The Republican Nomination For President: The Race For The Race For The White House

I only read some rumors this would happen; did you see it on the news or on the web?

... never mind, found it on cnn

Cycloptichorn

I don't quite know what to make of it all. Perhaps Congress has noticed that their approval ratings are in the low teens.
Or perhaps it is all strategic maneuvering.

The GOP wants to get past it and on to firmer ground ASAP. From what I've read, their party strategists have finally noticed that being confrontational doesn't always bring about a rise in public support; and in an election year they can't afford to be going into the Summer looking intransigent in the face of a tax cut.

Cycloptichorn

Sounds reasonable considering how the No Party has been playing hard ball these past two years while their performance rating is its lowest ebb. If they say "no" to tax cuts for the working folks, they might as well kiss the next election bye bye.

KUMBAYA
I thought that I could invoke the image of Dems and Repubs sitting around a campfire toasting marshmallows and singing the old song that has roots in the black southern heritage.
I googled kumbaya to be sure I had the spelling right.
But too many pundits had beaten me to that.
Scroll down to the NPR article entitled "When did Kumbaya become such a bad thing?" (1/13/12).
Amusing.

I voted for Newt Gingrich yesterday ... he needs to win Georgia and I did my part to make that happen.


No guarantees for Newt Gingrich in Georgia

Obamacare’s Top Three Budget Busters

1. Medicaid Expansion: Beginning in 2014, Obamacare expands Medicaid to include all non-elderly individuals with income below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. The expansion of Medicaid accounts for more than half of the newly insured population under Obamacare. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, “By 2022, federal outlays for Medicaid are expected to total $605 billion, more than twice the 2012 amount,” and “about 95 million people will be enrolled in Medicaid at some point in the year.”

As Heritage analysts point out, the expansion will significantly impact both state and federal budgets. Heritage estimates the expansion will “increase state tax obligations by just under $33.5 billion for federal fiscal years (FY) 2014 through 2020. Of that amount, $21.5 billion will be the states’ share of the benefit costs, and just under $12 billion will be the states’ share of the added administrative costs.”

2. Exchange Subsidies: Obamacare establishes subsidies to purchase government-approved coverage in the new exchanges for qualified households between 138 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). CBO predicts, “About 8 million people will receive exchange subsidies in 2014 and roughly 20 million will receive them by 2022. Outlays for providing those subsidies, operating the exchanges, and running related programs will total $104 billion by 2022.”

Heritage analysts argue that the subsidies will urge employers to drop coverage, create disincentives to work, and shift the cost burden to taxpayers. Former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin calculates that an additional 35 million people could receive coverage through the exchanges, costing nearly $1 trillion more than original estimates for this decade.

3. Budget Gimmicks: Obamacare used a variety of Washington budget gimmicks to claim that the health care law would reduce the deficit, beginning with taking Medicare “savings” away from shoring up Medicare to offset new Obamacare spending.

The now “suspended” CLASS Act—the government-run long-term care program—was another gimmick. As Heritage experts explain, under the CLASS Act, “Beneficiaries will begin paying premiums in 2011 but will not receive benefits for five years. This frontloads revenue and creates the illusion of $70 billion to pay for new spending under PPACA. In reality, premium payments from CLASS will be used to pay out benefits in later years.”

Finally, Obamacare assumed that the 27 percent scheduled cut to physicians would go into effect, even though Congress has delayed it every year since 2003. This made Obamacare seem less expensive, furthering the claim that it reduced the deficit. But of course, Congress did not allow these cuts to go into effect, and the $300 billion in savings didn’t occur.

I love it.
Obama is to blame for the GOP raising spending.
Only in RW world I guess.

Every side spins things the way they think will work for them. Nothing new about that.

It's one of the joys of statistics.

~~~~

It would be courteous of H20man to reference his source (courteous toward the source, not A2k)

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/02/14/obamacares-top-three-budget-busters/

I was glad to see he voted for one of his declared preferences.

Question of the day: do you think Santorum can win the nomination for the GOP?

Cycloptichorn

Any of the GOP hopeful could win, so yes.

I think this surge for Santurom is just another sign of the republicans discontent with Romney. I don't know if it will last through to the convention, some are predicting a brokered convention. (didn't know what that was until I read the article)

The Likelihood of a Brokered GOP Convention is Increasing

At this point, Santorum seems to be in the best position for the nomination, but the republicans aren't too happy with any one of the top runners, so anything is possible.

Romney is still the one who is most likely nominee.

The ground has shifted under him a bit though. His big strength is the economy. Businessman blah blah blah.

The economy has been looking up a bit and social issues (gay marriage, contraception, Komen vs. Planned Parenthood) have been more prominent. That's not Romney's main thing -- and it's very much Santorum's.

So while Santorum is still a weak candidate, the current context favors him a bit more than it did in the past.

That could all change easily -- the economy could decline again, or not improve at all; Iran etc. could take center stage; social issues could fade again for whatever reason.

But right now Santorum looks more credible than he has, well, ever.

And as the only credible alternative to Romney, a feedback loop starts, too. People don't support him because they don't think he's electable -- then as more people do support him, and it looks like he's more electable, he then gets more supporters, etc.

Personally I think he'd lose to Obama worse than Romney would lose to Obama, but Romney is really taking his lumps over the course of this primary.

If Santorum wins Michigan -- which could happen -- I give him an actual chance of getting the nomination.

I still think Romney is more likely, though.

We are actually 'happy' with any of the above over Obama.

Anyone? Really? That's not sad, that is downright scary when considering some of what is out there.

Things will look much different and favor the GOP after the supreme court rules that Obamacare
is Unconstitutional and deliver this ruling in time for this countries 4th of July 2012 celebration.

Guess Santorum has decided to attack Romney about his negative ads with negative ad.

That's awesome - thank you for posting it!