The American Spectator : The Amazing Sinking Charlie

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The Amazing Sinking Charlie

Charlie Christ probably doesn't want too many weeks like last week.

TAMPA -- Florida Governor Charlie Crist didn't have as bad a week as Dede Scozzafava, the up-state New York RINO who pulled out of the congressional race there because of increasing pressure from the conservative independent candidate and his supporters. But things are steadily unraveling for Crist, the Florida RINO who wants to run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 against conservative former Florida House speaker Marco Rubio.

Crist's problems aren't confined to polls, though a new Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll indicates Floridians rate Crist's performance as governor at the lowest level in the 34 months he's been in office. Just 42 percent of 600 respondents in a telephone poll conducted Oct. 25-28 rated Crist's performance as good to excellent, while 51 percent rated Crist fair to poor. Not terrible, but for much of Crist's first two years in office he enjoyed approval ratings in the sixties.

Even these mostly less-than-enthusiastic Floridians have a more charitable take on Crist than Reihan Salam, a political columnist for Forbes magazine who suggested last week that Crist may be "America's worst governor." Salam concedes that Crist is a gifted politician. But in discussing Crist's actual performance Salam's piece is full of expressions such as "opportunist," and "light-weight."

Salam gigs Crist for various forms of "free-lunchism," but especially for being so wildly enthusiastic about president Obama's stimulus slush fund. He quotes the giddy way Crist spoke to the Miami Herald about Obama's deficit-ballooning scam just a few months ago: "I think it's fantastic. Are you kidding me? We don't have to raise taxes…. We might be able to cut property taxes some more. We have more money for education, so we can increase per-student spending. We can spend more money on our roads and infrastructure. We can provide health care for our people. I mean it's remarkable."

Those comments are indeed remarkable. How many conservative Republicans are nearly so enthusiastic about the absolute healing powers of "free" money from Washington? No one but Obama fundamentalists believes the comically-specific reports, coming out of Washington and Tallahassee, on how many jobs the stimulus slush fund has supposedly created or saved.

Salam points out that Crist wanted the Florida Legislature to rely on non-recurring federal slush funds for about 12 percent of Florida's budget. When the legislature passed a budget containing some unpopular spending cuts, Crist vetoed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of them. The final result was a budget containing $2.2 billion in new state taxes and fees. After all this Crist has tried to paint himself in speeches and political ads as a fiscal conservative, a move that has gotten the horse-laugh it deserves in Florida political circles and from much of the Florida media.

The Forbes piece got wide play across Florida, where several publications took up the criticism, pointing out that relying on short-term manna from Washington to take care of recurring expenses is remarkably similar to what that Italian guy, Ponzi, got into so much trouble over.

We already knew that George Will has a couple of quid on Rubio in the primary. In a column a few weeks back he outlined why the conservative Rubio should and would beat the populist chameleon Crist. On ABC's This Week Sunday Will reiterated his prediction that Rubio would win the nomination and defeat the Democrat in the general, supporting his argument by pointing to the increasing number of people who identify themselves as conservatives, the decreasing inclination of Republicans to support candidates who aren't conservative, and the rightward shift of independents.

The week was not without comedy. Crist has taken so much flak from conservatives about embracing Obama's slush fund, and Obama himself, back when Obama's popularity was in the stratosphere, that he now avoids the less-appealing Obama like Dracula avoids sunlight and the True Cross.

In February, when Obama came to Florida to whoop up his $787 billion goody-bag, Crist canceled a cabinet meeting to appear with Obama in Ft. Myers. Crist didn't mince words that day: "It's important that we pass the stimulus package," he said while standing on a stage with Obama in Ft. Myers. "We need to do it in a bipartisan way." Crist said the stimulus would "re-ignite our economy," as the members of the crowd, who had come to see Obama, not Crist, shouted, "Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!"

Last week, with a considerably less popular Obama in Florida for two days, Crist told reporters he didn't even know Obama was in the state when asked why he wasn't playing Welcome Wagon again. "Where was he?" Crist asked bemused reporters. "First I've heard of it." Clarifying later, in an attempt to hold down the laughing, Crist allowed that he really knew the president was in Florida. He just didn't know his schedule. Nobody believed him.

Crist's avoidance of Obama's visit to the opening of a solar energy plant in Arcadia is particularly noteworthy, as Crist has whooped up alternative energy sources, going so far as trying to get the Florida Legislature to oblige Florida utilities to produce 20 percent of their electricity using "renewable" fuels, and calling for a cap and trade program. This underlines what Charlie observers have long known, and what more and more Floridians are figuring out (see poll numbers above), that Crist only cares about and backs up the policies he's espoused when the politics are right.

In addition to the drollery above, the campaign took on a bit of the air of fraternity hi-jinks when an amateur-hour website called TheTruthAboutRubio.com popped up and was quickly traced to a Crist supporter (who claims he was out of town that weekend, doesn't know who Rubio is, and the dog ate his homework). The site is full of sophomoric anti-Rubio material, making it reasonable to wonder if someone in Crist's shop studied political campaigning on a Donald Segretti scholarship. If this is the best contemporary dirty-tricksters can come up with, they should probably limit themselves to ordering pizzas (no anchovies, please) and sending them to Rubio headquarters.

There's no cheering or high-fiving in Rubio's campaign over these developments (at least, they say there isn't). Rubio continues his heavy schedule of campaigning across Florida on conservatives themes. He'll probably take a few minutes this evening to check the returns from New York 23. A victory there by the conservative would be more support for Rubio oft-repeated campaign phrases, "We don't need two Democratic parties," and "Conservatives don't need to apologize for or abandon their principles and beliefs in order to win elections."

