moment is right now, and his everyman image is resonating.

"In the field right now, he's the most like me," said Jimmy Hoppers, a 60-year-old physician from Jackson, who was hoping to meet Cain so he could hand deliver a $1,000 donation to his campaign. "He's run a business and paid the bills. He's authentic."

On Friday night Cain, who is African-American, drew about 2,000 people — some in workshirts and overalls and nearly all white — to a feed barn in rural Waverly, Tennessee. This is a socially conservative country and Cain — ever the salesman — knows his audience. He closes by invoking God and singing the hymn "He Looked Beyond My Faults." "I love him," gushed truck driver James Bland after Cain spoke. "He doesn't talk down to you. I think he gets the working man."

"And it makes me so happy that he's put God back into things," chimed in Bland's wife, Karen. In a year of anti-government fervor, Cain is casting himself as the anti-politician Main Street candidate who would bring common-sense business know-how to the bureaucratic thick of Washington. The former conservative radio show host is brash and straight-talking, saying that "stupid people are ruining America." He mimics liberals with a high-pitched whiny voice.

"Well, he doesn't have foreign policy experience," he says to laughs. "And the guy we have in there now does?"

Cain doesn't ignore the race issue, saying that some critics have called him "a racist" and an "Oreo" for leaving the "Democrat plantation."

"I have grown up telling it like it is and I am going to continue to tell it like it is," he said at a campaign rally in a suburb of Memphis, where he was born. "I don't talk politician."

Voters are responding. He drew large and enthusiastic crowds Friday as he kicked off a two-day bus tour in Tennessee, hopscotching to a trio of tea party events across the state. Tea party activists make up the backbone of Cain's support and he speaks their language fluently. "My fellow patriots," he begins some sentences. References to freedom and liberty pepper his remarks. He dives into an anecdote about the Constitution and takes a jab at President Barack Obama. "You know what? I kinda like my guns and my Bible," he says.

And at every turn, he stresses his business background, noting that at a recent debate fellow Republican candidates dismissed his 9-9-9 tax plan as politically dead on arrival.

"Politicians put together things that will pass. Businessmen put together plans that solve the problems," he said.

Indeed, Cain's 9-9-9 plan seems to have put him on the map.

Following the rally in Jackson, Cain bolted off the stage and shook hands with onlookers, including Linda Fowler-Cole, who had wandered over after a shopping trip to Lowe's and was wearing a T-shirt with an oversized picture of Obama. (Jesus. what guts that took with what that fool has done to this country).

"I heard the 9-9-9 guy was here and I came to take a look," the Democrat said. "I like Obama, but that 9-9-9 is catchy."

In Bartlett, Tenn., Cain drew a number of black supporters who were excited at the prospect of a conservative African-American of his stature. "To me he represents what Martin Luther King was talking about when he talked about his dream," Reginald Tooley, a 49-year-old physical therapist from Memphis, said. "With hard work and self-reliance you can do anything you want."

Cain says he has been buoyed by support from regular folks. "You just don't know how much this encourages me, the fact that you all came out tonight," he said in
Waverly. "You see, this is what the folks in D.C. don't get because they don't come out here to meet with you."

Herman Cain - An Impressive Resume

What you may not know about Herman Cain who is running for president......Thanks Tom for sending. Herman Cain is NOT a career politician (in fact he has never held political office). Mr Cain has been quoted as saying "All we have sent to Washington D.C. is politicians,.....how has that worked out for us so far?" He’s known as a pizza guy, but there’s a lot more to him. He’s also a computer guy, a banker guy, and a rocket scientist guy......and Cowboy's hope that he will be the President guy.

Here’s his bio:

* Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics.
* Master’s degree in Computer Science.
* Mathematician for the Navy, where he worked on missile ballistics (making him a rocket scientist).
* Computer systems analyst for Coca-Cola.
* VP of Corporate Data Systems and Services for Pillsbury (this is the top of the ladder in the computer world, being in charge of information systems for a major corporation).

All achieved before reaching the age of 35. Since he reached the top of the information systems world, he changed careers!

