Obama: The Six Trillion Dollar Man

How Barack Obama Lost the Youth Vote

In 2008, Barack Obama won the Presidency partly due to his "celebrity" status with the 18-25 age block.  His speeches, his use of new technology, and his "hope and change" message won over the hearts and minds of this pivotal age group.  My how things have change four years later.

In a new study, the economic future for American college graduates is bleak and could spell electoral trouble for President Obama.  With these results, he could be a one-term President:

• 53.6% percent of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed,
• 85% percent of college graduates expect to move back home.

With a failing economy, those who are fortunate to find employment are less off than four years ago.  A pivotal question when deciding which Presidential candidate to vote for.  Here are some key metrics:

• Decline in starting salary for high school graduates is down for both men and women.  Men realized a $2,040 salary loss in 2011 versus 2007.  Women realized a $640 loss for the same period.
• Decline in starting salary for college graduates is down for both men and women.  Men realized a $2,400 salary loss in 2011 versus 2007.  Women realized a $1,740 loss for the same period.

These salary metrics paint a daunting picture for college graduates as both dollars and time invested does not match the starting salary success of years past.  This could be another blog topic - but with these numbers - is college worth it?  Not under President Obama.

With regards to the 2008 platform of "Hope and Change", young adults are not sold on the performance.  Young adults saddled by less job and income opportunities realized it was just smoke and mirrors and if these numbers hold through election day, it could spell trouble for President Obama.  Here is why:

• 82 percent think it's harder to find a job
• 75 percent think it's harder to save for the future
• 71 percent think it's harder to pay for college
• 69 percent think it's harder to buy a home

 Hardly a success story.  With these numbers President Obama should have the Mayflower Moving Company on speed dial.

CPAC 2012: The Presidential Line Up

Three of the four Republican Presidential candidates addressed CPAC hoping to make the case in hopes of being the Republican nominee to face incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama. This blog post is not an endorsement of any candidate but created to share the CPAC 2012 speeches of the GOP field who attended CPAC. Ron Paul declined to attend CPAC.

GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum addresses CPAC 2012



GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney addresses CPAC 2012




GOP Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich addresses CPAC 2012

Mitt Romney's Pay-to-Play Plan to Win the White House

Let's face it, Mitt Romney has been running for close to six years to win the White House.  With his initial White House bid in 2008, Romney and his Free and Strong America PAC have been donating to Congressional and Senate candidates in hope of earning their support for his bid for the Oval Office.

The PAC which made no contributions until the 2008 election cycle, has been on a spending spree since.  Since 2008, the Free and Strong America PAC has dolled out $1,363,055 ($231,256 in 2008,  $789,299 in 2010 and $342,500 in 2012) to federal candidates.

Many of those federal Congressional and Senate candidates are now endorsing Mitt Romney in his 2012 bid for Congress.  See the grid below:

  

Senate Candidates	2008	2010	2012	Total
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.)	$0	$5,000	$2,500	$7,500
Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.)	$0	$9,671	$5,000	$14,671
Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.)	$0	$9,000	$10,000	$19,000
Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.)	$0	$5,000	$0	$5,000
Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.)	$2,300	$0	$0	$2,300
Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah)	$0	$0	$5,000	$5,000
Sen. John Hoeven (N.D.)	$0	$5,000	$2,500	$7,500
Sen. Mark Kirk (Ill.)	$0	$6,000	$2,500	$8,500
Sen. John McCain (Ariz.)	$0	$5,000	$0	$5,000
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)	$0	$0	$2,500	$2,500
Christine O'Donnell (Delaware)	$0	$5,000	$0	$5,000
Sen. James Risch (Idaho)	$2,299	$0	$0	$2,299
Sen. John Thune (S.D.)	$0	$0	$0	$0
	$4,599	$49,671	$30,000	$84,270

