HAT TIP: Whit
Thaddeus McCotter jumps into presidential race. Thaddeus who?
By Mark Guarino | MinnPost
Thaddeus McCotter, a US Representative from Michigan whose agenda appeals to tea party activists, announced his bid Saturday to win the Republican presidential nomination.
Rep. McCotter champions lower federal taxes, energy independence from foreign sources of oil, he is against illegal immigrants receiving government benefits and he endorses the concept of American “exceptionalism” regarding foreign policy.
His candidacy promises to be unorthodox compared to the growing field of competitors in his party.
McCotter launched his campaign at a rock festival in Whitmore Lake, Mich. and later demonstrated his lead guitar skills onstage. His musicianship is key to helping generate attention: He is often pictured with his guitar in hand and has performed at appearances, such as Mike Huckabee’s Fox News television show, where policy discussion and fret shredding are inseparable.
Musical pedigree aside, McCotter’s connection to the automotive industry is likely to give his economic agenda merit.
He lives in Livonia, Mich., and he represents a suburban district outside Detroit. His seat on the House Financial Services Committee is credited for helping restructure General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group, rescuing both companies from bankruptcy through government loans.
“If you believe American needs manufacturing and farming, that is going to be a message you will hear,” he told the Detroit News Friday.
McCotter says he supported the federal government’s hand in helping both companies recover and adds that their restructuring can be used as an example of what can be done to Social Security and the banking system.
“If you continue to raise taxes, if you continue to massively increase government, you are crushing the chances of a recovery.... The White House should finally get the message that we are not going to make this recession worse, we’re not going to make it harder for people to recover, we want to fix and restructure government starting with the debt ceiling,” he told Huckabee on his show last weekend.
McCotter has been critical of the federal bank bailout, saying that it didn’t result in stimulating the economy unlike the automotive industry recovery, in which domestic automakers added jobs and jump-started profits.
“Here we were giving $300 billion to the people who caused the problem…. There’s something inequitable about that, and something needs to be done about it now,” he told the Livonia Observer Friday.
McCotter is the third House Republican running for president, joining US Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Ron Paul of Texas. Other candidates for the Republican nomination are former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former US senator Rick Santorum, and businessman Herman Cain.
Name recognition remains McCotter’s first obstacle.
He is organizing in Iowa, which holds its caucuses Feb. 6, as well as New Hampshire, which holds the first primary Feb. 14.
While rank and file Republicans traditionally vote in the New Hampshire primary, Iowa tends to attract caucus goers more open to candidates not necessarily from the mainstream.
According to a recent poll conducted by the Des Moines Register, 69 percent of Republican voters in Iowa say they are open to voting for a candidate who is not their current first choice.
I've been voting for Harold Stassen all my life and intend to do so this time around as well.
ReplyDeletedwrnl
BAGHDAD, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Iraq on Wednesday signed six agreements of cooperation with its neighbor Iran during an official visit of Iranian First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
ReplyDeleteUS 'offering' to keep troops in Iraq? More like begging for permission to stay.
ReplyDeleteThe US appears desperate to keep troops in Iraq beyond this year's deadline. The Iraqis? Not so much.
Let US hope the Iraqi say "No".
Thaddeus, he may be a real nice fella. He may even be "right", but let us hope his real objective is not the White House, in 2012. It would be indicative of localized insanity, if he truly believes he has a shot at winning the Oval Office, that year.
ReplyDeleteRick Santorum could not even carry his home State, in a Senate race.
That is a real indicator of his capacity to win an election.
Newt's out of money, but his credit at Tiffany & Co. is still good.
While the Congress initiates a "Show Trial" where their own actions guarantee the defendant will eventually walk.
ReplyDeleteBloomberg -
The US Congress refused to release audio of a 2008 deposition of Roger Clemens, a decision that a federal judge said might compromise the perjury prosecution of the ex-Yankees pitcher at a later stage ...
If Clemens used illegal performance enhancing drugs, he should own up to it and face the consequences.
