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Republican 2012 Nomination Thread


Texsox

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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66114.html

 

Ron Paul’s opinions about cutting the budget are well-known, but on Monday, he got specific: The Texas congressman laid out a budget blueprint for deep and far-reaching cuts to federal spending, including the elimination of five Cabinet-level departments and the drawdown of American troops fighting overseas.

 

There’s even a symbolic readjustment of the president’s salary to put it in line with the average American salary.

 

“Our debt is too big, our government is too big, and we have to recognize how serious the problem is,” Paul said during an afternoon speech in Las Vegas ahead of Tuesday’s GOP debate there.

 

The plan, Paul said, would cut $1 trillion in spending his first year in the White House and create a balanced federal budget by the third year of his presidency.

 

“All the current candidates and many in Washington, they sort of talk around [the problem],” Paul said. “A lot of people will say, ‘well cutting a trillion dollars in one year is radical.’ Well, I operate under the assumption that the radicals have been in charge for way too long.”

 

Many of the ideas in Paul’s 11-page Plan to Restore America are familiar from his staunch libertarianism, as well as tea party favorites, like eliminating the Education and Energy Departments. But Paul goes further, proposing an immediate freeze on spending by numerous government agencies at levels from 2006, the last time Republicans had complete control of the federal budget, and drastic reductions in spending elsewhere. The Environmental Protection Agency would see a 30 percent cut; the Food and Drug Administration would see a 40 percent cut; and foreign aid would be zeroed out immediately. He’d also take an ax to Pentagon funding for wars.

 

Appearing on CNN ahead of the speech, Paul was pressed by Wolf Blitzer on how eliminating about 221,000 government jobs across five cabinet departments would boost the economy. He responded: “They’re not productive jobs,” he said.

 

“You cut government spending, that money goes back to you. You get to spend the money,” Paul said during his speech. “I am absolutely convinced it is the only road to prosperity.”

 

Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, food stamps, family support programs and the children’s nutrition program would be block-granted to the states and removed from the mandatory spending column of the federal budget. Some functions of eliminated departments, such as Pell Grants, would be continued elsewhere in the federal bureaucracy.

 

And in a noticeable nod to seniors during an election year, when Social Security’s become an issue within the Republican presidential primaries, the campaign says that plan “honors our promise to our seniors and veterans, while allowing young workers to opt out.”

 

The federal workforce would be reduced by 10 percent, and the president’s pay would be cut from $400,000 to $39,336 — a level that the Paul document notes is “approximately equal to the median personal income of the American worker.”

 

Paul would also make far-reaching changes to federal tax policy, reducing the top corporate income tax rate to 15 percent, eliminating capital gains and dividends taxes and allowing for repatriation of overseas capital without tax penalties. All tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush would be extended.

 

And like the rest of his GOP rivals, Paul would repeal President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, along with the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform law enacted last year. A longtime Federal Reserve critic, Paul would also push a full audit of the central bank, as well as legislation to “strengthen the dollar and stabilize inflation.”

 

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/...l#ixzz1bRFybBjV

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 23, 2011 -> 02:46 PM)
Governor Rick Perry has "No definitive answer" as to whether President Obama's long-form birth certificate is real. He did add that the question is a distraction...but wouldn't actually say yes to the question when given the chance.

 

no one cares.

 

Perry isn't going to be the nominee, and Obama is not going to win re-election. Therefore the interview is entirely irrelevant.

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Once Perry's team starts with the ads and stump speeches, watch him rise in the polls in the areas he has been. He's damn good in person. I have seen him a few times and he connects with an audience.

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QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 24, 2011 -> 07:14 PM)
Once Perry's team starts with the ads and stump speeches, watch him rise in the polls in the areas he has been. He's damn good in person. I have seen him a few times and he connects with an audience.

Correction - he's damn good in person on a stage with no one else involved in a discussion. He's good at giving speeches.

 

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 08:50 AM)
Correction - he's damn good in person on a stage with no one else involved in a discussion. He's good at giving speeches.

Some here would apply that same standard to the WH's current occupant.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 07:52 AM)
Some here would apply that same standard to the WH's current occupant.

And to an extent I agree. Though, I do think Obama is better in debates than Perry has been. That's not saying much though. They both shine during organized, written speeches, but struggle to varying extents in other situations.

 

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 09:21 AM)
As I said on FB, this is probably the 2nd most WTF political ad I've seen. The whole thing is bizarre, but the smoking is probably the most bizarre.

 

Nothing tops Mike Gravel throwing a rock in a lake though.

I'll stick with the Demon Sheep thank you very much.

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 07:50 AM)
Correction - he's damn good in person on a stage with no one else involved in a discussion. He's good at giving speeches.

 

 

And once the primary season hits and the candidates are forced onto smaller stages in each state, Perry will rebound nicely and pick up momentum against Rom. He's been given up for dead a couple times and is still in the race. He may be the GOP version of Clinton when it comes to feeling our pain.

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QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 01:46 PM)
And once the primary season hits and the candidates are forced onto smaller stages in each state, Perry will rebound nicely and pick up momentum against Rom. He's been given up for dead a couple times and is still in the race. He may be the GOP version of Clinton when it comes to feeling our pain.

He's been given up for dead a couple times? I count 1...right now...and he's "Still in the race" in the same sense that Jon Huntsman is right now.

 

He definitely has a road to the nomination...but he has to go "All in" on Iowa.

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 09:18 AM)
I was talking about Prez ads I guess, but didn't specify.

 

OK, here are the three ads we are discussing. You decide which is best/worst...

 

Demon Sheep

 

 

Demon sheep is by far the cheeziest.

 

But what the hell is with the drag of the cigarette in Cain's!? Just pure stupidity to have that in a commercial.

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you guys are way off with your rankings (well maybe except for the one where the guy throws a rock in the lake. wtf was that?)

 

1) Taliban Dan Webster ad

 

2) The hilarious ads Blanche Lincoln ran against Bill Halter

Edited by mr_genius
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So today, Mittens made an appearance at a rally in Ohio in favor of ohios union busting law, which is on the ballot soon. Mittens has endorsed that law in the past. He was asked about that law at the rally for the law he was attending today...and responded without comment, saying he didn't know enough about the issue. That he'd commented on before. That he was at a rally for.

 

He's so precious.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 01:01 PM)
He's been given up for dead a couple times? I count 1...right now...and he's "Still in the race" in the same sense that Jon Huntsman is right now.

 

He definitely has a road to the nomination...but he has to go "All in" on Iowa.

 

Other times in his career, but this is a guy that has never lost a race, the longest serving governor in Texas history. He flat out knows how to win and has assembling a heck of a campaign team.

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