Congressional Candidates	2008	2010	2012	Total
Rep. Rodney Alexander (La.)	$4,600	$2,500	$2,000	$9,100
Rep. Mark Amodei (Nev.)	$0	$0	$0	$0
Rep. Charles Bass (N.H.)	$0	$3,500	$2,000	$5,500
Rep. Judy Biggert (Ill.)	$0	$3,500	$0	$3,500
Rep. Brian Bilbray (Calif.)	$2,300	$2,500	$2,000	$6,800
Rep. Rob Bishop (Utah)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Diane Black (Tenn.)	$0	$5,000	$2,000	$7,000
Rep. Mary Bono Mack (Calif.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Ken Calvert (Calif.)	$0	$1,000	$0	$1,000
Rep. Dave Camp (Mich.)	$2,300	$2,500	$2,000	$6,800
Rep. John Campbell (Calif.)	$2,300	$0	$2,000	$4,300
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Utah)	$2,300	$2,500	$2,000	$6,800
Rep. Howard Coble (N.C.)	$2,300	$2,500	$2,000	$6,800
Rep. Ander Crenshaw (Fla.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (Fla.)	$0	$0	$0	$0
Rep. Robert Dold (Ill.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. John Duncan (Tenn.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Jeff Flake (Ariz.)	$0	$2,500	$5,000	$7,500
Rep. Virginia Foxx (N.C.)	$2,300	$2,500	$2,000	$6,800
Rep. Jim Gerlach (Pa.)	$0	$3,500	$0	$3,500
Rep. Tim Griffin (Ark.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Michael Grimm (N.Y.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Nan Hayworth (N.Y.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Joe Heck (Nev.)	$0	$3,633	$2,000	$5,633
Rep. Wally Herger (Calif.)	$2,300	$0	$2,000	$4,300
Rep. Bill Huizenga (Mich.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.)	$0	$0	$0	$0
Rep. Leonard Lance (N.J.)	$2,300	$2,500	$2,000	$6,800
Rep. Jerry Lewis (Calif.)	$0	$0	$0	$0
Rep. Billy Long (Mo.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.)	$2,300	$2,500	$0	$4,800
Rep. Connie Mack IV (Fla.)	$3,965	$2,500	$0	$6,465
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.)	$0	$3,500	$2,000	$5,500
Rep. Patrick McHenry (N.C.)	$0	$0	$0	$0
Rep. Buck McKeon (Calif.)	$2,300	$0	$5,000	$7,300
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.)	$4,600	$0	$0	$4,600
Rep. John Mica (Fla.)	$0	$2,500	$0	$2,500
Rep. Jeff Miller (Fla.)	$0	$2,500	$0	$2,500
Rep. Jim Renacci (Ohio)	$0	$0	$2,000	$2,000
Rep. Phil Roe (Tenn.)	$0	$0	$0	$0
Rep. Hal Rogers (Ky.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Mike Rogers (Ala.)	$2,300	$2,500	$2,000	$6,800
Rep. Mike Rogers (Mich.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.)	$2,300	$2,500	$2,000	$6,800
Rep. Todd Rokita (Ind.)	$0	$0	$2,000	$2,000
Rep. Tom Rooney (Fla.)	$2,300	$2,500	$0	$4,800
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.)	$0	$2,500	$0	$2,500
Rep. Aaron Schock (Ill.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Mike Simpson (Idaho)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
Rep. Lamar Smith (Texas)	$2,300	$2,500	$2,000	$6,800
Rep. Michael Turner (Ohio)	$0	$0	$0	$0
Rep. Greg Walden (Ore.)	$0	$2,500	$0	$2,500
Rep. Ed Whitfield (Ky.)	$0	$2,500	$2,000	$4,500
	$45,365	$106,133	$76,000	$227,498

Data Source: OpenSecrets.org 
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00449280

It is important to note that no other Republican seeking the 2012 GOP nominee has a PAC that dolled out money, in return for endorsements.  Of all of the leadership PACs found on OpenSecrets.org, no other PACs are found to be linked to any other candidate seeking the 2012 Republican nomination.

Is it legal, yes.  It is questionable, yes.  It fails the smell test in that "you scratch my back, I'll scratch mine" mentality is how game is played in Washington.  And it is time to for this game to end. 

Mitt Romney's Bain Capital Problem

With all of the arrows and daggers flying around regarding the Bain Capital business model, it is important to underscore that its entire business is not all bad.  Bain Capital is a venture capitalist firm, a business model that pools large sums of money to either start a business, take a company public via IPO, or in its worst form gut a company for pure profit.

Bain Capital did all three.  To Mitt Romney's credit, Bain helped start Staples.  Today, Staples is a household name as a go to place for office supplies.

In 2007, Bain Capital was very successful to help take Blackstone Group public through a lucrative IPO.

In these two cases, venture capitalism was successful and true to the pure capitalist model.  Firms were either created or allowed to prosper to exchange of funds similar to procuring funds through a bank.


So why does Mitt Romney have a Bain Capital problem? 

American Pad & Paper and KB Toys are a classic example.  American Pad & Paper, owned by Bain Capital, was gutted to the core while Romney was CEO of Bain Capital.  Wages cut, then jobs were cut.  Plants shuttered and towns once proud became ghost towns.

With KB Toys, Bain loaded KB Toys with debt and then used to debt to buy Bain Capital stock for profit.  KB Toys is no longer.

The difference between pure capitalism where businesses are allowed to start, grow, prosper and fail is that leveraged buyouts and corporate raids - a legal, but questionable practice by venture capitalist firms to maximize return on investment (ROI) for the firm and its investors.

Let's be clear - raiding a company and gutting it, is not capitalism.  It is corporatism that only benefits the investors of the firm that owns the firm.  Corporate raiding as it in the case of American Pad & Paper is artificial and counter-

Because when Bain Capital raided American Pad & Paper (Ampad) and KB Toys, they were proud of its self-termed "destructive capitalism".

