You can tell I was beat last night when I wrote my previous post – driving for the better part of 10 hours will do that to a body.
But there was a key element I forgot to bring up about the 1,100 mile overall trip I took with Kim and her daughter to see my daughter become a wife. I saw a lot of farm fields, cows, and even a few horses and buggies riding through Ohio’s Amish country. One thing I didn’t see, though, was a whole lot of Obama or Romney signs or stickers in the two states which are considered the “battleground” states of my trip – Ohio and Pennsylvania.
That’s not to say there wasn’t some element of politics at play, and perhaps the fact I did the vast majority of the driving along interstate highways may have had something to do with the dearth of political propaganda. This may have been particularly true in Pennsylvania, where the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-70 simply served as a conduit for my passage. But it seemed the only place where I saw Romney and Obama battle it out was in Maryland, and that was a one-sided contest in Mitt Romney’s favor. Most of these signs were along U.S. 50 on the Eastern Shore.
Yet even driving through Ohio it seemed like there was much more interest in Josh Mandel’s U.S. Senate campaign than in the presidential sweepstakes. I saw a number of his signs dotting the landscape of rural northeastern and central Ohio. Similarly, there were quite a few Dan Bongino signs in Maryland with far fewer calling for Ben Cardin’s re-election.
Obviously these anecdotal results are skewed by the small, relatively conservative enclaves I drove through – perhaps driving through Montgomery or Prince George’s counties or through suburban Cleveland one is regularly greeted by signs professing undying support for Democratic candidates. That may mean a little more as these roads are somewhat more heavily traveled than the byways through Amish country in Ohio or U.S. 50 on the Shore. (On the other hand, a pocket of rural Obama support can be found just across the state line in Virginia through some of the hamlets along U.S. 13. The small Obama yard signs are in front of houses ranging from decently kept to barely structurally sound shacks, while the larger Romney, Scott Rigell, and George Allen signs are usually next to farm fields.)
But there is a value in yard signs as well. When I dabbled in precinct organization, I always wanted to have more yard signs on the block than the other guy did. If I couldn’t do that, I wanted at least one because it presented the fact that not everyone was willing to follow the commonly accepted norm that Democrats were entitled to rule my birthplace by fiat. Now while I rarely won the overall war, I think I did pretty well in my own precinct – not much of a consolation prize, but one nonetheless.
Yet that’s how political battles are won – one precinct at a time. Moreover, areas where one is strong can be used to provide more help to weaker areas. That’s why it burns me – and many others – up when resources which can be used to pick up the parts of (and races in) Maryland which serve as chinks in the armor of the majority party here are instead diverted to other states. While the other side is off trying to tip the scales someplace else, we can be effective in a rear guard action and plant our flag in a place they wrongly believed was safe.
Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up on November 7 realizing we have not only preserved a Constitutional republic by ousting a President thoroughly detrimental to America’s interests but removed a Senator who hasn’t held an honest job in four-and-a-half decades and picked up a couple House seats from right out under the nose of the Democratic establishment? I believe it’s quite doable, so let’s get to work!
Today we learned that Mitt Romney said this about Obama supporters to fellow millionaires at a closed-door fundraiser:
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income taxes …
“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
The man who spoke these words — who demonstrates such disgust and disdain for half of our fellow Americans — is the other side’s choice for president of the United States. He wants to lead our country.
If we don’t come through for President Obama right now, this will be the guy making big decisions that affect us and our families every single day. (All emphasis in original.)
First of all, Romney was absolutely right. Sadly, we have an element of society (who will likely vote for Obama if they vote at all) who believes they’re entitled to every single morsel of government goodies because there are people who have things they want and they don’t. That selfish attitude lies in stark contrast to the attitude of many Romney supporters who are happy to be charitable but would prefer to make their own choices about who they donate to.
So we have remarks that the other 53 percent of us would likely listen to and nod our head in agreement with (not to mention some portion of the 47 percent who still have some semblance of pride.) Thing is, if the economy hadn’t gone in the tank a half-decade ago we may be looking at only 40 percent of the population being in the class Romney speaks of rather than 47 percent. That would be a huge electoral difference, although on the other hand if the economy were good Barack Obama would have had no chance of winning in 2008.
But the other question is why this video is important right now. Since it was apparently taped in the spring, it’s possible some turncoat – a double agent of sorts (remember, this was a fundraiser that attendees had to pay $50,000 a head for) – came and taped Romney’s remarks. At this point it was pretty obvious that Romney would be the GOP nominee so anything he said would be fair game. In a regular campaign, this tape would likely be the October surprise, but events in the Middle East have forced the Obama campaign and their allies in the press to go to the well a little early as yet another diversion. They couldn’t let the press narrative of Middle East protests sparked by an obscure filmmaker’s video fall apart as more evidence of an organized attack on the Libyan embassy leaked out, so this video becomes the new narrative: “Romney is out of touch and uncaring.”
Even if Romney is correct and Obama gets 47 percent of the vote, the good news is that leaves 53% of the vote for Mitt Romney. Depending on which states fall into each category, we can even allow Gary Johnson 3 percent and give Romney 50 percent and 270 or more electoral votes. Works for me.
Then maybe we can work on paring back that 47 percent on the government dole by growing the economy the right way, through job creation in the private sector and not “independence cards” from the public one. Funny how Jim Messina isn’t taking credit for all those new food stamp recipients.
Back in May I cited a survey of over 6,000 small business owners done by the Kauffman Foundation and the business-to-business website Thumbtack.com, but they return to this page after completing a survey of over 6,000 of their members in conjunction with George Washington University. I frankly found the results of this recent poll somewhat surprising.
According to this survey, which was analyzed by GWU, more business owners have confidence in Barack Obama – he of “you didn’t build that” fame – than in Mitt Romney, who actually built a successful business from scratch. Overall, 39% of respondents believed Obama was more attuned to their interests while 32% selected Romney. The remaining 30% were unsure.
Yet on the signature issue Obama trumpets, a large plurality believed it were bad for business. Obamacare was roundly panned by business owners, with only 20% agreeing that it helps their business but 41% suggesting the opposite. Three out of 10 of those replying strongly disagreed that Obamacare was helping them. The partisan bent was strongest there, with 42% of Democrats believing Obamacare helps them but just 16% of independents and a measly 4% of Republicans.