Regardless of the results from the upper reaches of New York -- plenty of difference between a congressional district that touches on Lake Champlain and a state that borders the Gulf of Mexico -- Rubio will remain the candidate who inspires Florida's conservative Republican primary voters. And a recent Rasmussen poll shows that Rubio's conservatism is apparently not too astringent for the general, as he beats the likely Democratic candidate, South Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek, by three points more than Crist does.

For those paying attention to this race -- and it has gotten a lot of attention as a chastened, out-of-office Republican Party tries to decide what it wants to be when it grows up -- the question now is, what will Crist and his campaign do to stop the bleeding? Crist was an overwhelming favorite when he entered the campaign. He adopted and has consistently followed an above-it-all approach, ignoring Rubio. Now that there's a real race on, this approach will doubtless have to be revised. No one knows yet what Crist will do next. But he has a lot of money to do it with.

Don't touch that dial.

topics:
Charlie Crist, U.S. Senate Races 2010, Marco Rubio

About the Author

Larry Thornberry is a writer in Tampa.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (107) | Leave a comment

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 11.3.09 @ 6:48AM

No anchovies, please? Was that a reference to J Geils?

Well it’s looking like September 1780 all over again, and Charlie Crist is playing the roll of British Major John Andre. The noose is tied around his neck, and the blindfold is on.

With a note attached to a fish hook, that says
"Sorry Charlie"!!

drudge ette obama| 11.3.09 @ 7:23AM

As I was reading this, Huckabee was on Fox. I have had enough of Huckabee. Christ's underhanded support of Huckabee as opposed to Romney part of the outflow that put Obama into office. I hope the few bucks I sent to Rubio helps him win the primary.

QuoVadisAnima| 11.3.09 @ 12:55PM

What's really ludicrous about this comment is that Crist endorsed McCain while Rubio endorsed Huckabee during the 2008 run. And Huckabee was the first one to endorse Rubio against Crist and the NRCC. Get rational!

drudge ette obama| 11.4.09 @ 5:50AM

Rationality? Let me give you rationality. If Crist's endorsement of Huckabee had not happened, then maybe there would have been no McCain but a Romney. Then there would be no Obama, perhaps. And then there would have been no huggy moment between Obama and Crist in support of the stimulus bill.

Where are you going, lady animal?

conster| 11.3.09 @ 8:03AM

Well it’s looking like September 1780 all over again, and Charlie Crist is playing the roll of British Major John Andre. The noose is tied around his neck, and the blindfold is on.

Roll forming machine

Peter McGrath| 11.3.09 @ 9:06AM

I heard Crist's radio advert this morning on the way to work. He's mouthing platitudes about letting people "keep their own money" while decrying Obama for trying to "tax and spend our way to prosperity." Frankly, it's cringe-inducing.

Crist mouthed conservative cliches to become governor of Florida - and then exposed himself as a cap & tax supporter of Chicagobama's appalling shake-down of the private sector. More than anything, Crist is a "Big Government" RINO, whose allegiance will always lie first with his friends in the public sector employee unions (he, after all, hasn't held down a private sector job in decades). Like Obama, he views the market - particularly private insurance companies - with disdain.

I'm switching my party affilation from "Independent" to "Republican" solely to vote this huckster out - and put a principled conservative - Mr. Rubio - in the Senate.

Shooing political hacks and opportunists like Crist from power is job "1" for America right now. Time to get to work.

Adam Smith| 11.3.09 @ 10:38AM

I too saw Hucksterbee on Hanntiy & both of them make me want to puke.

Huckabee is doing his absolute best to pull off the Andy Griffith / Bill Clinton fusion act and appear "presidential" & "above the fray" by discounting criticism of Obama.

The fact is that Huckabee style of governance in Arkansas was not that much different. Big government, big spending, big taxes and big gratuities solicited from contituents with the appropriate paybacks.

Crist and Huckabee are birds of a feather.

Can't vote in Florida, but I will switch back from Independent to R to vote against Huckabee in the primaries if the amitious fool decides on another grab at the really big bucks.

Fox should never have given this clown a platform. He reflects badly on conservatives (as he claims to be) and worse on Republicans.

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 11.3.09 @ 11:50AM

MR Smith: "I too saw Hucksterbee on Hanntiy & both of them make me want to puke."

Do you mean that Hannity makes you want to puke too, or do you just mean Huckabee & Crist make you want to puke (which I can understand)?

Because I like Hannity, even if he plays too nice with some of the RHINO's sometimes. But I've always thought, he was on the right side of the issues for Republicans & Conservatives. But then again, maybe I've missed something?

Richard Baker| 11.3.09 @ 9:13AM

As someone who lives in Florida, Crist has always been a "man on the make." Next year he can return to his suntanned world.

2Anglico| 11.3.09 @ 9:21AM

What can you say, Crist is an idiot. I will be voting for Rubio in the primary. If Crist wins, I will NOT be voting in the general. Either way he's done as governor.

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 9:55AM

Let's see.... The Republican party is now down to about 20% of the country and you right wing extremists can be proud of your accomplishments thus far. You've managed to take the party from 36% to 20% in just a few years.

As to approval ratings, ALL incumbents have lower approval ratings because the economy is in bad shape. It has always been that way because people do vote their pocketbooks.

As a proud RINO, I hope you and the Beck crowd win and Sarah gets the party nomination in 2012. You will lose badly. Then, we can be done with you extremists and bring the Republican party back to represent the majority of Americans. We will then be a real threat to Democrats.

Good night and bad luck....

