For the past two years, we've seen the majority party expand the size and reach of government, the demonization of earned success, and the redistribution of wealth thrust into overdrive. Today's Washington Post examines that dynamic, and Whip Cantor provides a clear contrast. "The administration believes that we ought to pit one group of people – those who have less – against those who have more and vilify those who have been successful. That's not what America means to me," he said. "All of us want to make sure that the benefits of society flow to everyone and not to a selective few. I just disagree that it's government's job to confiscate the wealth of some and redistribute it to others." Two visions, 19 days until a choice is made.
Now on to the news …
THE ECONOMY: By Engaging In Class Warfare Democrats Have Alienated Small Business
Administration Official: Class Warfare Has Small Business Walking Away From The President. The president and his closest political advisers might not care that the economy is suffering as he remakes the country in his progressive image, but there are signs that inside the administration some people are waking up to the absurdity of Obamanomics. "Forget about Big Business moving away from us," said one administration official, "we're losing the Kiwanis Club guys who own a small business and spend their nights wearing those funny hats. They're independents and we need them but all the class warfare stuff seems to have pushed them away." So how about sharing that sentiment with the president or his political advisers?" I asked. "If I did they probably wouldn't listen." The Daily Beast
Whip Cantor Sounds Off On The Democrats Push To Engage In Class Warfare. "The administration believes that we ought to pit one group of people – those who have less – against those who have more and vilify those who have been successful. That's not what America means to me," said Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.), the second-ranking House Republican. "All of us want to make sure that the benefits of society flow to everyone and not to a selective few. I just disagree that it's government's job to confiscate the wealth of some and redistribute it to others." Washington Post
CBS: 80% Of Americans Rate The Economy As Bad, 77% Say It Will Stay The Same Or Get Worse. The recession may technically be over, but most Americans aren't feeling the effects: A newly-released CBS News poll finds that just 22 percent of Americans say the economy is getting better. A greater percentage – 27 percent – say the economy is actually getting worse, while one in two say it's staying the same. CBS
THE ECONOMY (2): President Obama's Economic Agenda May Leave Americans $20 Trillion In Debt
STICKER SHOCK: US Debt Has The Potential To Reach $20 Trillion Under President Obama. Barack Obama apparently never figured out that he had been elected in part because that massive Republican borrowing had sickened the American people. So in near-suicidal fashion, he took Bush's last scheduled budget deficit of more than $500 billion — in a Keynesian attempt to get the country out of the 2008 recession and financial panic — and nearly tripled it by 2010. Obama's new red ink will add more than $2.5 trillion to the national debt — with near-trillion-dollar yearly deficits scheduled for the next decade. All of that will result in a U.S. debt of more than $20 trillion. RCP
Independents Favor Deficit Reduction Over Spending to Create Jobs. Independents prefer cutting the deficit to spending on jobs Fifty-two percent of independent voters in The Hill's 2010 Midterm Election poll cited debt reduction as a priority, compared with only 39 percent who said additional federal spending to create jobs is more important. The Hill
THE ECONOMY (3): As Foreclosures Continue To Mount More Trouble Arises For Fannie and Freddie
Cantor: A Foreclosure Moratorium Would Shut Down The Housing Industry. "You're going to shut down the housing industry. People have to take responsibility for themselves," said No. 2 House Republican Eric Cantor of Virginia. … Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics and a specialist on housing and foreclosures, calls Florida the "poster child" for a bogged-down system. "And the Florida economy is still very troubled," Zandi said. But Zandi says a moratorium "at this point would be an economic mistake." "The sooner we work through these problem loans, the sooner the economy will take off," he said. "If we prolong the process, it will simply prolong our economic problems." The Associated Press
More Trouble For Fannie and Freddie … Raising questions for the first time about the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the unfolding mortgage-foreclosure crisis, the two government-owned giants are reviewing the work of a Florida law firm they recommended to process foreclosures. Until now, Fannie and Freddie have been largely bystanders in the widening foreclosure scandal, because they don't directly service loans, or handle day-to-day management of mortgages. But their use of so-called foreclosure mills, law firms that specialize in quickly processing thousands of foreclosures on behalf of lenders, is dragging the companies into the latest crisis. The Wall Street Journal