In other issues, such as Obama’s so-called tax cuts and the Small Business Administration loan program, results were about even both ways – only Obamacare drew the ire of this group of small business professionals. It is worth mentioning, though, that the Obama tax cuts were found helpful by 56% of Democrats but just 9% of Republicans.
Because I was surprised by these seemingly conflicting results, I asked Thumbtack.com owner Sander Daniels about the partisan breakdown of those who answered, since it was one of two key elements missing from an otherwise fairly thorough breakdown. (I also don’t have the raw numbers from the 6,000-plus who returned surveys, but I suspect the number of those who replied was pretty slim in flyover country.) He informed me separately that the numbers were 32% Democrat, 28% Republican, and 40% who considered themselves independent politically.
Daniels also pointed out that a Gallup Poll taken earlier this year which showed 40% of Americans at large considered themselves independent. However, that contrasts with more recent data from Rasmussen which shows just 29% of Americans consider themselves independent. The Rasmussen data also gives the overall partisan breakdown as 38-33 in favor of Republicans, as opposed to Gallup’s data which showed a 31-27 Democratic edge. Gallup also pointed out that independents tended to lean more Republican than Democrat, which suggests to me this poll is slightly tilted toward the Democrats. Remember, the Thumbtack.com survey found 6,000 small business owners out of the nearly 6 million listed in recent Census data. The GWU anaylsis corrected somewhat for disproportionate representation by state, but I wouldn’t be awfully surprised if urban areas were over-sampled at the expense of rural states.
I also found it intriguing that Dr. David Rehr, who coordinated the study at GWU, assessed the survey results as showing, “Entrepreneurs are feeling squeezed by the tight lending environment and want their political leaders to curb the influence of money in politics.” The latter statement seems more projection on Rehr’s part, since the question he refers to deals with the broader area of ethics, honesty, and corruption in government. I could just as easily say those are caused by too much power and influence over people from government rather than the money required to be elected, and I think I would be closer to the intent of what these business owners answered.
Another omission by the GWU summary was the group’s approval ratings of both President Obama and Mitt Romney. The question is asked in the survey but not revealed in either summary.
While there is a blizzard of facts and figures from the survey, perhaps the most interesting contradiction is this. Out of twelve issues ranked in importance for choosing the President, taxes were second-to-last, topping only foreign policy. (That may change now after recent events.) Less than 3% considered that the most important issue, with even social/moral issues drawing about 6 percent. (No surprise: Economy/jobs topped the list with 40 percent.)
But when asked how important a laundry list of issues were to their business, the number one “very important” answer was “tax rates and tax-related regulations” with 52 percent; it even beat out health care at 50 percent. Something about that doesn’t jibe, particularly when Barack Obama, the king of crony capitalism – in charge of a government whose regulations cost upwards of $1.75 trillion to the economy – is still thought of as better for business by nearly 2 out of 5 business owners.
I’ll bet they’re the first to fail when he’s re-elected.
It’s been an extremely busy week for me – and the next seven to ten days promise to be the same – but I couldn’t refrain from commenting on a phenomenon which has bubbled beneath the surface for some time. Like the aftereffects of Jed Clampett shootin’ at some food, the frustration from grassroots activists first surfaced with the Republican National Convention rules change controversy and is now spreading to a flap over sending Maryland Republican volunteers to other states, perhaps at the expense of good Free State candidates who have a chance to pull the upset over entrenched liberal incumbents.
As reported by Ann Corcoran over at Potomac TEA Party Report, the Maryland AFP chapter enlisted former Governor Bob Ehrlich to assist them in enticing Maryland volunteers to help defeat Barack Obama in Virginia. This “Rally for Repeal” would occur in Maryland, with volunteers continuing on afterward to work in northern Virginia. Corcoran states that campaign volunteer Fred Propheter complained vehemently to all-but-official 2014 gubernatorial candidate David Craig and others about abandoning a number of good Maryland Republican candidates in the field because the party brass deemed the top-of-the-ticket race unwinnable here.
Similarly, Anthropocon‘s Jim Jamitis takes former MDGOP First Vice-Chair Chris Cavey to task over remarks attributed to him in the Baltimore Sun. Joining in the chorus were both U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino – who perhaps stands to lose the most from the state party hierarchy’s attitude that Maryland is a lost cause for Mitt Romney – and the Anne Arundel County GOP:
Instead of busing people out of state 2 fight,how about we bus people into Bal City, Montgomery Cnty, & Prince George’s Cnty & fight for MD?
Yet Jamitis stumbles onto a good suggestion in his Anthropocon post: why don’t conservatives in safe Romney states come to the aid of Maryland conservatives? After all, I’ve learned the local Wicomico Democrats are playing in Virginia:
We are holding weekly phone banks on Wednesday evenings, from 6:30 – 8:30, at Democratic Headquarters… Our task is to call people in Virginia (one of the swing states) about the campaign. We are given a script to follow, so making the calls is easy. I know a lot of people to whom I am sending this email have already helped with the phone banks, and I am hoping that they will continue to help. We’d love those of you who haven’t participated in a phone bank to join us.
(snip)
…definitely bring your cell phone with you (we don’t actually have a bank of phones in Democratic headquarters, so we have to use our cell phones).
What? I thought the Democrats were fat and happy with union cash; apparently they don’t spread the wealth (or the dedicated phone lines) to states they think are in the bag. Maybe some Wednesday or Saturday I’ll drive by and see how attendance appears.
But I think a valid point is being made, despite the naysayers who say things like this. The following is an actual Facebook post, but I’ll withhold the person’s name:
There are two kinds of Maryland Republicans: those that can do math, and those that can’t. If I hear one more person complaining about resources being diverted to other states, I swear I’m registering as an Independent.
Interestingly, one of those who “liked” the post is heavily involved in David Craig’s campaign.
My point with all this, though, is to remind people the Democrats didn’t get to the position they currently reside in here in Maryland overnight. Along the line they had their share of activists, dreamers, and people who believed enough in their ideas – misguided as they are – to stand up and tell their friends to vote for their party.
And even though they’ve been running the General Assembly for a century and a half, it’s worth noting that the Democrats of 1860 or even the Democrats of 1960 aren’t really like those of today. As they stand currently a good share of Democratic registrations come from the “daddy” wing of the party, as in “my daddy was a Democrat so I am too.” Never mind there’s a good chance that if you sit down and talk to them, you can help them discover that perhaps they have much more in common with the GOP than with the party that left them.