By the way, did you see the interview with Dick Armey last night on Nightline? He's being paid over half a million to run FreedomWorks and they won't announce their rich backers (i.e., the Wall Street crowd that brought you this mess in the first place). This is a sham and he is pulling all of your strings to those guys on Wall Street can get rich at your expense. I guess you get what you deserve.... Do you really like being played????

Adam Smith| 11.3.09 @ 10:45AM

Bob,

Don't you ever get tired of this act?

CRA, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd & Charlie Rangel have more blood on their hands than Wall St. ever will for the banking crisis. Those of us that worked in lending (as opposed to Bertha Lewis' paid forum trolls) know what the chief causes were.

Go back to CNN & Daily Kos, Bob. You are embarrasing yourself.

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 11:09AM

Adam... I worked on Wall Street at AIG and before that in the subprime mortgage business. If you believe it was the CRA and Dems that caused all of this, you've been brainwashed by the Wall Street crowd. It was the growth of securitization and subsequent unregulated (in terms of capital requirements) derivatives that resulted in the major part of the problem. You need to be educated.

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 11.3.09 @ 11:56AM

You Sir are an idiot, and a liar!! Or you are "F'ing deaf, dumb, and blind.

Adam Smith| 11.3.09 @ 12:03PM

Bob,

You no more worked on Wall St. than Obama did.
A job as a copy editor does not make one a financial whiz, nor does a gig as a paid forum troll give you any credibility with regard to your claims.

Don't get too worked up 3/5ths Bob. You have a long day of election returns ahead of you & we can't have you quitting early on us.

Speaking of Obama, he was one of the ACORN lawyers who helped force this entire mess on us with extortion tactics on the banks. At the time he sued BofA I was still a shareholder and many of us are aware of the details and role the government / radical left played in the whole mess. Any idea how the industry was allowed to trade derivatives based on mortagage back securities? Check it out. A guy with the initials BF has his greasy finger prints all over it.

Private industry certainly has a big share of the blame, but this was a gov orgainized mess from the beginning.
The shadyness I saw in the Bay Area with mortgage brokers is also worth noting in the "no doc" programs. Some of the scams were comic these guys were using...plenty of private greed, yes. It was systemic. But it started WITH regulation and political shennanigans that skyrocketed under Clinton and allowed to ride under the incompetent Bush.

I am not going to do your lifting for you as far as research or links. It is a waste of time for your ilk (the willfully ignorant).

You are good for a couple laughs Bob, not much more. It is sad that so many of you feel the need to use any means necessary to achieve your end.

Sadder still that you do not even know what that end is and are just along for the ride, happy to feel all warm & cuddly with your cabal of race baiters, fear mongers, theives and criminals that make up much of your base and "leadership".

ACORN, SEIU, Black Panthers will all be out today helping "get out the vote" along with the "opinion shapers" like yourself with your rants and extremist views.

Carry on 3/5th's Bob & keep fighting what you see as the good fight to fill that hole in your soul.

Drop the RINO act too Bob & come out of the closet. The Republicrats have more than enough clowns and opportunists without the pretend ones.

End of rant, off to check early returns.
Still hope to see ya around Bob, the place would not be the same.

Adam out.

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 12:16PM

Adam... The people here at AmSpec know who I am and can verify that I did work at AIG and Wall Street. You are certainly the idiot being played by Wall Street and you don't even know it.... I guess it is true... ignorance is bliss... and you seem very blissful....

SoCon| 11.4.09 @ 1:54AM

Bob, you dope! RINO Republicans like you are only 20% of the population, but 40% of Americans self-identify as CONSERVATIVES!! RINOs like you are useless--go find Dede Scuzzyfava, she's your kind of girl.

John| 11.3.09 @ 11:28AM

Bob: Why do we need two liberal choices? The GOP is not shrinking because RINO's are leaving it. It is shrinking because it is abandoning its conservative principles and people can no longer distinguish any difference between the two parties. The GOP is shrinking because it is moving left and conservatives are leaving it. My wife and I are two conservatives now registered as independents because the party has embraced the democrat lite platform.

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 12:20PM

Actually, John, your facts are wrong and you need to look at the data. In 2000, only half of the party were religious conservatives -- or about 18% of voters. Now, Republicans still have about 18% religious conservatives and about 3% of we RINO's. The people leaving the party are just like me, fiscal conservatives who are social libertarians. Keep government out of my wallet AND my private life.

Bydand76| 11.3.09 @ 5:25PM

So Bob goes and votes for PeeBo. Because he wants Goverment out of his life and his wallet so much. Hows that working out for ya Bob?

Wow Bob, you are a mental giant!

Where do you get your data from?

Let me guess, DailyKos and moveon right?
Liberals ALWAYS like to blame Wall Street for everything Bob. Even when the statistics and the data do not support their argument. You just said the same thing the Chris Dodd and Barney Frank did when the sub-prime mortgage fiasco blew up in their faces. Did you realize that Bob? I suggest you go back and do some serious research because if you did in fact work in the "industry"
(Wall Street, AIG, "Sub-Prime mortgage buisness") like you claim, then you are so full of dirt its not even funny.

You spout the same old nonsense that all liberals like to speak. Wallstreet indeed! You are factualy wrong and whats more your sheepskin is starting to wear out because you are no more a RINO than Mrs Scuzzafava in NY. You are a Liberal Bob. Get out of the closet and accept it already. .

Quit playing the duck duck goose games here please Bob. If being a conservative is so bad, then go away. If the conservative movement in the Republican party has you so upest then, leave it.
I would think it would be fairly obvious to a mental giant such as yourself that the GOP is trending back to the right i.e. CONSERVATIVE.
Don't like it? Too effing bad Bob!

