United Liberty

There has been a lot of talk recently that we may see a brokered Republican convention this August. Most Republicans, including Karl Rove and Chris Christie, have dismissed the thought almost out of hand. But Roger Stone, a long-time Republican strategist, recently looked at the math and explained why this may be an issue that Republicans may have to face, though he agrees that it’s unlikely.

Stone discussed the prospect further last week on Fox and Friends:

A recently Gallup poll showed that a majority of Republicans don’t want a brokered convention. But with the dissatisfaction among Republicans towards the candidates may be too much for many to deal with come time for delegates to cast their votes in Tampa.

In a special on Fox News last week, John Stossel looked at some of bans and onerous laws that Nanny Staters have put in place; on everything from lemonade stands to raw milk to taxi services. In may seem a little ridiculous to complain about these things, but Americans are becoming increasingly at risk by dumb laws and regulations put in place by federal, state, and local governments:

No, but this tweet from the liberal congressman from northern Virginia will leave quite a few people puzzled about its meaning:

Given that Ron Paul favors major cuts in spending, reducing the debt, reducing government’s role in education, and a frugal foreign policy, it must follow that Representative Connolly is claiming that the Republican Party does not favor these things. He’s certainly right, but it seems to be an interesting admission from someone who accuses Republicans just this sort of “extreme” ideology.

A couple of days ago, Ezra Klein defended the Masschusetts healthcare law — using information provided by Fred Bauer — that then Gov. Mitt Romney helped bring to fruition, saying that, in his opinion, it is working because growth in health insurance premiums have slowed. Klein believes this will carry over on the national level because, after all, RomneyCare is essentially ObamaCare.

However, Peter Suderman takes issue with Bauer’s portrayal (and by extention, Klein’s portrayal) of RomneyCare, noting that the plans apologists are seeing only what they want to see:

Klein argues that this means that “RomneyCare is working. Across the board.” But at minimum, I think it’s too early to tell. Bauer notes—and Klein quotes—that between 2006 and 2010, “employer-sponsored health-care premiums for a family rose about 19% in Massachusetts, while they rose about 22% in the US as a whole.”

During four years of non-presidency, the 2012 election in the United States will finally furnish us a leader! While the media are jabbing away fruitlessly at the GOP candidates, one thing is certain: Barack Obama will not be elected twice. If he is (least likely), there will be rebellions in America’s Main Streets.

Just this morning; the USA Today reported, for instance, that the auto-industry bailouts of 2008, were a success! Success? More like highway robbery. There were two articles, one a reprieve to counter. But it is clear who is instigating GOP roadblocks: socialists, occupy wall streeters, the media, the IMF, the U.N. and other fat-cat democrat-billionaires and their crony go-for-mediocre claptraps. Cries for the ouster of president Barack Obama are heard world-wide.

Nightmare scenario reality: Obama’s assault on the markets, are plunging the world into darkness. In congress money is used like never before, to make Washington D.C. more like Paris. Let us be clear: no sane American wants/wanted this. It is time for this ghost, to make his ghoulish departure.

A government which becomes so large it is able to give to everyone, anything at anytime it wishes no matter the cost, will take it all away. Violently.

What has Obama done?

To sum up: he has stalled the economy (purposefully) into a ditch, ruined our dollar, made promises lies, frivoluosly disobeyed the constitution, waged war on all faith, handicapped elderly in a cement straight-jacket, given taxes to Egyptians for jihad against Europe, increased immigration and pummelled this great land with medicare, benefits, welfare, handouts, support, birth control, donations, freebies, impositions on all!

Auto-industry bailouts worked; only insofar as it was the only decision in a one-man’s debate. Another way to have dealt Detriot would have been; to let companies fail, let them go: whatever is left, would be parcelled out among those lasting.

As you know, Republicans in both chambers of Congress are beside themselves over the prospect of defense spending cuts. They’re trying to scare Americans into believing that we’ll be somehow vulnerable if any defense spending is cut by any amount. However, Veronique de Rugy notes that, in the grand scheme of the budget outlook, these cuts amount to next to nothing — roughly $54 billion annually.

