Cruz Win Iowa, Hillary Barely Ahead Of Sanders

By William Teach February 2, 2016 – 6:56 am

Here we go

(Fox News) Iowa’s Democratic Party said early Tuesday that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had gained an insurmountable lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the state’s caucuses, but stopped short of officially declaring her the winner — while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz scored a decisive win over Donald Trump in the Republican caucuses, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio a close third. (snip)

In at least three precincts, the Democratic outcome was so close that party officials ordered a coin toss to determine which candidate should receive an extra county convention delegate, a longstanding tiebreaking method. The Des Moines Register reported that Clinton won all three coin flips at precincts in Des Moines, Davenport, and Ames.

Despite his apparent defeat, the result reflected a strong showing for Sanders, who had trailed Clinton by nearly 30 points over the summer. Sanders said the results sent a “profound message” to the media and political establishment. (snip)

With all but one precinct reporting, Cruz had 28 percent, Trump had 24 percent and Rubio had 23 percent. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson placed a distant fourth in the race with 9 percent, while Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul placed fifth with 5 percent.

Remember when Hillary was the overall presumptive nominee? Yet, an ancient White guy who happens to be a self-avowed Socialist almost beat her. It is essentially tied. As for the Republican side, it was a big win for Cruz, and, despite what some are saying that the 2nd place finish by Trump is bad for him, this was a very respectable showing for Trump, and means a long slog to the end. Which is the way it should be when picking a presidential candidate.

Rubio is also a big winner, having shown quite a bit of momentum. How about the losers?

Ben Carson held his 10 percent base, but his candidacy is short lived and beyond Iowa has minimal support.

The biggest losers are Bush, Christie and Huckabee. Bush spent the most money and dropped like a rock.

The big question, do any of those drop out? Huckabee, along with a defeated Martin O’Malley (who had just 1%), suspended their campaigns yesterday. Bush has never gained traction. Will he stick around through New Hampshire? How about Christie and Ben Carson? Another no one is mentioning is John Kasich. Yes, the same one the New York Times endorsed just a few days ago. He received a whopping 2%. Paul had 4%, Fiorina had 2%, and Santorum with 1%. Full breakdown on delegates and percents here.

(Bloomberg) Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ strong showing almost certainly denies Clinton a glide path to the nomination and prolongs the contest deeper into the calendar than Clinton hoped, by likely giving her opponent an infusion of cash and momentum.

It’s also sure to resurrect the questions that have long surrounded Clinton and nagged at Democrats, about why she can’t close the deal, why many voters remain cool to her and whether she truly is capable of knocking out a Republican in the fall.

One has to wonder how much Hillary’s server issues have affected her. We keep finding more and more bad news for her, no matter how much she and her Democratic Party supporters want to say otherwise. The latest has her “outing” actual intelligence agents. Remember when we had a special prosecutor for the Valerie Plame affair? And, she’s just not likable, as poll after poll shows, along with untrustworthy. Will this mean another old white guy by the name of Joe Biden decides to jump back in?

My big winner of the whole Hawkeye cauci is Marco Rubio. It was a big showing for him, and I think this will mean quite a bit of donor cash coming his way, along with support from many big Republicans, especially Establishment folks. My preferred candidate is Cruz, but, I’ll predict that Rubio will be the last guy standing, especially if he does well in New Hampshire.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Cruz Win Iowa, Hillary Barely Ahead Of Sanders »

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Bummer: Only 9% Of Americans Are Worried About ‘Climate Change’

By William Teach February 1, 2016 – 3:00 pm

There was a recent poll, one which has made many UK news sites very upset, with headlines such as

British people as unconcerned about climate change as Americans and Saudis

The UK is ranked 15th among all the countries surveyed when it comes to Hotcoldwetdry, out of 17 countries. Among the various issues for the survey, the question revolved around which one the individual surveyed considered the most serious. We know Saudi Arabia was one of the ones with less concern than the UK. I’m sure you can guess which country ranked lower than the UK

(Daily Caller)  A YouGov poll of 18,000 people in 17 countries found only 9.2 percent of Americans rank global warming as their biggest concern. Only Saudi Arabians were less concerned about global warming at 5.7 percent. The biggest concern for Americans was global terrorism — 28 percent of Americans polled listed this as their top issue.

Despite a big PR push by President Barack Obama to tout his administration’s global warming agenda, most Americans have been unconvinced it’s the country’s most pressing issue. A Fox News poll from November found only 3 percent of Americans list global warming as their top concern.