Another thing, you can leave religion out of it Bob because the left has more of a monopoly on that than the right currently and if you were to look at it objectively instead of with your bigoted eyes you might just learn something. Whatever though. I really dont care to be honest with you.
Good Riddance to all of you RINO's leaving the party. Dont let the door hit your backside as you leave.

You can eat your humble pie over there at the lib headquarters after the elections with all your friends from the Daily Kos and Moveon.stupid

Tell George S. to piss off for me would you?

SoCon| 11.4.09 @ 1:56AM

Conservatives comprise 40% of the population--Blobbo knows this and is pretending otherwise. Blobbo voted for Obummer, why should we care what this loser thinks?

rodney| 11.3.09 @ 8:24PM

Bob, what great things have the fence sitting and dems appeasing Rinos gotten us???

Lindsey Graham....he is about to destroy the small businesses by signing on to the crap and trade

John mccain....terrible campaign for president and is partnering with Graham on crap and trade.

Colin Powell.....endorsed Obama then after seeing his marxist ideology then i think he recanted or questioned obamas ideology.

bob dole....that was a real campaign winner...not

Dede.......great dem in repub clothes....endorsed Bill owens...

As you can see bob you are backing some great winners..The dems will praise you all day long as long as you sit down and shut up and do as they tell you to do. These people are the ones that got us to 20% not the conservatives.

the days of appeasing dems is over...if you like the dems you are more than welcome to leave and continue to be their lap dog.

The conservatives are installing core conservative beliefs into a party that does not stand and has not stood for anything since Ronald Reagan.

The rinos can ride our coattails but when we take back control of congress and the senate the conservatives will be the ones chairing committees. Rinos will not do as they did back in 95 when they took over the chairmanship. All of the rinos can continue to sit on the fence and we will give the control back to the american people and reign in this unconstitutional government power in.

have fun with the dems.

Deborah D| 11.3.09 @ 10:25AM

The country is p.o.'d! We're all sick to death of those folks with their fingers in the wind. We want principled, Constitution-loving, limited-government believers as our representatives. We want government off of our backs and out of our lives. Rubio is a leader of that way of thinking...and that our country is craving. "Lead, follow or get out of the way" of those who actually want to save the country from those who would destroy it.

Deborah D| 11.3.09 @ 10:41AM

"Moderation in temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice." Thomas Paine

Al Adab| 11.3.09 @ 12:08PM

Or as we might say. "Moderation in the pursuit of Liberty is no virtue."

Glad you are on the blog Deb D.

2Anglico| 11.3.09 @ 11:01AM

Has the comments page unlocked yet?

Peter McGrath| 11.3.09 @ 11:03AM

Thanks, Bob, for clarifying that you are a "proud RINO" (i.e., Republican in name only). If, as you write, you are a proud Republican "in name only," then I suppose that your true affiliation is ... proud Democrat, right? Very good, then. We have seen the enemy, and it's "guys like Bob." Now, go join your progressive social engineer red diaper baby doper friends on the other side of the aisle, and good riddance.

By the way "Wall Street" (a euphemism you use to refer to "Capitalism") did not cause "the mess" we're in right now. Rather, it is the Federal Government which intervened in mortgage markets (and ruined the real estate market and banking industry), intervened in capital markets (robbing future generations to create $1.4 TRILLION in debt this year, and counting), interevened in the automobile industry (to prop up corrupt unions), and bloated the pathetic public sector nationwide (the only sector of our economy currently growing on the backs of working taxpayers like me but not - apparently - you, Bob).

Now, the crackpots on the Left (folks like Bob, here) want to shackle America to a monstrous healthcare bureaucracy, and grab control of 1/6 or so of what's left of our tattered private sector.

You say you wanna revolution ... well, you know ...

Time to get to work.

2Anglico| 11.3.09 @ 11:04AM

Reagan invited RINOS to find another party and what happened? The erosion of support for Republicans is due to RINO treachery. So, Bob, don't let the door hit you on your way out. And tell DeDe good riddance. It will be a year from now but Crist will be joining you donkeys then.

JamesJ| 11.3.09 @ 11:13AM

Bob, sorry you were born without a spine

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 11:15AM

Actually, Peter, you are the ones that have named those of us who are fiscal conservatives but libertarian on social issues as RINO's -- I use that term mockingly and you fell for it....

Let's get this straight, I was against the bailouts and believe that 2/3rds of the stimulus was ineffective. I'm for a health care plan that is more libertarian in nature where people, not insurance companies OR the government decides on your coverage (i.e., if you aren't covered, it's your fault and you die). I don't think the federal government should be in the education business. But I also think that those who are uneducated and smart should not be running our country and that idiots who believe in "intelligent design" need to be institutionalized.

Many of we "RINO's" are ashamed of you SoCons that have taken over the party.

Ryan| 11.3.09 @ 11:36AM

I don't consider you a RINO, and don't think that those who hold your fiscal positions are RINOs either. Far from it. We're not seeing a whole lot of fiscal conservatism from non-social conservatives, either, and many of them WERE disappointments during the Bush years.

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 12:29PM

Ryan, at AmSpec I am considered a "RINO" because I don't follow the WHOLE party line. I hate the uneducated bias of people who refuse to look at the data and facts and eschew higher education. I believe the data supports conservatism, but the Republican party no longer represents me. They make arguments like "a government takeover of health care" when most of health care is now government run either by agency or legislation. They talk about the CRA and ACORN when that is such a minor part of the financial problem. The real problem is that we allow companies to take risks without being subject to the results of those risks. All the party has to do is to concentrate on educated analysis and forget this religious nonsense and become the party, singlemindedly, of fiscal conservatism and individual responsibility. Companies who take risks should be forced to keep those risks and not sell them off in things like securitization and derivatives. Executives who take risks should not be bailed out by us.