So yesterday, I received an e-mail blast from Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee pointing to SecDef Leon Panetta’s agreement with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who had stated that the national debt “threaten[s] our national security”:

That’s all well and good, but Secretary Panetta’s solution isn’t just to cut spending in other areas. He much like President Obama, wants tax hikes.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday stepped back into the bitter debate over the nation’s debt, arguing that lawmakers should close the budget deficit through tax increases and changes to popular programs like Social Security rather than through additional cuts in Pentagon spending.

It wasn’t without drama in days leading up to Tuesday, but Mitt Romney won primaries in Arizona and Michigan. Polls in recent days, specifically in Michigan — Romney’s birth state, showed a close matchup between the former Massachusetts Governor and Rick Santorum, who had encouraged Democrats to cross the aisle to vote for him.

Arizona

• Romney: 47%
• Santorum: 27%
• Gingrich: 16%
• Paul: 8%

Michigan

• Romney: 41%
• Santorum: 38%
• Paul: 12%
• Gingrich: 7%

These results don’t mean that Romney is out of hot water. Super Tuesday (March 6th) looks like it will be a tough day for him, and it may become even tougher if Newt Gingrich decides to drop out of the race after what may be a poor showing. Conventional wisdom is that much of Gingrich’s support would go to Santorum.

But it doesn’t look like the race for the Republican nomination for president is going to end anytime soon, which bodes ill for the party. A nasty, prolonged race helps President Barack Obama and also hurts the GOP’s chances of holding the House and taking the Senate.

Now this is an interesting strategy. Faced with a increasingly tight primary in Mitt Romney’s home state of Michigan, Rick Santorum is reaching out to Democrats in a robocall in hopes to gain support ahead of the state’s primary next week:

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum hopes Michigan Democrats can help him earn a victory in Tuesday’s primary.

That’s right. The former Pennsylvania senator’s campaign paid for a robocall asking Democrats to vote for him in Tuesday’s primary.

Recent polls show chief rival and Michigan native Mitt Romney and Santorum virtually even heading into the primary.

“We know that if we can get a Reagan Democrat in the primary, we can get them in the fall,” said Hogan Gidley, communications director for Santorum. He confirmed the campaign paid for the call.

Political observers say the move is just another sign of how close the GOP race is — and a “logical ploy.”

As Santorum has done during numerous Michigan visits the past two weeks, the call attacked Romney’s stance on the auto bailouts, saying the former Massachusetts governor’s opposition “was a slap in the face” to Michigan workers, according to audio obtained by online political news outlet Talking Points Memo.

Many believe that Santorum would be President Barack Obama’s weakest opponent in a general election matchup due to his controversial positions on social issues, which would be unattractive to voters concerned about the economy. Needless to say, Michigan Democrats may be happy to oblige.

If you’ve driven around town recently, then you’ve no doubt seen the price of gas jump significantly over the course of the last few weeks. And while President Barack Obama’s approval ratings my also be rising slightly, thanks in part to an increasingly contentious Republican primary, Americans are unlikely to be happy about higher prices at the pump.

The Wall Street Journal explains that, despite Obama’s insistance that Republicans and unrest in the Middle East are to blame for higher prices, loose monetary policy and his own energy policy, which would cause prices to jump, are largely to blame:

Another suspect—one Mr. Obama doesn’t like to mention—is U.S. monetary policy. Oil is traded in dollars, and its price therefore rises when the value of the dollar falls, all else being equal. The Federal Reserve throughout Mr. Obama’s term has pursued the easiest monetary policy in modern times, expressly to revive the housing market. It has done so with the private support and urging of the White House and through Mr. Obama’s appointees who are now a majority on the Fed’s Board of Governors.

Oil staged its last price surge along with other commodity prices when the Fed revved up its second burst of “quantitative easing” in 2010-2011. Prices stabilized when QE2 ended. But in recent months the Fed has again signaled its commitment to near-zero interest rates first through 2013, and recently through 2014. Commodity prices, including oil, have since begun another surge, and hedge funds have begun to bet on commodity plays again. John Paulson says he’s betting on gold, the ultimate hedge against a falling dollar.

It has been months since federal agents raided Gibson Guitars in Nashville, seizing guitars and raw materials valued at roughtly $500,000 because the company allegedly violated Lacey Act regulations. However, Gibson has not been charged with a crime to date, yet the seized assets are still in the government’s possession: