Obama and the Texas primary

Texas voters go to the polls Tuesday to choose Republican and Democratic candidates for governor in what could be one of the highest turnouts for a primary in state history.

State statistics show 491,000 voters statewide — or 6% of total registered voters — cast ballots early for the governor's primaries. In particular, the Republican primary has drawn heavy interest, with two popular candidates squaring off against each other.

The turnout is nearly double the number of early votes cast in the state's previous gubernatorial primaries.

Usually, only 5% of registered voters cast their vote in a primary, says Chris Turner, an Austin-based Republican strategist. That includes early voters and those who show up on election day. Early voters have already surpassed that figure, he says.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-01-texas-primaries_N.htm

More Texas Republicans have already voted by early and absentee ballot than usually vote in the primary.

The Republican base is excited, energized and angry.

In one year, Obama's incompetence has given the political advantage to the Republicans, reversed 16 years of Democratic efforts at party building, and undone all the damage Bush did to the Republican brand.

Heckuva job.

Obama policies dividing the black community?

I'm not commenting on this, because anything I say could be twisted or misinterpreted.

But, it is interesting to note that without nearly unanimous and enthusiastic black support, Obama will not be reelected.

I knew the long-simmering debate among blacks over what President Obama should be doing for blacks — his strongest backers and the Democratic Party's most loyal constituency — would heat up. It turned red hot last week when a war of words broke out on Tom Joyner's nationally syndicated radio show between two of this country's leading black activists. In dueling appearances on Joyner's program, Tavis Smiley and Al Sharpton went after each other in a way that would make would make Quentin Tarantino blush. . .

Obama has to act before the divisions harden between his black supporters and detractors. The infighting among these activists will only intensify if he doesn't find a way to salve the wounds of those who think he courted black voters during his presidential campaign and then abandoned them once he got into the Oval Office.

This is something he needs to do soon before his political base implodes.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010/03/column-what-should-obama-do-for-blacks-first-heal-a-growing-rift-.html#more

New ghost towns

New ghost towns: Industrial communities teeter on the edge

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-01-townhangingon_N.htm

This is because, generally, we no longer make things. Instead, we sell goods and services to each other. Communities too small or too poor to create a market for goods and services will have difficulty surviving.

Stimulus bills which create jobs in the civil service or for government contractors have no impact on this dynamic. In fact, such policies accelerate this trend.

More Toyota

A majority of Americans think Toyota has failed to respond quickly enough to potential safety defects, and a significant minority — 31% — think it is unsafe now to be in a Toyota or Lexus, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll over the weekend.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2010-03-02-toyotapoll02_ST_N.htm

More than 20 people died because Toyota tried to save $100 million by recalling floor mats instead of braking systems.

I ask again - - when will someone be arrested?

The cost of an endorsement?

President Obama touted a $900 million school grant program today designed to improve low-performing schools, particularly those with high dropout rates.

. . . The $900 million in grants targets states with graduation rates of less than 60 percent, the president said. Schools that fail to increase those rates face the prospect of new principals, new managements, or even outright closure.

Obama spoke at an event sponsored by America's Promise Alliance, led by one of his prominent supporters: Former general and Republican administration official Colin Powell.

. . . Powell and wife Alma, who chairs American's Promise Alliance, are working with the Obama administration on a program they call GradNation.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/03/obama-900-million-to-turn-around-the-dropout-crisis/1

$900 million? Now we know how much Colin Powell gets for an endorsement.

I'm not surprised by the bribe, only by the excessive price.

More "change"?

More than half of the panel members appointed to review the Pentagon's latest four-year strategy blueprint have financial ties to defense contractors with a stake in the planning process, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

Congress created the 20-member panel in 2006 to analyze the Defense Department's four-year plan, known as the Quadrennial Defense Review. Lawmakers called for the committee to provide an independent "alternate view" of the Pentagon's plan, which shapes future military policy and spending on weapons and other needs.

A dozen of the unpaid panelists were appointed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and eight by the top Republican and Democrat members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees. Eleven work for defense contractors as employees, consultants or board directors, records show.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2010-03-01-pentagon_N.htm

Wouldn't you love to be on the government panel that decides how much the government is going to pay you?

Rangel to stay or go?

House Republicans will demand a vote this week on whether Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., should be stripped of his Ways and Means chairmanship -- the first such attempt since the 39-year veteran was admonished by the House ethics committee last week.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/03/house-to-vote-on-rep-rangels-chairmanship/1

Democrats need to hold themselves to the same standards they applied when Republicans were in charge.