LIBRE Initiative launches new Spanish TV ad in Orlando

The LIBRE Initiative, a conservative organization focused on Hispanic outreach, launched a television ad for Spanish television stations in the Orlando market during this last week before the election, with a simple yet powerful message:

Obama suggests "Secretary of Business," Romney suggests he get a clue [VIDEO]

A few days ago, Obama mentioned in an interview that if he wins a second term (heaven forbid! ugh...), he'd like to create a "Secretary of Business."

The Romney campaign responded this morning with a message that is spot on:

New AFP Ad & Super Saturday Walk in Orlando

Americans for Prosperity launched a new ad today about what life is like around the dinner table for the more than 12 million Americans who are unemployed. AFP New Media Director Stephanie Fontenot described the ad as follows:

It's a common scene and, to some, an all too familiar situation. As a response to the jobs report released this morning, we've just launched our new ad, "The Dinner Table" online. It's uncomfortable, awkward, and a real-life example of the impact of President Obama's harmful economic policies and failing agenda.

You can watch the ad here:

Is the UPS Store using "You Didn't Build That" as a theme in their new ad?

I noticed this UPS Store ad about a week ago, and it stuck in my mind for some reason, a reason which didn't really make sense at first. 

Watch the ad yourself, and see if you notice the same interesting thing that I did about the ad:

Obama is better than the previous 11 presidents combined!

Oh yes, I am absolutely serious about that post title. Barack Obama is better than the eleven presidents who held the office before him. In fact, he's better than all eleven of them combined.

The unfortunate thing for Obama is the category where he is better than his predecessors:

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:

Paul Ryan: "This is not even close to what a recovery looks like"

Paul Ryan gave an interview earlier this morning in response to today's jobs report, which he slammed as "the result of failed leadership in Washington [and] bad fiscal policies coming from the administration:"

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:

New Romney ad uses Democrats to hit Obama on welfare issue [VIDEO]

It's no secret to my readers that I think Barack Obama has been a colossal failure as a president.

Forty-one straight months of unemployment over eight percent is nothing to cheer about, but Obama seems to think that moving more people out of the job market and into entitlement programs is a positive development.

How else to explain his decision a few weeks ago to cut out the heart of the 1996 welfare reforms that were passed by Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress? 

The Romney campaign is seizing the opportunity, using harsh language from members of Obama's own party to tell the story in a new ad, just released late last night:

Want jobs in your state? Vote Republican.

If something happens once, it's probably a fluke. Twice, might be a coincidence. Seventeen times? Well, that might be worth studying.

On Friday, Examiner.com published an analysis of the unemployment rate in the seventeen states that elected new Republican governors in 2010, noting that every single one of these states had seen an improvement in their jobs rate:

Rubio may have solution for gridlock on jobs bills

Earlier this week, I posted an interview with Representative Sandy Adams, in which she expressed House Republicans' frustrations about how they had passed over twenty jobs bills, but the Senate had yet to approve any of them, or even allow them to be discussed.

Well, at least two Senators are willing to start the ball rolling. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, teaming up with Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) in a bipartisan effort, has sponsored the "American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment, and Entrepreneurship Act" - aka "The AGREE Act." 

Headed in the Right Direction

Here's something cool...jobs numbers that are actually positive!

Governor Rick Scott posted the latest employment figures on his website, showing that Florida’s unemployment rate for September was 10.6 percent, down 1.3 percentage points since he took office.

This year shows a positive overall trend: Florida reduced the number of government jobs by 17,900 and added 110,300 private sector jobs for a net job gain of 92,400:

More brainy people showing love for 999

I have to say, I find it pretty amusing to hear the political pundits stamp their collective feet and declare that Herman Cain's "999 Plan" can't possibly work...

...and in the meantime, more economists, policy wonks, and other brainy people come forward and say they like what they see...

Here's Reagan economist Art Laffer, who is famous for the "Laffer Curve", who calls 999 a "wonderful plan" and addresses the criticisms both from the left that it's a regressive tax and from the right that it's a risk to institute a new tax:

President Zero

The new jobs report just came out this morning, and...ouch.

Unemployment remained stagnant at 9.1%, which means that the economy gained zero jobs in August. CNBC noted that this was the first time since World War II that the economy had created net zero jobs.

Drudge Report headline this morning

Own a small business? Good luck!