ReplyDeleteI have a real problem with him being in trouble for lying to a bunch of lying Congressmen. Do you not see the irony?
Honor among liars? Is that what they are mad at?
The "Rocket." He was sure fun to watch throw a baseball.
ReplyDeleteNot only the irony, gag, but the Congress's lack of allowing Clemens the opportunity access to the audio deposition.
ReplyDeleteI mean, really, he's not a terrorist.
In the end, it'll all be for show, except the expense of the defense.
I'm glad Congress has their priorities straight.
ReplyDeleteThe expense, which has practically wiped out Clemens or so I am told.
ReplyDeleteI believe in the separation of sports and state.
William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for 4 different teams over his 23 year playing career. In each of his two seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, Clemens won the pitching triple crown (leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts) and a Cy Young Award.
ReplyDeleteClemens was traded to the New York Yankees for the 1999 season, where he had his first World Series success. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens is one of only four pitchers to have more than 4,000 strikeouts in their career (the others are pitchers Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, and Steve Carlton). Clemens played three seasons with the Houston Astros, where he won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the New York Yankees during the 2007 season.
Impressive stats.
ReplyDeleteMitt Romney took in more campaign funds than any other Republican during the second quarter of 2011, but not as much as he raised during the same period in the presidential election four years ago.
ReplyDeleteWord is: The Big, GOP Money Men are holding off - hoping someone better comes along.
ReplyDeleteMight be, there looking at Perry, Rat.
ReplyDeleteOR, thinking about Palin. :)
ReplyDeletethey're
ReplyDeletesheesh
Rat
ReplyDeleteI trust you weathered the dust storm?
.
ReplyDeleteMitt Romney took in more campaign funds than any other Republican during the second quarter of 2011...
There was talk yesterday about which states could switch in the 2012 election. In MI, in 2010 the state went overwhelmingly Republican. After seeing the effect of one party rule for six months, there appears to be a considerable amount of buyer's remorse.
However, with regard to Romney, it goes way beyond that. He was in MI about the time he announced his candidacy and he received a cold shoulder. This is primarily the result of his stated stand on the auomotive bailout.
.
It's rumored that SarahPac took in the second most money, even though she's not a candidate, and SarahPac is Not Presidential Election fund.
ReplyDeleteYea, gag, the wind blew, the dust flew.
ReplyDeleteNot a terrible thing if you're not driving through it.
Back in the 70's we had real dust storms, huge waves of dirt, that moved, southeast to northwest, across the valley. Now much of the farmland has been paved and the storms yesterday was much less intense, by comparison.
That's because, rufus, she is not a candidate.
ReplyDeleteOdds are she will not be, either.
She, like Steve Colbert, enjoys the ability to raise money for undisclosed political purposes.
She and Steve, they're in the same business, that's entertainment.
:) Could be. We'll know in a month, or two.
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we worry about China ignoring our patents when Congress chooses to weaken or eliminate them in order to benefit the banks?
And for those who suggest that it is only the GOP that is out to help big business and the big banks, please note that it is Charles Schumer that is behind Section 18 that was added at the last minute to an already watered down financial regulations bill last year.
...The language in the bill is expansive. It covers patents for “a financial product or service” as well as “corresponding apparatus for performing data processing or other operations used in the practice, administration, or management of a financial product or service.”
Of course, in the grand scheme of things, a new patent law may seem to be unimportant or to affect only a few inventors.
But Section 18 represents a much larger issue: It is perhaps the most blatant demonstration of the lobbying power of Wall Street and, just as important, the willingness of Congress to support the interests of the banks, even in the face of clear evidence that the law has no purpose other than to benefit the financial services industry.
When anyone suggests that Wall Street owns Congress — whether true or not — Section 18 will be Example A of a pork-barrel project for Wall Street. For lack of a better cliché, it might even be considered another backdoor bailout of the banks.
The banks “are attempting to write into law what they have been unable to achieve in litigation,...”
Subsidies, tax breaks, loopholes, targeted legislation, these are some of the things the GOP is talking about when they say 'no tax increases'.
