42 Percent
April 23, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I have been kicking around this idea of a political science research project for years based upon the notion that 42 percent of the public is batshit crazy at any given time. An average of 42 percent of the public believes things that are demonstrably false and factually untrue. If we were to examine … Read more
Bruce Merrill/Morrison Institute Poll: Arizona is a “toss-up” state
April 23, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Unlike the push polls that the Jesse Kelly camp was leaking to the media before the primary last week, a credible polling firm in Arizona is out with a new presidential race poll today that finds Arizona is a "toss-up" state in April 2012. Poll: Obama vs. Romney a 'toss-up' in Arizona — Morrison Institute:
With the 2012 presidential election just over six months away, the latest statewide Merrill/Morrison Institute poll found that Arizonans are evenly divided on whom they will support in November.
According to the poll of 488 registered voters, 42 percent said they would vote for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, while 40 percent said they would support President Barack Obama and 18 percent were undecided. Because the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent, if the election were held today the contest for Arizona’s 11 electoral votes would be a “toss up.”
The poll found that the electorate is divided along party lines: 80 percent of Republicans said they would vote for Romney, 78 percent of Democrats for Obama. Although the sample of political independents is small (n=166), independents appear to be breaking slightly more for Obama (38 percent) than Romney (28 percent). However, the independent vote is still up for grabs because 34 percent of independents said they are undecided.
“In Arizona, like the rest of the nation, political independents may determine who wins in November,” said poll director Dr. Bruce Merrill, a senior fellow at Morrison Institute for Public Policy. “The eventual outcome also may be dependent on whether former Surgeon General Richard Carmona can mount a vigorous campaign for retiring Sen. John Kyl’s seat, a campaign that would stimulate turnout in the Hispanic community. While I think if the election were held today Romney probably would win, it appears Obama can mount a competitive campaign in Arizona.”
Let the games begin! (or continue)
April 23, 2012
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by David Safier I just found out Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is quite the tweeter. His latest: This just keeps getting more interesting.
Ann-Eve Pedersen on renewing the one cent sales tax
April 23, 2012
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by David Safier Good interview with Ann-Eve Pedersen in the Republic Saturday on the one cent sales tax initiative. Before the excerpts, I want to restate what isn't well understood about the initiative. The sales tax money can't simply be folded into the general fund, letting the lege either keep education funding where it is … Read more
The Romney campaign’s descent into obsession and double entendre
April 23, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
We have incontrovertibly established that Willard 'Mittens' Romney is a pathological liar with the weekly "Fact checking the mendacity of Mittens" series via Steve Benen.
We have also established that the Romney campaign admittedly is engaging in a textbook case of psychological projection. Willard 'Mittens' Romney: 'I'm rubber, you're glue'.
Now the Romney campaign is descending into obsession. For the Romney campaign, time began with the inauguration of Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. All of human history which preceded President Obama's inauguration is irrelevant. Barack Obama is the source of all our woes, and he is not worthy of any praise for anything good that has occurred during his term.
Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom presented the new argument at a campaign stop in Ohio Last week:
"The fact that [the economy] struggled through the last three years is not the fault of Barack Obama's predecessor; it's the fault of this administration and the failure of their policies to really get this economy going again."
Ed Kilgore writes at the Political Animal blog, “Obama Isn’t Working”:
By now you’ve probably heard about the Romney campaign’s big slogan for the 2012 campaign, at least at this point: “Obama Isn’t Working.” When I first heard about it, I immediately flashed back to a moment early in the movie Sid and Nancy, when in the background of one gritty London scene you could see a poster reading: “Labour Isn’t Working,” the big Tory slogan in the general election of 1979 (unfortunatey for the credibility of the filmmakers, Nancy Spungeon’s death, the dramatic fulcrum of the movie, actually occurred in 1978).
And indeed, the official explanation for the slogan posted last year on the Romney campaign website explicitly cites the 1979 Tory campaign as its inspiration, touting the professional awards won by the consultants who devised it.
Pounding the Political Pavement
April 22, 2012
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by David Safier Saturday morning I went out knocking on doors for County Superintendent candidate Nancy Young Wright as well as Ron Barber and Richard Carmona. I was way up in the Northwest Territory, around La Canada and Naranja (just south of Tangerine). I was definitely not in solid Blue territory, though I was only … Read more
Commodity Futures Trading Commission claims first victory against oil market manipulator
April 22, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
U.S. regulators claimed their first victory in a four-year old effort to crack down on oil market manipulation on Thursday, announcing a $14 million settlement with high-frequency trading firm Optiver. High-frequency trader Optiver pays $14 million in oil manipulation case:
In a ruling that came just two days after U.S. President Barack Obama proposed a renewed campaign against illegal oil trading schemes, the Amsterdam-based company agreed to disgorge $1 million in profits and pay a $13 million civil penalty over allegations it used a rapid-fire tool nicknamed "The Hammer" to influence U.S. oil prices in 2007.
It was the first case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in its 2008 effort to curb market malfeasance, launched as prices soared toward a record near $150 a barrel in the middle of that year.
The case alleged that traders in Optiver's Chicago office reaped a $1 million profit by engaging in a practice called "banging the close", in which the firm attempted to move U.S. oil prices by executing a large volume of deals during the final moments of trading.
While far from the agency's largest fine, the case was viewed as an important milestone in the CFTC's efforts to get more aggressive over market manipulation – a charge that has historically been difficult to prove, despite mounting political pressure to take rogue traders to task.
"The CFTC will not tolerate traders who try to gain an unlawful advantage by using sophisticated means to drive oil and gas futures prices in their favor," David Meister, the CFTC's enforcement chief, said in a statement.
NY Times breaks new ground on ALEC story
April 22, 2012
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by David Safier The NY Times has a front page story about ALEC: Conservative Nonprofit Acts as a Stealth Business Lobbyist. It picks up from the frequently told story about ALEC model legislation spreading to state legislatures around the country and moves the ball farther. It talks about how ALEC acts as a watchdog on … Read more