So here we are in August 2011, our national debt is at throw-up-in-your-mouth levels and the Drudge Report links to a new upsetting story about the economy every hour. Now, President Obama has promised us some sort of jobs plan in September (all of you who are out of work now, just sit tight for the month, okay?), and until then, Obama is touring the country to talk about American jobs in his bus, which was...made in Canada?

Photoshop by @anthropocon

Yeah. Fantastic. I'm inspired, how about you?

We all know the unemployment rate remains alarmingly high, so if you're a small business owner, there are lots of potential employees to chose from. So why are businesses slow to hire?

One of the biggest problems is that the cost of hiring an employee isn't just the direct costs of the wages and benefits that the employee is paid. Taxes and regulation, especially at the federal level, are growing at an alarming rate.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has formed a new initiative called "Small Businesses for Sensible Regulation." Their website is full of facts and statistics about the impact of federal regulation on small businesses and ways to get involved. Some of the most powerful statistics I found:

• According to the Small Business Administration, the annual cost to the U.S. economy of complying with federal regulations is about $10,585 per employee.

• These government regulations currently cost our economy $1.75 trillion a year, or more than 12 percent of our national GDP.

• According the Office of Management and Budget, over the past five years, the number of regulations proposed has increased by more than 60 percent. Just the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) alone currently has more than 330 regulations under consideration.

This is the same federal government that thinks it's OK to regulate what light bulbs we can buy or how much water our toilets flush, so while it doesn't shock me to hear that federal regulation is oppressive to small businesses, I was shocked to see the exact figures. Beyond the quantifiable dollar figure, one of the most damaging aspects of recent government regulation is how unpredictable it has become. If business owners know it will cost an extra $10,000 for every new employee they hire, and they read about thousands of new regulations being currently drafted by regulatory agencies that will radically inflate that cost, it makes sense that they would delay hiring as long as possible before hiring someone new.

The SBSR group is conducting interviews with small business owners to discuss how federal regulation impacts their businesses and hiring decisions. Here are two of the videos (the first one is from a business owner in Port Orange, Florida):

YouTube | SensibleRegulations | Bill Thompson, President, Thompson Pump & Manufacturing Company - counterproductive regulations


YouTube | SensibleRegulations | Randy O'Dell, President, Jafe Decorating - EPA requirements

A statement from NFIB, with which I agree:

It is essential that we restore balance to the federal regulatory process. Poll after poll indicate that economic growth and job creation are the highest priorities for Americans, indicating a growing disconnect between the administration's regulatory agenda and the American public's wishes. The administration must not regulate what has not been passed as law through Congress. With thousands of regulations already on the books, the American people would be better served by the government enforcing current regulations rather than writing thousands of pages of new rules.

For more information, check out the SensibleRegulations.org, the Sensible Regulations Facebook page, or follow them on Twitter @sensibleregs.

[Cross-posted at The Minority Report]

The Truth About the Texas Job Numbers

Here's an interesting blog post I found on Twitter this morning:

Political Math | Rick Perry and Texas Job Numbers

There are a lot of naysayers out there trying to minimize or discredit the Texas job numbers any way they can. The author of the above post (who you can find on Twitter @politicalmath) did hours of research into the actual jobs, wages, population, etc. data and does an excellent job setting the record straight. 

Note that the author is admittedly not a fan of Rick Perry's, but rather was just seeking clarification and truth on this issue...and the data does indeed show that Texas has been experiencing amazing economic growth. 

Anyway, go read the article. Lots of statistics and graphs and stuff but still very interesting to read.

Welcome to Titusville [VIDEO]

Here is a short but powerful documentary that's linked on Sayfie Review this morning, titled "Welcome to Titusville," about the devastating impact of the end of the space shuttle era on that small town:


Welcome to Titusville from Ride5 on Vimeo.

Atlantis is scheduled to return from its final mission (STS-135) this Thursday, July 21, 2011. The shuttle will land at the Kennedy Space Center in the early hours of the morning, shortly before 6 a.m. EDT.

I can't believe that this week is the last time I'll hear that famous "Boom! Boom!" echo through the Florida skies...well, at least for the foreseeable future.

I think we're all more than a little sad right now. It is truly the end of an era.

"Recovery Summer"? Hardly.

Here's another awesome video from American Crossroads:


YouTube | AmericanCrossroads | Recovery Summer

"Shovel ready was not as...uh...shovel ready as we expected."

Sorry, Mr. President, but the millions of Americans looking for work don't find it as funny as you do.

I previously posted American Crossroad's last video, "Debbie Downer," and you can view it here.