* Business Manager. Took charge of Pillsbury’s 400 Burger King restaurants in the Philadelphia area, which were the company’s poorest performers in the country. Spent the first nine months learning the business from the ground up, cooking hamburger and yes, cleaning toilets. After three years he had turned them into the company’s best performers.
* Godfather’s Pizza CEO. Was asked by Pillsbury to take charge of their Godfather’s Pizza chain (which was on the verge of bankruptcy). He made it profitable in 14 months.
* In 1988 he led a buyout of the Godfather’s Pizza chain from Pillsbury. He was now the owner of a restaurant chain. Again he reached the top of the ladder of another industry.
* He was also chairman of the National Restaurant Association during this time. This is a group that interacts with government on behalf of the restaurant industry, and it gave him political experience from the non-politician side.

Having reached the top of a second industry, he changed careers again!

* Adviser to the Federal Reserve System. Herman Cain went to work for the Federal Reserve Banking System advising them on how monetary policy changes would affect American businesses.
* Chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. He worked his way up to the chairmanship of a regional Federal Reserve bank. This is only one step below the chairmanship of the entire Federal Reserve System (the top banking position in the country). This position allowed him to see how monetary policy is made from the inside, and understand the political forces that impact the monetary system.

After reaching the top of the banking industry, he changed careers for a fourth time!

* Writer and public speaker. He then started to write and speak on leadership. His books include Speak as a Leader, CEO of Self, Leadership is Common Sense, and They Think You’re Stupid.
* Radio Host. Around 2007—after a remarkable 40 year career—he started hosting a radio show on WSB in Atlanta (the largest talk radio station in the country).

He did all this starting from rock bottom (his father was a chauffeur and his mother was a maid). When you add up his accomplishments in his life—including reaching the top of three unrelated industries: information systems, business management, and banking—

STACK THAT UP AGAINST THE 'COMMUNITY ORGANIZER'....

Herman Cain may have the most impressive resume of anyone that has run for the presidency in the last half century.

And on top of that, he seemingly won the Republican debate on Tuesday 11 October.

Chris Moody of The Ticket wrote on Yahoo! News:


There was one clear winner from Tuesday's Republican presidential debate, based on the simple metrics of name recognition: businessman Herman Cain's "9-9-9 Plan."

Virtually all the candidates at the debate table had something to say about Cain's plan to replace the tax code with three, flat nine-percent federal taxes on consumption, business and income. Cain, once delegated to the remote wings of the debate stage, has enjoyed a surge in the polls ever since he won the straw poll in Orlando, Fla., last month, and at the first debate since he joined former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the top tier, Cain and his policy proposals took up more of the debate's time than the ideas floated by any other candidate.

Of course, this isn't to say that any of them praised Cain's idea. Far from it. In fact, everyone who had an opportunity took shots at the plan.

Former Utah Gov. Huntsman reduced it to "a catchy phrase" and joined former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in saying it would never be signed into law.

Cowboy's Comment: Cain's response to Santorum,......"That's how politician's think,.....what can and cannot be signed into law because of politics. I'm a businessman,....I think of what HAS to be done."

Ron Paul's Extensive Support Network

Ron Paul,..Republican (or is it isolationist party?) candidate for President. Congressman Paul (R-TX) enjoys a tremendous following among young Americans,..many of whom are highly capable across the technology and social media venues. Everythim there is an on-line poll, Paul comes out on top, probably due to the linked in young people that support him tweeting, e-mailing, facebooking and twitting information across the web and airways...hell they probably use skype, X Box and the magic eight ball as well.

I make no bones about it, Paul is too much of an isolationist for my tastes. And his whining voice actually drove the dogs out of my living room. Still I would vote for him seven days a week and twice on Sundays over the current Socialist in Chief Barack Obama.

Watch the video below, if you can stand it that long, which demonstrates the youthful vigor (and just maybe a little anti-authority bent) to Ron Paul's supporters.



You got to hand it to Ron Paul, he is knowledgeable about the financial peril threatening this country. But I have to say that Ron Paul does not have a lock on the military support as he and his organization tries to claim. What to impress me on military support? Go get about 6,000 senior Non-Commissioned Officers and Field Grade Battalion Commanders to support you....Allen West types....yes, that would impress me.

Who is Rick Perry?

Readers of this site know that I support Herman Cain, but a reader sent this to me and asked me to post....

He is a fifth generation Texan, the son of hardscrabble west Texas tenant farmers that were Democrats but conservative. He grew up in a farm town too small to be on the state map. Life was so hard that he was six years old before his house had indoor plumbing. His mother sewed his clothes, including the underwear he wore to college.