The Republican party has turned into a haven for religious fanatics and the uneducated who don't have any understanding of data analysis or economic theory. I'm tired of this and will not again vote for one of these right wing zealots. If that means voting for Obama over McCain, so be it.

Must keep risk?| 11.3.09 @ 1:18PM

Bob, I can't believe you made the statement "companies who take risks should be forced to keep those risks and not sell them off..."

Have you never heard of INSURANCE, for starters? Companies manage risk in all SORTS of ways, one of which is to buy protection, another would be to "sell it off". It's up to the BUYERS of those securities to understand what the hell they are getting into!! And if they don't (understand), STAY AWAY from them!

And, in a complex society, there are always numerous parties who have "part' of the blame, but come on, you are completely discounting that NONE OF THE 'evil securitizatioon' (as you see it) could have taken place IF THE BAD LOANS DIDN'T EXIST IN THE FIRST PLACE (via CRA, ACORN, gov't prodding, etc.). I worked at a bank and, quite laughably, the CRA officer would try to say he wasn't promoting the lowering of underwriting standards while...well...BLATANTLY lowering underwriting standards! And that was back in the early 80s when CRA was all shiny and new - and thus, then, a MUCH SMALLER problem then it morphed into under Clinton & with ACORN et al prodding in the 90s...

Adam Smith| 11.3.09 @ 12:30PM

If what you say is true Bob, then that would make us brothers in arms. I don't believe you (as far as that being your real politics), but you said the right stuff on this issue.

Those that flock to the Republicrat party because of religous issues have caused most of the Damage. Ambitous, opportunistic professional snake oil salesmen like Huckabee are the biggest problem and just give the Dems the ammo they need to keep the R's from dominance.

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 12:40PM

Amen to that, Adam. My politics are based facts, analysis, and knowledge. I will go where the data leads me and not be blinded by ideology. That's why I rail against the misuse of data and things groups like the birthers. I spend most of my time here getting back to a factual basis and not on extremist tirades. You can be a fiscal conservative and still have a good perspective on the facts. When someone blames the CRA for the financial downturn, that is factually wrong, but the religious zealots want to believe it. When they say Obama was not born in the U.S., it is factually wrong and I will say so. When someone says that our debt is the biggest long term problem we face, they are precisely right and I will say so. When people overstate Reaganomics which caused a huge amount of debt, I will say so. You can't solve problems by demonizing based on feelings instead of data and logic.

Fact-based?| 11.3.09 @ 1:23PM

Bob, well, again, you are totally inconsistent. There are NO 'facts' supporting a US birth for Obama - only suppositions and extrapolations from sources far short of, oh just to pick randomly, a BIRTH CERTIFICATE.

And I'm also not clear on the 'religious' motivation for the correct understanding of the CRA's impact on the devestation of loan origination underwriting standards. You are no better at debate than outright libs who hide behind "racist!" and other ad hominem attacks, when you have a factual misunderstanding that causes your wrong opinion to be different from the correct understanding held by those you consider your opponents.

Kale| 11.3.09 @ 2:12PM

AIGer? If you really understood the financial meltdown you would know that derivatives were "on market" (OTC) for years, and that yes, they got overly big. However, the tipping point was the undercapped banks that sold CDO's and the collapse of the underlying market (housing) that was legislatively driven by the Dems in Congress. The cap rate for banks did not change, they were simply ignored by fiat via Dems in congress. It was both the OTC derivatives AND the congressional social engineering of mortgages that caused the meltdown - along with 2 or 3 other mitigating factors.
Educated indeed....since when does "educated" absolutely parallel wisdom? Certainly not in your case.

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 11:22AM

I was typing too fast... I meant to say "those who are UNEDUCATED and DUMB should not be running our country"... i.e., Palin....

jr| 11.3.09 @ 6:12PM

I think you made another mistake, little bob. Your phrase: "those who are UNEDUCATED and DUMB should not be running our country"... i.e., Palin.... " is not correct. When using examples, use e.g., not i.e.. Palin is not running our country, and you should have used Palin to cite an example, using e.g.,. End of 7th grade grammar lesson.

SoCon| 11.4.09 @ 1:59AM

Blobbo voted for ObaMAO; need I say more?

Jim| 11.3.09 @ 12:06PM

I met Crist for the first time at a Sara Palin rally in New Port Richey (Fla) and actually hesitated to shake his hand when he stuck it out as he seems "too slick"... He is indeed an opportunitist and has wrecked the insurance industry and other businesses through "over regulation" here in Florida. God help him if a hurricane hits before the election. God help us as well as the CAT fund will quickly bankrupt. But... he would fit right in at the Washington "parties!" with the other Rino's

Al Adab| 11.3.09 @ 12:28PM

It is becoming increasingly clear that the common thread through the various elections this week is one of "Service above Self."
Voters are tired of those who seek office for themselves. Instead the voters desire those who would use their position of trust to protect the rights of citizens, not find ways to control them and to confiscate their money and other property.

Constitutional government is restricted in its powers for a reason. Those who seek office for their own prosperity and egos would do well to remember those who placed their "Lives, fortunes, and Sacred Honor" at risk to give us Liberty.

