Posts For: February 8, 2012

Odds Still in Romney’s Favor

Peter Wehner | @Peter_Wehner

02.08.2012 - 6:10 PM

It seems like every time I declare Mitt Romney to be in the catbird seat, he does everything in his power to disprove me. But last night, the former Massachusetts governor outdid himself, having been swept by Rick Santorum in contests in Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado. And it isn’t simply the fact that Romney lost; it’s the magnitude of his losses. Governor Romney finished third in Minnesota with 17 percent of the vote total, behind both Ron Paul (27 percent) and Santorum (45 percent). In Missouri, Romney lost to Santorum by a staggering 30 points (55 percent v. 25 percent). And in Colorado, a state Romney won in 2008 with more than 60 percent of the vote, Santorum bested him by five points (40 percent v. 35 percent).

Conn Carroll of the Washington Examiner points out that in both Missouri and Minnesota, a state Romney won in 2008, he did not win a single county. (There are 114 counties in Missouri.)

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The Liberal Parrot Squawks Again

John Steele Gordon | @steelegordon

02.08.2012 - 5:40 PM

There is an op-ed in today’s New York Times of truly surpassing nuttiness. It is called ”The Zuckerberg Tax,” in reference to Mark Zuckerberg’s impending multi-billion-dollar capital gain from Facebook’s IPO. The author, David S. Miller, is upset that Zuckerberg will not have to pay any taxes on his vast capital gains until he sells the stock, if he ever does.

He writes, “So he recommends an annual tax on unrealized capital gains of 15 percent: For individuals and married couples who earn, say, more than $2.2 million in income, or own $5.7 million or more in publicly traded securities (representing the top 0.1 percent of families), the appreciation in their publicly traded stock and securities would be marked to market and taxed annually as if they had sold their positions at year’s end, regardless of whether the
securities were actually sold. The tax could be imposed at long-term capital gains rates so tax rates would stay as they were.”

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The Palestinian Facebook Police

Jonathan S. Tobin | @tobincommentary

02.08.2012 - 5:11 PM

Some staffers and diplomats at the State Department with time on their hands are, no doubt, working hard right now to come up with a legal rationale for continuing U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority. The consummation of the Fatah-Hamas unity pact earlier this week and the impending ouster of PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad ought to make any further assistance to Mahmoud Abbas’s rogue regime legally and morally untenable. But in case apologists for keeping U.S. taxpayer dollars flowing to terrorists pledged to Israel’s destruction are paying attention, even before the new unity government takes office there are plenty of reasons to think seriously about American subsidies for the corrupt and tyrannical PA.

While many Americans are obsessing about human rights elsewhere in the Arab world, it appears the American-funded PA is practicing its own brand of tyranny. The Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh reports the Palestinian security forces are now monitoring Facebook posts by residents of the West Bank and taking those who make critical remarks about the PA’s leadership in for questioning. Because Palestinians know all too well the armed gunmen who report to Abbas and his underlings are Fatah thugs and not genuine law enforcement officers, the upshot of is only nice things are going to be said there about Abbas.

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Newest Domestic Threat: “Sovereign Citizens”

Alana Goodman | @alanagoodman

02.08.2012 - 4:04 PM

It’s nice to see the FBI is keeping its eye on the real homegrown threat in America — Ron Paul fans:

Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday.

These extremists, sometimes known as “sovereign citizens,” believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference.

The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard.

Routine encounters with police can turn violent “at the drop of a hat,” said Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director in the FBI’s counterterrorism division.

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What’s the IHH Up to Today?

Michael Rubin | @mrubin1971

02.08.2012 - 3:00 PM

The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, better known by its Turkish acronym IHH, is an Islamist charity best known for its role in the Mavi Marmara flotilla affair, although this was but one episode in a long and troubling history.

The IHH is once again showing its true colors. Late last month, the Syrian opposition reported it had captured 11 Iranian operatives inside Syria, and released a video of its Iranian captives. In a statement which was apparently coerced, the group confessed it was active in suppressing dissent inside Syria, and its leader pleaded for Supreme Leader Khamenei to withdraw Iranian forces. The semi-official Iranian press, meanwhile, said the captured Iranians were merely religious pilgrims.

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What Diplomats Can Learn from the Military

Michael Rubin | @mrubin1971

02.08.2012 - 1:30 PM

I’m spending the week in frigid Wiesbaden, where the V Corps is preparing to take over the mission in Afghanistan. As is often the case, there is much more learning outside the classroom than inside it. Indeed, there are few organizations in government as dedicated to learning as the U.S. military. The State Department may have its Foreign Service Institute where diplomats can take classes to prepare for new jobs, but in embassies and the State Department, learning does not occur on a day-to-day basis as it does in the military.

Before any exercise, for example, soldiers and sailors study precedents. After -action reviews often take longer than exercises or missions themselves. Non-Commissioned Officers take their roles seriously to ensure that soldiers recognize mistakes and more importantly, learn from them; they have no equivalent in the Foreign Service.