More Crporate Welfare for the Banks
.
.
ReplyDeleteU.S. Says Militants Exploring Surgically Implanted Bombs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Militants are showing renewed interest in using a bomb surgically implanted inside a passenger's body to blow up a commercial flight, though there is no indication an attack is imminent, a U.S. security official said on Wednesday...
Don't worry Grandma, this won't hurt a bit. I'm no doctor but I have had two weeks of TSA training.
.
If there was a binary choice, politically, we'd be better off.
ReplyDeleteBut despite dougo's protestations, there is really only one political party in Washington DC.
Federal Socialists.
A female grizzly, apparently defending her cubs, attacked and killed a man in Yellowstone National Park Wednesday, the first fatal bear mauling there in 25 years.
ReplyDeleteIs there such a thing as a tea party Democrat? The answer, it seems, is yes.
ReplyDelete...
Polling has never shown Democrats to be 20 percent of the tea party, as Bachmann claims, but it has shown there are a significant number of Democrats who claim to be part of the movement. Often, that number is somewhere around 10 percent.
...
Republican pollster Dan Hazelwood said that just as some Democrats moved to the GOP because of social issues in recent decades, some are now moving to the tea party because of fiscal issues.
As predicted, this was an almost entirely news-less affair that allowed Obama to talk about what he has done and what he plans to do in office. He almost never went off his message script — pushing Republicans to compromise on tax increases for “millionaires and billionaires,” emphasizing the need for comprehensive energy and immigration reform and making sure people know that the economic stimulus money wasn’t wasted.
ReplyDeleteWhen was the last time a wolf ate a tourist during the last 25 years?
ReplyDeleteThe answer being, in the United States, never.
Should we poison all the bears?
There was one wolf related fatality, in Canada.
ReplyDeleteBut then, that's Canada.
Where the fellow was hand feeding the wolves.
Bears are much more dangerous, than wolves.
It seems that elk are more dangerous, to people, than wolves.
ReplyDeletePort Townsend Leader - Jun 21, 2011
An adult female elk was shot and killed June 20 by an Olympic National Park ranger in the Hoh Rain Forest of west Jefferson County. The elk had exhibited aggressive behavior toward campground visitors and rangers.
And, as it is written in the Billings Gazette:
... coyotes kill more livestock and cougars more elk per animal than wolves.
Yeah, you'd be grouchy, too, if you had a bunch of them Arizonian Cowboys out there chasing you around, and "roping" your ass all day. :)
ReplyDeleteOops, I might have been unfair to the good Governor Perry on this one.
ReplyDeleteRecently Governor Perry allowed his Labrador Retriever to accompany him on his daily six mile jog. While on his run, he and his pet were accosted by a menacing coyote. After remaining still and waiting to see what the wild coyote would do, the governor pulled out a .380 Ruger and shot the coyote dead when it become apparent the coyote was after his pup.
When he returned to the governor's office he was queried about his "heartless" actions towards "innocent" animals. After answering more than one question on the matter, and in a mildly exasperated manner he replied, "Don't go after my dog!" In other words while the press was confused about his value system, he saw it in very simple terms.
Read more: Shot'im Daid
I might have to take another look. :)
ReplyDeleteA tsunami warning was issued after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the northeast coast of New Zealand just after 7:00am local time Thursday.
ReplyDeleteThis is Precious:
ReplyDeleteObama Crisis Management System - Moonbattery
Poet got their DOE Loan Guarantee for Project Liberty.
ReplyDeleteHat Tip: Energy Ticker
It's "Game On."
Dupont is doing the same thing in N. Iowa with Project Blackhawk.
ReplyDeleteIf these are successful (and, I'd bet the ranch they will be) we'll have another 5 Billion Gallons/Yr of Ethanol (from corn stover) within 5 years.
We are probably using around 400 Billion cu ft of nat gas (imported) to produce our corn ethanol. A cellulosic facility such as this one next to every corn ethanol plant will end our need for that.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that's, also, another 4 Billion or so Gallons of Gasoline that we don't have to import. Cool.