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 12:32PM

"Those who seek office for their own prosperity and egos would do well to remember those who placed their "Lives, fortunes, and Sacred Honor" at risk to give us Liberty. "

You mean people like Palin who quit her responsibility and left office for a multi-million dollar book deal?

Al Adab| 11.3.09 @ 12:36PM

Put your own names on it Bob. It's not about the who it's about the what- the principles- of limited government. After all making your own decisions( instead of government doing your thinking for you) is what Freedom is all about.

BoB| 11.3.09 @ 12:33PM

Some of my homies gettin out the vote in NJ:

http://www.electionjournal.org.....-for-gotv/

We were running low on Acorns, so we went to the professional gangbanger option...

les grossman| 11.3.09 @ 12:51PM

Please everyone, 'What About Bob' is an Axelrod blogtroll. He will hijack every thread, if you feed him.

Adam Smith| 11.3.09 @ 1:03PM

Les, we all know he is the pet pro troll, but at least they respected us enough to give us the higher end stuff.

Have you seen the paid trolls that hammer Tapper's blog @ abc?

Just sayin...

To give Bob a bone, he is mostly on today cept for the stuff about the root causes of the banking/fin services boondoggle.

Vince| 11.3.09 @ 1:10PM

Bob, too many political talking points from the DNC to comment on but your take on the electorate is interesting. The Rs have the uneducated and illiterate yet Obama could not have won without 95 plus percent of African American vote. Now I know there are a lot of AA that are intelligent, educated, middle to upper middle class but I am afraid that your analysis of the voters in the party is way off. I think the polls that came out after the election were extremely telling of who the ignorant masses aligned themselves with. It is also interesting to note that the modern R victories since Nixon would not have been achieved without your so-called religious right. So for this college educated, well off business owner who happens to believe in something higher than your humanistic logic, I seem to be the problem with the R party. The bottom line is that regardless of where you are in the R party, Obamanomics, Czars, sweeping federalism, etc... is a pox on this country and all stripes in the R party are against it. The RINOs seem to think that because I happen to be pro-life and pro-traditional (how families stayed together, men took their responsibilities seriously, society was not self centered to excess) I can not be intellectual enough to understand macro economic cause and effect. As Adam indicated, just vote us out of existance as a country with the rest of the Ds.

Adam Smith| 11.3.09 @ 1:41PM

Bravo Vince.

I was raised Christian, respect the values but an am agnostic now.
On religion (only Christianity of course) it is a combo Red Herring/Straw Man attack that the Democrats have used to smear the Republicans for decades.
Half of America can be conservative, but the dems manage to convince 25% of the population they are religous whack jobs who want to impose a ban on abortion, Bibles in every school desk & stringing up homosexuals from trees.

It is comic how consistent they are and have tried to use that on the canidate the Republicrats snubbed in NY. Hoffman is about a radical as Geppetto the wood carver, but still they attempted that smear when Biden & the circus were in town.

Not funny is that the Republicrats have allowed themselves to be defined like this by their enemies and engage in it themselves ala Limply Graham, Newt & co.

The Repulicans have better ideas for the country, but are so inept and incompetent (not to mention spineless) that they have allowed themselves to become a joke.

They will be smug after this election (the RNC "leadership"), but nothing will really change. They have sat idly by while the left have taken up positions in 90%+ in the media & Hollywood, 90% of academia and schools, all of the unions, 99% of all government workers....on and on.

They are idiots who make the average citizen want to scream at the tv when they see them making their deals to appear like they "just want to get along". They would do better with Rodney King as head of the party than Michael Steele and he would work for less I am sure.
Haley Barbour, Newt... all of those tools bear huge responsibility for the mess we are in now with no (effective) opposition party in this country to look after citizen interest.

This is what has brought the frustration level to where it is now. We have very little in the way of real representation and even less honesty and transparency in our government.

Vince| 11.3.09 @ 1:18PM

Bob, one other thing, you may want to use some of your incredible brillance to take a look at what actually occured in the 1980s with budgets submitted by the WH (Reagan) and budgets padded and passed by the Congress (Tip Oneil for one). I am glad that CNN and the DNC has done your research and you believe that cutting tax rates caused deficits in the 1980s. Basic research would clearly illustrates that tax receipts exponentially grew. However, spending grew faster. Due to the Roosevelt Great Society debacle, neither Rs or Ds can stop the spending. The best thing Reagan could do was defeat the soviets which allowed us to cut defence spending, and put more money back into our pocketbooks which have a much larger effect on the money multiplier than your u.s. government spending habbits.
"I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born" - Ronald Reagan 1980

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 3:23PM

Well, Vince, it seems as if you are lazy about your research. Here is a chart of Federal Revenues over time (inflation adjusted).

http://www.heritage.org/resear.....-1965.aspx

You'll notice that they did not grow much faster under Reagan than their natural growth. Furthermore, they grew faster under the tax increases of Clinton. Please do your research on this.

Furthermore, even as marginal rates declined, tax receipts remained constant:

http://www.heritage.org/resear.....cline.aspx

I'm afraid you are drinking the KoolAid of the unintelligent who don't check their facts. You do get misleading data if you don't take inflation into account. But even the conservative Heritage Foundation knows better and that is where I got these charts.

Kale, with regard to the financial meltdown, I was in many of the lending committee meetings as far back as the 80's. We knew the loans we gave were borderline, but we could securitize the risk and be rewarded just for new loans. Derivatives made this so popular that after the deregulation in the late 90's, we pushed the envelope even further. Our goal was to make money for our shareholders, not to worry about the quality of loans. Now, if we were forced to keep the risk, as I have proposed, the quality of loans would have been much higher. This had NOTHING to do with the CRA and the Dems. The CRA only allowed our selling job to be less regulated.