TARP Report Questions Contracts To Fannie and Freddie. The report by the congressional panel overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), said that the $437 million in Treasury contracts to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and private companies to manage critical aspects of the bailout program raised a number of concerns about public oversight and conflicts of interest. "Treasury may be less likely to expedite meaningful reforms of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when it has employed them for combined arrangements of $240.5 million and when these firms agreed to provide their services at cost, receiving no profit from the deals," the report said. Reuters
THE ECONOMY (4): The Unholy Alliance Of Government and Labor Makes Pension Funds Unsustainable
Republicans Provide The Means To Bring Federal Pension Payouts In Line With The Private Sector. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, has proposed reducing federal pension payouts to reflect private-sector practices and eliminating early retirement benefits before age 62. Cantor touted the ideas in July in an online contest dubbed YouCut, which House Republicans created to let people vote on government spending they'd like to see eliminated. Bloomberg
AGENDA WATCH: From Seniors To Students Opposition Continues To Grow Towards The Obama/Pelosi Agenda
Seniors Poised To Rebuke The Obama Administration's Agenda. Among seniors who say that they are very interested in the upcoming election, 51 percent prefer to see Republicans in control of the next Congress while 40 percent say they want Democrats in charge. … The findings show a generational divide working against the Democrats this fall. If the midterms are in part a referendum on the size, scope and effectiveness of the federal government, older voters appear poised to deliver a rebuke to the Obama administration. Older voters – Democrats, Republicans or independents – are more pessimistic in their assessments of Washington's performance than are younger voters. Based on historical voting patterns, they are also more likely to turn out in November – a potentially toxic combination for the Democrats. The Washington Post
More Trouble For Democrats: The College Crowd Cools To President Obama … The Obamamania that gripped college campuses two years ago is gone. An Associated Press-mtvU poll found college students cooling in their support for President Barack Obama, a fresh sign of trouble for Democrats struggling to rekindle enthusiasm among many of these newest voters for the crucial midterm elections in three weeks. Forty-four percent of students approve of the job Obama is doing as president, while 27 percent are unhappy with his stewardship, according to the survey conducted late last month. That's a significant drop from the 60 percent who gave the president high marks in a May 2009 poll. Only 15 percent had a negative opinion back then. The Associated Press
Abandon Ship! Rep. Jim Marshall Abandons Speaker Pelosi. Marshall, a conservative Blue Dog, is already running a campaign ad declaring his independence from Pelosi showing hippies dancing while a voice with a southern drawl says, "Georgia is a long way from San Francisco."Wednesday, Marshall confirmed Pelosi has lost his vote. Politico
Wait For Me!!! Rep. Childers Also Announces His Opposition To Speaker Pelosi. Another Democrat backed off supporting Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for speaker, saying he'd prefer to see a member of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition in the speaker's seat. Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.) joined the steadily growing ranks of centrist Democrats who have either pledged not to support Pelosi as their party's leader, or have been noncommittal about their support for the San Francisco lawmaker. "I'd like to see somebody more moderate in that role. I'd like to see a Blue Dog, quite frankly, because I agree with them on most of the issues," Childers said. … "I'd like to see somebody in the speaker's seat who's pro-life and pro-gun, like me," Childers added. The Hill
WHAT TO WATCH
Democrats Dominated By Extremists? This result comes from The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll, which found that 44 percent of likely voters say the Democratic Party is more dominated by its extreme elements; whereas 37 percent say it's the Republican Party that is more dominated by extremists. … More than one in every five Democrats (22 percent) in The Hill's survey said their party was more dominated than the GOP by extreme views. The Hill
IN OTHER NEWS
- WSJ: Recession-Hit Areas Lag for Years Afterward
- Gottlieb and Miller: How to Reform ObamaCare Starting Now
- BG: Stance On Fannie and Freddie Dogs Frank
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