He is an Eagle Scout. After Paint Creek High School, he attended Texas A&M, graduated, and was commissioned into the Air Force where he became a C-130 pilot.

Now 61 years old, he has won nine elections to four different offices in Texas state government. In the first three elections he ran as a Democrat then switched to the Republican Party. He is currently the 47th governor of Texas – a position he has held for 11 years, the longest tenure of any governor in the nation.

He has never lost an election.

Rick Perry was the Lieutenant Governor to whom Governor George Bush handed over the office after winning the 2000 Presidential election. Since then, Perry won gubernatorial elections in 2002, 2004, and 2010, the last time by 55% against a field consisting of a Democrat, a Libertarian, a Green Party, and an Independent.

Since he became the Governor of Texas, a right to work state that taxes neither personal income nor capital gains, has added more jobs than the other 49 states combined. There is alot of debate on the type of jobs Texas has created,...many are minimum wage oriented, but when you have a state over ran by illegal immigration and sitting on the edge of their collective seats due to rampant drug violence just over the border,... to have a flourishing economy contrasted by the Federal debt and annual deficit spending,...well that is an accomplishment.

In the last two years, low taxes and little regulation led his state to create 47% of all jobs created in the entire nation. Five of the top ten cities with the highest job growth in the nation are in Texas. People follow jobs, so in the last four years for which data are available, Texas led every state in net interstate migration growth.

Perry signed ground-breaking “loser pays” tort reform and medical litigation rules that caused malpractice insurance rates to fall. Some 20,000 doctors have since moved to Texas.

Texas boasts 58 of the Fortune 500 companies – more than any other state. Since May 2011 Texas resumed its pre-recession employment levels. Only two other states and the District of Columbia have done that.

Texas ships 16% of the nation’s export value. California trails at 11%. Of the 70 companies that have fled California so far in 2011, 14 relocated in Texas .

In this year’s Texas legislative season, Perry got most of what he wanted. With no new taxes, a fiscally lean state budget was passed leaving $6 billion in a rainy day fund even as other states around the country struggled to balance budgets and avoid more deficit borrowing. A voter ID bill passed that was designed to prevent ballot box fraud and illegal voting. A bill passed that makes plaintiffs pay court costs and attorney fees if their suits are deemed frivolous. There is alot of debate over the cuts to state education. I think the debate should be centered over how the school districts cut waste and lean out their administrative staff.

Perry scored points even in his legislative failures. He failed to get sanctuary cities banned – Texas towns in which police cannot question detainees about their immigration status. The blame fell on the legislature. Perry also failed to get a so-called “anti-groping” bill passed that would put Transportation Security Administration agents in prison if they touch the genitals, anus, or breasts of passengers in a pat down. Federal officials threatened to halt all flights out of Texas airports and the bill died in special session. That endeared Texans even more to TSA employees living in Texas.

Perry jogs daily in the morning. He has no bodyguard with him, but his daughter’s dog runs by his side and he carries a laser-guided automatic pistol in his belt. Last year while jogging in an undeveloped area, a coyote paralleled his jogging route, eyeing his dog. He drew his pistol and killed the animal with one shot, leaving it where it fell. “He became mulch," Perry said. Animal rights groups protested, but Perry shrugged it off. “Don’t come after my dog,” he warned them.

Recently, Obama asked Perry to delay the July 7 execution of Humberto Leal in order to comply with the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Perry refused. Therefore Obama asked the US Supreme Court to delay the execution because it would damage US foreign relations. The Court refused 5-4 and Perry ordered the execution to go forward as scheduled. Over the howls of diplomats, politicians, and the UN, Leal was administered a lethal injection at 6:20 p.m. Before he died, he admitted his guilt and asked for forgiveness.

The case has special implications for Perry, who is considering a run for the presidency in 2012. Even his critics resent federal interference in a Texas execution, which is related to a state, not a federal, crime – an alcohol and drug-fueled rape and murder 17 years ago by an illegal whose family brought him into the country 35 years ago as a child. The interference hinges not on the man’s guilt, which Leal’s advocates acknowledged, but on a technicality – failure to inform Leal that he could have gotten legal representation from the Mexican consulate in lieu of the court-appointed attorneys who represented him. Independent Texans saw Obama’s interference as another intrusion of federal power into the affairs of a state, which could cost Obama support in other states.