Ryan| 11.3.09 @ 4:03PM

How many loans did you make because of the CRA? Were you in an area that had a higher rate of people who shouldn't have gotten loans?

One thing you need to expand - your goal was to make short-term gains for your shareholders, because the market is ridiculously short-sighted. Government should not regulate those viewpoints or business practices - such companies should be allowed to fail when they go under. Transparency is the answer, not regulation or corporatism.

That also being said, just looking at those two charts doesn't tell the whole story. Employment - which skyrocketed under Reagan, and only til last year has been a real issue - was also a big issue at the time.

Taxation and regulation inhibits freedom, no matter what argument you make.

I also think you think too lowly of the social right, particularly at the grassroots level. Many of them were just as dissappointed at Bush's fiscal policies as well - it's the "compassionate conservative" leadership that was at fault. There's no shame in believing that the right to life is an essential one, and there's a pretty good argument both religious AND libertarian that can be made on the pro-life side.

Al Adab| 11.3.09 @ 1:31PM

Interesting isn't it that the Left so fears The Conservative Movement tht they send their trolls to monopolize free speech. Hard to tell which side of the fence they like best.

Nick| 11.3.09 @ 2:30PM

Don't waste your time with 3/5 Bob folks.

In case you didn't know, until recently (last June), 3/5 Bob thought that blacks had 3/5 of a vote under the U.S. Constitution, as originally written.

He also doesn't know when biological HUMAN life begins because he is not sure when "ensoulment" takes place.

He is a pseudointellectual, ignore him.

Michael Tomlinson| 11.3.09 @ 3:03PM

The worst governor in America is a shared title between Democrats Deval "Obama" Patrick, Jon "Axelrod" Corzine, Martin "Barack" O'Malley and Bev "Pelosi" Perdue. Anyone who thinks Crist is as bad as these buffoons is a jackass.

The reality is that if Obama were a half decent leader (who only came to power thanks to the conservative crackup) he could have buried the conservative movement. Like Carter he's own worst enemy and the best thing that could have happened to our movement.

Now is the time for center-right Americans to unite against the real threat to America and freedom -- Democrats.

If I were a voter in Florida I'd be voting for Rubio in the primary, but in the final analysis if it came down to Crist and a Democrat Crist would get my vote, because that would deny Harry Reid and Democrats one more seat in their majority.

Nick| 11.3.09 @ 3:14PM

If I were a voter in Florida, and a conservative, I would do all I was capable of to make Marco Rubio the winner of the primary. Not just vote for him. That is not enough.

Focus on beating Crist, and you will never have to contemplate voting for him.

This goes for all primaries next year. SUPPORT and vote for the most conservative candidate.

SoCon| 11.4.09 @ 2:02AM

Forget Tomlinson, Nick; he's as much of a useless RINO as Blobb. They are the reasons we have ObaMAO in office.

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 3:23PM

Well, Vince, it seems as if you are lazy about your research. Here is a chart of Federal Revenues over time (inflation adjusted).

http://www.heritage.org/resear.....-1965.aspx

You'll notice that they did not grow much faster under Reagan than their natural growth. Furthermore, they grew faster under the tax increases of Clinton. Please do your research on this.

Furthermore, even as marginal rates declined, tax receipts remained constant:

http://www.heritage.org/resear.....cline.aspx

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 3:24PM

Bad links... here are the good ones...

http://www.heritage.org/resear.....-1965.aspx

http://www.heritage.org/resear.....cline.aspx

Nick| 11.3.09 @ 3:25PM

Don't waste your time with 3/5 Bob folks.

In case you didn't know, until recently (last June), 3/5 Bob thought that blacks had 3/5 of a vote under the U.S. Constitution, as originally written.

He also doesn't know when biological HUMAN life begins because he is not sure when "ensoulment" takes place.

He is a pseudointellectual, ignore him.

Bob| 11.3.09 @ 3:34PM

So, Nick, when does ensoulment take place? I'm sure you have the scientific evidence to back this up. Like Ayn Rand, I think that all of you religious whackos are unintelligent, illogical, and blind.

And Nick, please post my response to this 3/5th discussion again so people can actually read what I said rather than having it distorted by the likes of you.

And I still don't know when HUMAN LIFE begins precisely because I define it differently than you. To me, human life is when the organism can think and survive on its own. I don't take your far out religious belief seriously.

Ryan| 11.3.09 @ 4:07PM

If you think all religious folk such, you think that about everyone who was educated up until about 1900...and you aren't paying attention to modern religious conservative thought.

I actually understand your way of thinking - it's the only thought pattern that makes sense to me outside of Christianity. Absolute hedonism, with no morality or concept of good or evil, makes sense without religion.

Nick| 11.3.09 @ 4:27PM

3/5 Bob,

When "ensoulment" takes place is a THEOLOGICAL question, Einstein, not a scientific one. The human soul is SUPER-natural, not physical. So science has nothing to say on the subject, brainiac.

You define "human life" as: "[...] when the organism can think and survive on its own."

So, you agree with Steven Pinker that human babies can be killed up to 2 years of age?

You're sicker than I thought.

Nick| 11.3.09 @ 4:33PM

Back by popular request, 3/5 Bob's constitutional expertise on display:

http://spectator.org/archives/.....et-serious

"Bob| 6.13.09 @ 11:30AM
Baker, you are right. The nature of human behavior hasn't changed. Let's bring back slavery and take the vote away from women. After all, women should be barefoot and pregnant, right? These things are, indeed, self-evident. I ESPECIALLY WANT TO BRING BACK THE PROVISION THAT GIVES BLACKS ONLY 3/5THS OF A VOTE. That will reduce the impact of minorities on Republican success."

Mr. Baker responded to your stupidity:
"Richard Baker| 6.13.09 @ 5:25PM

Bob:
If you don't know why 3/5 is in the Constitution. please don't embarrass yourself."

You countered with more ignorance and inanity, Bob:

"Bob| 6.13.09 @ 6:20PM
Richard -- so you think it was right to count slaves as 3/5th even if it was for apportionment purposes? How can you justify that under ANY circumstances? Do you have any morality?"

Howard Roark| 11.3.09 @ 5:41PM

I didn't think it was possible that Bob could be more unintelligent, illogical, and blind than he has illustrated in the past. He has defined life in a way where few meet the definition. Surviving on one's own is a tricky business and usually a mirage. With respect to thinking Bob is not making a good case for him being human life either. Even as a troll he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer and a troll is really the bottom of the barrel.

Thanks Nick for the history of Bob. It is interesting to see what he does when he is wrong. He claims he is a Harvard grad. Do they have a troll department? For kicks and giggles sometime review his economic predictions.

SoCon| 11.4.09 @ 2:09AM

Nick, what about the run-in Blobb had with Ran over the Bible? Ran scorched Blobbo, as I recall. Blobbo also defended David (sexual harasser) Bitterman's savage attack against Palin's 14 year old daughter.

Blobbo is a swine, that's for sure.

Neo| 11.3.09 @ 3:46PM

Things are getting ugly not there. Next, there will be reports are coming in of ... "aborted fetuses fighting with police" ... in the streets of NY-23.

The humanity .. the humanity ...

SoCon| 11.4.09 @ 2:12AM

I don't understand this comment, but most assuredly, I am repulsed by it and you. What kind of a monster are you?

You're lucky your mother was pro-life, scumsucker.

IndyJohn| 11.3.09 @ 5:32PM

I could tolerate trolls like Bob if they would just stay on the topic at hand. Rather, they seem to delight in dragging the thread off in other directions, apparently all to satisfy some pathological need for attention.
Here are the questions that need to be asked - will Rubio defeat Crist in the primary? Yes.
Will Rubio win the general election? Yes.
Why? Because Rubio has political and moral principles to which voters respond intellectually and emotionally. And, thanks to Obama, Reid, and Pelosi, even voters who don't pay a great deal of attention to politics can now see that the Democrat Party has been seized by a pack of corrupt, crazed, America-hating, lying, power-hungry demagogues.

Jim O'Brien| 11.3.09 @ 6:07PM

Rubio supports the Fair Tax (elimination of federal income tax and the IRS), so I would vote for him for that reason and several others. I don't think Crist supports the Fair Tax, although he and others might find it expedient to do so soon. See www.fairtax.org

jr| 11.3.09 @ 6:15PM

As I have said repeatedly, one can tell a liberal, such as Crist, when presented with a decision to cut taxes to make a budget, or increase taxes. Crist chose increase. He had a line item veto at his disposal but raised certain taxes.

Richard Baker| 11.3.09 @ 6:18PM

Bob:
If conservatism is such a losing proposition, why not sit back, save your energy, and let us destroy ourselves, hmmmm? Why the agitation towards that which you see as conservatism? Small potatoes, right?

Bydand76| 11.3.09 @ 7:18PM

I agree My Baker,

Bob is nothing more than a typical liberal bigot.

No more, No less.

Bydand76| 11.3.09 @ 8:07PM

MR Baker.

I meant Mr Baker

SoCon| 11.4.09 @ 2:04AM

I was hoping you'd correct that, MY Bydand76. lol

Ken (Old Texican)| 11.3.09 @ 8:51PM

Folks
Question.
Why shouldn't Bob be a liar, or rapist, or thief, or troll, or squirrelly little puffed up egomaniac or sociopath?
Bydand, why shouldn't he be a typical liberal bigot?
What thehellelse does he have in his heart and mind to keep him in denial of the black nothingness that awaits him in the near future...he hopes.
Bob and his ilk believe we just live then die and become dogfood. My goodness, he must amuse himself some how to stave off the coming darkness.
Give him a break.
The poor SOB can only have "morals" based upon his own ego. He can not transcend himself, or lay down his life for a friend or for love. In his universe that would be stupid.

His "hell" has already begun, and as all of you know, "misery loves company". That is what a true "liberal" spends a life doing; being angry, and put upon.
See, all of his rants here boil down to wanting us to prove something to him...ie: that his life means more than dogfood.
Personally, I shall pray for him. I sincerely hope he finds a relationship with God.

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Richard Baker| 11.5.09 @ 9:04AM

Nick:
What an idiot. The 3/5ths number was, of course to dilute the Southern voting power and to get the country started. You're listening to that learned expert Jesse Jackson too much on this subject. By folks like yourself, getting the country started couldn't commence until everything was PERFECT. Do you have any idea about the thinking among 18th Century Americans? Stop trying to judge their time by ours. That's called being intellectually honest. Try it, if you can.

Richard Baker| 11.5.09 @ 9:04AM

Chris| 11.5.09 @ 5:21PM

Crist appoints liberal judges to the bench, waffles on every issue, and supports billions in pork barrell spending. Crist is a nice guy, but he is a nice LIBERAL guy. Crist is not a moderate, but a LIBERAL Republican. Crist is the political son of Arlen Specter. I am a Florida Republican voter, sent a check to Rubio, as every reader of this should. NO MORE LIBERAL REPUBLICANS, let them join the Democrats.

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