Sunday Evening Open Thread

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It’s 1-0 Texas in the 4th. What are you watching?

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Common Ground

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Seems about right. Where do you stand?

(via Althouse)

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I Guess This is What a Republican Looks Like

Mitt Romney - Just a Regular Guy

Everything old may be new again. Last week’s debate ended up not drawing attention for attacking Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, but the endless war between Mitt Romney and nearly fourth place contender Rick Perry. Perry managed to finally break through the veneer of Romney’s inevitability.

Someone said that the winner in the debate last week was Herman Cain. I agree. Nothing about the confrontation served either candidate well. Perry went after Romney’s illegal immigration incident in the ridiculous way The Nation accused Lou Dobbs of the same thing. Romney hired a company who had illegal immigrants working for them. It’s not something you automatically think to inquire about. Romney decided to throw up all over himself by saying that he fired the company as soon as he found out, because he was running for president. By extension, it says he only cared how it made him look.

Perry knows that his competition is Romney and he needs to be taken down. Perry’s own immigration policy and crony capitalism has damaged his reputation with conservatives. He now has to squeeze into the space to the left of Herman Cain and the right of Mitt Romney. In other words, it’s over.

Cain has surprisingly strong support among Republicans, but he’s less polished than he needs to be and he has no money to speak of. He’s the front-runner no one treats like a front-runner. That means Romney will get the vetting and Cain is poised to fall apart quickly.

In the Obama administration’s continuing cribbing of the Bush playbook, they plan to run the 2004 campaign on Mitt Romney. He’s a flip-flopper, elitist yet culturally dissimilar and running against a sitting president who kicks foreign people’s asses. Their advantage is that Romney represents every stereotype about Republicans going back 50 years. Then again, Obama is a lot less popular than Bush was in 2004, especially since the economy was recovering for him.

People seem to like Herman Cain because of his lack of polish or even because of his race. The fact is that he’s also smart (computer and math degrees) and successful. He was able to take down Bill Clinton on a discussion of business costs. He may not have marched in civil rights protests, but he is the embodiment of the goals of that movement. Maybe Mitt could be his Vice President. We’ll worry about him in 2020.

The best government that money can buy

Congress is in session

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Why Dems are winning the money war

According to the laws of political gravity, this shouldn’t be happening.

President Barack Obama’s approval ratings are in the dumps, and so is the economy. Wall Street’s cash cows are angry at the Democratic Party and its sudden embrace of populist rhetoric. Almost no one thinks Democrats have a shot at winning back the House next year and Republicans have an excellent chance of winning control of the Senate.

Yet even with the prospect of an entirely GOP-controlled federal government in 2013, Democrats are outraising their GOP counterparts in month after month.

In September alone, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee nearly doubled the National Republican Congressional Committee’s take, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $1 million more than the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

What gives?

Here why Democrats are winning the money chase.

Cut, Cap, and Empty-Pocketed

The new House GOP majority stormed Capitol Hill with the single-minded goal of slashing federal spending.

But they’ve had a rude awakening: cuts to federal spending are a hindrance to healthy fundraising – especially when it comes to picking the pockets of the K Street donors and interest groups who depend on federal dollars.

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Can someone remind me again why the Republicans are worse?

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Money changes everything

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They want $lice of the occu-pie
500G fight at Zuccotti

Even in Zuccotti Park, greed is good.

Occupy Wall Street’s Finance Committee has nearly $500,000 in the bank, and donations continue to pour in — but its reluctance to share the wealth with other protestErs is fraying tempers.

Some drummers — incensed they got no money to replace or safeguard their drums after a midnight vandal destroyed their instruments Wednesday — are threatening to splinter off.

“F–k Finance. I hope Mayor Bloomberg gets an injunction and demands to see the movement’s books. We need to know how much money we really have and where it’s going,” said a frustrated Bryan Smith, 45, who joined OWS in Lower Manhattan nearly three weeks ago from Los Angeles, where he works in TV production.

Smith is a member of the Comfort Working Group — one of about 30 small collectives that have sprung up within OWS. The Comfort group is charged with finding out what basic necessities campers need, like thermal underwear, and then raising money by soliciting donations on the street.

“The other day, I took in $2,000. I kept $650 for my group, and gave the rest to Finance. Then I went to them with a request — so many people need things, and they should not be going without basic comfort items — and I was told to fill out paperwork. Paperwork! Are they the government now?” Smith fumed, even as he cajoled the passing crowd for more cash.

The Finance Committee dives on whatever dollars are raised by all the OWS working groups, said Smith, and doesn’t give it back.

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Taxes. Bureaucracy. Unequal distribution of wealth.

The New World Order is sounding a lot like the old one.

Except the new one is a parasite to the old one. They are squatting on land that belongs to someone else. They aren’t producing ANYTHING of value. They beg for donations from the old world. They consume gourmet food produced by the old world. They depend on the technology of the old world.

They criticize the old world without offering any solutions.

And people wonder why I mock them.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think the old world (the one the rest of the 99% live in) is perfect. There are lots of problems that need fixing, including the corrupt influence that Wall Street has on politics.

But OWS is not the solution.

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Sunday funny

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Biden focused on reelection fight, but ‘not closing any door’ on 2016 run

Vice President Joe Biden says he has not decided whether to run for president in 2016.

Speaking Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley, Biden said he would decide on a 2016 run later but right now his focus is on helping President Obama win reelection.

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Poor Joe, he doesn’t realize Obama picked him for impeachment insurance.

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Neblett

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Neblett went on the Dylan Ratigan show to say that Herman Cain isn’t presidential and reminds him of Flavor Flav.

Herman Cain:

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Flavor Flav:

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Yeah, I totally see the resemblance.

/snark

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A bad week for OWS

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It’s been a bad week for OWS – reports of rape, sexual harassment, “no-snitching” policies for sexual assault, rats, thieves, a runaway mom, internal strife, masked men threatening reporters, bar disruptions, firings, a foot-sniffer and a guy who climbed up on a statue and refused to come down. Their only “victory” this week was causing Eric Cantor to cancel a speech, which prevented a bigger victory because they didn’t get the chance to disrupt the speech.

There wasn’t anything cool, edgy and exciting. The media beast must be fed and OWS is starting to become boring. In the news business there is an old adage that goes “If it bleeds, it leads.” Drum circles and up/down twinkles don’t grab headlines. If the Occupiers want to extend their fifteen minutes of fame they better think of something quick.

An Occupation without reporters is just a camp-out.

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