But if we simply throw up our hands, complain Maryland is a lost cause, and decide we should go try to win states which are deemed more winnable by the blind followers of conventional wisdom who never venture beyond the safe confines of the Beltway, then we never talk to those people who may change their mind when they learn the truth and because of that continue to vote down-the-line Democrat – to their own detriment.
I’m not going to tell you we can win every race this year, but it is worth noting that in this supposedly true-blue Democratic state a large number of local elected officials are Republicans. Granted, there are pockets of the state where we have not made inroads and it may take a generation before we do. But that doesn’t mean the effort can’t begin now with Marylanders helping fellow Marylanders to see the light. Of course, if you want to help us from Texas, Utah, or the solidly GOP South, we’re not going to turn up our noses at you.
Let the Democrats assume they have these things safely in the bag – it’ll make November 7 even more depressing for them when they realize a lot of their patronage slipped away overnight, and it can create a template for important races in 2014. Even David Craig may appreciate Maryland conservatives by then.
Update: In fairness, I should note this came from the Maryland GOP, signed by new NCW Nicolee Ambrose:
This autumn we have the opportunity for Marylanders to help Maryland. To support our tremendous candidates and educate voters on the ballot initiatives, we have designed a Super Saturday program – all we need now is YOU!
Join the Maryland Republican Party StrikeForce for our Super Saturdays. We are asking that every GOP activist and Central Committee member donate ONE Saturday before Election Day to make Maryland a true two party state!
The MDGOP StrikeForce is composed of grassroots activists who will work on behalf of all of our GOP candidates: Romney/Ryan, Dan Bongino, Andy Harris, Nancy Jacobs, Eric Knowles, Faith Loudon, Tony O’Donnell, Roscoe Bartlett, Frank Mirabile, and Ken Timmerman; while also providing ballot initiative education material. We will spend four full Saturdays in targeted areas across our state to help Get out the Vote (GOTV) for our entire Republican ticket.
These “Super Saturdays” aren’t a new concept – I seem to recall we had at least one in each of the last several cycles – but it’s also worth mentioning that the focal points will be Baltimore County on September 29, Prince George’s County on October 13, Districts 3 and 7 on October 20, and Montgomery County on October 27.
If I drank coffee and were doing so at the same time I were reading this note from Michelle Obama, I would have spit it out all over my keyboard. The subject line was “Michael, you’re amazing.”
Michael, thank you for an amazing week.
Barack and I felt your energy up there.
But we can’t let that energy fade — because in just 60 days, voters will decide who gets to serve in the White House for the next four years. So every single one of us has got to pull together to finish strong.
I know you feel the urgency: Already this week, supporters like you have made more than 500,000 grassroots donations to build this campaign. So if you’re fired up, let’s keep it going — let’s see how many people we can get to show their support by the end of the day.
It goes on to ask me to “chip in $5 or more.” Well, like the 368,000 people who gave up looking for work last month because nothing was out there, I’m sort of tapped out. Something tells me those “500,000 grassroots donations” are a number sort of like the 96,000 jobs added last month – a figure to be revised downward in subsequent months.
My energy is spent on another mission: trying to convince readers that the current regime is going in the wrong direction and install a new administration which has a chance – albeit slim, given all the inertia stacked against it – to take the first steps in setting things right. (I’ll have more on my personal efforts tomorrow.)
Perhaps this is something which maybe I just don’t get, but logic would dictate to me that if someone has failed at every effort in building the economy back up from a slump, they would be booted out. Yet the numbers remain fairly stagnant for our President as he always seems to run in a 44% to 46% range in the Rasmussen Poll, as does Mitt Romney. Okay, Romney wasn’t my first choice, either, but to think that four more years of creating the world’s largest ineptocracy is going to create a better world for our children? I just don’t understand it. What is it about the benefits of limited government that people don’t get? I do, and many others I know feel the same way.
So if Barack was really feeling my energy up there he would have ditched the speech rolling across his teleprompter and said, “Okay, I understand that I have created a complete clusterfuck the last three and a half years and I’m no longer worthy of your support. I hereby decline your nomination for President.” Of course, he didn’t, insisting he needed another four years to set things right. He wouldn’t, because he has no intention of setting things right; it makes much more sense to believe he would like to eliminate the “negative rights” of a constitutional republic and rule by fiat. Obama takes “Stroke of a pen. Law of the land. Kind of cool” to a new level, and he’ll probably be late for the Romney swearing-in signing Executive Orders as a lame duck.
And lame is a good word, because it describes our economy perfectly. That’s the best reason for regime change I can think of.
While I ditched one long-running post series Friday night and another will soon go on its annual hiatus now that the Shorebirds season is nearly complete, the “odds and ends” series continues to be a fan favorite. (It’s also a writer favorite, which is why I keep doing these 1-5 paragraph looks at interesting items I come across.)
First up are the Libertarians, which once again have made it to the ballot in Maryland as an official minor party. This means all of their Congressional and Senatorial candidates can run under the Libertarian banner. Locally, First District Congressional hopeful Muir Boda noted:
We are so grateful for the hard work put into this drive for ballot access. This was a true grassroots political effort that will offer real alternatives to the two major political parties. Thank you to all who petitioned and to all who signed the petition giving voters more legitimate choices in November. Liberty is on the ballot!
What I find interesting, though, is that the Green Party, which also secured the required number of signatures to appear on the ballot, only has a handful of candidates running in Maryland. I encourage them to get moving and fill their ballot spaces as well!
About 18 months ago I posted about the District of Columbia’s 5-cent-per-bag tax and efforts to make it a reality in Maryland. So far our retailers have remained unscathed for the most part, but a recent study done by The Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research at Suffolk University in Boston indicates that the bag tax is neither producing the revenue contemplated from the tax nor significantly reducing the number of bags in circulation, to wit:
We project that a rebound in grocery bag consumption will lead to higher Bag Tax collections. Consumers will pay $5.74 million in Bag Taxes, with D.C. receiving of $4.59 million in FY 2016 (114.8 million bags X $0.04) and retailers keeping the other $1.15 million. This revenue will drain resources from the private economy of D.C.