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Weak Obama May Back Off Church Attack

Jonathan S. Tobin | @tobincommentary

02.08.2012 - 1:30 PM

President Obama may have gotten more than he bargained for last week when he issued his edict that would force Catholic religious institutions to purchase contraception insurance for their employees in spite of the fact that the church is opposed on principle to their use. The issue has become a rallying cry for Catholics of all political affiliations as they have denounced Obama’s effort to abridge their religious freedom. It has also given the Republican campaign to repeal Obamacare new impetus, as the regulations are a function of the national health plan imposed by the president.

So it was probably only to be expected that Obama’s chief campaign adviser David Axelrod signaled this morning in an interview that Democrats are trying to find a way to come back in off the ledge onto which the president has crawled with this ill-advised ruling. Axelrod went on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program today and said the White House is attempting to find a compromise that would walk back the attack on the church while still enforcing a right to contraception coverage. Given the way the issue had become a major talking point for Republican presidential candidates, especially for a strong social conservative like the surging Rick Santorum, Obama would do well to dispense with the attempt at compromise and simply retract the regulation before it does him any more harm.

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Does Obama Really Need a Super PAC?

Bethany Mandel | @bethanyshondark

02.08.2012 - 1:00 PM

Yesterday, there was news the Obama campaign would be starting a Super PAC before the 2012 election. Alana posted about it, stating: “After blasting Super PACs as the source of everything evil in politics for the past two years, the Obama campaign has suddenly done an about face and openly started working with one. But, as Jim Messina stressed on the campaign blog last night, it’s not because Obama wants to. No, it’s because he needs to, in order to win the election. And as we all know, winning is more important anything, especially principles and personal integrity.”

Today, on the Politico website, a poll asked visitors: “What do you think of President Obama’s decision to throw his support behind a Super PAC?” Of the respondents to this incredibly unscientific poll, 59 percent of people thought: “It’s necessary. He can’t win with one arm tied behind his back.”

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Don’t Trust “Pro-Contraceptive” Poll

Alana Goodman | @alanagoodman

02.08.2012 - 12:30 PM

A new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute, which found the majority of Catholics support the Obama administration’s mandate for employers to provide health care plans covering free contraceptives, has been getting a ton of media attention the past two days.

But don’t buy into it so fast. A peek into the poll’s methodology raises enough red flags to invite serious questions about its conclusion. The leadership board of the organization that conducted the poll also includes several of President Obama’s current and former religious advisers (Rabbi David Saperstein sits on his religious advisory board, and Lisa Sowle Cahill advised his campaign in 2008).

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Union Boss Tells Poor: “Life’s Not Fair”

Jonathan S. Tobin | @tobincommentary

02.08.2012 - 12:04 PM

The hypocrisy of opponents of school choice schemes has never been a big secret. But rarely has that quality been so brazenly exhibited as by Vincent Giordano, the head of the New Jersey Education Association, in a recent interview on New Jersey public television. When asked why he opposes giving poor parents the same opportunity to take their kids out of failing public schools and into successful private or religious institutions the wealthy have, the teachers union boss, who makes more than half a million in salary and other compensation, replied: “Life’s not always fair.”

Giordano, who has been a major antagonist of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, has been doing his best to obstruct education reform in the Garden State. And, like all teachers union officials, he is ready to fight to the death to prevent school choice plans that would allow parents to use the money the state allocates to educate their kids to purchase better education than is often provided in failing public schools. But perhaps it is unfair to single out Giordano as he is no more of a hypocrite on this matter than President Obama.

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Russia’s Diplomacy Embarrasses the World

Seth Mandel | @SethAMandel

02.08.2012 - 11:37 AM

Perhaps the only optimistic note we can take out of Russia’s “diplomatic initiative” in Syria is that everyone outside those two countries sees it for the cynical opportunism and obnoxious grandstanding that it is.

As I wrote yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit with Bashar al-Assad was not only dismissive of the ongoing slaughter of the Syrian people but a transparent attempt to buy time for Vladimir Putin. Today, the New York Times reports that when asked about the Russian farce, world leaders tried their best not to laugh in reporters’ faces:

In Paris, the French foreign minster, Alain Juppé, called the Syrian promises of talks “manipulation,” while in London, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said he had “very little confidence” in Russia’s initiative.

Adding to the turmoil, Turkey, a major regional player neighboring Syria, was said to be weighing its own initiative toward securing a broad consensus on ending the violence. A day after the Syria-Russia talks, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was planning to discuss the crisis by phone with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia, according to the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu.

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Michigan Will Be Do or Die for Romney

Jonathan S. Tobin | @tobincommentary

02.08.2012 - 10:40 AM

In the wake of Rick Santorum’s big night yesterday, Mitt Romney might be inclined to tell himself that the Pennsylvanian can’t duplicate those victories elsewhere and that his advantage in money and organization will ultimately enable him to prevail in most states in a race that now looks to be long and hard but still in his pocket. But he should put all such consoling thoughts out of his head. Though Santorum is still weak where Romney is strong, all that could change later this month if he wins in another state where everyone is assuming Romney can’t lose.

Romney needs to approach the next two primaries in Michigan and Arizona as if his hopes for the presidency depend on them, because they do. If Santorum comes out of nowhere to steal either, but especially Michigan from Romney, then not only will there be no more talk of the former Massachusetts governor’s inevitability, but it would be the end of his frontrunner status. Losing his home state would prove that all of Romney’s advantages are worthless and that Santorum’s working class appeal is real. Romney must go to Michigan and fight hard there these next three weeks because if he loses it, he may lose the nomination.

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Where’s the Syria Flotilla?

Michael Rubin | @mrubin1971

02.08.2012 - 10:20 AM

In May 2010, a Turkish Islamist charity with close ties to Turkey’s ruling party sponsored a flotilla which it claimed was to relieve suffering in the Gaza Strip, never mind that the standard of living in Gaza surpasses that in Turkey, according to several different measures. Many self-described human rights activists and pacifist groups joined the “Save Gaza” chorus and donated their time and money to sponsoring flotillas which, in effect, would support and supply Hamas but contribute little to humanitarian causes. Here, for example, is a press release from the American Friends Service Committee, the Quakers’ non-governmental organization:

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Romney’s Excuse

Alana Goodman | @alanagoodman

02.08.2012 - 10:00 AM

Mike Allen reports on the message coming out of the Romney campaign after his three losses – and one third place showing in Minnesota, behind Ron Paul – last night:

“It’s about delegates. We could have made the decision to spend money, resources [in Colo. and Minn.], but we had to be pretty tough-minded about it — just to be focused on the delegates, and on Super Tuesday [March 6]. We could have run television, run radio, or spent more time. You can’t do everything. You gotta run your race. We’ll wake up tomorrow, focused on winning Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, Super Tuesday. Hats off to Santorum: It’s a really good night for Santorum. It’s a really BAD night for Newt.”

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It’s Time to Scrap the Fly America Act

Michael Rubin | @mrubin1971

02.08.2012 - 9:40 AM

It’s no secret the private sector creates wealth and government squanders it. There was, of course, the proposed Bridge to Nowhere, Nancy Pelosi’s decision to spend millions in taxpayer money to assist the harvest mouse, or any number of projects highlighted on a regular basis by Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Government waste is not just about pork, however, but regulation. Take the Fly America Act, a law which dates back to the Ford administration. In short, the Fly America Act requires anyone traveling on U.S. government business or on projects funded by the U.S. government to buy tickets on American carriers rather than non-U.S. flag carriers. This can add thousands of dollars per ticket and affects not only diplomats or federal government officials, but also state government bureaucrats, public university employees, and scientists and professors at private universities which receive government grants.

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Use Syria to Delegitimize Iran

Michael Rubin | @mrubin1971

02.08.2012 - 9:19 AM

Strategists teach that a coherent strategy should always have diplomatic, informational, military, and economic components. When grouped together, each component can amplify the effectiveness of the others. The reason why American strategy across administrations is often so incoherent and ineffective is that Americans either handle these components separately, or they sequence strategies rather than take a broader approach.

Take Iran: The Obama administration initially sought diplomacy, and only after the Iranians spurned Obama’s outreach did his administration—prodded by Congress—impose sanctions. Many politicians say military strategies are a last resort, even though military strategies encompass not only bombing, but also containment and deterrence. Informational strategies are the most ignored. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, coordinate no clear strategy. Voice of America’s Persian Service is as likely to castigate American policy as criticize the Iranian regime.

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Has Romney Snatched Defeat From the Jaws of Victory?

Jonathan S. Tobin | @tobincommentary

02.08.2012 - 6:19 AM

Rick Santorum’s stunning sweep of the Tuesday primary/caucus schedule has altered a race many of us thought had finally and irrevocably swung the way of Mitt Romney after his big wins in Florida and Nevada. Romney’s camp will try to spin his defeats in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado as just a momentary bump on the road to Tampa, and there are good reasons to believe he will still eventually win. But Santorum’s hat trick comes at a moment when even conservatives were starting to buy into the idea that the former Massachusetts governor was the inevitable nominee. Moreover, the reason why Romney lost undermines the basic rationale of his candidacy.

While Romney’s comment on CNN last week about not wanting to help the poor was taken out of context, it still betrayed the candidate’s inability to connect with ordinary voters. He not only doesn’t talk like a conservative. He comes across as out of touch with their concerns and those of everyday citizens. Romney’s technocratic approach to problem solving may seem to be ideal to help fix an economic downturn, but a man who makes such gaffes cannot be said to be a lock to beat a Democratic incumbent who will ruthlessly demagogue the Republicans via class warfare tactics. Because Romney’s number one asset is his electability, the remark about the poor, which came at a moment when the national economic statistics seemed to brighten, made him look like the wrong man at the wrong moment. Yesterday’s results must leave Republicans wondering whether Santorum has the ability to take advantage of his wins and if Romney’s strengths are sufficient to overcome this setback.

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