The Blue Collar Intellectual

GOP has a Message Problem..- STOSSEL explains

John Stossel explains why the GOP is not holding the interest of voters...AGAIN. 

To sum up: While this constituency is deeply disappointed in the president, it is deeply skeptical that Republicans offer anything better. Take the case of the debt, which these voters list as their second largest concern (after the economy). What quickly became clear in the focus groups is that voters see the size of the debt as a proxy for Washington incompetence.

As a result, the constant GOP refrain that Mr. Obama has overspent—the "fiscal" argument—washes over these voters; they are convinced anyone in Washington would do the same. What resonates instead is the "moral" argument about the size of government. Complain to voters that Mr. Obama has "overspent," and they tune out. Explain to voters that Mr. Obama—in keeping with his vision of all-powerful federal government—wasted millions on Solyndra with a loan that impeded private markets and created no jobs, and they are enraged.

"To lock down voters in the middle, Republicans are going to have to convince them that Obama isn't just a flawed and ineffective leader, but that he has an agenda and motivations that they don't share...READ THE REST

SEC Charges Ex-Fannie, Freddie CEOs With Fraud

#fannie #freddie #tcot #teaparty

WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission has brought civil fraud charges against six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying they misled the government and taxpayers about risky subprime mortgages the mortgage giants held during the housing bust.

Those charged include the agencies' two former CEOs, Fannie's Daniel Mudd and Freddie's Richard Syron. They are the highest-profile individuals to be charged in connection with the 2008 financial crisis.

Mudd, 53, and Syron, 68, led the mortgage giants when the housing bubble burst in late 2006 and 2007. The four other top executives also worked for the companies during that time.

The case was filed in federal court in New York City.

In a statement released through his attorney, Mudd said the lawsuit "should never have been brought" and said the government reviewed and approved all of the company's financial disclosures.

"Every piece of material data about loans held by Fannie Mae was known to the United States government to the investing public," Mudd said. "The SEC is wrong, and I look forward to a court where fairness and reason -- not politics -- is the standard for justice."
Syron's lawyer couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

According to the lawsuit, Fannie told investors in 2007 that it had roughly $4.8 billion worth of subprime loans on its books, or just 0.2 percent of its portfolio. The SEC says that Fannie actually had about $43 billion worth of products targeted to borrowers with weak credit, or 11 percent of its holdings.

Read THE REST At FoxNews: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/16/sec-charges-ex-fannie-freddie-ceos-with-fraud/?cmpid=cmty_twitter_foxnews_sec-charges-ex-fannie-freddie-ceos-with-fraud#ixzz1gjvszjkQ

Tea Party/GOP Rino War, Tea Party..... Winning!

#gop #teaparty #winning #tcot
The Tea Party movement has become a major influence in Republican politics. So major in fact, that the party establishment is starting to fight back against it. We can truly say there is a war going on between the Tea Party and GOP old-guard for control of the Republican party.

The primary tactic of the RINOs is to criticize the Tea Party for backing “unelectable” candidates (candidates that are too conservative to appeal to moderate voters). There is a constant refrain that every election loss is due to Tea Partiers refusal to compromise—their insistence on backing actual conservatives instead of compromising their values to back more “practical” candidates. To hear someone like Karl Rove talk, you would think the Tea Party movement has been a disaster for the GOP; costing them many house seats and a senate majority.

The RINO spin doesn't match up with reality....READ THE REST AT the Conservative Hand

Occupy the North Pole

Hat tip MRC

MSNBC asks if Newt Personifies Evil

Gee are they even pretending to be even-handed anymore? Oh brother. Who are these people who believe that someone who believes in conservative solutions to issues is somehow inherently evil?