All other things being equal, consumers will allocate a portion of their spending to the Bag Tax or divert spending outside D.C. to avoid the tax ─ both will reduce consumption spending in D.C. As a result, retail businesses will see a reduction in sales and profits and, in turn, reduce their employment and investment expenditures leading to lower wages and income.
The higher Bag Tax collections will destroy 136 net local jobs. The job losses will cause annual wages to fall by $13.73 per worker and aggregate real disposable income to fall by $8.08 million. The tax will also lower investment by $1.58 million, with the loss concentrated in the retail sector.
The lost income and employment will be felt in the collection of other taxes in D.C., such as the sales tax. We estimate that D.C. will forgo an additional $163,510 in sales tax revenue due to the Bag Tax.
In short, people are working around the problem and retailers are lax about the collection of the tax. To them, it’s just more paperwork they can do without. Just like any other tax – such as the 2008 sales tax increase in Maryland – people eventually will pay the additional tax a little bit at a time but that will leave them less money for other economic activities.
And the bags add up. On Friday I spent $200 at the grocery store and probably received 15 plastic bags. If you figure (anecdotally, of course) that an average family gets a dozen bags a week for various purchases, that adds up to $30 a year. Maybe it doesn’t sound like much, but if you read through the study you’ll find that other places which have adopted the tax increased it after a time – that nickel today might be a dime tomorrow and suddenly it’s a $60 annual bite.
Speaking of tax raisers, I’ve been getting a lot of shrill feedback from the Obama For Against America camp regarding the Republican convention. Let’s start with David Axelrod:
Judging from the number of times they’ve said it this week, you would think repealing Obamacare on Day One is the most urgent goal of the Republican Party and number one reason to elect Mitt Romney.
I’d like to know what’s noble about making it harder for people to get health care.
I’d like to know why you’re lying about the Republican goal, since it’s YOUR Medicare cuts which would eventually make it more difficult for seniors to receive care. Unfortunately, I doubt Obamacare would be repealed on the first day because I keep hearing this crap about “repeal and replace.” No replacement is needed.
How about Jim Messina:
If you’ve seen any coverage of Paul Ryan’s speech in Tampa, you know that the consensus among journalists and independent observers is that it was … factually challenged.
He lied about Medicare. He lied about the Recovery Act. He lied about the deficit and debt. He even dishonestly attacked Barack Obama for the closing of a GM plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin — a plant that closed in December 2008 under George W. Bush. He also failed to offer one constructive idea about what he would do to move the country forward.
Does Obamacare cut Medicare? Yes. Did the stimulus waste a lot of money and have few “shovel-ready” jobs to show for it? Yes. And that GM plant actually closed its doors in 2009, when Barack Obama was President.
Oh, and by the way Jim, that idea to cut spending to no more than 20% of GDP? That seems pretty constructive to me given our spending problem, with the trillion-dollar annual deficits your guy has run ever since taking office.
The ones who are “factually challenged” seem to be in the White House these days.
And then we have John Kerry:
I have one message burned into my memory for everyone who cares about the outcome of this year’s presidential election:
Respond quickly and powerfully to attacks from the other side.
(snip)
What makes 2012 different from when I ran for president in 2004 is that the other side doesn’t have to wait for an outside group to come along with false attacks.
Consider this: Swift Boat Veterans for Truth spent about $23 million on smear ads against me in 2004.
This year, the Romney campaign and super PACs have promised to spend more than $1 billion.
Barack Obama has been a tremendous leader who has moved our country forward in more ways than we even probably now realize. He needs another four years to get the job done.
Shouldn’t that be “seared” into your memory, Senator? Of course, the $23 million in ads merely pointed out the truth! In fact, they probably didn’t go far enough in exploring your life as a turncoat.
I’ll grant that Obama is a tremendous leader – if you count leading from behind, that is – but as I point out to Jim Messina above the ones who are misleading voters are you guys. Ask Harry Reid next time you see him about the proof that Mitt Romney didn’t pay taxes for 10 years, or else just ask him to repeat that off the safe zone of the Senate floor next time.
Oddly enough, each and every one of these e-mails asked me for money. Guess what? Thanks in large part to you, I have none to spare.
And it wouldn’t be Labor Day if I didn’t mention…Big Labor. If you don’t think Democrats and their toady groups aren’t scared, witness the bus driver protest in Montgomery County the other day. Montgomery County GOP Chair Mark Uncapher had the right comeback though:
(L)et me offer the SEIU bus drivers a test. If they want to take credit for kids making the honor roll, are they also will to accept responsibility for failing schools?
Of course they won’t, because those are always the fault of Republicans who won’t throw enough money at the schools.
Even though our convention is past, local Republicans aren’t done with the fun yet. The Worcester County Republicans will open their own headquarters on Saturday at 5 p.m. It will be located at 11934 Ocean Gateway, behind Sherwin Williams.
It’s good to see that other local counties are taking the step to open their own facilities instead of piggybacking from ours. Not that I mind the other counties coming here, but for convenience sake it’s better to spread the GOP wealth around. I was told to not forget my camera because “you may have a photo opportunity” so we’ll see.
But let me close with a sort of Labor Day-related question: is Barack Obama a communist?
Certainly he’s shrewd enough to not be a card-carrying member (not that most media would care anyway.) But this 30-minute snippet of an upcoming documentary called “The Unvetted” raises other disturbing questions about Obama’s background as well. This is what the Accuracy in Media folks write about the film:
A new film from America’s Survival, Inc. documents what journalist Cliff Kincaid calls “one of the most extraordinary cover-ups in American history — how a presidential candidate with a covert connection to a major Communist Party operative was protected by the major liberal and conservative media.” Kincaid is the president of America’s Survival, Inc. (ASI) and recently held a Washington, D.C. conference on “The Vetting” of Barack Obama. The 30 minute film “The Unvetted” is available for viewing for free at the ASI YouTube channel.
Since they’d like me to share, I will:
“The conservative media must stop protecting Obama from the scrutiny he deserves. Our film ‘The Unvetted’ explains this scandal and cover-up,” says Kincaid.
While the film is rather sensational, I get the feeling that this horse is already out of the barn. I doubt many people are going to have their minds changed by the film, about which filmmaker Agustin Blazquez says:
I’m now editing a full feature documentary that I want to have ready in September–the election is fast approaching! I have been running a marathon working 14 to 16 hours a day in order to produce these two productions on time.
These productions need venues.
