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Thingish Things

Romney the Extreme Moderate

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Apr• 24•12

The Obama campaign has worked for more than a year to position Mitt Romney as a moderate who would sacrifice his principles to win the Republican presidential primary. Indeed, Mr. Romney has been disparaged from every political direction as being a…God-forbid…centrist, so much so that that perception is now axiomatic. Ask a voter anywhere to use three words to describe the former Massachusetts governor and chances are that one of those words will be “moderate.”  

But now that Mr. Romney has the Republication nomination effectively locked up, the Democrats preposterously are trying to label him an “extremist,” as they do of all Republicans these days.  Alana Goodman of Commentary has a good piece on this today. 

But will voters believe that? Will anyone belief that Mitt Romney has become a right-wing fanatic? I think not. 

All the attacks from the Left and the Right have branded Herr Romney exactly where he needs to be– just to the right of the middle.  That’s where most American voters are. And who does Mr. Romney have to thank for his ideal positioning? All of the above, but especially the Obama campaign.  It has spent millions on the effort. Much appreciated. 

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Dems: Look Away from the Economy!

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Apr• 24•12

Senate Democrats, led by Machiavellian New York Senator Chuck Schumer, have become masters at the art of distraction.  The nation is $16 trillion in debt and without a budget for the third straight year, so what should we all be talking about?  Arizona immigration laws. 

This is the latest feint from the Democratic Party to take the focus away from the crippling debt and lack of leadership in the Senate and White House to deal with it (one wouldn’t want to propose anything that might be politically unpopular.)  Republicans will probably take the bait hook, line, and sinker, just as they did with contraception, abortion, the Trayvon Martin case, etc.  

This is what we will see from now until Election Day — Democrats like Mr. Schumer promoting wedge issues to lead the national conversation away from the economy, present and future, and to peel away individual constituencies.  And at the end of the campaign, we will have an even larger debt; we still will be borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we spend, and the Senate will have not passed a budget in three-and-a-half years. 

Maybe it’s time for “The War on Distraction.”

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NY Primary Day Reminder

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Apr• 23•12

Just a reminder to any New York Republicans out there that the New York Republican presidential primary is tomorrow, Tuesday, April 24th.  Polls are open from 6 am until 9 pm.  Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum will all appear on the ballot. 

Primaries for House and state legislative races will be held later in the year. 

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American Civics Exchange Launches (Beta)

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Apr• 23•12

One of the smartest guys I know, who also has one of the coolest names going, Flip Pidot (Pid-Oh), has just launched a beta version of the first US-based commercial market for political futures. The American Civics Exchange, which is using play-money for now, will enable “businesses and investors to reliably hedge financial exposure to changes in public policy, using binary futures contracts tied to the outcomes of underlying events, including changes in tax policy, enactment of proposed legislation, issuance of regulatory decisions, etc.”

In other words, you can bet on stuff that may or may not happen, with real money speculating coming later in the year. It is no different than hedging other market movers as is readily done today. 

Some basic information from the site:

Trading on this demo site differs from our pending real-money exchange trading in a few ways:

  • All transactions on this site are denominated in fictional dollars
  • Real-money trading will take place on a regulated designated contract market (DCM), with all trades cleared by a derivatives clearing organization (DCO) and subject to regulation by the CFTC.
  • This site makes use of an automated machine-based market maker.
  • Certain trading activity (and comments, discussion threads) are viewable by other market participants, in order to foster an ongoing conversation about existing and prospective traded products.
  • Real-money trading will include products/outcomes not included in the demo, likely including additional tax contracts, regulatory outcomes related to Dodd-Frank, items related to the federal budget, and more. If you’ve got an idea for one you don’t yet see on the site, you can create your own.
One thing I’ll bet on off the bat: If Flip Pidot is behind this, it will be a massive success. Trust me; he’s thought it through. 
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Pentagon Portraits and Probes

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Apr• 21•12

Two Pentagon stories worth noting, one potentially scandalous, one downright hysterical.  We’ll start with the light one.