90.8%, to be exact, picked something other than Hotcoldwetdry.

On the bright side for Warmists, ‘climate change’ didn’t end up last or dead last like normal. It came in 3rd when all 17 countries were put together. But, another point made is, women are slightly less concerned about Hotcoldwetdry than men, which is interesting considering how the Cult of Climastology has been pandering to women and telling them that AGW is going to cause them a lot of problems. Perhaps women don’t care that much, or, at least, think other issues are way more important than a tiny increase in global temps. Oh, and, if you hadn’t noticed, women are world class BS detectors. Think they can’t figure out when someone is trying to pull a fast one? Sure, not every time, but, quite often.

Read: Bummer: Only 9% Of Americans Are Worried About ‘Climate Change’ »

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If All You See…

By William Teach February 1, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil vampire electric sucking device, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is House of Eratosthenes, with a post thinking about shoes.

Read: If All You See… »

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Good Grief: College Kids Receive 5 Step List On How To Kiss

By William Teach February 1, 2016 – 11:26 am

Remember when Leftists used to say that government should stay out of the bedroom? Yeah, about that

From the article

The old adage “a kiss is just a kiss” may not stand up to scrutiny anymore.

On Thursday, the University of Southern California’s student government hosted a “Consent Carnival” that aimed to teach students how to properly hook-up under the “yes means yes” state law that requires so-called affirmative consent throughout any sexual encounter.

The list included

  • Affirmative: We’re really excited to share this kiss with you and we’re letting you know!
  • Coherent: We’re present and able to recognize exactly what’s happening when we give this kiss to you.
  • Willing: We made the decision to give you this kiss ourselves, without pressure or manipulation from you or anybody else.
  • Ongoing: Should you come back for another kiss, check in to see if we’d still like to give you one.
  • Mutual: Sure, we offered you a kiss, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept it. Coming over to our table doesn’t forfeit your right to say no.

And, remember, under California law, stealing a kiss without full and total consent will most likely result in having your life ruined by a kangaroo college court, where you cannot defend yourself with legal representation, not too mention possible criminal charges.

Why is there such a problem on college campuses run by and for liberals?

Read: Good Grief: College Kids Receive 5 Step List On How To Kiss »

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EJ Dionne Writes On The “Long, Painful Road To Iowa”

By William Teach February 1, 2016 – 8:13 am

There’s obviously been quite a bit written on the road to Iowa, which starts off primary voting to pick the Democratic and Republican party contenders for president. Jeb! is trying to stay relevant. Hillary is supposedly going to go after Trump. Trump is supposedly winning over Latinos (well, yeah, he’s for amnesty). Rubio supposedly has the most cash. Bernie has massive crowds, while Hillary doesn’t.

Then we get to this E.J. Dionne opinion piece, which states that the political upheaval goes all the way back to September 11, 2001

Americans made the best sense they could of these events as they came along. The 9/11 tragedy called forth a spirit of national unity, but it quickly gave way to renewed partisan acrimony after President George W. Bush launched the invasion of Iraq. Divisions worsened as the war bogged down. The Great Recession deepened the backlash against Bush and paved the way to President Obama’s victory in 2008.

Of course, even before the Iraq War started, Democrats were already attacking Bush. Let’s not forget that a goodly chunk of them were 9/11 Truthers, believe Bush either let 9/11 happen or made it happen. Many thought it was an inside job. There were lots and lots of conspiracy theories. Let’s also not forget that the majority of Democrats voted for Resolution 1441, which authorized war against Iraq if Saddam did not cooperate with weapons inspectors. And, it was Democrats who quickly turned against Operation Iraqi Freedom for political purposes. Bush never responded to the smears, lies, and attacks from Democrats.

Dionne goes on to whine that the 2007 financial meltdown, which was really a worldwide meltdown (arguing causation is not my intent), happened so quick and Obama became president so fast (Hoover was president for 3 years prior to FDR taking over), that Obama was handicapped. Of course, he fails to mention that Obama campaigned for the job, saying he would Fix Everything and Everyone Would Have A Unicorn, leading to this belly-slapper

Obama’s policies and those of Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, brought us back from the brink. But they took time to work. And the new president was so determined to live up to his promise to end the divide between red and blue that he was slow in taking on his GOP foes.

