One story in Roll Call this morning drives home just how out of touch the White House actually is (Axelrod: We Didn't Do Enough to Sell Agenda). Mr. Axelrod claims the reason President Obama isn't doing well is that he "didn't have time" to focus on messaging. Yet, what Mr. Axelrod and the rest of the Obama Administration don't seem to understand is that it's not about the President's messaging abilities since the White House PR push was been quite extensive (in fact so was the PR push about the PR push). Rather it's that the people fundamentally don't like what the President, his team and his party are selling. The ideological initiatives pushed by President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid are far outside the mainstream and have failed to address the priorities of the people. With unemployment hovering around 10% and a national debt soaring past $13 trillion ($3 trillion in the last 20 months alone) Democrats can try to blame everything and everyone else, but it's their failed policies that are driving discontent.
Now on to the news …
AGENDA WATCH: The Obama/Pelosi Agenda Has Turned Key Constituencies Against Democrats
Not Believing: 63% Of Americans Under The Age Of 34 Believe President Obama Has Either Not Brought Change To Washington Or Has Made It Worse. A majority of voters in key battleground races say President Obama has either brought no change to Washington or has brought change for the worse. In 10 competitive House districts, 41 percent of likely voters say Obama has brought change for the worse, and 30 percent say he has made no difference. Almost two years after Obama declared on election night that "change has come to America," only 26 percent believe he's delivered on his promise to end business-as-usual in the capital. Strikingly, 63 percent of voters under the age of 34 said the president either has not changed Washington or has made it worse. The Hill
GOP Message Resonates With Female Voters. Female voters, once a reliable force for Democrats, are roughly split this fall between the Democrats and Republicans running for Congress and governor. Recent Gallup polling, assuming a traditional turnout for a midterm election, finds that Republicans are favored by female likely voters, 49% to 46%. Overall, men generally tilt toward GOP candidates, so a significant narrowing of the gender gap among women is contributing to Democrats' struggles in an election when control of Congress is in play. Four years ago, nearly six in 10 female voters preferred Democrats. USA Today
Whip Cantor On The Function Of Oversight: "The oversight function needs to be very focused on polices that kill jobs," said Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.). "As long as we're focused on trying to right the ship, the American people will support our efforts." The Los Angeles Times
THE ECONOMY: Top Senate Dem Admits The Size Of Government Must Be Reduced To Balance The Budget
Dem Budget Chairman Adopts GOP Message: We Must Shrink The Size Of Government To Balance The Budget. The U.S. government must shrink if it wants to return to a fiscally sustainable course, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Wednesday. Conrad, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and a member of President Obama's fiscal commission, said that there was no other choice but to cut spending in order to balance the budget. "This government is going to have to be smaller," Conrad said on MSNBC. "There is no option." The Hill
HEALTH CARE UPDATE: ObamaCare Creates The Incentive For Employers To Drop Their Health Care Coverage, Eliminates Insurance Options For Americans
Dem Governor: ObamaCare Creates An Incentive For Employers To Drop Health Care Coverage. Our federal deficit is already at unsustainable levels, and most Americans understand that we can ill afford another entitlement program that adds substantially to it. But our recent health reform has created a situation where there are strong economic incentives for employers to drop health coverage altogether. The consequence will be to drive many more people than projected—and with them, much greater cost—into the reform's federally subsidized system. The Wall Street Journal
ObamaCare Eliminates Choice For Americans … the law is already doing damage. In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of Americans have discovered that, thanks to ObamaCare, they're going to lose their existing health coverage. Unless lawmakers or the courts stop this juggernaut in its tracks, millions more will join them. … ObamaCare also threatens the coverage of hundreds of thousands of part-time and low-income workers. The federal government has granted one-year waivers to at least 30 companies like McDonald's, who'd otherwise have to drop policies they now offer — but that only delays the crisis, it doesn't solve it. And that won't fix the problem. The average yearly cost of a conventional employer-sponsored insurance policy is nearly $5,000, and family policies cost about twice that. Many McDonald's employees make less than $20,000. If the company had to effectively raise every worker's salary by 25 to 50 percent to comply with ObamaCare, it would go out of business overnight. … The president's health-reform law is almost seven months old, and it's already threatening thousands of Americans' ability to access affordable health insurance. Whether in the courts or at the polls, the country's march toward ObamaCare must be stopped. New York Post
