Starbucks awkwardly takes sides in the #shutdown

I woke up this morning and found this email in my inbox from Starbucks, asking me to sign the "Come Together" petition:

Senator John Cornyn: Obama's shutdown strategy is to "maximize the pain" of the American people

Cornyn from his days on the
Texas Supreme Court

Last night, Texas Senator John Cornyn held a conference call with conservative bloggers and journalists. As we enter Day 2 of the government shutdown, his comments from just a few hours ago are becoming even more relevant as the day goes on. Thought I'd share some of my notes from the call with you.

Senators Cruz and Rubio mount new attack on Obamacare; opposing new continuing resolution [VIDEO]

Today, Texas Senator Ted Cruz introduced legislation, co-sponsored by Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Barrasso (R-WY), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Paul Isakson (R-GA), and Dean Heller (R-NV), to fully defund Obamacare. The bill is appropriately named the "Defund Obamacare Act of 2013."

Marco Rubio demands end to "Washington's reckless spending"

Senator Marco Rubio published an op-ed in USA Today yesterday, emphatically stating that any increase in the debt ceiling must be accompanied by real and significant spending cuts, as well as entitlement reforms:

Ouch, that's harsh: Congress less popular than head lice and Nickelback

Having a bad day? Take comfort in the fact you're not as hated as Congress.

According to a recent poll by Public Policy Polling, Congress just dropped to their lowest approval rating in American history, a brutal nine percent.

Hey Congress, check this out!

"Honey Boo Boo"

I have done my darnedest to avoid learning what exactly this "Honey Boo Boo" phenomenon is all about. I certainly never planned to blog about the show.

Now, I'm not claiming that my television viewing is any more intellectual than anyone else's, but every time I've seen that annoying kid screeching and making weird faces in the commercials, all I want to do is grab the remote control as fast as I can.

Turns out, however, that maybe we should all be paying a little more attention to this Honey Boo Boo kid...

New poll shows Scott Brown in "strong position" for special election

New reasons to smile

Boston's NPR radio station, WBUR, conducted a poll earlier this week that shows Scott Brown is in a "strong position" to rejoin his colleagues in the Senate, assuming John Kerry is appointed to be Secretary of State, triggering a special election.

The poll was conducted with 500 registered voters on Monday and Tuesday, and Brown's favorables are very high, even though it is less than two months after he lost a brutal campaign battle against Elizabeth Warren. 

In praise of simplicity

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'Tis the gift to be free...

- lyrics from "Simple Gifts," traditional Shaker folk song written and composed in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett

I'm writing from a coffee shop in Washington, D.C. this morning and my online news feed is full of discussions about this fiscal cliff mess: what the President is proposing, how the Republicans are reacting, whether there is any chance of a deal, how bad it will hurt our economy if we go off this fiscal cliff, whether it's even remotely possible to avoid it, and so on.

What frustrates me is that, as usual, the debate in this town misses the main point - neither side is taking any steps to address why we're in this mess in the first place.

Ain't that the truth!

Best depiction of the fiscal cliff negotiations I've seen so far:

Missing the point about the fiscal cliff

Taking a nice stroll off the fiscal cliff

Since the election, the news has turned to the ongoing negotiations regarding the so-called "fiscal cliff," and the potential compromises that the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate may make.

There are many questions being debated on the editorial pages and talk radio programs and cable television news shows:

Will the Bush tax cuts be allowed to expire?

Will the Democrats' rhetoric demonizing all those "millionaires and billionaires" actually be persuasive in getting Republicans to sign on to tax increases?

Romney gets real about the "War on Women"

Here's a great new ad from the Romney campaign, striking right at the heart of the Democrats' "War on Women" attack:

More on the polling...

Just wanted to follow up on the detailed Romney campaign memo I just posted regarding recent poll results...

Peter "DaTechGuy" Ingemi has a detailed analysis at his blog specifically looking at Public Policy Polling's recent Ohio poll. Basically, although PPP shows Obama up by 5, the numbers seem, well, less than reliable when you look at the underlying figures.

Romney pollster: "Don't get too worked up about the latest polling"

Several recent polls claim to show Obama enjoying a post-convention bounce, and back on top over Romney. There are a lot of reasons to be skeptical of what RedState's Erick Erickson characterized yesterday as "the cymbal clashing wind up monkeys of the Gang of 500," as certain sympathetic media outlets attempt to declare the election a done deal before a single voter has cast a ballot.

After we move past distracting nonsense from nationwide polls (when it's the electoral college results that matter), and polls of adults or registered voters (as opposed to likely voters), there are a number of external factors that will affect the vote in November that are not fully reflected in the polls from the past few days. The Romney campaign released a memo this morning from their pollster, Neil Newhouse, on the current state of the race. Newhouse makes a number of points that should give Republicans hope:

Romney: "If last night was the party, this morning is the hangover."

The Democratic National Convention started as our national debt crossed the $16 trillion threshold, and the morning after it ended, we have yet another depressing jobs report.

Unemployment fell to 8.1% from 8.3%, but that number is not actually a measure of new jobs created (or "saved or created," as the Obama administration likes to say), but rather how many Americans have given up looking for work.

In fact, as Reuters reported, "the labor force participation rate, or the percentage of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one, fell to 63.5 percent -- the lowest since September 1981."

Mitt Romney released a statement in response to the latest jobs report, calling it the "hangover" after the "party" of the Democratic National Convention:

Obama proves again that his own words make the best RNC ads

Yesterday, our national debt officially went over the $16 trillion mark. (You can watch the numbers dizzily spin along for yourself at USDebtClock.org.)

Appropriately, we hit this nausea-inducing milestone on the day that the Democrats kicked off their national convention, hoping to reelect Barack Obama, the guy who led the way in creating a large chunk of that debt.

Never one to pass up an opportunity, the RNC released another web ad, again using Obama's own words against him to make their point:

Turning Massachusetts Red, Part II

Almost two months ago, I wrote a post titled "Turning Massachusetts Red," about several of the Republican Congressional candidates running in Massachusetts, Sean Bielat, Jon Golnik, Jeff Semon, and Chris Sheldon:

Jeff Ashton, In His Own Words

My concerns about Jeff Ashton's ability to lead the Ninth Circuit State Attorney's Office aren't based on just the ridiculous Facebook comments by his campaign manager or the campaign's willingness to accept support from shady characters like Doug Guetzloe. 

Specifically, I have concerns about Ashton's temperament and suitability for the job itself. Running the State Attorney's Office for a large metropolitan area like Orange and Osceola Counties is not a job for an amateur.

FL-7 Update: Soul Mates, Fact Checks, and Art Museums

If you're not following the Republican primary for Florida's Seventh Congressional District, you're missing one of the most interesting races in recent political history. This is my home district in Orlando, and I have a personal interest in this race, so I've been writing a lot about it (see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here for starters).

Here are some of the latest updates from the campaign:

More failure from the stimulus: Energy Dept. loses $500K worth of equipment

That's our money (and our children's, and grandchildren's, and great-grandchildren's...) they're spending:

The Heritage Foundation reported earlier today on their blog, The Foundry, that $500,000 worth of equipment purchased as part of the "green energy" grants under Obama's stimulus program have gone missing.

Being a Congressman has its perks - ask John Mica!

Congress is awesome! Why do
 you think I stayed for 20 years?

Getting elected to Congress brings a lot of really cool perks. Besides having people address you as Representative and getting to shape the future of our country, there's the salary, excellent health insurance, multi-million dollar international vacations...

Wait, what? Multi-million dollar international vacations?