It was discovered this week that Pentagon pranksters hung the portrait of an ensign friend in a hallway of the edifice over the brass placard description: “Ensign Chuck Hord. USNA circa 1898. Lost at sea 1908.” It went unnoticed for seven months. The man actually portrayed  is the very-much-alive U.S. Navy Capt. Eldridge “Tuck” Hord III whose parents commissioned the portrait of him in the 1980’s shortly after his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy.  The portrait became a running joke among Hord’s friends, who snuck it onto a Defense Department headquarter wall last year.  The thing that finally gave them up was Hord’s decidedly 1980’s dry-look haircut. (Note: I will never reveal it on these pages, but an American university is proudly displaying a prominent — and totally bogus — artifact today courtesy of my father. Please don’t ask.)

Now for the bad Pentagon story:

USA Today is reporting that one of its journalists probing Pentagon practices has become the subject of an online smear campaign that includes the creation of fake Twitter, Facebook, and Wikipedia accounts. A fake website under the reporter’s name also was created. The false sites disappeared as quickly as they appeared as soon as USA Today confronted a Pentagon spokesman about them. The Defense Department is now looking into the activities hired “contractors.” We should all keep an eye on this story. It has the potential to be a big one. 

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Quote of the Week, Newt Gingrich

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Apr• 20•12

 

“I’m the tortoise in the race.” –Newt Gingrich

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Unearthed Tigers

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Apr• 19•12

A really, really cool story comes along once in awhile that brings history to life.  We get one today courtesy of Fox News. A squadron of World War II British Spitfire fighter planes, replete with then top-of-the-line Rolls Royce engines, has been discovered in Burma. They are absolutely pristine. The planes had been shipped from England in 1945 waxed and wrapped, but the war ended prior to their use, so the Brits buried them in crates deep in the ground because it was cheaper to do that than to ship them back home where they would be sent to a scrap heap along with thousands of other retired combat airplanes. 

The Spitfire captured the imagination of the world more than any other other World War II fighter.  As of yesterday, only 35 in flying condition remained. Twenty virtually brand new ones may soon join them in the air. 

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Newsflash: It’s the Economy, Dummy

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Apr• 19•12

A. Doesn’t this headline say it all? 

B. No @*%$, Sherlock. 

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Secret Service Party: The Pre-Planning is the Freak Out

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Apr• 19•12

The worst news yet about the Secret Service prostitution scandal is that it was pre-planned. It was bad enough that it happened, but in the grand scheme of life unsurprising. People are fallible and anything semi-spontaneous can happen when human nature and tequila are mixed. Trust me. 

But it now appears that the Colombian sex and booze fest was soberly plotted, and by several agents.  That’s a freak-out. Alarm bells must have been shrieking, but somehow they were ignored by multiple agents. 

The morality of this is immaterial. I couldn’t care less what people drink and who they sleep with. But the security breach opened in Colombia is unforgivable. Criminal gangs run prostitution networks, and the agents involved put themselves at their mercy — not carelessly, but thoughtfully.  They planned the caper. That’s the real problem. One agent out drunk finding himself in a pretzel maneuver behind a bar is one thing.  Organizing a sex party for 30 in a hotel and exposing fellow agents to blackmail, kidnapping, or document theft in the process is another entirely. How is possible that no one put his foot down? 

Americans love and respect the Secret Service. It is better than this. 

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For Wisconsin Watchers

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Apr• 18•12

It looks like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) is gaining strength in the union-led recall effort. The latest polling numbers show that, if the election were held today, Governor Walker would win fairly handily.  That’s a substantial improvement over polling from a couple of weeks ago. 

Jonathan Tobin of Commentary has an interesting piece out today arguing that a Walker win in June will put Wisconsin, a traditionally liberal state, in play in November. That could have serious ramifications for President Obama’s re-election strategy. I would argue, too, that a Walker loss might put Wisconsin in play, as it would likely galvanize fiscal reformers in the state alarmed by his premature, union-engineered ouster.  Either way, it’s looking like Wisconsin will be on the map this year in the presidential contest. That’s a big deal, and one Team Obama cannot be happy about. It’s a state to watch. 

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