How Excited Are Young Voters?

Via ThinkProgress:

Both pictures are from this week's college stops for each campaign.  I wonder who is more likely to get the young vote?  I don't know why Romney even tries to make campaign stops at college when he basically makes speeches where he tells students to just borrow money from their parents and start their own business.  Not really an option when you are tens of thousands of dollars in debt already.

The excitement is palpable in the picture on the left.

College May Get A Lot More Expensive Soon

Club for Growth is in the news again and is unsurprisingly on the wrong side of reason. They are opposing the Interest Rate Reduction Act (HR 4628) which would, well, do exactly what it says. The previous law had a sunset clause on it and that ends very soon. Without passing this one, interest rates would double for student loans.

Via ThinkProgress:

“It’s bad policy to subsidize student loans in the first place, but the net result will likely drive up tuition costs for all students, making the overall cost of the bill much higher than its current price tag.”

Tuition is rising for all students, that is true, but that is where the truth in their statement stops.  There are many causes for the tuition rise, but government sponsored student loans are not one of those reasons.

John Boehner has claimed that the Democrats are at fault if the rates double despite the Republican's record of obstructionism. He claims that Democrats voted to double the rate when the passed the bill with the sunset clause. Never mind that the Republicans refused to vote on it at all without it in the first place. So who is really at fault? Surely not the Republicans from before or they now that refuse to pass the Interest Rate Reduction Act.

Interest Rate Reduction Act, how could anyone oppose something so obviously good for students? I suppose this is similar to when the President put forward the American Jobs Act and Congress didn't want to touch it.

Mitt Romney has his own advice for college students:

This kind of devisiveness, this attack of success, is very different than what we’ve seen in our country’s history. We’ve always encouraged young people: Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business. -MittRomney at Otterbein University

Never mind that the cost of getting a degree is much higher now than it has ever been in the past, even compensating for inflation. Never mind that most students cannot just borrow money from their parents because their parents are not millionaires. That isn't an attack on success, just a fact. Not everyone has a trust fund waiting for them like Romney. Continued comments like this just prove how out of touch Romney is.

It will be a long road to November.

Typical Nebraska Politics

I find Nebraska politics disgusting. I once said that I was ashamed to be from Nebraska because of it. I don't exactly feel that way anymore because Nebraska, like every state really, has a rich history. The history of Omaha, for instance, is very interesting and really embodies that pioneer spirit. It also shows how cutthroat people can be but that's not important right now. From the reason the capitol is named “Lincoln” to the reason Omaha grew as big as it was as fast as it did is all a great story. However, that is obviously not the problem I have with the state.

I realize that I live deep in Red State America, but we have shown that we can have a purple streak. Because Nebraska, along with Maine, is strange about the way electoral votes are awarded in presidential elections, Obama took one of Nebraska's electoral votes in 2008. I know I was happy about that and am proud to say I was a part of it. Nebraska has also had Democratic governors and senators, though I'm not sure Ben Nelson should really be counted as such.

My problem is with the petty nature of the attack ads... ok, so that is not exclusive to Nebraska but stay with me. In such a strong red state the attacks, at least in the primaries, seem to center on making each opponent seem like a big, bad, baby-killing, money wasting, hippie loving Democrat.

There is an ad currently running against Bruning for the senate race. It talks about Bruning having a high spending record when he was in the Nebraska state legislature and then praising the stimulus. It does this while showing the Capitol building with Nancy Pelosi, the President and Bruning all in the background. As if he had something in common with them. I know this is a pretty tame ad and they will only get worse as we get closer to the primary on May 15^th.

Here's the ad:

Club for Growth Action is the sponsor of the ad. I looked them up on OpenSecrets.org and they have about $5 million on hand right now. They have not given any money to a candidate but I would say it is safe to assume they are not supporting Bruning. An interesting/frustrating thing is that zero contributions to this PAC are from Nebraska and yet they stick their nose in our business.

I truly cannot wait for the primary to be over.

Fox Facts

Artist - Pat Bagley

I have been a little scarce lately but I will try to get back into a routine in the next couple days.

In other news, there was a confirmed case of Mad Cow disease in California.  So that's fun.  Makes me want to go get a burger...

Really though, this is a perfect time to bring up regulations.  Republicans rail against them but stuff like this are reasons why we need them in place.  If you need a refresher on how the meat industry ran things before any regulations, read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. 

Newt's Penguin

Artist - RJ Matson

In other news, Marco Rubio, someone whose name comes up in any discussion about possible Romney VP picks said today that he would say no if asked.  I don't blame him, really.  Romney is certain to lose and if Rubio has higher political aspirations, he would do better if he ran in 2016 when, theoretically, the Republicans had a shot of winning.

John Raese Needs A History Lesson

John Raese, the Republican candidate for Senate in West Virginia needs a history lesson. At a recent campaign event he was talking about a recent smoking ban in Monongalia County and he said this:

"But in Monongalia County now, I have to put a huge sticker on my buildings to say this is a smoke-free environment. This is brought to you by the government of Monongalia County. Okay?" he said. "Remember Hitler used to put Star of David on everybody’s lapel, remember that? Same thing."

No, it isn't the same thing, John. The stickers you are talking about indicate that a person can enter the establishment without worrying about inhaling any cancer causing second hand smoke. The stars of David that the Nazis made the Jews wear indicated that they were Jews. Then these Jews were rounded up and put in ghettos, and then the ghettos were liquidated and these star of David wearing Jews were sent to different concentration camps where they were put to work and more than six million died.

It is not the same thing.

I would like to see the Jewish lobby be up in arms about this idiocy but I would actually be surprised if they did.

This is not the first time he has run for the Senate. He ran in 2010 and lost. The Huffington Post put together a series of some of his most ridiculous positions here.

Romney's Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy

Newly anointed GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that there is a vast left-wing conspiracy against him. Obviously, he was being a little tongue-in-cheek referencing Hillary Clinton during Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. However, because of the way he went on with the interview saying that people on the left side of the aisle would do everything they could to beat him, I think he was more serious.

It made me chuckle though because...isn't that how elections work? Why would the Democrats just let him do his thing without fighting back? Especially when his campaign is wrong and has a reckless disregard for the truth.

It will be interesting to see what the next several months have in store for us.