Needless to say, Perry is a hard-edged conservative and a ferocious defender of 10th Amendments rights (“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”) – an explicit restriction of the federal government to only those powers granted in the Constitution. Perry accuses the federal government, especially the Obama administration, of illegal overreach.

Perry said “no thanks” to the feds whose stimulus offered taxpayer dollars for education and unemployment assistance. The strings on “free money” from Washington , he said, would restrict Texas in managing its own affairs. Perry even depleted all state funds to fight recent wildfires before asking Washington for disaster relief. His request has been ignored, which comes across as an unvarnished federal power play, further pitting Perry and Texans against the federal government.

Rep. Michele Bachmann - What ‘Constitutional Conservatism’ means to me

Michele Bachmann does not give an inch. She does not not pander to political expediency and that is refreshing. Read Bachmann's article below and see if you don't think she is a srong candiate for the Republican nominee.

I am a constitutional conservative. So what does that mean? I’ve earned a couple of law degrees, but defining “constitutional conservatism” shouldn’t require a legal scholar. Let me start by pointing out that the conservative movement, as Ronald Reagan believed, is a three-legged stool. One leg consists of peace-through-strength conservatives, another of fiscal and economic conservatives, and the third of social conservatives — the values voters.

Constitutional conservatism includes all three of those legs. My candidacy is based on the unity of the conservative movement — because each leg of the stool is vital.
I believe our founders knew what they were doing when they designed a limited government with specific, enumerated powers. I’m also convinced that many of our problems result from the federal government’s insatiable — and unconstitutional — grab for power and money. On issues ranging from light bulbs to bailouts, to the Dodd-Frank banking legislation, Washington has been on a destructive spree of bureaucratic empire-building. It’s time for that to stop.

Moreover, I believe in the unjustly neglected Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Instead of piling more costly mandates on the states and intrusive laws on the people, our federal government should respect all of the resources and responsibilities that properly belong to the states, to local governments, to private industry and, most of all, to the people.

James Madison cautioned that for a “government to control the governed” it must be obliged “to control itself.” A government that fails to exercise self-control and respect its own boundaries is a threat to the rights and liberties of its citizens. Among those rights is the right to life. I believe we must restore and respect the dignity of life for all, the born and unborn. As we read in the Declaration of Independence, we are endowed by our Creator with rights, starting with the right to life.

Another essential right is embodied in the Second Amendment: the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. Whether for self-defense, hunting or recreation, this right must be protected.

And of course, we must repeal Obamacare. We must pull it up by its roots for many good reasons, including the fact that the so-called personal mandate is unconstitutional.
In addition to individual rights, the Constitution establishes vital checks and balances among the branches of government. As Montesquieu argued, the separation of governmental powers stands as a roadblock to tyranny. We’ve seen President Obama stretch that separation with his unjustified military action in Libya.

As commander in chief, I’ll make sure that America will lead from the front, not “lead from behind.” If we do go to war, we will fight with the resources we need to succeed. I will listen to my generals and admirals, not my pollsters. I will safeguard American sovereignty and I will protect our borders. But from the beginning, I will think always of — and abide always by — the United States Constitution.

Finally, let’s consider perhaps the most pressing current issue of all: the proposed increase in the national debt ceiling. I will vote against any increase in the debt ceiling because there needs to be a fundamental restructuring in how Washington spends taxpayer dollars. Unfortunately, the Obama administration didn’t seem eager recently to quash the notion that the congressional power of the purse, as enumerated in Article One of the Constitution, is merely a detail that can be pettifogged away by sharp lawyers. On this issue, I stand with the clear thinking of former federal judge Michael McConnell, who wrote recently, “Section Four of the Fourteenth Amendment does not create a back-door method for the Administration to borrow more money without congressional authorization.” It’s that philosophy — a strict construction of the Constitution — that I will look for in judicial appointees and that I will bring back to the executive branch.

In the meantime, I will continue to oppose any increase in the debt limit; I will oppose the budgetary shenanigans aimed at persuading Americans that phony spending cuts are somehow real. Constitutional conservatives, and all conservatives, should draw a firm line here.

It is time to put an end to government power grabs. It is time to restore constitutional government.

Rep. Michele Bachmann represents the Sixth District of Minnesota and is a candidate for President of the United States.

Article printed from The Daily Caller: http://dailycaller.com