With the recent success of the ‘2016: Obama’s America” documentary, the climate could be good for another such film if it’s well made. As for this one, you can be the judge.
You can also be the judge as to how successful this edition of odds and ends will be. Now that voters will be starting to pay attention I’m probably going to get many more items worthy of inclusion.
I just had to laugh when I read this from our President. I think I should pick it apart a sentence or two at a time.
When I’m out there talking to voters, we talk about what we’ve done, what we plan to do over the next four years, and why the other guys have dangerous plans to go back to the policies that failed America for almost a decade.
What you have done is wasted trillions of dollars, maintained a horrible economy and high unemployment rate, and pandered to every Democratic constituency at the expense of average working people. Given that the last time Republicans were fully in charge (including Congress) we had a good economy and low unemployment, I wouldn’t say these were “policies that failed” if I were you, Barack.
But there is another question that keeps coming up, and you need to know about it: “Why do I see so many more ads for the other guys?”
Because you were so confident you would raise a billion dollars in this campaign that you didn’t begin your own SuperPACs until late in the game. And no one likes a loser.
You don’t need me to tell you that the Romney campaign is outraising us — that billionaire ideologues and corporate interests are piling on tens of millions more in negative ads trashing us, and that all of it means that undecided voters in battleground states like Iowa could be seeing false, misleading, negative attacks at a rate almost twice as often as they hear from us.
Oh, so blaming Mitt Romney for a steelworker’s wife’s death at a company he had nothing to do with several years after the fact isn’t false, misleading, or negative? Spare me. If you want to run on your record, be my guest. But you can’t and you know it.
Last week, when I was in Iowa, voters told me they were feeling it. The numbers back it up: Our side is getting outspent 2-to-1 on the air there.
Does that count the fawning press coverage and the softball radio interviews you’re arranging? I’d say your side is only having the playing field leveled. Long live the Citizens United decision.
But the folks asking me about this don’t want an explanation — they want to know what I’m going to do about it.
Looks like the old pout-whine sequence to me. Just go out and hold another high-dollar fundraiser with the self-loathing of the so-called 1 percent like you always do.
And the fact is that solving this problem is up to you.
Personally I don’t consider this a problem.
(snip)
You’re getting this email because you know what the stakes are in this election. You know the facts about what we’ve done to prevent a deeper crisis and to start building an economy that works for the middle class.
Wouldn’t that be what you called “digging our way out of the hole?” Last time I checked, the best way to get out of a hole is to climb, not dig. If you want to build an economy that works for the middle class, let them get paychecks and not government checks. Stand aside – and quit spending so much money! Getaclue.
But for someone who’s not as engaged, these ads may be an important and possibly even primary source of information about the choice in this election.
Sadly, that’s true. But there are more and more informed people because they’ve finally seen through the miasma of “hope” and “change” through outlets like mine (if I may be so presumptuous.)
So it’s a bad situation if 90 percent of them are false, negative attacks on us.
Questioning his record = “false, negative attack” – and raaaaaacist to boot!
We’re losing this air war right now.
I’d like you and your socialist Democrat buddies like those who “represent” Maryland in Congress to lose the election as well as the air war.
I don’t have as much time to campaign this time as I did in 2008, so this whole thing is riding on you making it happen.
I know, you can’t miss that tee time or fundraiser, can you? George W. Bush gave up golf because he was hounded about playing in a time of war, but chasing a little white ball around and the need to stay in office for you and your cronies by trying to raise millions trumps actual governing, doesn’t it? Just keep a few White House lawyers busy writing Executive Orders to usurp the power of Congress.
Honestly, is it a surprise that Barack Obama spends campaign money as he does taxpayer money – a lot of spending with little to show for it? I guess he thought the GOP would run another John McCain who crippled himself with campaign finance regulations. No such luck.
So just keep sending me your whiny e-mails, Mr. Obama. Although it may be a mite uncomfortable, I hear tee times are easy to get around Chicago after January 21.
Never let it be said that Republicans are a fair-weather party.
A rainy day certainly dampened the area surrounding Schumaker Park as the Wicomico County Republican Club held its annual Crab Feast yesterday, but it didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. The picture below was taken at one of those rare points where the rain died down to a light shower, rather than the torrential downpour which plagued the event.
We still had our usual solid crowd of about 250, who I am convinced would come out in a hurricane for crabs and camaraderie. If you added a little wind I think we would have had a nice tropical storm like this same weekend in 2011 because there was a point it rained to beat the band.
One casualty of the weather was the silent auction, which for many items had to become a live auction because the tally sheets got all wet under the tent. Some items stayed out of the rain, though.
And the weather played havoc with the roster of speakers as well. I think this was the result of having to do a live auction, but in most years several elected officials will make remarks. This time the bulk of the talking was done by Congressman Andy Harris.
Harris only made brief, somewhat boilerplate remarks about his race and the need to change the regime in Washington beginning with the removal of Barack Obama but continuing with the urgency of putting Dan Bongino in the United States Senate. (Unfortunately, Bongino couldn’t represent himself at the event; his county coordinator Shawn Jester filled in.) “Party today, but work for the next 73 days” to the election, Harris admonished us.
We also heard quite briefly from Delegate Addie Eckardt, who reprised her message delivered at the GOP headquarters opening last week about the need to “turn this ship around.” Also expressing his thanks for continued support was Wicomico County State’s Attorney Matt Maciarello.
So it wasn’t like the event in other years where a number of candidates seeking election locally or statewide were there to speak and press the flesh – while most made their rounds, they chose to be acknowledged but not make remarks. I don’t know if Matt Holloway or John Hall came, but I saw the remaining four GOP members of County Council there (Stevie Prettyman, Gail Bartkovich, Joe Holloway, and Bob Culver) along with the other three local Republican officials – Maciarello, Sheriff Mike Lewis, and Orphans Court Judge Bill Smith. We also had Delegate Charles Otto come up from Somerset County to join us. (Update: WCRC officer Marc Kilmer assured me that John Hall was there. Maybe I didn’t hear him being introduced.)
In that respect, look for next year’s event to be chock full of would-be aspirants for office because the 2014 event will be after the state election primary for the first time in several years unless they make it a spring event. (Once a late-September gathering, the Crab Feast migrated forward about a month beginning in 2010 to a late-August date – last year was an exception thanks to Hurricane Irene.)