Remember when Obama told John McCain “I won”? How he essentially said the same to all Congressional Republicans, and got his Democratic Party buddies, who controlled Congress lock, stock, and barrel, to pass his failed Stimulus plan? And then a bunch of other smaller stimulus plans? Which spent gobs of money on projects that weren’t, as Obama laughed about, “not shovel ready”? I’d love to know when Obama has attempted to end the divide, as the man has attacked everyone who disagrees with him, and, has mostly refused to work with Republicans, at least on the big issues. Unless Republicans are giving him what he wants. Heck, the man has been known to negotiate in good faith, then spike the deals.

Republicans did not return the favor. They obstructed his policies and made a Congress led by Democrats look feckless. The 2010 elections brought not ratification of the new Obama alignment but its reversal. Many of the young voters who played such an important role in making Obama president stayed home.

Got that? It’s the GOP’s fault that Democrats pretty much blew off the economic pain of the American citizens in favor of spending a lot of time passing Obamacare, which the people did not want. We finally get to Iowa

And so here we are. Trump and Cruz appeal to different parts of the “take our country back” crowd, now a large proportion of the Republican primary and caucus electorate. The Trumpian dispensation is almost perfectly matched to the anxious restlessness of a wing of conservatism that cares little about programs or ideology. Instead, its loyalists are determined to strike, hard, at a diverse array of enemies they see as having brought the nation to a place they do not like at all.

I may not be a Trump supporter (I do not trust him), but, he has a point about the direction of the country: it’s going the wrong way. The citizens agree. The latest poll has 63% saying the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Bernie Sanders draws in Democratic voters, especially the young, still looking for the transformational politics that was the flip side of Obama’s 2008 appeal. Sanders proposes to resolve the contradictions of Obamaism: Forget the part about bringing us together; just organize a progressive majority for real.

Obama never attempted to bring the whole together. It was simply All About Obama. His way or the highway. It was his policies, narcissism, and foolishness that brought us to this point.

In the meantime, Hillary Clinton’s campaign might be summarized by the words of the old civil rights song: “Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.” She insists that painstaking, practical effort will, over time, get us to where Obama promised to go.

Obviously, Dionne is pulling for Hillary. She’s apparently selling “heroic realism”. No mention of her putting American national security at risk with her home-brew server.

What happens after tonight? Regardless of who wins, it is still a long process. Tonight’s winners may not be the eventual General Election candidate. Trump will probably win, with Cruz coming in second and Rubio third. Things could change in New Hampshire. On the Dem side, will it be Sanders or Clinton? A Sanders win would be massive, and could make Hillary supporters, especially the money class, very jittery. Could this be a boon for O’Malley? Time will tell.

Read: EJ Dionne Writes On The “Long, Painful Road To Iowa” »

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Shockingly, Insurance Companies Are Struggling Financially Under Obamacare

By William Teach February 1, 2016 – 7:29 am

If only someone had predicted that this would happen. Oh, wait, most opposed to Ocare did predict this. Heck, the Democrats who wrote this with their insurance company buddies predicted it, too, having included the notion of “risk corridors” in the massive bill. Risk corridors is the notion where it was expected that some providers would lose their shirts, and could be reimbursed via the money coming from those who did well.

(WRAL) “Nine out of 10 people who have enrolled in health care coverage here in North Carolina have actually gotten help with the cost of that health insurance,” said Jennifer Simmons, with N.C. Navigator Consortium.

Simmons believes customers buying plans under the Affordable Care Act walk away with peace of mind.

Of course, the problem here is that while they have obtained health insurance, many of them were forced to do it because their policy that they liked was cancelled due to Ocare, forcing them into the Ocare system.

Second, it does bring peace of mind, but, when these same folks cannot afford the deductibles, what is the point of insurance? One of the major problems with Ocare is that it tries to control upfront costs, rather than reducing the cost to actually use the insurance. Do you have a car loan? Did you notice that the loan companies require that you have comprehensive and collision with deductibles no more than $500? That’s because they are concerned that people will not fix those cars if the deductible is higher than $500. The average deductible for Ocare is over $5000. If someone needs a subsidy for their health insurance plan, can they afford thousands of dollars for the deductible, along with other fees to actually obtain health care?

With car loans, those providers make sure that the cost to use the insurance are at an affordable level. Ocare just tries to keep things low on the front end with almost no concern for the back end.

