Best of the Web, 2012: Presidential Election  (Return to Main)

The Campaign:

Four years later, when Reagan ran for reelection, he implicitly asked and answered that same question in a campaign commercial titled "Morning in America," which listed the ways the country was better off than it had been four years earlier. Don't look for any "Morning in America" ads from Obama. "Mourning in America" might be more appropriate.

The Most Divisive Campaign in American History: The Obama campaign is not accidentally divisive. It did not stumble into divisiveness. It is not even divisive as a byproduct of its real aims. Divisiveness is its aim. Divisiveness is the only way that a divisive administration can hold on to power. The anger and the violence are not an accident, they are the whole point.

The re-election effort is off-key and off-balance, making the president's strategic weaknesses more apparent. His record is uninspiring. He has no explanation for his first term and no rationale for a second.

Mr. Obama resumed his College Tour 2012 last week, visiting campuses in Iowa, North Carolina and Colorado for the purpose of replicating his 66% youth-vote total from 2008. In 2008, he reeled them in with promises of hope and change. In 2012 he's offering cash...

So Big Bird likes to maximize revenues and investment gains as much as the next muppet. And now the President has made this adorable critter the symbol of federal programs that allegedly require eternal taxpayer aid, even if it has to be put on the future tax bill of today's pre-schoolers. Is that funny?

The Debt:

Quote of the Decade: "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better." -Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006

Politifact: Deficit spending exploded during the Obama administration to $5.3 trillion over four years, compared to $2 trillion in eight years under President George W. Bush.

Treasury: U.S. to lose $25 Billion on the auto bailout.

Inconvenient Truths: If US household income was taxed at 100% above $250k, it would total $1.41 trillion -- enough to run the government for less than 5 months. Moreover, the "Buffett Rule" would only raise (over a decade) about 6 percent of what the US government spent on a one-time program, the stimulus. We have a spending problem.

The Tipping Point:

The vote in French presidential election should be a warning for America: It was considered by all the candidates for the French presidency to be excessive compensation that should be taxed away. The reason this is instructive is that it reflects the fact that there is a point of critical mass. If a culture gets to a position where your vote establishes your income, then it becomes rather reasonable to expect a massive growth in government, the outer limits of which have not even been reached in France. The effect of this will not be apparent for a while. But the outcome is inevitable.

Entitlement America: In Entitlement America, The Head Of A Household Of Four Making Minimum Wage Has More Disposable Income Than A Family Making $60,000 A Year.

As George Bernard Shaw said, "A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."

The Solution:

Isn't a Bainful Turnaround What America Needs? There's a very troubled company out there called U.S. Government Inc. It's teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. And it badly needs to be taken over and turned around... So now the question is, will America Inc. ask this former turnaround CEO to prevent the bankruptcy of U.S. Government Inc.? Isn't a Bainful turnaround exactly what America needs?

The Obama ad doesn't note that the broader company, GS Industries, employed 3,500 and that the Kansas City plant (with 750 workers) was the only one shuttered. Other plants were bought and operate today. Nor does it mention Bain's other steel investment in the early 1990s, in an Indiana start-up called Steel Dynamics. The firm touts innovative technology and a nonunion workforce. It today reports $6.3 billion in revenue—25 times what it claimed in its 1996 IPO—and employs 6,000.

The Ryan budget got 218 votes in the house, and 41 votes in the senate. Obama's budget got 0 votes in house and senate -- 3 times!

If the issue is our national economic life, the GOP will very likely win. If the subset of that issue is freedom and personal liberty, the GOP will win with meaning. The Obama campaign knows this. That's why they'll do anything to throw Republicans off those subjects. Two weeks ago it was contraception, next week it will be another social question. They used to scorn Republicans for using wedge issues, but now their entire strategy is a tribute to the political hacks they hated. And if any Republicans were sad that contraception actually came up as the subject of public debate, they were not as sad as Democratic strategists, who were hoping to save it for September.

Romney: America is fundamentally fair. We will stop the unfairness of urban children being denied access to the good schools of their choice; we will stop the unfairness of politicians giving taxpayer money to their friends’ businesses; we will stop the unfairness of requiring union workers to contribute to politicians not of their choosing; we will stop the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve; and we will stop the unfairness of one generation passing larger and larger debts on to the next... Today, the hill before us is a little steep but we have always been a nation of big steppers. Many Americans have given up on this President but they haven’t ever thought about giving up. Not on themselves. Not on each other. And not on America.

Other Thoughts:

Romney appeals to voters who are dissatisfied with the last four years. Obama appeals to voters who are dissatisfied with America.

Obama Agenda at Odds with Founders: The American people want government to protect their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But they know that government endangers liberty when it assumes the power to try to guarantee happiness itself.

The members of Congress are the "1 percent" deserving of the public's wrath: We're paying their salaries. We weren't taxed to pay Mitt Romney's salary at Bain Capital. We aren't taxed to pay the salaries of Jamie Dimon or Alex Rodriguez. Anthony Weiner? Him, we pay for.

YouTube: Gas Price Hypocrisy

Fun game: Every news report you hear about Mormons, replace "Mormon" with "Jew" "black," or "Catholic" and think how it sounds.