I can say that I made the Republican Club a few dollars myself since I donated two copies of my book to the auction, and they sold for above face value. Then again, my contribution paled in comparison to how these buttons did, as well as the 50-50 drawing.
So after two years in a row of a late-August downpour (at least this year the hurricane was down in Cuba) chances are next year should be a beautiful afternoon like we’ve had in the past. In the meantime, the beer was cold and by many accounts the crabs delicious, so what’s a little rain?
I have a veritable catch-all of little feature items best handled in a paragraph or two, so I’ll get cracking!
First of all is an important update from the state Board of Elections with the ballot language for the seven statewide issues as well as a number of local questions (including four from Wicomico County.)
At first read, it doesn’t appear there’s any effort to deceive people into voting in a counter-intuitive manner (e.g. voting for an issue to repeal a particular law.) It appears that those who want to repeal certain laws would indeed vote against them at the ballot box.
I am a little concerned about the way Question 6 is worded, though. Here’s how the same-sex marriage bill is presented:
Establishes that Maryland’s civil marriage laws allow gay and lesbian couples to obtain a civil marriage license, provided they are not otherwise prohibited from marrying; protects clergy from having to perform any particular marriage ceremony in violation of their religious beliefs; affirms that each religious faith has exclusive control over its own theological doctrine regarding who may marry within that faith; and provides that religious organizations and certain related entities are not required to provide goods, services, or benefits to an individual related to the celebration or promotion of marriage in violation of their religious beliefs.
Of the seven questions the state presents to voters, this is the longest. Actually, if you removed the first clause it’s not a bad law but the part about gay and lesbian couples is a non-starter, which is probably why that language was added – people will say, oh, okay, the churches don’t have to participate. But that’s not the point, and the additional language obfuscates it.
I also wonder why the term “same-sex” wasn’t used. With the possible exception of Question 3, it’s just going to be down-the-line “against” for me. But on a local level, I’m all for two of the proposed changes – not quite sure about the last two questions quite yet.
I’m very disappointed, though, that the term limits proposal for the County Executive did not make it through County Council. Apparently several Republicans don’t have the spine to return the county to a citizen-based power structure, ensuring no individual would run the county for more than eight years. I guess we will have to primary them, won’t we?
Of course, last night the County Council heard testimony about the county’s redistricting plan for a work session today. I happen to think the plan put in place by the Redistricting Committee is quite sound and well thought out because it uses a number of significant natural and man-made boundaries (like U.S. 50) to define districts as well as making change easier in the future.
But scuttlebutt I’m hearing is that a second plan is in the works; one which will be more favorable to certain incumbents on County Council. While it’s true that about 1/4 of the county’s population is displaced by the Redistricting Committee’s plan, the goal is to establish more permanent district boundaries which won’t change as much in future years. One thing I like about the Redistricting Committee’s plan is how it keeps most of the communities together – obviously Salisbury has to be divided into at least two districts based on population and this map puts the heart of the city into either District 1 (the majority-minority district) or District 4. (Since I began work on this post last night, I have learned there is a second plan, drawn up by a county employee. While I haven’t seen it, my impression is that it’s closer to the old map.)
Speaking of elections, this tidbit came to me from Cathy Keim of Election Integrity Maryland. It’s “even better than being a poll watcher” and it goes right to the heart of the problem.
I asked Anthony Gutierrez, our local BOE head, if you have to be registered in the county that you serve as an election judge. He said no. As long as you are a Maryland registered voter, you can be an election judge in any county that hires you. He also stated that Baltimore has a terrible time recruiting enough Republican and non-partisan election judges. The goal is to have one chief judge from each major party at each polling place. If they cannot do that, then they try to get a non-partisan judge. If they can’t do that……then it just has to be two of the same party! This holds for regular judges also.
Being an election judge is even better than being a poll watcher as you are actually running the election. Please bring this up to the GOP that they need to be filling these positions in Baltimore and PG County and maybe other counties. I know that this is a regular problem, so the GOP should already be aware of it, but it never hurts to get people working on a solution sooner rather than later.
In Wicomico County we only have about 38 precincts, so presumably they only need 38 election judges from each party. But if you’re armed with the poll watcher training and are an election judge in a “problem” county it’s indeed possible to give the Democrats fits by insisting the letter of the law be followed.
Apparently they’re not going to follow the letter of the law in Tampa during the Republican convention. If you believe the Accuracy in Media group and writer Tina Trent, agitators funded by radical left-wingers including George Soros are plotting to disrupt the proceedings – of course, they’ll get plenty of press coverage if they succeed. Meanwhile, during the next week there are going to be protests in Charlotte at the Democrats’ shindig (some by unions bitterly disappointed the convention is being held in a right-to-work state) but you won’t hear a peep.
The President’s campaign also has the laughable idea that seeing five years of Mitt Romney’s tax returns are enough. This is part of a missive from Obama For Against America’s Jim Messina:
Friday morning, I sent a letter to Mitt Romney’s campaign manager, asking that Romney release just five years of tax returns. And I made a commitment that, if he does, this campaign would not demand more.
You should add your name. Here’s why:
Right now, our opponent is proposing a $2,000 tax increase on middle-class families with kids in order to pay for tax breaks for millionaires like him.
He’s asking Americans to put him in charge of their taxes, while refusing to come clean about his own.
This isn’t going away because voters deserve better, and everyone but the Romney campaign seems to recognize that.
(snip)
Romney’s refusal to release his returns is raising more questions than he’s been willing to answer.
According to the one full year of returns he has released, Romney paid 13.9% in taxes on his income. Thursday, he said he went back and looked, and has never paid less than 13% over the last ten years.
Now we’re asking him to put his money where his mouth is.
It is absolutely relevant for us to ask how much a presidential candidate paid in taxes, if he sheltered his money or tried to get out of paying taxes at all, why he started — and continues to own — a corporation offshore in Bermuda, why he keeps his finances offshore in the Cayman Islands, and why he opened a Swiss bank account.
(snip)
This issue isn’t going away, and for good reason. Tell Romney to follow 30 years of precedent and release his tax returns.
Next thing you know, they’ll be asking for ten years’ worth. Meanwhile, we don’t have any of Obama’s college records, never mind the whole birth certificate thing. Of course, anyone can Photoshop any sort of “fake but accurate” documents they want, but that’s not the point, either.