Here’s the supposed point of the article, though

Health insurance companies, on the other hand, are now saying they could use a little help. The Affordable Care Act is hurting them financially, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield, because of customers buying plans under the act.

Last year, the company reported a $50 million net loss. This year, Blue Cross Blue Shield is cutting commissions for insurance agents. United Healthcare and Coventry also made changes to commissions.

I do have to wonder, is this about insurance companies who offer ACA insurance, ones who don’t, or both losing money? It was rather light on details, sadly. The headline was about “insurance companies struggling financially as ACA deadline arrives.” Which ones? We certainly know that those who offer Ocare coverage are struggling. BCBS, United, and Coventry all offer plans in various states as Ocare providers. All three offer in North Carolina, with Coventry being through Aetna. All three are struggling. But, it was not mentioned in the article.

Is the ACA causing non-ACA companies to struggle? Is it causing the aforementioned providers to struggle financially in their operations that aren’t a part of the ACA?

Of course, the few named have voluntarily offered to provide coverage through the ACA. These same insurance companies were cheerleaders for the passage of Ocare and cheered heavily when it passed in the dead of night using parliamentary shenanigans. They thought they would make some cash. Now, many are losing money. Well, that’s their problem. They made their bed, and they can lie in it. They should not receive a dime from the government to cover those losses. No bailouts. In fact, many of those “risk corridors” have been blocked by Congress.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Shockingly, Insurance Companies Are Struggling Financially Under Obamacare »

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If All You See…

By William Teach January 31, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is the need to wear glasses because climate change is destroying our eyes, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is 90Ninety Miles From Tyranny, with a post on why capitalism is great.

Read: If All You See… »

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Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach January 31, 2016 – 9:15 am

Patriotic Pinup Gil Elvgren

Happy Sunday! Another gorgeous day in America. The sun is shining, the birds are signing, and we’re one week away from the Super Bowl. This pinup is by Gil Elvgren, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Legal Insurrection notes delusion by EU leaders over the Cologne sex attacks
  2. The First Street Journal covers the racism of feminism
  3. C3 Headlines has a legitimate question regarding how much warming is fabricated
  4. No Frakking Consensus notes that carbon taxes are regressive and hurt the poor
  5. Independent Sentinel covers Obama off to support religious freedom…for radical Muslims
  6. Weasel Zippers covers Hillary’s “standing room only” crowd
  7. The People’s Cube covers government regulation your farts
  8. The Lonely Conservative shows how low Trump’s favorability is
  9. The Last Tradition highlights joke justice with a “refugee”
  10. Shot In The Dark wonders “what if?”, regarding Trump
  11. protein wisdom notes Democrats want control of your iPhones
  12. Patterico’s Pontifications is not happy with emojis
  13. Pam Geller covers civil war in Sweden
  14. Neo-neocon wonders who Trump supporters are and what they want
  15. And last, but not least, Moonbattery covers the root cause of Colognization

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page. While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your “Pinups for Vets” calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. (BTW, since someone asked, the reason I leave links for the previous week up (or you might see a *) is because they are place holders for later in the day or for next weeks. Easier than rewriting all the time. Also, the listing order has to do with how they are added over time, not how good a post is. I just copy and paste from the previous week, then edit. If you see one of the *’s, go ahead and check out the blog anyhow, see if there is an update. I cannot update with my Android during the day.

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

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NY Times Endorses Hillary And John Kasich

By William Teach January 31, 2016 – 7:57 am

On the latter, John Kasich, quite a few people are going “who?” But, really, any Republican who receives the endorsement of the NY Times Editorial Board is received the kiss of death. What Republican would be interested in backing that candidate? Of course, the endorsement is more about Kasich not being Cruz or Trump. The endorsement spends more time bashing them, and the few others left, than saying why one should vote for Kasich, until we get near the end and find

Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race. And Mr. Kasich is no moderate. As governor, he’s gone after public-sector unions, fought to limit abortion rights and opposed same-sex marriage.

Kasich does, in fact, have some good Libertarian leaning Conservative cred. On The Issues pegs him at 85% economic issues/35% social issues. Many consider him a “Compassionate Conservative”. He has experience in governing. He has been very good on fiscal issues during his career. He is a big supporter of gun rights. He very much believes in American exceptionalism. Unfortunately, many consider him a big jerk. Nor has he put that image aside as of yet. The Times goes on

Still, as a veteran of partisan fights and bipartisan deals during nearly two decades in the House, he has been capable of compromise and believes in the ability of government to improve lives. He favors a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and he speaks of government’s duty to protect the poor, the mentally ill and others “in the shadows.” While Republicans in Congress tried more than 60 times to kill Obamacare, Mr. Kasich did an end-run around Ohio’s Republican Legislature to secure a $13 billion Medicaid expansion to cover more people in his state.