Now that Romney is running for President and crediting his business record as the counter to Obama, it's fair to see that not all is rosy with Mitt Romney.  Too be the compassionate conservative eager to earn votes of conservatives, many of whom lost their jobs in rural America, seems hollow and hypocritical.

Was Romney a successful manager of Bain Capital?  Yes.  But when you want to earn votes saying you will help create jobs, when you helped do the opposite, that rings of pure hypocrisy.  Not to mention the toll on workers and families, as evidenced here.

Remember, the backbone of corporate raiding is greed.  And contrary to Gordon Gekko, greed is NOT good.

South Carolina Presidential Debate Recap

Last night, five Presidential hopefuls stood in front of the nation and made their case why they should be the Republican nominee for President in 2012.  The five hopefuls do not represent the complete Republican list of candidates looking to unseat current President Barack Obama.  The five hopefuls in round one were: Representartive Ron Paul (R-TX), entrepreneur Herman Cain, former Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), and former Governor Gary Johnson (R-NM).

So who won this round?  Herman Cain clearly won and gave the best answers in a concise decisive response.

Despite Cain's strong performance, there were some other themes that came out in this debate.  All candidates believe that President Obama is a weak, and despite a victory in the capture and assassination of terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden, that was on small victory in the midst of a an ocean of failures.

Rick Santorum highlighted that Obama was only successful when continuing former President George W. Bush's policies (notably taking out Obama).

The strategy of when to use military force was widely debated and this generated a wide array of responses.  Cain emphasize using force only when you have an objective, a sense of how it benefits United States and roadmap to victory.  Gary Johnson is opposed to nation building.

Ron Paul stated he would cut all foreign aid to Middle Eastern countries, a sign that giving money to foreign countries is not a prudent way to be strong foreign policy.  Given our national debt, this is also why foreign aid should be limited, unless humanitarian.

The next big segment of the debate focused on the economy, jobs and rising (gasoline) prices.  Unilaterally they all criticized Obama for his failure on this front.  As you can imagine the candidates had differening opinions on how turn things around

• Gary Johnson stated he would eliminate the federal corporate tax rate, elimintate the federal minimum wage and suspend the extension of unemployment benefits
• Herman Cain stated he would establish a real energy independence plan to mine resources in the U.S.; and also eliminate the IRS and replace the tax code with a fair tax.
• Tim Pawlenty criticized the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for telling a private firm (Boeing) where they can put a plant. 
• Ron Paul stated that the union wage is tantamout to an artificial wage and should be eliminated.

The embattled health care reform bill passed last drew wide criticism.  Santorum stated the bill should be repealed.

On the federal deficit, Paul stated we should not raise the debt ceiling. 

Cain was very decisive on immigration.  He laid out a four-prong plan.  The plan is: secure the border, enforce the laws, define a path to citizenship and empower states to comply with the laws.  On this issue, Gary Johnson stated he would invoke a work visa, that would have a background check and must have work for work visa to be valid.

2012 Presidential Poll

Please take our online poll, located on the right toolbar for your choice(s) for the 2012 GOP nominee for Preisdent.  The poll will remain active until Sunday, May 8th at midnight.  Results will be announced on Monday, May 9th.

This poll is to guage preference on who readers would like to see in the White House.  Candidates may not necessarily be a candidate in 2012, although media reports indicates possibility of a candidacy for 2012.

A Graphical View at the 2012 GOP Presidential Field

The New York Time has a interesting graphic depiction of how the 2012 GOP prospects line up based on ideology and whether they are an insider versus outsider.  Here is the graph:

From a conservative standpoint, here is how the line up:

• Insiders:  Former Senator Rick Santorum (PA), Former Anbassador to U.N. John Bolton, Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (GA) , Governor Haley Barbour (MS), Senator John Thune (SD), Former Governor  Tim Pawlenty (MN).
• Outsiders: Representative Michelle Bachmann (MN), Senator Jim DeMint (SC), Former Governor Sarah Palin (AK), Herman Cain, Former Governor Mike Huckabee

Tim Pawlenty is a true centrist with half of his positions on the conservative side, and half on the moderate side.  It is odd that the author of the graph placed former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson as a moderate, as well as Governor Mitchell Daniels of Indiana.  Both have not governed as moderates. 

As the article illustrates, it is interesting that Jim DeMint and Michelle Bachmann are considered outsiders.  Both have been part of Congress for years, but it seems that their enthusiastic support of the Tea Party principles make them at adds with the beltway elite.

The size of the circle depicts the likelihood of the candidate winning the GOP nomination.  That is if the field is as depicted.  Senator John Thune already eluded to not running in 2012, but may be open to 2016.

So conservatives, do we have our work cut out for us?  Remember what we are dealing with now, and why elections matter.