I truly don’t give a damn whether Mitt Romney has a Swiss bank account or money in the Cayman Islands. It’s his money and he can do as he pleases with it. And paying almost 14% of his taxes on his income? Just ask an average American who scores a big tax refund check, complete with earned income credit, what rate he or she paid and I’ll bet the answer may surprise you. Sorry, Jim Messina, that class warfare card is no good here.
That’s Obama’s America. And to that effect a movie will be shown locally beginning Friday – showtimes are here, and the trailer is below.
I may have to go see this one, and I am not a movie buff.
I’m going to close with a little encouragement from a fellow blogger – Marianne (aka Zilla of the Resistance) has been through a lot with her late stage Lyme Disease. Well, not only has she found improvement with some of her most painful symptoms of late, she’s also received some cheering news from the Mitt Romney camp as he’s making what Marianne terms a “bold stand” against those medical professionals skeptical of some possible treatments for the disease. (Maryland is one area affected more heavily than most.) Perhaps there’s light at the end of the tunnel for her, and it’s not an oncoming train.
The light at the end of this post is also here, but it’s only the next post down. I encourage you to keep reading.
If it wasn’t made obvious by the sign outside, seeing this inside may clue you in.
That petite pachyderm sits at the entrance of the newly-opened local Republican headquarters, which opened yesterday morning to a crowd of perhaps 200 people all told during the 2 1/2 hours of fellowship and festivities.
They marveled at the large expanse of a former Blockbuster video store now converted for temporary usage as a reception and staging area for the local Republican Party and were treated to remarks from various local campaign representatives and Congressman Andy Harris.
While the lower Eastern Shore probably isn’t going to make or break a national or even statewide campaign due to its dearth of registered voters when compared to the state as a whole, it’s important to have a presence here nonetheless. A volunteer here frees up time and energy which can be spent in more vital areas by enlistees closer to the action.
Prominent among the speakers were the Lunas, as Luis welcomed the crowd and introduced a number of local elected officials and dignitaries. Included in that number were State’s Attorney Matt Maciarello, County Council members Joe Holloway and Stevie Prettyman, and Sheriff Mike Lewis from Wicomico County, Delegate Charles Otto and State’s Attorney Dan Powell from Somerset County, Delegate Addie Eckardt from Dorchester County, and Sheriff Reggie Mason from Worcester County, along with a number of Central Committee members from each of the four counties. Many of them would be in the crowd standing behind those cutting the ribbon.
His better half Bonnie, who serves as the Wicomico County chair for the Romney/Ryan campaign, exclaimed “I have no doubt this will be a fantastic campaign season!” She went on to point out that Maryland has voted for Republicans on top of the ticket as recently as George H.W. Bush in 1988 (after going for Reagan in 1984 as well.)
She also thanked the volunteers who had pitched in to freshen up the old Blockbuster store, a location close by one we used for a headquarters in the last Presidential election in 2008 at the opposite end of the same strip mall. This location is far larger and rivals the size of one we used in 2010, a venue for which we received some financial assistance from the RNC. This one is all a local effort.
“We need to turn this ship around,” said Delegate Addie Eckardt, who followed Bonnie to the podium. While she was speaking about the national scene, she could just as easily been talking about the state situation and arguably even locally. Of course, Wicomico County has an elected Republican majority on its County Council, one which allows them to claim supremacy in county elected officials overall.
But, in my opinion, too often our conservative County Council majority goes wobbly at the most inopportune of times. I guess the best way to turn our ship of state around in Wicomico County would be to elect a conservative County Executive in 2014, but I’m putting the cart ahead of the horse.
Representing Dan Bongino locally was Bill Harris, who came down from Cecil County to represent the Senate candidate. Harris related the fact that Dan was “really moved” by all the support he received at the Delmarva Chicken Festival, which came in part from the dedicated volunteers he has. (Included in that group is Jackie Wellfonder, who’s pictured below at the Farm and Home Show.)
Harris also promised that “something very exciting” is brewing with the Bongino campaign, and we’ll know about it within the next 10 days. Whether that something is promising poll numbers against Maryland’s ultimate do-nothing politician, Ben Cardin, or great fundraising figures, or a debate coming to Salisbury – well, I don’t know, either. Hopefully my friends within Dan’s campaign (or the man himself, since he’s a big fan) will keep me posted.
Representing the state GOP in the absence of Chair Alex Mooney was First Vice-Chair Diana Waterman, who came down from Queen Anne’s County to assist in the efforts. She told us that the Maryland Romney campaign “is one of the best organized in the country.” All that is well and good, but whether Romney has a chance of succeeding in Maryland “boils down to voter turnout.” Not only would it bolster the chances of Dan Bongino and Mitt Romney winning, but a huge Andy Harris victory would discourage Democrats from making a concerted future effort in the First District.
Waterman also commented on the bumper stickers in her hand, noting that she wanted to see them on every vehicle in the parking lot. While it may be an inconvenience to have these stickers on a bumper for a couple months, it was a small price to pay when compared to having another four years of Barack Obama or six years of Ben Cardin, she said.
Returning to the podium, Luis Luna noted that since Paul Ryan was selected as Mitt Romney’s running mate, “excitement is through the roof.” He claimed that $10 million was raised online and 45,000 new volunteers have been added in the week since Ryan’s choice was known. People “recognize Obama has failed,” continued Luna, who also brought up a stark statistic: no President in modern times has presided over a net loss in jobs until Obama.
“Hope has turned to hype, and change has turned to childishness,” concluded Luna.
Our featured speaker was Congressman Andy Harris.
Because he works with the bottom half of the ticket on a regular basis, Andy Harris is in the position to assess Paul Ryan as “the real deal…just a straight-talking guy.”
“No hype, no teleprompter,” said Harris on Ryan, and Andy opined that Ryan was the last person Democrats wanted to see Republicans select. We would provide a contrast to government by illegal appointments and Executive Orders, Harris noted.
Andy also remarked on seeing Senator Ben Cardin at an event he attended earlier yesterday morning in Pocomoke City. “You know he’s worried” about Dan Bongino if he’s in this part of the state, Harris assessed.
Finally it was time to cut the ribbon, although the speechifying wasn’t quite over.
Before the ribbon was cut, Delegate Mike McDermott – a latecomer to the event, having also attended the Pocomoke VA dedication – said of those lined up behind the ribbon, “These folks are all in…to get them all out.”