So, a type of amnesty and expanding Obamacare in his state. That should certainly help bring the Republican base to his side. Really, if the Times wanted a moderate Republican, they should have chosen Chris Christy, who is very much a moderate. He’s also bombastic, but, is a great debater. Or, they should have endorsed Cruz and Trump, which would have immediately turned Republican voters off to the two.

As for Hillary, delusional land. The NYTEB actually writes “Voters have the chance to choose one of the most broadly and deeply qualified presidential candidates in modern history”

Hillary Clinton would be the first woman nominated by a major party. She served as a senator from a major state (New York) and as secretary of state — not to mention her experience on the national stage as first lady with her brilliant and flawed husband, President Bill Clinton. The Times editorial board has endorsed her three times for federal office — twice for Senate and once in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary — and is doing so again with confidence and enthusiasm.

So, essentially they’re endorsing her because 1) she’s a woman, 2) she’s Bill Clinton’s wife, and 3) she served in elected and appointed positions. As to the last, they cannot really say what she’s done, other than meet people and travel. They say she helped get the nuclear deal with Iran in place, forgetting that the majority of Americans are opposed to the deal.

Most of what the say are her positives goes more to speeches and policy platforms rather than accomplishments. What did she actually get done while a Senator? Does she have any signature legislation? How about while SoS? What major accomplishments were there for the win column? We know about the failures. Libya is a failed state half-run by Islamic terrorists. Russia is on the rise. The US blew off the Arab Spring. Benghazi

Hillary Clinton is the right choice for the Democrats to present a vision for America that is radically different from the one that leading Republican candidates offer — a vision in which middle-class Americans have a real shot at prosperity, women’s rights are enhanced, undocumented immigrants are given a chance at legitimacy, international alliances are nurtured and the country is kept safe.

That’s the same thing we heard about Barack Obama. It hasn’t worked out too well. What in Hillary’s actions shows this? Nor is there a mention of her complete disregard for national security vis a vis her home-brew server. Nor using her position as SoS to enrich family, friends, and her foundation. Nor that there is a pretty darned good chance that she’ll be indicted for her criminal actions. Imagine that she had an R next to her name: would the Times be so glib in their endorsement?

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: NY Times Endorses Hillary And John Kasich »

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Sanders Goes After Girl Who Asked Question On ‘Climate Change’

By William Teach January 30, 2016 – 4:06 pm

This girl should be careful: Bernie has a plan to “bring climate deniers to justice“, and she just made the list

(Mashable) Bernie Sanders shut down a teenage girl who questioned the existence of manmade global warming on Thursday morning, to the delight of her classmates.

A girl who introduced herself as a a “17-year-old biracial female,” said that “from looking at the evidence I’ve seen the last few years… I haven’t seen any actual scientific evidence that global warming is actually happening.”

“Thank you for your question. You’re wrong,” Sanders said with a chortle as the teen crowd at Theodore Roosevelt High School broke into applause.

How presidential, speaking in such a disrespectful manner.

Sanders then walked through his long record of support for climate change legislation in Congress and the consensus of the scientific community, which he described as “the most knowledgable people in the world,” that global warming is real.

In other words, he couldn’t actually offer evidence, just squishy non-scientific consensus, which is more a function of politics. In this he’s not alone, because most Warmists cannot offer rock solid proof that the current warm period is mostly/solely caused by Mankind.

Sanders then walked through his long record of support for climate change legislation in Congress and the consensus of the scientific community, which he described as “the most knowledgable people in the world,” that global warming is real.

Yet, Bernie is using vast amounts of fossil fuels to travel the country in his bid to be President.

“I appreciate your point of view but I absolutely believe that climate change is real, it is caused by human activity and we need to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel,” he said.

If a Republican treated this high school girl in this manner, Democrats would call it bullying, and mention words like triggering and microaggression, while demanding safe spaces and that the school administration never invite that person, or any Republican, ever again.

Read: Sanders Goes After Girl Who Asked Question On ‘Climate Change’ »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Democrats, Global Warming | 10 Comments | Trackback URL
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