Allow me to establish from the outset that what Rand Paul is trying is valiant, admirable, and needed.   However, simultaneously he is up against a massive institutional complex which has designed the architecture of dependency and need it to remain.

“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system.
For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”  (link)

Some may dismiss what Rand Paul is actually trying to promote, I do not.
Beyond policy is something more important – engagement.
The greatest consideration a person or enterprise can give is the gift of understanding. As much as Rand Paul is offering policy suggestions to improve inner cities, he is engaged and listening.
However, one of the unfortunate realities he faces, which actually establishes the slope of the climb he is attempting, is the reality of dependency.
(more…)

By now almost everyone is aware of the “exclusive” MSNBC/Chris Matthews interview with President Obama on Thursday.

However, many may not know the venue,  American University’s Greenberg Theatre, was previously booked by a 7 and 8-year-old dance troupe, Ballet Petite, to present their Christmas Nutcracker Ballet under a $25,000 contract.   A contract the university cancelled/dismissed without any consideration.  The university just told the troupe and the parents, “tough”.
…Because when it comes to exclusive propaganda no previous commitments are bold enough to break the demands of the sycophants.
(Via Washington Post)  The fight for Christmas took a hit this week when politics bigfooted  a troupe of adorable little ballet dancers performing “The  Nutcracker.”
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews is scheduled to interview  President Obama on Thursday night at American University as part of the  “Hardball College Tour.” MSNBC approached AU to host the chat, and  officials jumped at the chance for a free, hour-long commercial for the  university and its students.
But the interview, announced Tuesday morning, abruptly kicked the  Ballet Petite’s rehearsals of ”The Nutcracker” out of AU’s Greenberg  Theatre. That didn’t sit well with the ballet school’s staff, teachers  and parents who have been preparing for the performance for months. (more…)

Brilliant parody ad for GOP Candidate Mike Collins (GA-10).   This commercial reflects a vibrancy, an ‘out of box’ new thinking, that can be infectious.  It is brilliant.

If the GOP is going to break the crusty dopey branding they are insufferably famous for –  this kind of enthusiastic risk taking is what sends an effective message.
I don’t know anything about Mike Collins per se’ but I do hold a remarkable level of appreciation for the 2010 freshman Tea-Party class of conservatives who have stood steadfast in the face of adversity from all sides.   That coalition can’t be bought and it’s driving the Dems, the media, and the establishment GOP nuts.    This Mike Collins type of approach is reinforcement for that group of reps who have patriotically held the line.

Is the bloom off the ruse?   Still too early to tell, and the mellennials have repeatedly shown a remarkable propensity to be duped and manipulated (see: Sandra Fluke et al) so until we see consistency from Jon Stewart’s watchers, meh.
WASHINGTON DC – The Obama thrill is gone among America’s millennials, those aged 18-29, just a year after they helped the president win a second term.

A new and shocking poll from Harvard University’s Institute of Politics released Wednesday found that younger Americans are so disgusted with President Obama, Congress, and the troubled Obamacare system, that 47 percent support recalling the president and just 29 percent are planning to sign up for health insurance.
“A critical factor in the election and reelection of Barack Obama, America’s 18- to 29- year-olds now rate the president’s job performance closer to that of Congress – and at the lowest level since he took office in 2009,” said Harvard Institute of Politics Director Trey Grayson.
How bad? Obama’s approval rating among millennials is just 41 percent. Even young blacks are tiring of the president, with his approval rating among African Americans dropping from 84 percent seven months ago to 75 percent today.  (read more)

As you review this latest revelation, think about the profound irony/hypocrisy behind an administration so heavy with regulation upon business, banking and economic sector activity – that now advocates for the entire financial reimbursement network behind the Healthcare system to run on “estimations”, “probabilities” and the “honor system”.
Why? Because this is a politically needed solution.  Not policy, POLITICS.

President Obama administration and HHS have no structural way established to track the financing and payments within the ObamaCare system. So their solution is to let the insurance companies “estimate” how much coverage costs, taxpayers will then give them a check for that amount, and then later -at some undisclosed time- they’ll “try” and reconcile the books. It’s the “honor system”.
Gee, what could possibly go wrong.