The general feeling among those gathered was that America was ready for a little R & R.
While it’s not worthy of a post by itself, I should note that I stopped by and sat a spell at the Wicomico GOP’s presence at the Wicomico Farm and Home Show. Tom Hughes (on the left) and the aforementioned Jackie Wellfonder were among my cohorts today.
Jackie logged a lot of hours at the WFHS, and she should be commended for her dedication. I did plug her website to a couple of folks while I was there.
Originally I was going to add my thoughts about a second political aspect to the WFHS, but I think I’ll save them for Monday morning.
Well, Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential candidate was probably a safer choice than Sarah Palin was in 2008 and those of us who are Miami University graduates are thrilled to have a fellow alum with a chance at the second-highest office in the land. (He graduated six years after me, so we weren’t on campus at the same time.) But there are some who are fretting that Paul Ryan’s not conservative enough or too much of an establishment choice. Personally, I thought Lt. Col. Allen West would have been an interesting selection.
Yet you can’t deny that Paul Ryan knows his stuff about budgeting, and even though I was disappointed that his budget blueprint took decades to work the federal budget into balance it was at least acknowledging the largest domestic problem we face. Hopefully we elect a number of good conservatives to the House and Senate to pick up Ryan’s pace of motion toward fiscal sanity.
And Democrats naturally tried to seize the narrative. This e-mail blast came from David Axelrod:
In Ryan, Romney has selected a running mate best known for designing the extreme GOP budget that would end Medicare as we know it, and — just like Romney’s plan — actually raise taxes on middle-class Americans to pay for an additional $250,000 tax break for millionaires and billionaires. As a leader of the House Republicans and a Tea Party favorite, Congressman Ryan has led the relentless, intensely ideological battle for these kinds of budget-busting policies that punish seniors and the middle class.
Today, Romney doubled down on those policies.
But most Americans don’t know Paul Ryan. In the coming days, the other side will spend a lot of time trying to define Romney’s choice and what it says about his candidacy — so we put together a brand-new website on Romney-Ryan with everything you need to know. (Emphasis in original.)
But I love this howler in Axelrod’s screed:
Ryan talks tough on balancing the budget, but his own plan would fail to do that for a generation. The burden of balancing any Ryan budget falls squarely on the backs of seniors and middle-class families — while no one at the top is asked to pay even a dollar more.
And Obama has made progress on balancing the budget when? Please inform me of this, Mr. Axelrod.
To Obama, a budget deficit is a small price to pay for maintaining the levers of power and “spreading the wealth around.” That argument of “no one at the top is asked to pay even a dollar more” conveniently forgets that the wealthiest taxpayers already pay more than their fair share and, even if they were taxed at 100 percent and all their assets seized, wouldn’t come close to solving the total indebtedness (including unfunded liabilities) of our nation. That’s what happens when the national debt exceeds annual GDP.
And it’s sort of funny that the Obama crew has dubbed Romney/Ryan the “Go Back Team.” I wouldn’t mind going back to unemployment under 5 percent and a shrinking annual budget deficit – how about you? America has two choices: it can fall for the class envy propagated by a current regime desperate to avoid discussion of its real record, or it can vote for a chance at a way out of our mess.
If Obama wins, it’s likely we will never see unemployment below 5 percent again unless they change the way the numbers are calculated to make “President Choom” look better. Nor will we come anywhere close to a balanced budget because that’s not what this administration wants – I’ve become convinced they’re looking to hook as many people on the narcotic of government handouts as possible, and even if taxes are raised on the wealthiest taxpayers (and they would be) what little benefit is accrued will be far less than the new spending desired.
It’s the sign of a campaign which can’t rely on the exhausted mantras of hope and change anymore that they immediately go on the attack. Quite simply, Obama and Biden have nothing good to say about themselves or a positive record to defend. It’s going to be a long 2 1/2 months to Election Day.
They don’t say it in so many words, but I found this e-mail I received from the President’s campaign intriguing:
Next weekend, we’ll be 100 days away from Election Day.
We’ve got a lot of voters to get registered and ready for this election — and that’s part of why First Lady Michelle Obama just launched a new effort called It Takes One.
The idea behind it is pretty simple: One person reaching out to others, bringing in one person at a time, is what will make all the difference. She’s challenging us all to bring one new person along every time we take action for this campaign — whether that’s chipping in a few dollars, registering to vote, or showing up at the It Takes One weekend of action in Virginia and Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 28th, and Sunday, July 29th.
Folks from Maryland will be traveling to Pennsylvania and Virginia for the weekend of action, to register voters and reach out to folks there to talk about President Obama’s accomplishments — alongside that one new person they asked to join them for the day.
If you skip the first paragraphs of community organization garbage – although we have a lot of voters to get registered and ready for this election, too – you’ll notice that Jeremy Bird of Obama For Against America wants to use Maryland people to work in Virginia and Pennsylvania, figuring those states are more important to work in. It’s sending the message that they consider Maryland as their territory. But I’m stubborn and agree with Dan Bongino and other thoughtful Republicans: we cede no ground.
This e-mail also gave me an important piece of electoral information, as I now know the local Democrats will have a headquarters in the old Mail Movers building (the one which used to be a bank before that) on Old Ocean City Road. They must not want a whole lot of visibility – although that location is conveniently close by the teachers’ union headquarters. I happen to know the local Republicans will have a headquarters as well, with an official announcement coming soon. (It will be nearby to the locations we used in 2008 and 2010, along that stretch of South Salisbury Boulevard.)
Now it’s time for a little fun. You know, since the Obama forces created an #ItTakesOne Twitter hashtag, I have some suggestions for its usage:
#ItTakesOne entrepreneur to create a job – and one President to take all the credit for doing so.
#ItTakesOne more high-dollar fundraiser among the 1% for Obama to extend his class warfare rhetoric and pander to the rest of us.
#ItTakesOne call to Harry Reid to move job-creating legislation from the House. Obama won’t because he wants to “spread the wealth” via gov’t.
#ItTakesOne speech to show President Obama doesn’t get it when it comes to job creation. “You didn’t build that”? Yes we did.
Maybe I’ll toss those on Twitter this afternoon as I’m working. I’m sure my readers can come up with many more and show the real truth about our current regime. I look forward to reading them – feel free to share in the comment section.