THE WAR ON TERROR ROUNDUP
CIA Chief Says Operations In Pakistan Has Taken "A Serious Toll" On Al-Qaeda. The CIA's expanding operations in Pakistan have taken "a serious toll" on the Al-Qaeda network, the spy agency director, Leon Panetta, has told US media. But he said it remained unclear whether the effort had prevented a possible terror plot against European cities, the Los Angeles Times quoted him as saying Tuesday. Panetta did not specify bombing raids by unmanned aircraft in Pakistan as US officials do not publicly discuss the campaign. But the CIA missile strikes are an open secret, and US officials privately describe the program as a vital tool in the fight against Al-Qaeda and allied Islamist militants based in northwest Pakistan. Referring to stepped up operations, Panetta said the effort is "taking a serious toll" on Al-Qaeda's capabilities, according to the Los Angeles Times. AFP
Skirting Sanctions: Iran Attempts Set Up Backs In Foreign Countries. Iran is secretly trying to set up banks in Muslim countries around the world, including Iraq and Malaysia, using dummy names and opaque ownership structures to skirt sanctions that have increasingly curtailed the Islamic republic's global banking activities, U.S. officials say. The Treasury Department has blacklisted 16 Iranian banks for allegedly supporting Iran's nuclear program and terrorist activities; other countries have followed suit with their own measures. Tehran's search for new banking avenues is a sign of the growing effectiveness of the sanctions, U.S. officials said. Still, they think that Iran has had limited success, if any, in secretly setting up banks. "The Iranians, we believe, are trying to set up operations in a number of places, and it's an indication that they can't do normal banking," a senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly. "They want to buy banks and set up banks in various places where they believe they will be able to carry out business without the United States being able to impede it."The Washington Post
Coalition Forces Rout Taliban In Southern Afghanistan. American and Afghan forces have been routing the Taliban in much of Kandahar Province in recent weeks, forcing many hardened fighters, faced with the buildup of American forces, to flee strongholds they have held for years, NATO commanders, local Afghan officials and residents of the region said. A series of civilian and military operations around the strategic southern province, made possible after a force of 12,000 American and NATO troops reached full strength here in the late summer, has persuaded Afghan and Western officials that the Taliban will have a hard time returning to areas they had controlled in the province that was their base. Some of the gains seem to have come from a new mobile rocket that has pinpoint accuracy — like a small cruise missile — and has been used against the hideouts of insurgent commanders around Kandahar. That has forced many of them to retreat across the border into Pakistan. Disruption of their supply lines has made it harder for them to stage retaliatory strikes or suicide bombings, at least for the moment, officials and residents said. The New York Times
VA Man Pleads Guilty To Aiding Terrorists. Zachary A. Chesser, 20, of Bristow, Va., is expected to receive a prison term of at least 20 years when he is sentenced in February. Mr. Chesser struck a plea bargain in U.S. District Court, admitting that tried twice to travel to Somalia in the last year to join the al-Shabab terror network and engage in holy war. He was thwarted the first time because his mother-in-law would not relinquish the passport of his wife, who intended to travel with him. His second attempt failed because he had been placed on the no-fly list. He made it as far as JFK Airport in New York, and planned to take his infant son with him on a flight to Uganda to appear less threatening. He also admitted posting online propaganda on behalf of al-Shabab. On several occasions, Mr. Chesser posted speeches by radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki that said killing those who insult Muhammad was justified. Al-Awlaki, who praised the shootings last year at Fort Hood in which 13 people were killed, has been designated a terrorist by the U.S. government. The Wall Street Journal
WHAT TO WATCH
Silver: G.O.P. Odds of House Majority Now 3-in-4. The New York Times
Rove On The Closing Arguments … The economy and jobs are the No. 1 issue in every poll. Yet Mr. Obama of late has talked about immigration reform and weighed in (unprompted) on the Ground Zero mosque. He devoted Labor Day to an ineffective Mideast peace initiative. He demeans large blocs of voters and now is ending his midterm pitch with attacks on nonexistent foreign campaign contributions and weird assertions that "the Empire is striking back." Meanwhile, Republicans have talked about little else than the economy—drawing attention to lackluster job growth, the failed stimulus, out-of-control spending, escalating deficits and the dangers of ObamaCare. The Wall Street Journal
IN OTHER NEWS
- Murdock: Three Charts That Will Infuriate Taxpayers
- LAT: Airlines Ride New Fees, Cost Cuts To Big Profits
- DN: Toyota Recalling 1.53 Million Cars Globally
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