Talk about being on the wrong side of the American People….  Sheeesh, it’s no wonder there was no public audience today for President Obama’s Pro-ObamaCare speech.   Watch the video below for President Obama’s position and assertions.   The claps you hear are from the White House staff.

 “we’re not going back.” -PERIOD- “If you’ve got good ideas, bring them to me, let’s go.” -PERIOD-   “But we’re not repealing it as long as I’m president.” -PERIOD- (link)

Then contrast his position with a Rasmussen Poll released at the exact same time.  D’oh.
(Rasmussen Report)  Voters overwhelmingly want to change or repeal the new national health care law. One-out-of-two want to scrap it completely and start over again.
Given the problems associated with the law, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% of Likely U.S. Voters believe Congress and the president should repeal it and start again from the beginning.  That’s up from 43% support in late October.
Another 31% think Congress and the president should go through the law piece by piece to improve it.
Just 16% want to leave the law the way it is, down slightly from 18% four weeks ago.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(more…)

DETROIT — The city of Detroit officially became the largest municipality in U.S. history Tuesday to enter Chapter 9 bankruptcy after a judge declared it met the specific legal criteria required to receive protection from its creditors.

The landmark ruling ends more than four months of uncertainty over the fate of the case and sets the stage for a fierce clash over how to slash an estimated $18 billion in debt and long-term liabilities that have hampered Detroit from attacking pervasive blight and violent crime. (more…)

The headline might sound odd, until you realize the head of the RGA (Republican Governors Association) is now Chris Christie.   <– DUH !    Why would anyone think Chris Christie would help elect a Republican ?
Chris Christie worries about one thing, Chris Christie.
(New York Post)   Gov. Chris Christie’s “bizarre behavior’’ in refusing to say he’ll support a possible GOP challenger to Gov. Cuomo next year could derail his chances to become president, state and national GOP insiders have told The Post.
“Christie already has a problem with many Republicans refusing to forgive him because of his embrace of [President] Obama and his socially liberal policies,’’ said a nationally prominent GOP operative. “But this bizarre behavior in suggesting he won’t help a Republican defeat a Democratic governor, and a Cuomo no less, could finish off his chances of becoming his party’s nominee for president in 2016,’’ the operative continued.
Cuomo claimed last week that Christie, the new head of the Republican Governors Association — an organization whose purpose is to elect GOP governors — had quickly called him to say The Post was wrong in reporting the New Jersey governor was ready to back Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, should he become the Republican nominee for governor next year.
“I spoke to Gov. Christie this morning, who told me the exact opposite,’’ Cuomo contended in reference to last week’s “Inside Albany” column.  (continue reading)

All we want for Christmas is a solid semblance of Hope.

Hope that Senator Mitch McConnell will be defeated in the Kentucky primary next May. Beyond that, who knows?….

But Marc Thiessen makes a good case for Scott Walker 2016. Read it HERE
Actually, if you begin with the end in mind, it will take a McConnell defeat to even make the consideration of a Walker nomination possible.
What do you think ?

I hate to take exception with a substantive portion of this article but it misses several key factors.    Not the least of which is the decision to say: “….. if you like your plan/doctor, you can keep your plan/doctor – period”….., was not made AFTER the 2012 election, it was made way, way before.  President Obama and  crew were using this talking point in 2009 and 2010 (throughout term #1) and beyond – all the way to this summer.
The article seems to blame the absence of Axelrod, Gibbs and Plouffe for that fatal Obamacare talking point mistake.  This is factually incorrect.  David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs, David Plouffe and *others*, including those still there, were all present when that decision was made.
(The Hill) Former administration officials and Democratic operatives say President Obama is ill-served by his current White House staff and must reboot his second term team following the disastrous ObamaCare rollout.
First-term insiders argue the White House’s weakness was defined by a lack of preparedness, messaging blunders and failure to keep the president informed.
They say Obama’s team lacks depth after the departures of longtime advisers David Axelrod, David Plouffe, Robert Gibbs and Patrick Gaspard, and suggest new people must be brought on.
“You basically have [White House senior adviser Dan] Pfeiffer and [deputy chief of staff] Rob Nabors running the show politically, and that’s it,” one former administration official said. (more…)